Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Ask The Gunwriters What did you start out with?

My dad was a bit of a gun guy so as a kid I started out shooting stuff in his gun cabinet ; a Sears bolt action 22 RF, Remington 722 222 Rem., M1903A3 30-06 purchased from the NRA in the early 60's, Winchester M94 30-30 and a Sako L579 Deluxe 308 Winchester purchased from the base Rod and Gun Club Karamursel , Turkey in 1970 .

I started with the Red Ryder BB Gun like many, one Christmas a Sheridan 5 mm pellet rifle showed up, a Marlin 60 22RF was a birthday present , in 1976 I paid for a M700 BDL in 30-06 and a Savage M67 12 gauge . The shotgun was appropriately named "Savage" as it kicked the snot out of me ; my first dove hunt it turned my shoulder and upper arm all sorts of interesting shades of blue, black , green and yellow . Put all four boxes through that gun that afternoon and was ever so proud of those 12 birds
After that shotgun , the 30-06 was a piece of cake to shoot .

I took my first whitetail with my dad's M94 30-30; I still have that rifle and his Sako in the safe , great memories .

StarchedCover

First gun was as a 10 year old. Savage 24 in 22/410. Killed lots of small game with it.

First deer rifle was a Winchester 94 in 30-30. My oldest has it now. Still shoots great.

700 ADL 7RM.

My dad didn’t hunt and I took advice from coworkers who thought 270 was low end for hunting game. One guy said get the 7 because he liked it better than his 30-06. He felt it recoiled less and was flatter shooting.

Looking back I wish someone would have suggested a 7-08 as it would have been a better learning curve. Oh well. I’ve killed the hell out of deer with it and am never getting rid of it because it shoots so well and I put it in a Ti stock. It gets lonely never being used but every 5 or so years I blow the dust out of it and take it hunting.

At age 11 my daily carry was a Daisy Pump B-B gun.
Of a morning before school & once I got home I was on the hunt.

ya!

GWB

I thought I was the only one who had one of the Daisy pump B-B rifles. I wanted a Red Ryder but when Christmas came I opened the package and was disappointed to find the pump, it served me well but I never had the love for it that I would have had for a Red Ryder lever gun but it did get a lot of use and served me well.

drover

I wore out three of the Daisy pumps between the time I was 11 & 14. Early on I taught myself how to shoot by point. Did not use the sights. One could watch the trajectory of the b-b and If you missed you could judge where to put the next round. Practiced on sweet gum balls and such. Even tried to nail dragon flies in mid-air, mostly to no avail.
Where we lived there was a “cow pasture that ran north to south. It was +/- ¾ mile wide and 2+ miles long.
The east line was formed by a bayou with requisite crawfish, bull frogs, soft shell turtles and mullet, all which made excellent targets.
The west line was bordered by a railroad track. Telephone and electric lines ran along this track. I could sneak through the tall grass and nail birds on the lines. At the south end there was a grove of Mimosa trees where Grackles would congregate. At that time, most of the yards on my side of the bayou were not fenced and many were heavily wooded. Lot of fig bushes also.
Thanks to my grand-dads,I had access to a Winchester Model 63 and a Winchester Model 12, in 16 gauge, but my dad would not let me roam around unsupervised with those. The Daisy Pump was another story.
IIRC for about a three year period from when I was 11 to 14 I had a goal of killing 1,000 birds a year.
In order to accomplish that goal I would get up before school and usually as soon as I got home would head out. If I missed a day I would make up on the weekends. I garnered one hell of a wing collection.
One other thing I prized the pump for as compared to the lever gun, I could get off 8 to10 shots by time a guy with a lever could fire, drop the rifle behind his leg to cock it and rise to fire again. I would hold the pump on my hip and rapid fire by point. One could also charge while pumping and firing. When it came to b-b gun wars, the Daisy Pump was supreme!


Ya!

GWB

I also had a Daisy Pump. I liked the pump better than the lever -* still like pump rifles better*-

It was the pump that I shot quarters out of the air that someone else pitched up. I wore it SLAP out.

Jerry

I suspect that the reason I got the pump instead of a lever is because my dad was primarily and shotgun shooter and guess what he favored - Yep, a pump action.

I had forgotten about how they could be pumped so easily. It was not really meant to be whine because I was happy just to have a BB gun but I would have been happier if it had been a Red Ryder though.

drover

Marlin 81DL broke me into .22's. A .30-40 Krag (original M1896 Cavalry Carbine), along with a sporterized 7mm Spanish Mauser ushered me into world of "hunting" rifles. Wish I had the Krag back, the Mauser not so much.

That was my first center fire rifle also. Mine was semi sporterized and I had it more sporterized: 23" barrel [cut down from 29"], bolt turned down, drilled and tapped, recoil pad installed. I was late to hunting[age 25], but, learned quick from a friend. That Mauser sure has taken some deer. It now resides at my friends ranch in Idaho. Still gets used.

Obviously, like many kids, I started with air rifles, 22’s and a 410 shotgun! However, I was 14 when I bought my Win. Model 88 in .308 Win. A pretty light rifle (no scope for many years) plastic butt pad! I never considered the recoil as unpleasant.....just assumed that was part of shooting a centerfire, hunting rifle! I shot 180’s quite a bit, untill the 165’s became popular. Perhaps that rifle is responsible for my “not” being recoil sensitive! memtb

OKAY ! A related experience.

My very 1st mag rifle was a 300 W M in a Ruger 77 O G tanger !!! Yes it kicked but I also thot that was part of
being a mag rifle. It was several years before getting a 700 BDL in 300 WM --> WHAT a diff


Jerry

Benjamin 312 .22 - 1959

I'll just list the Brutal Kickers', from 11yr old to 16...an H&R single shot 30-30 (in your face) Stevens single shot 12ga 3" buckshot or dove loads, no matter! (strawberry shoulders/black eye) Remington 1148 12ga...same thing but even a slip on pad didn't help much. The "sweeties" were a Stevens single shot 20ga, Universal M1 Carbine ( I "worried to death" a yearling with it) and my Mod 94 Classic Carbine 30-30 with a heavy Octagon barrel. It was easy to shoot offhand, even had a pretty good trigger.

First was a Winchester 47 Target .22 when I was 5. First shotgun was an H&R Topper in .410 when I was 7. First centerfire rifle was a .303 British when I was 16.