When did you get your 1st .22 rifle?

[Dustzilla]

I was raised in a gun free home. I was taught to respect them but I never spent any time with them until I became an adult. In my early 20's I became friends with a guy who had so many guns it took us three trips with his Chevy Blazer FULL of rifles just to get his rifles to his new apartment. He had been an NRA instructor and grew up with guns. I spent several years learning a great deal from him (cleaning, maintenance, safety, grip, stance, breathing, trigger pull, tactics, etc...).
The one thing he did not teach me was how to raise your only daughter with guns in your home (keep in mind I was raised in a gun free home).
My wife and I both have hand guns for personal protection. We have printed out the 4 rules to gun safety and materials from the Eddie Eagle program. We sit down as a family and go over the rules and ask her to explain them to us. Whenever we handle our guns (daily) we make sure we follow the rules. We let her know if she EVER wants to see any of the guns all she has to do is ask and we will do so ASAP. We do more on the education front, I'm just trying to paint a picture.

My questions are: If you grew up around guns what kind of education did your parents implement? When did you shoot for the 1st time? When did you get your 1st .22 rifle?

I have read a lot of good info and the more input the better as far as I'm concerned.

Thanks in advance!

 

[yotewacker]

I have been shooting since I was strong enough to hold a gun and sight it.
When I was 7 I got my 1st 22 single shot.
My father brought home a brick of 22's (aprox500) on Fridays and Wednesdays. So I shot quite a bit living in the country with few friends living close.
my father was very strict about were it was pointed.

 

[T4rdV4rk]

Dustzilla,

Your approach of letting your daughter see the guns if she asks is very smart. That is a great way of keeping her from sneaking around with them unsupervised.

And I still don't technically have a .22 rifle. Grew up shooting my dad's nylon 66 and never had a reason to buy my own.

 

[grahamsy2k]

I only shoot once when I was younger. I lived with my mom untill I was out of high school and my stepdad had some guns, and everyone was progun but we never went and did anything with the.

Once I turned 18 and moved to my dads I started getting into guns and got my LTCH. My stepmom Hates guns. She always says "You don't need guns, you don't need an AR15.. blah blah blah. I just don't understand how anyone could like shooting." and said it like I was stupid for like guns. Naturally my dad sided with her (even through he had guns in the house).

She said since I kept my handgun in my glovebox when I was driving my little sister couldn't ride with me. Like the gun would magically go off in the glove box and hit my sister. My stepmom and so ignorant when it comes to guns and is completely scared of them. It really bothers me. I mean realllllly.

I bought a handgun from my cousin then I bought a 10/22 at Favres in Terre Haute, and pretty much taught myself everything.

 

[eldirector]

I actually grew up in a "gun free" home. My mother was VERY anti-gun growing up. She wouldn't even buy me a BB gun, and hated the cap guns grandma gave me. My dad had a rifle in the closet, but I never did get to shoot it. My uncle taught me a little when I was a pre-teen (about 10 or so, I think). I didn't really shoot much of anything until with friends in high school. I've been trying to make up for it.

I'm taking a *slightly* different approach with my daughter. We are already practicing the Eddie Eagle rules. When she is a bit older, we'll take a range trip and start learning safety, function, range rules, etc.... Depending on her interest and temperament, she'll get her own whenever she is ready.

I have cousins (2nd or 3rd cousins) that had their own, in their own safe in their room, since they were about 10. They were hunting with their fathers several years by then. Not only are they crack shots, they are probably the safest kids I've ever seen with guns.

 

[pack-indy]

My fingers first grazed my 10/22 when I was a ripe old age of 7yrs old and I still have it today.

 

[Maximinus Thrax]

I wasn't really raised (in my earliest years) around guns. We always had a few rifles in the house but they were never fired, just there for storage. twas a shame really...

That being said, my parents finally came around when I was about 12 and got me my first .22 that I still have and still love to shoot, a Remington 572 Fieldmaster.

I have friends that bought their 8yo his first cricket .22 He's very safe with it and is always supervised. I intend to do the same thing.

 

[USMC-FF]

My father bought me a marlin model 60 stainless for my birthday when i was 7 years old. It was a total surprise and still to this day is the best birthday present to date. We'd go out shooting every weekend at the local gun club. Still have that gun and looking forward to passing it on to my daughter when shes old enough.

 

[GBolt]

12 years old, it was a Christmas present. Still have it after many, many years.

 

[ziggy]

We always had rifles in our house. I got my first .22 for my 10th birthday. I wasn't really taught about guns in a formal sense. I was just expected to pick up the rules from my Dad and older brother. I would have been better off with some systematic instruction.
Dustzilla, it sounds like you are on the right track and are doing a good job.

 

[Brandon]

When I was 27 or 28. Had my first bb gun around the age of 8 or 9.

 

[Foxxwoof]

I've been around firearms my whole life. My Dad and my Uncle were/are collectors. My Grandfather had firearms. All this was on my Dad's side of the family (my parents divorced when I was 7). My Mother doesn't mind firearms, its just not her thing, though she keeps a little Bauer .25 in her sock drawer, and her mother keeps a .22 rifle in the closet. My mom always told me my Great Grandma carried a .38spl every day until the day she died in her purse.

Anyway, the first time I ever shot a rifle was when I was 7 or 8. My Dad (supervised of course) would let me shoot his BSA Martini target rifle, and on occasion one of his .22 pistols. For Christmas when I was 9yo, he gave me my own .22 rifle (a Marlin 25N, which I still have).

My gun didn't come out of the case unless he was there. We shot as a family so I was always supervised and he taught me the 4 rules of safety. He also never kept any of his firearms from me, in fact I don't even remember him having a safe until I was oh 18-19ish. But the guns stayed in his office behind a closed (not locked) door, and the understanding was that they were off limits unless he specified otherwise or there would be repercussions (if you get my drift).

 

[ModernGunner]

I grew up in a 'gun' family. Nothing unusual, as most people used guns to feed their families, recreational shooting, competition ('turkey shoots', etc.), AND for defensive. My Father was a 'dead-shot', real Jed Clampett kinda stuff and, according to my Mother, my Grandfather was in the Tom Knapp category (look him up on YouTube, if you don't know who he is).

My Father bought my first .22 LR (Remington) just after I was born. Guess he figured it was one of those things he should teach his sons. Did the same thing for my Brother.

I began shooting at age 6, and have been doing so ever since. I've carried a gun, both as a civilian and professionally, for almost 4 decades now.

My Father always stressed, like any good firearms teacher and mentor, safety was always first. For hunting, don't kill ANYTHING for 'sport'. If you (or someone you know) isn't going to eat it, don't kill the animal.

As for defense, the mindset is that firearms are for defensive use, not to commit crimes. However, IF you must use a gun as a weapon, do so offensively. Be aggressive, assured, and committed as you're "all in" at that point. The bad guy 'might' survive, but you MUST survive. And you must think. Such scenarios are not 'won' (survived) by 'being the fastest shot'. They are won by thinking. And thinking 'better' than the bad guy(s).

The myth "If don't carry a gun, you won't need a gun" is a lie.

Guns are tools, nothing more, nothing less. Like ANY tool, if used carelessly or improperly, it has the capability to severely injure, or kill. Never underestimate, nor overestimate the capabilities of either the gun, or yourself.

Again, like any tool, the gun is ONLY as capable as YOU are. If you want to be proficient, you must learn, and apply what you've learned.

Practice does NOT "make perfect". Practice makes permanent. PERFECT practice makes perfect. For defensive, practice every day like 'tomorrow' you WILL in a lethal force situation, then pray that never happens.

Last, remember: Your most lethal weapon is your mind.

 

[Doublet]

First Gun

got my first 22 when I was 8 , from my grandpa

 

[w_ADAM_d88]

Marlin Mod. 60 at the age of 8. Still got it today, and still shoots just as straight.

 

[toyotaslave]

Never. Dad has a .22 WMR. And an old Remington .22 LR from his dead uncle. I shoot both when I can. I really need to get one for me and the kids. Took my son to a couple of LGS to look but I think he was humoring me. He's more of an indoors kid sadly. He is a smart kid and can spell really well though. My daughter on the other hand... she's a daddy's girl. She wants to shoot EVERYTHING I have (with help). If she can handle a Ruger MKIII I'm thinking she needs her own .22. Any suggestions for a 5-going-on-20 year old girl's rifle?

 

[JR Jan]

When I was a teenager I assumed possession of my dad's H&R Model 151 .22LR. (Without protest from him). He is gone now and I still have it. I think of him when I shoot it. My son shot it for the first time this summer. I hope that I can pass it onto him someday.

 

[Hoosier45]

Marlin 15Y for Christmas when I was 6 years old. I still have it 31 years later, it is still in great condition, and I will pass it on to my son when he is ready.

 

[RH822-A]

I got my first 22 for my 12th birthday, however I had accesses to a 22 rifle since I was 8 yrs old. Ironically I didn't get my first BB gun until I was 13, dad was afraid we (my brother and I) would shoot each other with them... his fears were confirmed within a few days of getting our BB guns, still have the BB in the back of my leg.

 

[RH822-A]

Never. Dad has a .22 WMR. And an old Remington .22 LR from his dead uncle. I shoot both when I can. I really need to get one for me and the kids. Took my son to a couple of LGS to look but I think he was humoring me. He's more of an indoors kid sadly. He is a smart kid and can spell really well though. My daughter on the other hand... she's a daddy's girl. She wants to shoot EVERYTHING I have (with help). If she can handle a Ruger MKIII I'm thinking she needs her own .22. Any suggestions for a 5-going-on-20 year old girl's rifle?

S&W 15/22, lite weight, accurate, cool as hell and the six position stock will allow the rifle to "grow" with the girl.