Taking a trip down memory lane

[MikeSmith]

Story time...What was your very first gun you bought? I remember turning 18 and my dad took me to Big 5 to buy my very first own rifle. I picked out a nice Mosin Nagant M44. I chose it over the longer 91/30 right next to it I just thought it looked cooler. If I remember right it was 79.99 and should've bought a dozen of them. It seems like I'm not alone with the Mosin being a very popular starter gun. I had been shooting the family guns since I was probably 7 years old so it was about time I had my own.

[SISKIN]

3 days after i turned 18(1985) picked up a Winchester Model 1300 defender-leather belt that holds 25rds and a box of shells for $215. Still have the 1300 and the belt. Have been adding to the collection ever since

[skunkshooter]

My friend introduced me to the firearm world... I was 23 years old, the first rifle I bought was the Arisaka type 99... solid Jap rifle.

[foothillman]

Dad was in the Air Force.
Originally from the U.P. of Michigan.
Avid hunter and outdoorsman, have many 8mm films of the hunting camp.
Problem is Mom is from California and NO guns in the house.
Well......Dad hid them.
Soooooo what does Dad do?

DO NOT TELL MOM !!!!!!

Smith & Wesson 2206 .22LR



Parents 50th Wedding Anniversary.......Mom found the firearms and forgave him

[sealocan]

As soon as I was legally able to I wanted to buy a .22 caliber rifle, mainly because handguns had restrictions,like to be of a certain age.
I also didn't have the extra money to buy the expensive standard rifle calibers from way back then, like the .30-30 (Looking back All those prices were so cheap compared to what we pay now.)

So I went to a local sporting goods store and the longtime grumpy old guy employee at the back where the gun counter was located somehow I knew that I wasn't there just to drool looking at all the guns, like a lot of us young boys did back then.
I had been saving money from my first job and he recommended a Browning sa-22 semi-auto, high quality (and a nice long-term "investment") but I didn't have that kind of money so it was between the Ruger 10/22 and the Marlin 60.
The Marlin was tube fed and I prefer the ability to quickly change an empty magazine for a full one rather than mess with the tube loading.
Also you could get aftermarket larger capacity than the Ruger Factory 10-round magazines for the 10/22.

So I chose the Ruger, "and that made all the difference".

That thing ran forever and never had any issues.
But I do think that they were more .22 rimfire duds back then than we have today.
But maybe that was because I was buying the cheapest bulk boxes and bricks I could find.
I moved around a lot in my young years so I eventually sold it to a father and son, who already had one Ruger 10/22, so that they could have father and son shooting competitions.
And because I had refinished the stock and made it a light colored wood finish (Birch is what I believe you Ruger was using then) the father and son would never confuse who had the stock Ruger and who had mine, with all the accessories and light colored wood finish, that actually look really good against all the black hardware on the Ruger.

Thanks for taking us all down memory lane OP / MikeSmith.

[Epaphroditus]

Weatherby Mark V in 7mm Wby on consignment from some funky shop in Livermore. Real tack driver with tuned loads.

[Creampuff]

In college the most I could spend was $400 for a handgun. $500 tops. I waited patiently each week for the Sunday Oakland Tribune/ Thursday sports page. That was when Tradersports would advertise their specials.

I finally saw the Browning High power (belgium made) on sale for $399 and headed over there. Waited through their crowd that was at least 2 to 3 people deep across their entire front row.

Sure enough one week later, their Sunday sale in the sports page had a Beretta 92FS for $429. Agh! should have waited. That was my first choice. Two weeks later, Sig P226 for $499. Aghhh!!!! should have waited. Oh well.

One month later the prized wonder nine : Walther P88 for $599. Out of my price range, but that was the one I really wanted.

[FF90]

Rem 552 at age 10 from Gemco saved $ mowing yards, Dad & I went there , I proudly gave the clerk my money and Dad did the paperwork... the rest is History.. Sadly I no longer own that rifle, wife claims it as hers (it was the first gun she ever shot- but she will allow me to shoot it occasionaly

[p7m8jg]

Smith and Wesson Model 13 .357 magnum revolver.
$147.00 and not through an FFL (1976).
Still have the box and receipt...

[smle-man]

My dad bought me Glenfield model 25 when I turned 16. The first gun I bought was a Marlin 336 .30-30 from Kmart when I turned 18 in 1972. The first of hundreds of firearms.

[yolocalypso]

Bought a mossberg 500 from big 5 $400 at the time. Still have it, still runs like a champ- never had a jam in all these years.

[sonofeugene]

My first gun was acquired when I was around 14 or 15. But I didn’t pay for it. It was my fathers gun from when he was the same age. It sort of became mine. It’s a Montgomery Wards Western Field bolt action .22, made by Mossberg. I added a Weaver scope to it. I still shoot it occasionally and it’s a tack driver.

[TS77]

Most start with .22s...i started with a no4 enfield and cheap south african ammo....ouch! :P

[CandG]

Never bought one til I was like 28. Ended up going with a Glock 36 - I fell for the "bigger hole = better" thing. Who cares if it only holds 6+1, it had .45acp stopping power!

Anyways, it was fun for a short time but it quickly fell out of favor as I collected more/better guns. For the last few years it's been sitting in the safe collecting dust, but I'll probably never sell it. Every once in a while when I have some .45acp ammo to burn, I'll swap its slide onto my G29 frame and make a nifty little G30S sort of thing.

[Verdha603]

Had an AR-15 and Sig P226 gifted to me when I left for college in AZ; first firearm I personally bought was a S&W M&P Shield a month after my 21st and two months after I had graduated from Army AIT and had a small nest egg to work with for fun money. Picked it out since I wanted a compact carry handgun while my CCW application was getting processed. Served me well, with the only serious modifications being replacing the tritium inserts after they started fading out five years in and putting an aftermarket recoil spring assembly in after my factory one started giving me problems. Now it gets a nice retirement in the safe now that a P365XL is taking over it's job.