USA1 wrote:I never had the advantage of being introduced to firearms from my dad. He was just never into guns.
It wasn't until my early twenties that I bought and shot my first gun...a sweet little stainless .25 with pearl grips.
I made sure to get my kids started young. My son has been shooting since he was big enough to level a gun.
Same here. My Father, (and my family in general) were never Gun or Hunting Folk, so I really missed that type of unbringing. I received a Red Ryder as a birthday present when I was 12-13, I believe.
I consider myself lucky though, which I didn't have my dad teach me to shoot, my Grandfather (Dads side) took me out to the range one day when I was about 14. My Grandfather was in the Navy during WWII and had somehow managed to get a nice collection of weapons from his time in the service (Trophy weapons/bring homes). He had an assorted collection of Mausers, Arisaka's, and maybe even a Springfield M1903. The coolest of his collection was an old liberator pistol (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FP-45_Liberator) complete with the old cardboard box, Pictogram instructions, and a few rounds of .45ACP. Hell it even had the stick/dowel that was packaged with it to eject the empties! As neat as that all was, the rifle that would change my life would be an old Winchester Model 62A .22LR. We went to K-Mart, picked up a few boxes of Lightning .22LR, and headed to our local range, the Fort Bliss Rod & Gun Club. He taught me the basics of shooting and safety and we went through all of the ammo we brought with us. I just remember thinking of how GREAT this was, and I had an absolute blast! After packing the gun up and heading out, my grandfather decided that we should get a year membership at the club. He took me home and taught me how to clean it, after that. The gun stayed in his possession though, for reasons I'm not sure of. Probably because my dad wasn't a gun guy.
We made it back to the range every now and then as a special treat. One of those visits I got to fire another .22, a Stevens Model 15A Single Shot Bolt Action that he'd actually found in my Aunts Garage. Last time I remember shooting with him was when I was probably 15 or so. Subsequently, we went to a gun show one day to sell off his collection, keeping only the .22's. He sold all of it for a couple of hundred (200ish) bucks, as neither of use really "knew" what anything was. I wish I knew then what I know now about some of those old weapons (especially the liberator, which is rare and can be worth tons of cash!). Thinking back, I think it's pretty odd because even though my grandfather had shooting experience, and a nice collection of weapons, he never shot them.
Fast forward to my 21st birthday. Being generally occupied with life, I hadn't been seriously shooting in years. Maybe squeezing off a few rounds from a gun savy friends AR every now and then, but thats it. As soon as I turned 21, my first order of Business was to get myself back into the sport and I picked up a Glock 17. Been shooting regularly ever since that day. I've only added a few guns to my collection since then, due to funds, so I imagine compared to most serious shooters than I don't have a lot. Know what the most prized guns I own are though? That old Winchester and Stevens... I wouldn't trade those for a MR556A1 or any other gun in the world, if given the chance. 'Gramps' died back in 2004 from Cancer, and I inherited both the rifles from him.
Great stories everyone. They really strike the point that hits me right in the heart - to me, shooting is just about family as any other event. Someday I'll teach my children how to shoot on those two old .22's.
