Tell us about your first one
 

No, not that first one.

I was doing some spring cleaning tonight and found an old receipt. It was for my first gun-- a used Savage .22 lever action rifle. My collection of guns increases every year (sometimes every month), but there's always something special about that first one. I guess because it was the start of it all, or maybe it's just that I'm sentimental.

It got me wondering about what everyone else here started out with. I expect a lot of you got your first gun as a child. (Myself, I was well into my adult years, which suggests to me I'm trying to make up for lost time.)

I'm curious to know-- what was your first gun and do you still have it? (I gave mine to a friend.) Did you buy it, or did somebody buy it for you?

Red Ryder BB gun at about 5...first real one was Winchester bolt single shot ...Christmas present at about 6-7. Don't know what happened to that one. The habit has grown ever since then!
Dan

My first "owned" gun was given to me by my father. Ruger M77 .308 w/ manlicher stock. It killed a deer this year. Although I have many others, that old girl is the first one I grab come rifle season. It has killed more critters than I can recall.

My 5 yr old, just got his first .22 (crickett) for Christmas. He's a pretty darn good shot with it. There isn't a pop can safe in our house. Unfortunately we still have 2 feet of snow, so we have to wait until the weather breaks for him to get out and shoot more.

PA has a youth mentoring program, so I plan on getting him enough practice and gun ethics by next fall to get his sights on his first squirrel by age 6.

My first owned gun was a Harrington and Richardson single shot 20 guage with a 3" camber and a modified choke that I was given by my grandparents for my 6th birthday. They felt that if I was given a BB gun first I would be careless with it, and they were probably right. I learned to respect that old 20 very quickly. Not only do I still have it but it has taken more squirrels and other game that any other gun I own. It is still in great shape too.

GoodOlBoy

Mine is a Savage Model 72 given to me by my Grandpa for my 7th birthday. It's a .22 single shot and will be given to my oldest son as soon as I can get to Arizona to see him

First gun was a 22 given to me by my dad. It was his gun then he gaveit to me. I still have it- haven't shot it for years though.

My first owned gun (besides a pellet gun) was a No III mk 4 Enfield in .303 Brit. I took my first Whitetail with it. Unfor it never took another deer as I moved to a .30-06 Springfield, and now to a 6mm Tikka. The gun will always sit in my gun cabinet, and fond memories will it always bring.

Red Ryder BB gun at age 5. My cousin who was a good 6 months older taught me how to put the top of the post level with the bottom of the notch. I could get the windage OK, but it took me a year to figure out why the elevation was so wrong.

Later, it was a Mossberg .22.

My first owned gun was a Remington 512 that I got for Christmas the year when I was 9. I still own that gun and it looks like new, refinished twice. It sports a Redfield 3-9 scope.

My first purchased gun was a Ruger Single Six converatable that I traded Dick Riley out of while I was in high school. Dick of Hookset, New Hampshire would later become the President of the NRA. I still have that well worn Ruger and the original holster I bought for it. The belt has shrunk a bit though.

Both 22 RF guns have gone with me over many a fence and rock wall.
Best,
Ed

Stevens 20 guage single shot youth stock was first powder gun and the Crossman pellet gun was the first ever gun both given to me by my father.

The first gun I ever personally purchased was a win 9422 mag and with a 3-9 power scope it was 259 with tax. Seen the same gun sell on gun broker for 800 and yes i still have all of the above guns including the pellet gun I shoot with my 9 year old daughter.

My first real gun (not a BB gun) was a Ranger .22 lr pump - just like the ones in the old shooting galleries. I think it was sold by Sears or Monkey Wards. It's a copy of or made by Winchester (I need to research this). I got this rifle from my dad when I was about 12 or 13 years old. It had been his rifle. I practiced with it a lot and was quite the shooter. I hunted squirrels and rabbits with it many times. It's now collecting dust in my gun safe as it became worn and loose - would fire with the chamber partially open. Then the firing pin became worn and it wouldn't fire reliably. I was told by gunsmiths that it wasn't worth fixing but I'm thinking now maybe it would be a good future project...

Mike

My first?

A Marlin 336C in .30-30.

I'm very comfortable with it.

After wearing out a couple BB guns I finally came of age to actually hunt with a firearm. The first couple of years I used my brothers old Wards Hercules single 16 ga with the split stock taped up with white athletic tape.

For my 14th Christmas my mother bought me a Fox BST 16 ga double. It accounted for plenty of game from rabbits to squirrels, ducks, pats and even my first goose. Sits in the gun cabinet most of the time now as I do little small game hunting anymore.

A couple of years ago I did have it out hunting pats with a rescue chocolate lab that I had picked up and wanted to see if it would do anything in the woods. When I got back to the car there were a couple of guys sitting in a truck in the parking lot. I sat down on a boulder to shoot the breeze. The driver said "You don't see many of those old guns around anymore"

That statement kinda caught me by surprise as I didn't realy think of the old double as being old. After thinking a minute I realized that maybe a 50 year old gun might be considered old. I wonder what that makes me?

it was 1967, I was 7 years old, living in corpus christi tx. Dad bought me and my bro each a mossberg model 183TB bolt action 410 ga. still remember the serial # 175550, I don't have it but its still here, gave it to my 10 year old daughter. that was alot of years and alot of guns ago.
RR

1st gun was the old Red Ryder given to me by my Grandfather for training purposes. First gun I purchased was a Win Model 52 so I could shoot on the rifle team.Second gun was a Win, Model 70, 220 Swift.

I bought it from my roomie in college. His girlfriend got PG and he needed the money. 6 months later my GF got PG. That gun had bad Karma. But I still have it. My GF/Wife got PG 4 more times after that. I finally figured out what was causing that malady.

Best wishes, Bill

YukonGirl,

In 1958, I was 13 and bought an "Army Gun" deer rifle for $13.88 to hunt PA deer. I bought an Italian M1938 7.35mm carbine and it is still in my vault. The next year I bought a No4 Mk1 .303 British and the collection grew from there.

Adam

First 'real' gun: Mossberg 500 pump that I bought from Kmart in 1975 with money I saved doing odd jobs & such (I was 14).

First rifle: .22 Remington Nylon 66 that my dad bought me for deer hunting.....got it for Christmas in 1975 because he didn't know I couldn't legally hunt deer with it (hence why I was allowed to buy the Mossberg).

First centerfire rifle: Winchester 94 in 30/30.....a Christmas present from my folks in 1976.

First handgun: Colt Trooper Mk III, 6" barrel, blued, in .357 magnum. Bought it for myself for my 21st Birthday! :)

....and yes, I still have all of them.

Great stories-- all, and I appreciate everyone sharing them. I'm hoping more will add to the thread.

I'm seeing a theme that's not surprising to me-- as fond as we are of our first gun purchases, for some, it's just as special to pass them on to the next generation.

First guns
 

My first long gun I bought was a Winchester M-12 in as new condition. It was a 12 ga 26 inch imp cyl field gun..paid 35 bucks for it. I was 9 years old. Sold it a few days later for 50 bucks. Hey 15 dollars was a lot of money back then. First handgun was a Colt SAA 38-40..Made in 1900 and about 65%. Paid 15 bucks..I was 11 and I hid it from my parents till I was 18. They would have probably taken it away from me. One of the few guns from my early years I still have. The first 22 was a Winchester 69 I bought for 10 bucks when I was 12. Still have it too. And boy oh boy...has it had a "few" rounds through it. Probably over 150,000 of all sizes. Whatever I could afford at the time.

Hmm... The gun I'll never beat was the first one I "owned". Dad got me a Crosman model 66 when I was 9 years old. That thing shot better than I could - which is weird for an air rifle. Killed countless birds, chipmunks, and even a few squirrels. Longest shot I made with that thing was... well, you wouldn't believe what the rangefinder said when I ranged it years later (rest and target position being stationary...). Long story short, I could hunt big game for the rest of my life, and not come close to the kill tally that thing owned (I was heartbroken when it finally wore out). Had a few .22LRs that were readily available shortly thereafter - much to the distress of the local groundhog population. When I finally bought my first "real gun" it was a Winchester pump 12 gauge. Killed my first whitetail buck with that shotgun (as well as my first tom turkey), and I'll never part with it. I may have better firearms in my arsenal, but none will hold as much intrinsic value.

gd

BB guns weren't allowed, I'd shoot my eye out!

First gun was a Remington 1100, 20 gauge, Standard Receiver and Mag Tube, 26" skeet choke barrel. I bought it from JC Penney right after I turned 18. A year or so later they gave up guns and their entire sporting goods dept. My brother was working there at the time so I got his employee discount making it more affordable.

I still have that gun today. The cat pi$$ed on it once but fortunately he hit the additional full choke barrel that I had mounted on it at the time so I had to have that reblued. Shot a lot of Quail and Dove with that gun in my early days. Now I have to wade through all the shotguns, rifles, and pistols in the safe just to get a glimpse of it way in the back!

Oh TD...
 

Tell us about your first pink tutu..oh and the first tinfoil helmet!!

mine was a 410 single shot my moms boyfriend bought it for me for xmas have killed alot of rabbits with it i allways think of lenny when i use that gun he has sinced pasted away

Stevens 22/410 over and under when I was 9...it had a broken stock so my dad had a gunsmith make a new one for me and the gunsmith added free a raccoon one one side and a pheasant on the other side of the stock for birthday...still own it....first deer rifle...30/30 marlin..gave it to daughter and she still uses it..

M16 in the Army, and believe me you OWNED that gun, if you think you didn't, ask the Drill Sgt...lol

At first it was a red rider bb gun my parent's bought for x-mas , then it was a .22 magnum (steven's) brandname from my grandmother which got my 1st deer with then it was a burned in a fire .308 savage that i traded and i bought a Colt ar-15 .223 got a few varment's and a deer till i traded it for a 12ga with a folding stock , pistol grip....from an army buddy....Now almost 30 years later i got a lil'black rifle AR-15 (Tricked-out) , a few shot-gun's and just added to my toy-box a Thompson / Center .308 Encore Pistol that never get's out of my sight (hopefully ill be takin a moose with it this fall )......if luck goes my way !!!!!!