I was about 12 and shot a 30-06 I bought with my own money from farm work. That said - a flinch isn't relegated to a specific age or experience metric.
I was asking Quak but heck Teal is a more specific duck. Good for you buying your own rifle with your own money at 12. Mine was Pizza Shop money at 17 a little slower but did have grandfathers 30-30 to use by 12. Sounds like you aren’t part of the millennial generation. Did you pick yours because it was what a mentor shot? Would you make the same choice in retrospect? Do you still have it?
I picked it because it was on sale and I could afford it. Ruger M77 tanger. 364 bucks or so. 30-06 was known to everyone to being everything you need, regardless. Even in the '89. My dad was primarily a bowhunter and his rifle was a Savage M1899 in 30/30 he got from his grandfather. No one influenced me really other than what I learned on my own from magazines and a reloading manual I found at the library.
I no longer have it - sold it when I became a father too young. Needed to provide. Perfect world I would have been older when I had my son but he's 20 now, and I'm in my early 40's so I can still do great things with my adult children. Not like some of my friends whose parents were in their 60's when they graduated high school. Hell, my dad's mid 60's - 3 generations that can still hunt together where it requires some physical exertion.
