How old were you when you got your first gun?

[Calculated]

Inspired by the Rimfire thread, I've been meaning to ask this for a long time.

First time father and my son's first birthday is coming up. I'm trying to decide when I should get him a BB Gun. Obviously not this one, before someone mistakes what I'm asking. When he's old enough to talk and understand everything I'll be taking him to the outdoor range with me. I want to introduce him to firearm responsibility, respect, etiquette and procedure long before he ever gets his hands on any kind of gun.

I think I got my first, a BB gun, when I was like 12. Never had guns in my household, my family wasn't against them, just having them. I don't think I even shot a .22 until I was 14. I feel like I missed out on alot of intuitive firearms knowledge and have had to work hard at being a mediocre shooter. I don't plan on making the same mistake with my boy..

So I'm just curious when you were introduced to your first firearms, when you got your first BB/pellet gun, first .22, first hunt? When did you get your kid his/her first one? Thanks gang

[Irving]

I got my first gun when I was 22. First hunt when I was 31, first game when I was 32. My dad had a pellet gun when I was a kid and I would mess around with it, but just when he wasn't around so it was never what I was supposed to be doing.

[00tec]

I owned my first when I was 12 or 13 (I paid for it).

My niece got a cricket .22 when she was like 2, and her first AR at 8.

[newracer]

My dad wasn't big into firearms. We shot on occasion when we went to the desert in CA to ride motorcycles. I got a BB gun when I was 13, bought it myself. Then I bought a Remington 870 to hunt peasants when I was 19.

Both of my son's started shooting 22lr at 5 with very close supervision with their own rifles. By the time they were each about 10 I would let them shoot on their own with minimal supervision. They are now 14 and 17 and I trust them more than a lot of people I see at public ranges.

Every time we go shooting, while driving, we talk about firearm safety.

[blacklabel]

I didn't shoot anything until I was 18. I bought an SKS shortly after that. My son got his first rifle for his 5th birthday

[bryjcom]

First BB gun was around 10 or 11. First real gun was a Mossberg 500 at 22 or 23.

[newracer]

My kids haven't hunted much but have been shooting prairie dogs since about 8.

[Irving]

My 10 year old shoots his AR, he competes in cowboy action shooting (which is 4 guns). He shoots unaided (but not unsupervised) a double barrel 12 gauge, 2 Ruger single six revolvers and a Henry .22lr lever action.


How'd he like that muzzleloader?

[davsel]

Red Ryder at 8
Started sitting in the deer stand with my dad at 10
H&R 20g at 11 - bird/rabbit/squirrel hunting
10/22 at 12
Rem 788 at 13 - whitetail hunting
Fox Model B 12g at 14

[stodg73]

My first nephew had one at -8 months....

[gnihcraes]

7 I believe, Daisy Spring bb gun.

Dad bought brother and I a glenfield (marlin 25?) bolt action .22, still have it.

[encorehunter]

My first nephew had one at -8 months....

Your second nephew had one at -8 months as well. One has a single shot Remington bolt .22lr, the other a single shot Winchester .22lr.

[XC700116]

First bb gun, somewhere around 5 or 6, got a Coast to Coast 20 ga shotgun at 10 (still in my safe) a Remington 7600 in 270 win when I was 11 (first year I was able to hunt Deer at the time, traded it when I was about 18 or 19 and still regret getting rid of it. Still have the ser# and if I ever come across it I WILL buy it back) And surprisingly I got my first 22 when I was about 20 yrs old (inheritance from Grandpa when he passed but it was always "mine" from the time I was about 5 or 6 when he first taught me to shoot)

[ZERO THEORY]

16. Hi Point Model B in .22 that was passed down starting from my grandpa.

[Wulf202]

First shots at 5-6. Bb gun of my own at 8. 22 at 12.

[Rooskibar03]

I was 36. Been just 4 years since I've started collecting.

[beast556]

Dad gave me a rem 870 around 11-12 years old. Had my dad buy me a ak47 when I was 16. Been shooting ever since I can rember, I have memories when I was probly 3-4 of my dad and uncle they would hold the 22 handgun and I would move there arms and they would let me pull the trigger. I have purshased 22's for all of my kids.

[Limited GM]

Wish I could remember. I shot my first white tail at 12, but I'd been shooting for years then.

[HoneyBadger]

I started shooting BB guns at a summer camp when I was 7 or 8 years old and 22s when I was 11 or 12. Bought my first rifle on my 18th birthday: a Winchester '94 in .30-30 from an Ace Hardware store in Michigan. Bought my first handgun on my 21st birthday: a Glock 19c that is still my go-to handgun.

[rfizzle]

10 - BB
12 - .22 (10/22, still have it)
15 - 12ga

Dad would take me shooting, younger but these were the ages where I was given my own.

[Sawin]

Had a little daisy BB gun when I was 9 and borrowed plenty of my dad or step dads guns when we'd go hunting, but didn't get my own officially until my 16th birthday. It was a Marlin 30-30. I still have it and will keep it as long as I live.

[WETWRKS]

Didn't personally own until I was 21. Mac90. Family was not real happy at my choice of rifle...now they have seen the light and own ARs and AKs and other evil black rifles.

Started shooting at about 7. Pistols and rifles.

12ga at 9 years old.

Never owned BB guns but had paintball guns at 15.

[Gunner]

9 or 10 got browning BL22 when I passed hunter safety and a youth 870 20ga. Forgot which came first


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[SVT40]

I was 14. My dad brought home a used, but pristine, Ruger 10/22. This was in the 80's so the rifle looked space aged to me. I still have it.

[jmg8550]

My first bb gun I got when I was around 12. My first firearm I was given when I was 18 or so. An M1 Garand, still have it. My first purchased firearm when I was 21. A Springfield Armory 1911 Operator. Still have that one too.

[BPTactical]

Jeez, I think I first fired a shotgun around 5 or 6, my mom's 410. Shot my dad's 12 gauge a year later, a Winchester Model 12 which knocked me on my ass.
Tore apart my sisters BB gun at 9, even put it back together (under threat of my ass being blistered by my dad).
Built my first rifle as a freshman in High school, a 50 caliber Leman Trade rifle.
Been hooked ever since.

[wyome]

Got my first gun at 41...
First bow at 22...
First hunt at 24...mule deer in Wyoming

Not a big hunter...I really don't do it anymore
I enjoy shooting with my wife kids whether it is killing paper, or spraying n praying versus a horde of pumpkins

[lex137]

I got my first gun in 2005/06 I was 24 or 25? Got into trouble when I was about to turn 21 so had to wait a while.

[Calculated]

Down the road I want my son to also say, "I still have it".

Alot of guys started shooting older than I thought. I figured I was way behind, I know most of my friends were out shooting when I was growing up.

The engraved 22 sounds like a great idea. I'll have to look into that for him down the line. I think I'll get a BB gun for him next year if he's able.

Some of you guys shooting man sized calibers at such young ages is wild to me. Not that I think it's wrong, just surprised you could!

[huntnfishn5280]

Santa brought me a single shot Marlin youth .22 bolt action for Xmas when I was nine. Dad took me out that winter to hunt cottontails. Had a BB gun before that to learn how to shoot at about seven.

[Double00]

18 Ruger mini-14. 29 yrs ago. First hand gun Glock 19 on my 21st birthday. It's still my EDC

[drew890]

When I turned 18 I bought a 10/22, then when I turned 21 I bought a Glock 19. Wish I would have kept both!

[rondog]

BB guns, no telling what age, probably 8 or so. Think I got my first .22 at 10. Still have it too! 1952 Remington 514 single-shot that my oldest brother handed down to me for Xmas. Refinished the stock a couple years ago, turned out great. There was nice wood underneath the nasty old brown finish. I'd love to get the metal parts reblued too but that's $$$.

http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b150/rinselman/guns/my%20other%20rifles%20and%20long%20guns/DSC_0006.jpg

[Circuits]

Anti gun household - got my first gun after I turned 18. Still have it.

[Hummer]

My Grandfather coached my first shooting at age 6 or 7, at tin cans by the wood pile at the cabin in Peaceful Valley. Every time we went to the cabin I got him to take me out to shoot the .22, a tubular magazine semi auto Remington, which I have today. I'm at the cabin now, and still shoot here.

My neighborhood friends shared their BB guns with me, but my parents wouldn't let me get one. There was the shooting gallery fun with cheap .22s at Lakeside and Eliches in the late 50's and 60's. Finally, on my 12th birthday, my folks gave me my first rifle, a fine .22 Mossberg 350 semi-auto with a Monte Carlo walnut stock and 7 & 15 round mags (a junior assault rifle!). It was my pride and joy, and I still have it. Once I proved my responsibility with a real rifle, they let me buy a pellet gun.

Our Boy Scout troop took early NRA Hunter Safety and Basic Rifle Marksmanship courses at the Arvada Rifle and Pistol Club, taught by Bob Tullis and Bill Hardy. Bob became my coach through the NRA junior marksmanship program. I used a club DCM Rem 513T rifle, then saved my lawn mowing earnings to buy an Anschutz 1408 match 54. I competed in local and regional matches, winning some state championships in junior smallbore rifle. I was working on distinguished expert when I shipped off to college. Ft. Lewis didn't have an ROTC or other shooting program, so my junior shooting career ended until I started highpower rifle competition in the late '70s with my DCM and later, CMP Garands. I still have and shoot all these rifles.

For starting kids out, I think my parent's approach was a good one. Instead of letting me begin with a BB gun that might be dismissed and abused because of it's low power, they started me with the heavier responsibility of a gunpowder firearm. I moved on by getting good safety and marksmanship training and buying my own target rifle. I later became an instructor, collector, hunter and guide. Firearms have long been a part of my life and I credit a good start with the right teachers at a young age.

[Dave]

Mother was a socialist democrat who thought Christmas Story was a documentary about how even a BB gun could kill the person shooting it. I wasn't even allowed to shoot them at Cub Scout camp. First gun I fired was was an M16 when I joined the Army. First gun I bought was a Lorcin 9mm when I was 21 that I was forced to store at my grandmother's house under double lock and key. Once I got out and moved to CO I started getting into collecting and shooting more. Still have the Lorcin, and somehow I have 300+ rounds through mine.

First hunt was a bow hunt my uncle took me on when I was 16. Black bear in MI. First firearm hunt was in Killeen, TX where I got a whitetail doe with a lever action in .35 Marlin.

[StagLefty]

Got the infamous Red Ryder about 8 years old and was hooked for life.

[Aloha_Shooter]

I didn't own a real gun until I was 35 but I shot BBs and .22s every chance I got, starting around age 8. If you extend this question to toy guns (which still give you a chance to hit them early on with basic safety practices like muzzle control) .... well, I was the neighborhood armorer around age 4. I had a barrel of water pistols, cap guns, and cork guns. I think my grandparents gave me a double-barreled cork gun every year their visited (and I'd promptly cut the cord keeping the cork tied to the gun). Hell, my first "gun" was apparently a fish -- Mom took me to a fish market in a cowboy outfit and I promptly held one of the fish like it was a six-shooter.

[fj605]

I was around 15 when I got my Marlin bolt action .22 for Christmas. First gun I purchased was an 870 on my 18th birthday. Happy to say that I still have both.

[ThunderSquirrel]

I was 8 when I got an NEF break action 20g.
I shot the hell out of it missing dove after dove.

[Dave_L]

I was 21. Bought a Smith and Wesson Sigma series. I've come a long way since then.

[3beansalad]

When growing up in NE GA, I was allowed to shoot a family 22 rifle nearly whenever I wanted. At the age of 18 I was issued several firearms by the US Army. I had to have been 30 by the time I purchased my first civilian firearm (a Gen3 Glock Model 17,) I continue to add to the safe to this day.

[DocMedic]

Age 10, Daisy .22 bolt rifle.

I didn't buy my first pistol till I was 26

[.455_Hunter]

I got my first BB gun at age 9 (had used older brothers stuff previously), .22 Single Shot at 11, 20 ga Single Shot and 7mm Mauser Mil-Surp at 12, .38 Enfield at 13.

As a 14 year old in the Boulder County foothills in 1990, I carried my .38 Enfield on a daily basis after school and was responsible for its storage, care and feeding. Talk about giving anti-gunners fits!

[TRnCO]

as many others have, I got my first red rider at 7 or 8. Then shortly after stepped up to a pump Crossman. Then had my first shotgun at 11 which was a single shot 4/10. Then at 12 got my first pump 20 gauge.

[BlasterBob]

In 1943 (I was 7) the older brother and I scrounged pop/beer bottles @.2cents each, to buy a Daisey single shot BB gun. My Grama gave me my first real gun, Winchester Model 67 for my 12th birthday. Got my first .50BMG single shot at about age 49 and still have the .50.
Now it appears that I may have to get a FFL 01 just to sell off my assortment of guns. Damn sad if that is actually going to be required.

[ANADRILL]

6, 20 gauge single shot...kicked like a horse...

[killianak9]

19 when I was given an old Marlin 22lr.
I Bought my first 12g at 32, then pistol shorty after.

[MarkCO]

For my boys, BB guns around 6, rimfire around 8, 9mm/.223 around 10, .308 and 12g around 12. I got a .22 at 10, a .243 at 13 and bought my first handgun and shotgun on my 21st birthday.

A lot of it depends on age and maturity. My boys do very well. Sometimes I wish I could strap a pistol on them 24/7, because they are almost perfect angels when they have a gun in the holster or in their hands. :)

[Portsider86]

I was 7 when I got my first my first .22 from Big 5 and 4 or 5 when I first fired a gun. I was introduced to rimfire and airguns at the same time. Airguns were for at home or Scouts while the other stuff was the real thing.

[BPTactical]

Got the infamous Red Ryder about 8 years old and was hooked for life.

Throwing the Bullshit flag on this one Stag.
They didn't have Red Ryders back then, you got the Lewis and Clark airgun[Coffee]

63326

[hatidua]

Daisy at 6
Benjamin Blue-Streak at 8
Marlin .22 at 10

[StagLefty]

Throwing the Bullshit flag on this one Stag.
They didn't have Red Ryders back then, you got the Lewis and Clark airgun[Coffee]

63326

You smart man gunsmith !!

[Ridge]

Got my Red Ryder at around 8 years old. Got my first firearm about a month after my 21st birthday, bought an S&W Sigma .40. Terrible gun.

[wctriumph]

I have had toy guns since I can remember, first BB gun at 7, shot my first "real" gun at 8 (a .22 revolver, my ears were ringing for the rest of the day) and I received my first gun at age 13 for Christmas. It is a Remington 581 and I still have it. I put the scope on it in 1991.\

The first rifle I ever fired was this Remington 550-1 when I was 8. It was the first rifle my father ever bought, before he married my mom. When he passed it was the one thing of his I wished for above all else and fortunately my mother intervened and it came to me. I took it apart, cleaned it and I have not fired it since maybe 1975 or 76. I guess I will get it out this spring and rune a box through it, let my daughter shoot it, Grandpa started he out at 5 yours old with an old 10-22 I used to have.

[TheSparkens]

I come from a family of 12 dad was a Marin Corp sniper and could drive a tack with just about anything. I have been around guns as long as I can remember. My brother closest to my age and I shared a lever action gold trigger Marlin 22 from the time I was 8, I can't remember the age I first used a BB gun. Gun safety was always part of the fun, playing range master was always made to be a treat. Playing with the little green army men and a BB gun was second nature.

[Punkface]

19 when I bought my first AR.

[Limited GM]

Age 10, Daisy .22 bolt rifle.

I didn't buy my first pistol till I was 26

ive one in my safe...waiting for a gun buy back. What's it worth to ya?.

[O2HeN2]

Probably about 30, having grown up in an anti-gun family. A Smith and Wesson 686. Bought it because it'd shoot both .38 Special and .357 Mag.

I can still remember the first cylinder of .357s I tried. My thought: I'll never be able to handle that again!

My how times change. Now I enjoy the recoil!

O2

[DireWolf]

Parents being anti-gun when I was growing up, the first firearm (never had a bb gun) that I could call my own (sort of) was provided to me as one of uncle sam's misguided children...first one I actually owned was a Glock 17 that I received as a gift when I was 18....

On the other hand, one of my parent's friends had a pump action (not sure brand) 22lr that she let me shoot - was something like 7 at the time....also had a crazy neighbor that started inviting me over at around the age of 9-10 to shoot some of his stuff...things that looking back were much less age/size appropriate - the ones I can remember shooting with him were a Desert Eagle 50, 54cal(?) muzzle-loader, and a 458 weatherby magnum that kicked my ass even with beanbags taped on the buttstock....

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[izzy]

I was 34, I came from a place where firearms aren't very common. Been playing catch up ever since.