Have you still got your first gun ?

[Big John Denny]

My father used to take my brother and I rabbit hunting all the time. My father eventually gave my older brother a single barrel Stevens 20 ga. I, unfortunately, continued to act as the family beagle, running rabbits out of the briars.

On one trip, when I turned 12, my dad said it was time I got to shoot too, so he bought me an original H&R Topper single barrel in 20 ga. Back then it cost him $20 of hard earned money. Back then shells were $2.50 a box, so dad insisted my brother and I not shoot unless we could hit the target. One shot one rabbit or squirrel. Talk about pressure.

I killed about a gazillion rabbits, squirrels and one feral hog with that shotgun, and I still have it today. Every time I touch it I'm reminded of the good times I had with my dad, who passed away when I was 13, and my brother. I taught both my sons to shoot a shotgun with that same old gun.

[Virginia Gentleman]

Yes, I still do and so far I have been lucky only selling a few guns when times got rough.

[Ornery Orr]

My first gun was a small Harrington & Richardson .22 rifle and I still have it.  When my brother would go off to college I would swipe his stash of .22 ammo.  I probably shot at least 2000 rds through it as a kid.  Didn't know the value of ammo at the time, but I was "burnin' up" CCI Stingers!  When I got out of the Marine Corps in 1991, I decided to put a scope on it and bench it shooting CCI Green Tag.  15 shots made one ragged hole!  This rifle was given to me by my father who had purchased it used at a farm sale.  He thought it would be good for me because it was short and it was a single shot.  I've pulled that bolt many, many times.  

My first handgun was purchased in 1992.  It is a Smith & Wesson 629 Classic.  I bought it brand new and still have it.  Here in Iowa, we had an anterless only deer season the Fri, Sat and Sun after Thanksgiving.  On Friday morning, I shot my first handgun deer.  The .44 Magnum jumped and a 200 gr. Hornady XTP pierced the heart.  The deer went about 40 yds and dropped.

I also happen to have my Dad's first shotgun.  It's an old Revonoc double barrel.  Dad bought it for $10.00 at a farm sale when he was a kid (he was born in 1928).  It was only the metal and in a bucket.  The wood had been removed from it some time ago.  Dad knew a couple of brothers that lived on the river (Missouri River) that could whittle good.  He had them whittle a forearm and buttstock for it out of walnut.  When I started shooting CAS this was the shotgun I started with.  It still shoots great.

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[Mustang Gregg]

Yup.  I kept about half of the ones I had as a kid.  Wish I'd kept 'em ALL!
The first was a 20 ga Savage single shot.
Then Ruger 10/22,
High Std Supermatic,
Win M92 in .32 Special,
M-70 Win in .270.

[Bounty Bill]

Sure do. Winchester model 94 in 30/30 mfg in 1922.  My uncle won it in a poker game in the 1930s and gave it to my dad because he owed him money then dad gave it to me. It sits in my safe with 19 other Winchester rifles and shotguns.  Now that Winchester is going out of business and the price of Winchester is already going up they are a good investgment.

Bounty Bill

[Cyrille]

But of course mes amies, a Rimington single shot bolt action .22 (got it as B.D. present @ 12 years old.) My first revolver a SAA Colt Clone B.P. was stolen along with my son's B.P. Rimington 1861 "Navy" repoe on July 4th 1993. They broke into my gun cabenet ( A Sears, with a glass front, Ah innocence---The buggers that took the revolvers got scared off before grabbing my long guns when the phone rang. So aside from the revolvers I also lost about $600.00 in dimes I had been saving since I was a kid. We wern't home at the time.

[Brigid Tanner]

Unlike you guys, I didn't start shooting as a kid!  My dad let me shoot a long gun when I was young, not sure if it was a rifle or a shotgun, but it was really loud and I wanted no part of it. Knew where Daddy's pistol was, how to fire it,(again, loud and didn't want to play with it) and that if we ever touched it without a really really good reason(like someone actually breaking the door down to get in the house) that we'd be spanked, so I never went near it. (Spanking like he did then is probably against the law now) The first gun I bought was a Vaquero, cause all the cowboys told me they were great guns. Got it even thought it didn't feel right, cause I was told it was a good gun. Found the Cimarron Peacemaker clones that did actually fit my hands and sold the Ruger to a buddy who wanted a "cowboy" gun. Never regretted it!

[Griff]

1st gun I owned is a Remington 870 I won in a Navy raffle.  (1972)  It's still in my safe.  I've lost a couple of other to thieves before I bought a safe, but luckily this one escaped. 

[klausg]

  I guess I'm also in the sort of category.  My first gun was a Browning BL-22; I handed it off to my nephew when he turned 10.  I've only ever sold one, traded a few though & Thank God never had one stolen.

[Doc Sunrise]

I still have my first gun which I bought after graduating high school, which was the beginning of my collection that has been a work in progress now for 25 years.  It is a Smith & Wesson Model 57 .41 magnum in Blue with an 8 3/8" barrel.  Man was the bluing back then wonderful!

[geo]

believe it or not my very first gun is a springfield 50/70 i bought from norm flayderman himself when he had his outlet in maine (now that was a retail outlet to see...working tripod gatling gun, bear traps, and more old guns than one could imagine!). i paid $25 for it, still have it, still shoot it. geo.

[Mustang Gregg]

The very first firearm was a Stevens 20 ga single.  Dad bought it for me at the Farmer's Co-op when I was 9.
I still got it, although it is a bit shorter due to a bulge that hadta be cut off.

MG

[mtmarfield]

   Greetings!

   My first rifle was given to me for Xmas when I was eighteen: a Ruger 10/22 Standard, and we put a Bushnell 4X 'scope on it. Into one hole at twenty five yards... To the disappointment of the Inyo-Kern ground squirrels & desert Jacks!
   The first handgun was a little Hopkins & Allen folding hammer, .32S&W 5-shot top-break. It's still almost like new. My other first handgun was a Lyman "NM Rem." Cap&Ball .44; I won some bets with that revolver, and learned the joys of BP and bullet casting.
   They're still here.

               Be Well!

                               M.T.Marfield
                                 11-16-06

[Major E A Sterner]

The first gun I bought was a Marlin Mod.60 semiauto .22, I sold that years ago. The first Shotgun I bought was a Mossberg 500 12 gauge pump. I still have that one and use it for teaching Hunter Safety classes.That shotgun has had a LOT of rounds through it and still works like new. The first pistol I bought was sold off because the former owner butchered it trying to get it to feed hollowpoints. I still have my first Single action revolver a Ruger Blackhawk 3 screw .357 mag....will never sell that, I use it for CAS.

[captainjack]

Sadly, no!  I sold it to a family member that was living in a bad neighborhood with the understanding I would buy it back for the same amount of cash when the gun was no longer needed for protection. 

That family member died and his wife has not honored our agreement.  So, it is what it is.   

Captainjack.

[Ten Wolves Fiveshooter]

It was 19 and 52 when I got my first gun, I was 7 years old. It is a Remington model #511, with a clip, when I was in my teens I did a little redo on the stock, and had the action and barrel mirrer blued and added a Weaver scope, then a leather sling. the gunsmith that did the work on the action and barrel also mounted the scope. that gun would strike matches at twenty feet. and thats no BS. I still have this gun along with my Dads guns which there is no price on.

                  TEN WOLVES FIVE SHOOTER

[Sir Charles deMouton-Black]

I now have the first .22 I ever shot,  An old Savage single bolt gun, Model 3 G I think.  It was the grouse & ground squirrel gun at my uncle's ranch.  (My first love was a Remington #4 takedown in .32 rf.  I lost track of it, and the angora chaps, when the ranch was sold!)

The first gun I bought, a COOEY .22, when I was 13, with my own money, and only a verbal nod from my mom.  I got to carry it home through Victoria BC without any formalities or trigger lock nonsence.  That one, a Ruger Standard autopistol and a Jungle Carbine, were left with my Brother when I went to Germany with the Canadian Army.  He then left for Australia, and sold them before he left.  I have replaced them all since, and added many more!

[Major 2]

That 's funny I thought I had answered this thread 
Old Timer disease I guess 

Yes... I do it was my Dads Remington Bolt Action 22 with tube magazine. He later gave me his 3rd. model 32/20 S&W Hand Ejector.
The first Gun I bought on my own was a Ruger Single Six 22 LR/Mag. NIB, they had just been offered , it was taken some time back.

Many have come and gone but my favorite's and priceless are my Dads gifts and his others willed to me.
Another, with no price on it is my Colt 2 Gen. 1860 Army ( now sporting a R&D cyl. and Ivory Grips )
purchased in 1978.
It spawned a love affair for more Colts to follow, and my passion for conversions.
 

[Pitspitr]

Well Major, Like you I thought I had answered this one too, but appearantly not.
 I fall in the sort of category. That's because I wore out my 2 BB guns.

The first "real" gun I got was my Dad's 311 Stevens. He bought it about the time I was born with the savings from quitting smoking (he figured that way he'd actually quit and would be able to afford the new shotgun. It worked!) The year I got married, he bought a pump 12 ga. and on Christmas evening he brought out the 2 shotguns and offered my little brother his choice. Fortunately, Jim took the pump leaving me with my first choice anyway! Of course I still have it.

I still have the first gun I every bought too. It's a Ruger Mini-14. It's also probably the one I would keep if I could only own one gun. I could do most anything I'd want to with it. One shot head kills on birds, varmit hunting, and if it were legal, deer hunting would be a snap with it. I know most folks don't have much good to say about the "Mini" but mine's a sweetheart. If I do my part, I can hit anything I can see with it.

I still own all the cowboys guns I've every owned if you don't count the Marlin pump I shot a match with one time. I inherited it from my dear old father-in-law. I didn't have a lot of use for it but didn't feel it should leave the family. I gave it to my son. He likes it, I didn't.

I'm pretty much of an "aquirer". I still have most of the guns I ever owned although I have traded off some that were lemons or just didn't "fit" me for one reason or another. I don't regret any of those trades. I don't believe I ever sold a gun outright.

[Deadeye Dick]

As a kid I owned various BB guns from cheap single shots to Daisy Red Ryder and Daisy Model 25 pump to Benjamin .177 pump air rifle.
The first firearm I ever got was a hand-me-down Remington 12 Ga. Wingmaster pump. I was 12 and Dad took me quail hunting with it. I traded it for another Wingmaster when I was 18. The first gun I ever bought was a Remington Nylon 66 in 22 LR. I was 15 and I bought it in 1960 for $49.95. Took me a long time to save up enough money for that rifle. I still have it today and it will go with my estate sometime. I hope one of my off spring would keep it in the family.
Deadeye Dick