First gun

[HowieNH]

Some other recent threads got me thinking. What did you guys learn to shoot with and/or what was your first gun?

I learned to shoot with an old rolling block Remington .22 not sure the model have to look next time I'm at my dad's. First of my own was a rlbeat up remington 572 fieldmaster. So proud when I handed over that money. I shot those two rifles I swear for an hour every day after getting off the bus for hours.

Edit the single shot was a reminton model no.4 with an octagon barrel.

Bolt action mod berg 22 squirrels
Winchester lever 30/30 took my first deer

 

[deer_shooter]

I thought Westernfield was Coast to Coast or Gambles. Wasn't Sears stuff either J.C. Higgins or Ted William's brand? We're reaching back there into the golden age of gun making.

It could have been Montgomery Ward too, my memory isn't what it used to be.

 

[jakenbake]

First gun was a Savage .22, followed quickly by a Remington 870 Express which rusts when it sees daylight . Still, the only deer I've killed with a gun fell to that shotgun.

 

[Ben Lamb]

Here's a list of the old store brand guns & the associated maker & model:

http://www.nramuseum.org/media/940938/store%20brand%20crossover%20list.pdf

 

[Jbotto]

First gun I got to shoot was my dad’s old Remington 514 that he used for slaughtering around the farm. Followed that with two different Daisy Powerline bb/pellet guns that were each worn out after two years. After or between the BB guns came my first .22. A Marlin 981t. Borrowed a few shotguns after that, first being a Stevens 67 .410 pump and then a Mossberg 835 12Ga. Gave those back before buying my first 870 Express 12 and never have looked back.

 

[OntarioHunter]

It could have been Montgomery Ward too, my memory isn't what it used to be.

Yeah, I think it was Wards. Back in the day Gambles, Coast to Coast and Monkey Wards were all on the same block in Kalispell. I remember seeing Westerfield on the rack in one of those stores.

Edit: Ben's reference jogged my memory: Gambles sold stuff under the Hiawatha name. They also had the first color coded shotgun shells: red = 12 ga; purple = 16 ga; yellow = 20 ga. Yellow is the only color that stuck universally. I had no idea Sears used so many brand names for their guns.

 

[prhunter]

My first gun was an used Remington Sportsman 12 Pump. I bought it after they had been discontinued. Shot my first deer & turkey with it.

I still have it to this day.

 

[Nick87]

Yeah, I think it was Wards. Back in the day Gambles, Coast to Coast and Monkey Wards were all on the same block in Kalispell. I remember seeing Westerfield on the rack in one of those stores.

Edit: Ben's reference jogged my memory: Gambles sold stuff under the Hiawatha name. They also had the first color coded shotgun shells: red = 12 ga; purple = 16 ga; yellow = 20 ga. Yellow is the only color that stuck universally. I had no idea Sears used so many brand names for their guns.

My old man talks about coast tocoast all the time. If I remember right thats where his first marlin .22 came from.

 

[LukeDuke]

Crosman 2100 Christmas present. One of the best days of my life. I do feel terrible sometimes though about those early days. Young boys can be worse than house cats on backyard birds.

First hunting was with a double barrel 20 gauge Mercury Magnum. Shot a deer at 100 yards through the heart on sheer dumb luck.

Then a 12 ga Rem 870 Express with which I have killed more game than all
my other guns combined.

Then a Rem 700 BDL in 7mm Magnum as a college graduation present.

Lol that first statement is so true. We “borrowed” my moms bird feeder and placed it in this grove of trees behind our house. We would get camouflaged and lay there and wait for the sparrows to come in. That bird feeder was riddled with holes from our Daisy Pump BB gun. We stacked them up, but looking back I feel kind of bad that we just thrill killed those birds. Makes me appreciate my time in the field today...in a much different way.

 

[OntarioHunter]

Lol that first statement is so true. We “borrowed” my moms bird feeder and placed it in this grove of trees behind our house. We would get camouflaged and lay there and wait for the sparrows to come in. That bird feeder was riddled with holes from our Daisy Pump BB gun. We stacked them up, but looking back I feel kind of bad that we just thrill killed those birds. Makes me appreciate my time in the field today...in a much different way.

Don't feel too badly. English sparrows are an aggressive invasive species. They kill native western bluebirds. Fire away!

My first bird was a robin shot with another kid's BB gun. Yeah, I did feel bad about that. My one and only songbird. Very dumb.

 

[ThunderNocked]

Some other recent threads got me thinking. What did you guys learn to shoot with and/or what was your first gun?

I learned to shoot with an old rolling block Remington .22 not sure the model have to look next time I'm at my dad's. First of my own was a rlbeat up remington 572 fieldmaster. So proud when I handed over that money. I shot those two rifles I swear for an hour every day after getting off the bus for hours.

Edit the single shot was a reminton model no.4 with an octagon barrel.

My first gun was a 1951 Remington 511 Scoremaster .22 - Shoots Shorts, Longs and something else. Still have it, very accurate and fun little rifle. HEAVY, not easy for a small kid to handle.

 

[RobertD]

My paternal grandfather claimed the right to buy each of his grandsons their first gun when they reached the age of ten. Each boy got a twenty gauge pump action shotgun, presented at the Christmas that fell after their tenth birthday. Mine is in February so I got it a few months early. Killed two turkeys on his farm in Central Florida with it that spring, took it to Illinois and killed my first deer, a whopper doe in a snowpacked creek bottom that next December. It's lovingly retired, next to one of his own shotguns that he gave me about fifteen years later, at what would turn out to be his last Christmas. I loved that man and cherish both of those guns, and still have a framed picture of us holding up our two turkeys!

 

[JustinsDad]

I don’t remember shooting the first firearm but I remember in about 1966 getting my Winchester .22 that was MINE. Loved it. The next year I got my Stevens single shot .410 for Christmas. Man that 410 killed a lot of quail and doves. And cottontails. The 22 thinned out ground squirrels like a gang of hawks.

 

[Fj605]

I learned on a Daisy pump BB gun, then Grandfather's.22 bolt action, and Dad's 12ga.

The first gun I got as a gift was a Marlin .22 bolt action. First I bought myself was a Remington 870 Express.

 

[OldSnort]

My first real gun other than BB guns was a Savage 20ga double barrel shotgun

 

[AndyPOW]

My first shooting was with my Dad's single shot Stevens .22, his WWII .22 service revolver, and his A.H. Fox double barrel 20 gauge, which at the age of 8 kicked like heck. Any inclination I have to flinch I blame on that freaking shotgun. Even years later when I was a good grouse hunter I couldn't kill a bird with that thing.

 

[Gunner46]

The 1st rifle I learned to shoot with was a Rem Nylon 66 bolt action .22 at the age of 9, shared with my brother. 'My' 1st weapon was a Stevens single shot 20 ga that I got for Christmas when I was 12. The 1st weapon I bought with my own money was a M93 Sporterized 7X57, mannlicher stock, fake ivory diamond insert at the magazine, age 15 ($55).

 

[Howie]

12 ga. Iver Johnsons Champion my grandfathers uncle bought in the 20's.

Still use it today, my only shotgun