# How old were you when you bought your first gun



## Sasquatch (Dec 12, 2014)

With the onslaught of the 2A these days (including raising the age to 21) I was a little curious when everyone bought their first gun.

I'm not talking shot your first gun or given your first gun but actually heading down to the LGS or big box store, slapping down money and buying your own gun.

I was a little late to the party being in CA but my first was a Winchester shotgun at 23 years old (you don't have to say what you bought but I thought it might make the thread a little more interesting).

What's your story?


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## rstanek (Nov 9, 2012)

I started hunting at age 8, I received my first gun, a break action 20 gauge, for my 10th birthday, I bought my own .22 when I was 15, I used the one my mother won at the county fair until I was 15, that was a single shot mossberg .22.....


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## jim-henscheli (May 4, 2015)

Sasquatch said:


> With the onslaught of the 2A these days (including raising the age to 21) I was a little curious when everyone bought their first gun.
> 
> I'm not talking shot your first gun or given your first gun but actually heading down to the LGS or big box store, slapping down money and buying your own gun.
> 
> ...


 I was 22 I think, I was living in my beloved 10 ft camper with mrs Hen back when she was my GF, and we're both sort of left leaning in a way, mostly age.
Anyway we had STRANGE neighbors in this little trailer park outside of asheville, so we said yeah, time for a gun. Steavens 320, NIB from a friend in the sheriffs department.


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## Chipper (Dec 22, 2012)

Can't remember that far back. Wasn't a big deal to buy a gun.


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## SOCOM42 (Nov 9, 2012)

The first gun I bought in a store was 60 years ago at age 16, a Browning Auto Five 12 Gage, no bullshit paper work, just showed my drivers license.

That was for proof of age, now you are required a rectal exam and DNA submission.

The guy that sold it to me died two years ago, we had become friends over the years, and I did gun repair work for the store he worked for.

I already had several guns, US 1917 Enfield, Winchester 22 pump with a Maxim silencer, and a Nazi proofed FN Browning 25 auto pocket pistol.

None of those were bought but handed down to me.


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## Annie (Dec 5, 2015)

55. :tango_face_smile:


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## Prepared One (Nov 5, 2014)

Annie said:


> 55. :tango_face_smile:


Better late then never my dear, better late then. Never. :tango_face_wink:


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## Gunn (Jan 1, 2016)

Like Squatch I was late to the party. I also resided in Kalifornia. It was after I spent 5 years, 1 month and 27 days in the Army. So I had to be about 22. It was a 98 Mauser 8MM. I still have it. That thing has been on a lot of deer, elk, pig and bear trips with me. At the time I got it, it was my fifth firearm. But the first I ever purchased.


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## Prepared One (Nov 5, 2014)

My first over the counter buy was a shotgun in New Orleans at a pawn shop. I was about 19 or 20 as I remember it. Before that? Well, let's just say I acquired what was needed.


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## White Shadow (Jun 26, 2017)

Mid forties. Had no idea what I was missing. Trying hard to make up for lost time.


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## RedLion (Sep 23, 2015)

29. A Remington 870 supermag express combo with the 3.5" chamber. Bought the best muzzleloader on the market, the Savage ML-II muzzleloader, the same year.


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## deserth3 (Oct 11, 2015)

XD9 Service model at 45. 
Old military injuries getting worse. Then facing down daughters x-bf who thought it would be fun following her home with 2 other cars following. Lucky 2 other cars took off when they realized what was going on.
Then hearing cops were busy and would be there in 20 minutes. The I'm too old for this shit feeling was what started thinks in motion.

Sent from my Moto G (4) using Tapatalk


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## sideKahr (Oct 15, 2014)

I think I was around 21-22 years old. It was a sporterized 7mm Mauser model 1893. I drove out to a farmers barn where hundreds of them were displayed on tables. Take your pick for $50. I got one that wasn't too shot out and pursued deer for years with it.


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## MountainGirl (Oct 29, 2017)

24. Colt 38 Diamondback.

After coming off 3rd shift, a few of us would head out to the boonies for a little friendly _'who's gonna buy breakfast'_ shoot. 
I didn't bother taking money along. :vs_cool:


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## Denton (Sep 18, 2012)

_Bought_ my first weapon? 
I was nineteen, stationed in the Sierra Highlands of California. It was a Mossberg model 500, Persuader. Many jackrabbits wished I'd never left the woods of Alabama.
My first weapon I ever owned was a Squires and Bingham .22 carbine. The squirrels and rabbits of Alabama threw a party when I joined the army.


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## sideKahr (Oct 15, 2014)

Annie said:


> 55. :tango_face_smile:


Late to the party, but party on.


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## Toefoot (Jun 21, 2017)

Denton said:


> _Bought_ my first weapon?
> I was nineteen, stationed in the Sierra Highlands of California. It was a Mossberg model 500, Persuader. Many jackrabbits wished I'd never left the woods of Alabama.
> My first weapon I ever owned was a Squires and Bingham .22 carbine. The squirrels and rabbits of Alabama threw a party when I joined the army.


SIAD Herlong? Funny how you never hear of the small places until you get orders, SIAD is just north of my hometown.

Purchased a Ruger 22lr when I was 20 yo but had to sell it before I went to Germany.


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## Denton (Sep 18, 2012)

Toefoot said:


> SIAD Herlong? Funny how you never hear of the small places until you get orders, SIAD is just north of my hometown.
> 
> Purchased a Ruger 22lr when I was 20 yo but had to sell it before I went to Germany.


Doyle?


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## Toefoot (Jun 21, 2017)

Denton said:


> Doyle?


Yup....


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## maine_rm (Jun 24, 2017)

sideKahr said:


> I think I was around 21-22 years old. It was a sporterized 7mm Mauser model 1893. I drove out to a farmers barn where hundreds of them were displayed on tables. Take your pick for $50. I got one that wasn't too shot out and pursued deer for years with it.


Quite the rifle. I would give my left arm to come across the barn like that.


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## rice paddy daddy (Jul 17, 2012)

I bought my first gun at age 14 from a school mate. It was a Mossberg bolt action 12 ga.
My first store bought gun was when I was 22, a Universal M1 Carbine.
I was just home from the war and felt naked without a rifle at arms reach. Still feel that way today 47 years later.


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## bigwheel (Sep 22, 2014)

Sasquatch said:


> With the onslaught of the 2A these days (including raising the age to 21) I was a little curious when everyone bought their first gun.
> 
> I'm not talking shot your first gun or given your first gun but actually heading down to the LGS or big box store, slapping down money and buying your own gun.
> 
> ...


Bought my first one at age 12 or so. Break action single shot .410 for ten bucks. A school chum had it.


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## Kauboy (May 12, 2014)

The first gun bought with my own hard-earned cash was a Beretta pistol. I was 22. It was my side of the compromise in my newly wedded bliss. She wanted new furniture for the living room. I wanted a gun.
We've both been happy ever since. 

That wasn't my first gun, but it was the first one I could truly call *mine*.


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## Sasquatch (Dec 12, 2014)

Kauboy said:


> The first gun bought with my own hard-earned cash was a Beretta pistol. I was 22. It was my side of the compromise in my newly wedded bliss. She wanted new furniture for the living room. I wanted a gun.
> We've both been happy ever since.
> 
> That wasn't my first gun, but it was the first one I could truly call *mine*.


I hope part of your argument to her was "Honey, do you know how hard it is to pick up a couch and throw it at an attacker".

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## Boss Dog (Feb 8, 2013)

First gun with my money; I was a fairly new newlywed, new duty station in the Navy. Previously I had lived on board ship. Anyway, went to lgs and layed down cash (ok it was a check) for a S&W 28, police trade-in. I strutted out to the woods the first time to try her out. I was 25 and, in the great PDR of Maryland no less!


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## bigwheel (Sep 22, 2014)

sideKahr said:


> I think I was around 21-22 years old. It was a sporterized 7mm Mauser model 1893. I drove out to a farmers barn where hundreds of them were displayed on tables. Take your pick for $50. I got one that wasn't too shot out and pursued deer for years with it.


Neighbor kids Daddy had one of those back when I was a young skull full of mush. Sporterized up nice with a scope on it. Supposed to be a tack driver. I hunted with it a time or two but not see Bambi or his Daddy or Mama lol.


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## Ragnarök (Aug 4, 2014)

First gun I bought was a Berreta px4 storm .40, and I was 26 at the time.


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## Maine-Marine (Mar 7, 2014)

I PAID for my first rifle when I was young 14 or 15.. a Winchester model 94 30-30

My grandfather BOUGHT it, I paid for it... Money I made from working over the summer - cutting grass, digging graves, building fences


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## modfan (Feb 18, 2016)

I traded a completely rebuilt 20" bicycle for a 7mm mouser. I was at the ripe old age of 14. My first store bought weapon was a Mossburg 500 from Walmart in my 30s


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## Camel923 (Aug 13, 2014)

About thirty. I had a few bought for me as a toddler through adolescence.


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## 7515 (Aug 31, 2014)

Bought - age 22 it was a Rossi 38 sn special
Gifted - age 12 it was a Ted Williams 22 rifle


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## pakrat (Nov 18, 2012)

I was 17... worked a summer job with the yard crew of a local zinc mine and in the Fall bought a brand new Ruger .308 bolt-action rifle, a Leupold scope and a Simco roping saddle. Six months later I was in boot camp gearing up to go to Vietnam and didn't get to use the rifle or the saddle for another four years... seemed like a lifetime.


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## phrogman (Apr 17, 2014)

I think I was 27 when I bought my first. It was a Mossberg 500 with a 20" barrel and 7+1. Still have it today.

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## MI.oldguy (Apr 18, 2013)

16,Ruger 10/22.at walgreens in California believe it or not for $55.00.still have it.


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## 0rocky (Jan 7, 2018)

modfan said:


> I traded a completely rebuilt 20" bicycle for a 7mm mouser. I was at the ripe old age of 14. My first store bought weapon was a Mossburg 500 from Walmart in my 30s


I wonder who got the better part of the trade? :vs_shake:


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## 0rocky (Jan 7, 2018)

Parents grew up in a big city and objected to firearms in the home. When I was somewhere in my pre-teens when Dad handed the man on the boardwalk a dollar? and they put a 22 pump in my hands at the shooting gallery. I think back and say _live ammo_ being discharged in a crowded public setting! In the hands of a kid, no less. Anyway, folks said when I became an an adult I could keep a firearm in the house with their mild objections. That's 18 for you idiots in Florida. So for me, a few months after my birthday which is how long it took to pass a background check, passed by local, state and feds then be fingerprinted AND submit the names of 3 upstanding citizens willing to vouch for me. Such was/is life in the People's Republic of New Jersey.


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## Maine-Marine (Mar 7, 2014)

and the first rifle I bought was from a store in Calais Maine.. one of those old sporting goods, shoe, tool, stores... they sold ammo, bird seed, cartons of beans, lawn mowers, screw drivers, snow blowers...


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## Stick (Sep 29, 2014)

Gifted various BB and pellet guns and a .22, the first gun I bought with my own money ($1.33 an hour at the county schools book depository, the most excruciatingly boring job I ever had) I was 18. A Navy Arms .58 Buffalo Hunter (basically a sawn off Zouave), a can of powder, a tin of caps, and a bag of .45 balls.


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## KUSA (Apr 21, 2016)

I think I was 17 when I bought a 10/22. I think I was 18 when I bought a Browning Hi Power 9mm.

That was a very long time ago.


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## jim-henscheli (May 4, 2015)

Maine-Marine said:


> and the first rifle I bought was from a store in Calais Maine.. one of those old sporting goods, shoe, tool, stores... they sold ammo, bird seed, cartons of beans, lawn mowers, screw drivers, snow blowers...


Sounds like my kinda place boy!


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## NotTooProudToHide (Nov 3, 2013)

18 or 19. It was a Remington 7400 30-06 that wouldn't shoot straight no matter what was done with it. I sold it at a pawn shop then bought a Mosin Nagant. The first gun that I purchased that I've kept is a Hi Point 9mm that I got when I was 27 or so. The rest is history, I've bought several over the last few years, more than I need lol.


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## Jammer Six (Jun 2, 2017)

24.

Be interesting to add a survey, be interesting to see the curve.


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## Slippy (Nov 14, 2013)

EFF The BATF and EFF Form 4473


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## NotTooProudToHide (Nov 3, 2013)

Disregard this post.


Sorry I don't want to get political. I want to enjoy the online community and learn a thing or too.


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## Slippy (Nov 14, 2013)

NotTooProudToHide said:


> Disregard this post.
> 
> Sorry I don't want to get political. I want to enjoy the online community and learn a thing or too.


C'mon NTPTH, its not political to denounce the BATF or Form 4473. Its CONSTITUTIONAL!

The BATF is a huge over-reaching waste of tax dollars. Form 4473 potentially INFRINGES on the 2A. Eliminate them both. Start with immediately shutting down the BATF.


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## jim-henscheli (May 4, 2015)

Slippy said:


> C'mon NTPTH, its not political to denounce the BATF or Form 4473. Its CONSTITUTIONAL!
> 
> The BATF is a huge over-reaching waste of tax dollars. Form 4473 potentially INFRINGES on the 2A. Eliminate them both. Start with immediately shutting down the BATF.


Interestingly, the fellow who taught my CWFL class, was at one time a BATF agent, 20 some years. His opinion was the same advice yours; they just had no effect on real crimes, so they made up stuff to keep busy.


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## NotTooProudToHide (Nov 3, 2013)

Slippy said:


> C'mon NTPTH, its not political to denounce the BATF or Form 4473. Its CONSTITUTIONAL!
> 
> The BATF is a huge over-reaching waste of tax dollars. Form 4473 potentially INFRINGES on the 2A. Eliminate them both. Start with immediately shutting down the BATF.


Is what it is. I'm really trying not to be as political anymore. Its tough to do because like everyone I've got opinions and I damn sure want to express them but sometimes ya just gotta keep your mouth shut.


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## Slippy (Nov 14, 2013)

NotTooProudToHide said:


> Is what it is. I'm really trying not to be as political anymore. Its tough to do because like everyone I've got opinions and I damn sure want to express them but sometimes ya just gotta keep your mouth shut.


NO DAMNIT!

I value and enjoy your opinion. Too many of our friends on this forum fought for your right to express your opinion. Some fought in the Armed Services, others fought in many different ways.


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## A Watchman (Sep 14, 2015)

I had exposure to firearms at age 8 or 9, and had access to Dad's by 13. I was gifted a rifle and a double barrel over/under 1 gauge at 15. I bought myself a Ruger 357 at age 21


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