Your first firearm

[TOOL MAN]

Ahhhhhhh, a Glenfield Mod.# 10 single-shot .22 purchased at the new K-Mart in town on Dec. 23rd, 1972, a date that will live in infamy!! Brow-beat poor Mom into making it my Xmas present. Slept with it (a la Ralphy) all through the holidays! She had to call my older brother for the OK. He and my Dad constructed a range in the garage (.22 shorts only) that made for many memorable Saturday nights! ADAM-12, EMERGENCY, Clam-strip TV dinners and target practice.....what could be finer?

I was forbidden to shoot the gun without supervision but one afternoon I just couldn't resist and tried a few shots on my own. Well, you guessed it, the spring bolt somehow slipped from my sweaty fingers and the gun fired prematurely. Luckily, I had it pointed skyward and the round tore through the garage ceiling and lodged in a 2 x 10 floor joist. The hole is still there and I have since bronzed the Twinkie that I left in my shorts immediately following the report... The best of times!!

[George Lander]

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[Sam Ogle]

In the early 1950's; my Grandfather took me to a neighboring cattle ranchers home, where we borrowed a single-shot 16 gauge and 4 or 5 shells: He had me shoot it at a coffee can which I hit, and he said "You're ready." He took me duck hunting to a swamp, letting me out at one end while he drove to the other end. Someone had said "You gotta lead those Widgeons a box car if the wind's behind them." So, a lone duck came by with the wind, and I shot....the fore-end came off in my hand, the barrel went up in the air, and I'll be danged: the duck dropped like a stone. I am in my 70's now, but will always remember that first shot at a bird.
Sam Ogle, Lincoln, Ne

[bob weeman]

First gun received was a single shot Reminton 22 bolt action. You loaded the round and then had to pull back on the striker on the end of the bolt to cock it. I did have use of all the old family guns though. First deer hunt was with a stevens 311 12 guage. Buckshot in the right barrel and a slug in the left. My dad made me carry it open until I saw a deer. Graduated to my great grandfathers 1873 38-40. Almost a smooth bore with a horrible barrel. First gun purchaes....Springfield 1903 re-chambered to 30-338....luckly I lived through that one as it was my first time re-loading....I was 14....could only find load data for 4350 powder....could only find 4320......first shot blew the primer completelty out of the casing.....second shot threw the scope completely off the rifle. Should have looked at the casing from the first shot before shooting the second! Thank god those old Springfields were sturdy!

[Grantham Forester]

Originally Posted by Steve Cambria

Ahhhhhhh, a Glenfield Mod.# 10 single-shot .22 purchased at the new K-Mart in town on Dec. 23rd, 1972, a date that will live in infamy!! Brow-beat poor Mom into making it my Xmas present. Slept with it (a la Ralphy) all through the holidays! She had to call my older brother for the OK. He and my Dad constructed a range in the garage (.22 shorts only) that made for many memorable Saturday nights! ADAM-12, EMERGENCY, Clam-strip TV dinners and target practice.....what could be finer?

I was forbidden to shoot the gun without supervision but one afternoon I just couldn't resist and tried a few shots on my own. Well, you guessed it, the spring bolt somehow slipped from my sweaty fingers and the gun fired prematurely. Luckily, I had it pointed skyward and the round tore through the garage ceiling and lodged in a 2 x 10 floor joist. The hole is still there and I have since bronzed the Twinkie that I left in my shorts immediately following the report... The best of times!!

I have heard tell of deep fried twinkies- a true cholesterol gut bomb, but have a Twinkie bronzed, like baby shoes for display on your mantle perhaps? Only in America, I guess..

[ParkerBoy]

Other than a Daisy Eagle BB gun that I got for my 8th birthday......My first purchase was a 9 shot .22 revolver that I bought from a friend in 1961. He brought it to school in a brown paper bag and it went home with me the same way. We were in 7th grade. We still keep in touch, but he has a "bad" character flaw now.......he likes Winchester 101s. I keep telling him, "barrels do not belong on top of one and other!"

Things were different back then!

[PopPop]

I'm glad this thread was brought back around. It was great reading about everyone's first guns.

My first was a Winchester model 370 20ga. The 370 was like the model 37 of some Winchester fame and importance but was made in Canada. That little gun killed a tremendous amount of game and was given to my grand daughter on her 16th birthday. A grand daughter that, by the way, just made me a great grand father about 8 hours ago.

PopPop

[Michael D Hankinson]

I too started with a used Winchester Model 67 Single Shot, bought from a neighbor kid, I think I paid $7.00 back in 1953. My first Shotgun was a Savage hammerless 20Ga single shot, bought brand new from Custom Gun Shop in Grand Rapids MI. Grew up on a little dairy farm NW of GR, we would milk a cow and watch a ringneck fly in by the creek, then walk down and flush him out. One neighbor kid had some little Twenty Bore side by side that all the rest of us lusted after. My first SxS was a Spanish 20Ga that somehow has multiplied. I only have one Parker at the moment, have had four over the years.

[J.B. Books]

Chistmas 1969 I found a box under the Christmas tree with a Savage-Springfield 187 semi-automatic 22. To go with it my dad had a bullet trap made from boiler plate where he worked. He set up in the basement and we spent the afternoon with me learning to shoot. I still have the gun, I wish I still had the bullet trap.

[John Yancey]

First gun for me was also a Savage 22/410 and the local squirrel population was none too pleased. I got that gun on my 8th birthday and my father took me out showed me how to shoot it and drilled me on the safety rules of a firearm. I killed many a squirrel and rabbit with that gun and even folded up a few dove. My Dad told me to only kill what I was going to eat and I would start a little campfire in the woods and cook up my kills. The first squirrel I ever ate was skinned and dressed in a way only an 8 year old can manage but to me it was the most delicious meal in the world despite all the hair, dirt and ash from the fire. My second gun was a Miroku 20ga over/under and that is the gun I used at age 10 for all my bird hunting trips. Both those guns were stolen when I was 13 after someone broke into our home. All of the other family guns, including the Parker gun I now have were in our safe but because I always cleaned and polished the other two they were in my bedroom and thus available for the thieves. It still saddens me today to think about that but they were my first and most loved guns. This is a great thread and all of your stories are great to read.
Thanks for sharing your memories,
John