How did you begin?

[JD45]

I began with a .22 revolver. Six months later, a .38spl. 4" barreled revolver. Then, .45colt and 44 magmums. Nearly a decade later I bought my first 1911, 45ACP.

This does not count shooting Grandpa's S&W M&P .32-20 twice a year from age 8. Or old top-break Iver Johnsons and other small pistols supplied by a couple of loving Great Uncles.

[Sixgun]

My first handgun was a Ruger 22/45. The next was a Ruger P90DC in .45 ACP.

I guess I followed the traditional route.

Ray

[kimel]

Dad started me on a center fire, 1917 .45 revo, at the ripe old age of 5 (I now have that gun in my collection albiet it has undergone some major changes since then).

I therefore voted centerfire because it was a centerfire but I was shooting wax bullets. The purpose of his experiment was to determine if I could hold the gun and pull the trigger. I could, barely, using one hand to hold and one hand to pull the trigger. Aiming? What's that? I was shooting at balloons taped to the concrete wall in the basement. You can still find wax embedded in the voids of that wall. We used to do this for hours and hours until Mom would make us stop. We didn't worry about lead in primers in those days.

Dad doesn't recall when I switched to real ammo but is pretty sure it was poofter loaded .38 specials and .22 LR.

I know by around 10 I was shooting ,45 ACP (1917 and 1911 platforms) and by 12 was shooting .44 mag because somewhere in the archives there are pictures of me doing this thoughtfully inscribed by Mom with dates/ages. I should dig those out someday....

Then magnum fever set in and I did bad things to my right hand and developed a knarly flinch doing silhouette with a .44 mag Ruger Super Blackhawk. Took years to get rid of that flinch.

Thanks for the poll...it helped prompt me to dig up a lot of old, very pleasant memories. I need to call Dad now and thank him.

[BrianH]

2 1/2" 686 with 124 gr. hollowpoints. Couldn't hit a frikkin thing....

[JFD]

Started when I was 4 with a pump Winchester .22 rifle. At that time we shot things that are now considered BAD, such as water filled beer bottles at what passed for a small town dump. I don't recall much beyond the fact that I believe I remember being there.

When I was 5 my dad let me shoot weak .38s in an old style Blackhawk. Couldn't hit squat, neither could he. 20 years later I discovered both of us needed larger grips although that wasn't an excuse when I was 5.

Also started firing a few rounds out of his new pre-series 70 Colt .38 Super. I was shooting 158 grain SWCs @ 159 PF with the original "headspace on the semi-rim" barrel. Couldn't hit squat - Didn't care. Damn that gun was fun to shoot. 3 barrels later it's still fun to shoot. Now that I'm 40, I can hit pretty good with it and used it as my ESP gun before I started using the frame as part of my back-up L-10 gun. It will be a .38 Super again when my daughter is ready.

He eventually let me shoot everything he had and every new gun he bought. At 10 years old he started buying me guns of my own. My main focus was the fact he had promised me that .38 Super when I turned 21. He kept his promise too.

[Eye Cutter]

my very first firearm was a dan wesson w/ a 4in bbl in .38 special

[eerw]

My first was a stainless Colt 1911...

[mpolans]

I don't know for sure which I started with. I know when I was 4 or 5 years old, I would split my time shooting a 10/22, Ruger Single-Six, CAR-15, S&W Combat Masterpiece in .38 special, Browning Hi-Power, and a Colt 1911 in .45. For some of the bigger stuff, like the .45 and the S&W revolver, my dad would wrap his hands around mine and I'd pull the trigger.

I first shot his .44mag T/C Contender with a 4x scope on it, with him gripping the forearm when I was about 8 or 9. After a little bit of this, I decided I could shoot it unassisted, so I loaded it up, rested it on the sandbag, aimed, and pulled the trigger....but I forgot to lock my elbows. When it recoiled, the gun came up and the scope nailed me right in the forehead, giving a HUGE goose egg. I screamed and dropped the gun. I suddenly lost my desire to shoot .44mag for a while.

[bgary]

OK, so, I came at it from a weird direction.

I was raised in a completely anti-gun family.... my mother literally taught me to believe that guns will jump off shelves and kill babies all by themselves.

First firearm I ever touched was when I was 28 years old - I marched down to the gun store and bought an AK-47, specifically because California was about to pass a law that said you couldnt buy one, and it pissed me off. So, I bought an AK and a couple cases (!) of steel-core 7.62 ammo for something like $389.

Took it to an NRA high-power rifle match. Got some really weird looks from the guys with the mirror-polished Garands. Got really bored at the concept of "rapid fire" being something like 7 rounds in 3 weeks, or whatever it is.

But, from around the end of the berm, I heard "bang-bang, bang-bang, bang-bang" and that sounded like a lot more fun. Upon investigating, I saw my first IPSC match. Within a week, I had traded the AK for a Springfield 45 and a Hornady reloading press.

Still have the .45... and Mom and Dad still aren't speaking to me

Bruce

[Liota]

27 years old. Smith & Wesson Model 629. .44 Magnum

My Father-in-Law reportedly told Wakal that "She's a keeper."

[kdj]

I learned to shoot on a H&K P7M8 'cause it looked "interesting"

Kevin

[Loves2Shoot]

A 9 shot revlover in .22 when I was 6.

[sargenv]

Oddly enough, my first real Handgun was a T/C Contender .30-30 wearing a 14" tube and 1.5-4x Burris. Soon after that it was a Ruger GP100 6". I shot both of those for a very long time. My friend told me "It will take you at least 7 years before you can fire that T/C proficiently". Well, he was right, it did take about that long. When I had it dialed in and I was doing everything I could, it was hard to miss with that thing even out to 200 yards. I didn't start doing IPSC stuff until fairly recently (last 5 years or so, and the last 3 seriously).

I realize now that it wasn't the right direction for me and any new shooter I bring to the range gets to shoot my model 41 S&W. Build confidence, teach good gun handling, marksmanship, etc. I tell most of the people that want to try shooting that I can generally have them shooting better than at least 50% of the people at the slow fire range on any given day. I haven't been wrong yet lol

The first real gun (not air rifle) I ever fired was a Browning Auto 5 in 12 gauge. The first gun that was bought new for me was a Model 870 Wingmaster in 20 gauge, I was 13. I still have that one.

Vince

[Run n Gun]

27 years old. Smith & Wesson Model 629. .44 Magnum

I've been shooting rifles since I was 4 but my first handgun was a 8 3/8", nickle plated model 29. I was about 15 and man, I loved that gun. I must have ran 10K full-house loads through it!

I remember the first time I shot a 357; I ran a cylinder, handed it back to the owner and asked him "Just what in the Hell do you DO with that little thing?".

The first time I shot a 1911? I just laughed.

Ed

[texasag93]

Started with a S&W 586, moved to a Ruger MkII, bought a LW Colt Commander, then a Mil Spec SA 1911. Has really gotten out of hand since that first revo. TXAG

[bmadsen]

I started with a .22 target gun I borrowed in the local gun club. My first privately owned handgun was a stainless Beretta 92FS, then I got a Ciener .22 conversion unit for it. Next was a used S&W 586 with an Aimpoint. I had the Beretta for 9 years, but after I got my STI I didn’t shoot it and the S&W much, so I sold them along with the Ciener .22 conversion unit. Latest toy is a Marvel Unit 1.

[kevin c]

I started shooting casually with friends and their revolvers during medical school. It was very casual and very occasional because we couldn't afford much time away from the hospital nor much money for ammo. My buddies all owned Ruger .357 Magnums and shot cheap .38 Spl reloads through them,

I bought a 92FS about 13 years ago, almost on a whim. I did the NRA pistol qualification with a .22, and started shooting the 9mm. The .40's followed when I got into IPSC. I actually got my first .22 just this year.

[George]

How did I begin my handgun training? With a rifle, in the boy scouts. Later, NRA High Power rifle. My first IPSC match was a local rifle only one. I got into handgun competition a few months after that.

[Dead Buff]

My first shots fired...a Webley .455 top break - hit my uncle in the face during recoil (I was ±2years old) and a few minutes later got a black eye from a scoped Mini 14 holding the rifle under my arm....

[9MX]

Started last year with the G17. Shooting is a childhood dream for me

[IPSCDRL]

My first handgun was a Ruger Mk-II that my dad purchased for me when I was a teen. My uncle had taught me to shoot .22 rifles when I was about twelve. I still remember banging away with the Ruger and dad yelling at me because he thought it was full auto. I guess I had a fast trigger finger even back then.

[Bob Hostetter]

1st pistol I shot was a German Luger my dad brought back from WW2. 1st rifle was a Mauser 98 in 270. 1st shotgun was a H&R singleshot .410.

[Mistral404]

I was first introduced to pistol shooting with a Colt Match Target .22 pistol (my moms gun) and a JC Higgens rifle at a very young age (6-7) My older brother was a competitive .22 rifle shooter for a few years and parents were very supportive of him. So they let me shoot the pistol and rifle under their supervision when I tag along. btw: i still have the Colt and the JC Higgens.

When I was discharged from the service in the early seventies my best friend's father and I were window shopping in a gun store. My dad had been looking for a SW Model 27 .357. There it was, so I purchased it for my dad. A couple months later another one came it. So I got that one. I sold it later for titution. A little later I got a BHP, still have it. I did some plinking with them and took them on camping trips and that was the extent of it.

27 years laters my best friend's brother introduced me to USPSA. I used a C&S tuned BHP for starters, then a .45 then a couple of .40s.

The best thing is that I started shooting Tuesday Night Steel at the same time I starting shooting USPSA. I had no idea who TGO was at the time, he was just this real helpful guy who shot well. I still remember his advice "if you take three steps or more reload."

[Strider]

By the age of 6 my dad took me to fire a friends Beretta .22

1 year later I tried a CZ 7.65

Later I tried the 9X19 and shooting it ever since (beside any random other cal comming my way these days ).

[TriggerT]

Colt Commander in .45ACP was the first one I shot more than a few rounds through, but my Sig 226 which I still have was my first purchase. I still just love the way the gun fits my hand.