Whether it was with a friend at a backyard range or in a formal class at an indoor range, your first time shooting a handgun was probably pretty memorable.
A break action 20 gauge shotgun. Youth model. I was 12 and had just completed my Hunter Safety course. I was with my father and we were at a gun club in Waukesha, WI.
I loved it.
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Friend brought me to a local indoor range. I fired 2 glocks and a Barrera 92 FS. He did a good job making it a good experience. He taught me to dry fire at the range so I could stop anticipating the recoil. I loved it. Signed up for a CHL class, after that got my own carry gun 
.
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Some kind of heavy barreled .22 target rifle at Admiral Farragut Academy. I sucked and because I sucked I asked the range master if I could come in at lunch time and practice more. He said yes and by the end of summer camp with his coaching I was making bug holes. Somewhere squirreled away in some box in the attic I have the first five 22LR cases I ever fired still wrapped in the masking tape that I used to hide them from the barracks room inspectors. The next was a 1911, my 17 y/o 135 lb butt stove piped it every other round until a Marine Corporal taught me how to hang on to it. Then that afternoon an M-16A1 which I qualified expert on out of the gate and it was down hill from there.
Cheers,
Craig6
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My very first gun that I shot was a Ruger Police Service Six in the New York Police Academy on August 1984. Had a choice between that and the S&W model 10 and picked the Ruger because it felt better in my hand. I am still shaking my head over that, it was a heavy gun. you didnāt have to shoot someone just hit them with it, LOL 
Then we went to the Glock 19 in 1988.
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My grandfatherās single 410 break action shotgun. He said he got it when he was 9 years old. He has passed and gave it to me before he did. I still have it. A prized possession.
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My step dadās double barrel savage .410 on the farm.
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Some sort of .22 rifle. Dad used a 2 wheel dollie so I could support the barrel. I think he still has it.
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Some type of nicely polished heavy wooded rifle, chambered in .243 Winchester, with my dad back in the early 70ās maybe ā75 or ā76. Loved it, I wasnāt very good, but wanted to go again.
Except by the time we arrived home it felt like A sledgehammer had broken my shoulder and for what seemed like a week was in such pain, I never returned to the range or shot again until boot camp one year later.
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Wish I had itā¦
It was in his will for me too have butā¦You know how that goes
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1980āsā¦ 
ā¦ Kbks .22 Rifle. But to be honest, I do not remember much. I lived in āgun free Countryā 
2018 - my friendās SIG P210 Target. I was impressed with its accuracy. However this handgun was too big for me in those days. Now Iām laughing about thisā¦
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M-16 at age 16. Love at first sight, if I had the money, Iād buy one. Until then, an AR-556 will do.
First handgun at ageā¦ 42, Glock 19, first trip to indoor gun range after binge-watching defunct tv show Gunsmoke (with the Wyatts). I didnāt turn into a fanboy. It made me want to buy a 1911.
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My grandfather on my motherās side, 7 yrs old, .45 1911 Government Issue that he carried in WWII. It was amazing , he held me in his arms, held the gun in my hand with me, of course it scared me, he comforted me and told me that I was now the man of the house and had to look out for my Mom. Was last time I saw anyone from my Momās side of the family. She had divorced my Dad when I was 4, went home to recuperate surrounded by her family. She and I were leaving to live on her families ranch in Colorado and he took me out to the backside of the ranch and he āletā me shoot his .45. He was full blooded Japanese 2nd generation and he joined the Army as an interpreter.
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First rifle I shot, once again my step dadās, a nylon 66.
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single shot, hammer fired .410 at around six, followed shortly by an old single shot bolt action .22. Both were guns my dad had when he was a kid. Still have the .410 but the .22 was stolen from their lake house years ago. First revolver was a 9 shot .22 revolver my dad still has, donāt remember the make. Just got āworseā from there and have been shooting consistently ever since either hunting, skeet or just killing cans and paper.
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A Remington 243
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Colt python 4" .357. Fell in love with shooting right then!
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First time I shot a gun was in the mid 60ās, and was also the day I came to love them. I remember it vividly; a beautiful, warm morning, probably a Sat, and as usual, I was my dadās shadow, kicking around outside. He carried a .22 revolver in his truck while on the road, and was probably shooting it for practice. I asked to shoot it too and he let me- I was 5 or 6 at the time. He knelt beside me and walked me thru my 1st gun safety training, showed me how it worked, and āhelped meā with a few shots before letting me shoot solo. After, I told him I wanted a gun when I was a big girl. He wasnāt a hunter and we didnāt shoot a lot while I was coming up, but 3 or 4 times a year, heād break out that .22 for us to shoot. Good memoriesā¦ When I married later, (1979) he did hunt, owned guns, and I picked up my training again. Had a blast becoming proficient (enough) over the next few years.
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I was young but my dad always preached safety. I shot a .32 Detective Special. My dad still has it. Itās special to me. It will be handed down to my children.
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Hello All Iām New Here My Names Chris My first Gun was a 12g mossberg 590 pistol grip and I ran a SLUG through it and it was a scary thing at first but now I own a 12g mossberg shockwave and LOVE IT carry it every were right a long with my sig sauer p365 S.A.S love this gun as wellā¦ and i must say Iām proud of being apart of the USCCA for sure!!!
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