What did you GIVE as a first gun?

[Rimfire McNutjob]

In relation to the recent topic of "Do you still have your first gun?", I'm wondering what members here have decided to give their kids or other relatives as a first gun. Though my father gave me his Remington 511 to learn to shoot and I still have it, I was not ready to hand it over to my kid formally. I taught my first son to shoot with it, but I had already bought him a first gun before he was born back in the early 90's.

After he learned on the 511, I gave him an HK-300 with a Bushnell 4200 scope as his own. In hindsight, the .22LR version would have probably cost me less in ammunition expense compared to .22WMR but he does love to take it to the range and shoot it.

I will probably give the second son a restored Marlin 1897. He also has started on the 511 though.

What have been your choices in this regard?

[Rusty]

Jr's first gun was a Red Ryder bb gun. I told him when he could cock that all by himself we'd move on to a real gun.

[rangerider7]

I gave my son my dads guns that I gave him years ago myself. He died in 1989. They were an Ithaca lever single shot 22 and a Remington 1100 12 gauge. He has used them ever since. The 22 has started helping my grandson's learn gun safety and proper shooting technique. I have a large number of guns in my collection and they will get their pick of those.

[two bit okie]

I was an ogre I guess, but my kids had to earn their first guns. Earn in school. Honor roll earn. They could shoot any of the them, but to get them, show me the grades.

First of all was my 03 springfield with the nice wood. Ex wife was not a gun person but we were at the dinner table and youngest said when can he have "his " rifle" in his closet. I said 4 consecutive honor rolls. Wife twisted her nose into a screw that would penatrate G2 granite but said nothing.

At the end of his junior year, at the same table he walked in and droped an envelope from the school dean informing his father that Kurt had successfully completed 4 consecutive semesters on the honor roll of McQuaid Jesuilt Hight school. His mothers jaw put a hole in floor it fell so hard. Kurt got his first real gun.

Second, was "old slab sides", oldest boy wanted it. was not honor roll stuff but his was the day he gradutated college, the 1911 was his. On his graduation day, my by then ex wife asked about the 45, I told her that it was safely put away until he got his permit, (he lived in upstate New York.). As I was leaving for home in Arizona, I got with aunt who was holding the gun, and him, and me and said as soon as he could show Aunt Kai his permit it was all his.

Some times keeping a promise to give up a loved toy can be very difficult. But when earned. gives a great feeling.

[Sixgun]

A Marlin .22 bolt gun to my son when he was about 10. He still has it.

I give myself plenty of antique Winchesters, Colts, old Marlins, FT Rugers or pre-war big frame 'Smiths. The way I see it, each gun I give myself is a "first" as they all have different serial numbers ---------Sixgun

[gamekeeper]

GK Jr's first gun was a Daisy BB rifle, swiftly followed by a 9mm B/A shotgun.

[iceman]

I gave my son a Cooey (canadian Winchester) 410 single shot shotgun. He has used it a few times but doesn't seem to be his thing though. Maybe later he will be interested and it will be in the safe when he wants it.

[jeepnik]

The same to both. Ruger 10 22's. Both still have them. Neither are southpaws, so no learning how to do right handed things left handed for them.

[Tycer]

I gave my daughter a Ruger 22/45 for her 12th birthday. She's old enough now to take possession, but she has to go train, apply for and receive her concealed carry before I'll hand it over. I will pay for all the above, but she had a rough go of it for a few years with cocaine and I'm not positive she can legally own it. She's been clean for 41 months, but CYA!

Last year I gave my stepdaughter a Springfield XDm 9mm, a thousand rounds of ammo, a cleaning kit, a DVD I made, and several hours of training at a range near her.

[shooter]

Don't have any kids yet, but I gave my sister a Marlin model 60 for Christmas a couple years ago. I have also given my wife a Rossi .38, a Mossberg 20 gauge, and a Marlin single shot .22. She's got a couple others, but I didn't give them to her.

[JReed]

I bought my boys a cricket for their first gun.

[rjohns94]

gave my son an H&R 20 gauge shotgun. He still has it. His second was a model 10 38.

[edwardyoung]

I bought my son a Ruger Bearcat when he was born. He's 13 now.

[Booger Bill]

Fourty years ago I got in a terrible accident with my harley. I was single and busted up bad and by some gross mistake was dumped out of the hospital wearing casts and couldnt function. My best friend and wife took me in for a couple weeks. I gave him a nice 1917 S&W .45 acp. Another time I gave a friend a old lettered .357 S&W pre model 27 as he let me keep my airplane on his private strip for free. The 1st gun I gave my daughter was a rossi pump 22 when she was about seven years old. As she grew I have given her several handguns for protection. Unfortunately, I also gave her mother, my ex some too.

[Chas.]

I guess I did something wrong. My son, the orthodontist, has little interest in guns. When he was little, I taught him to shoot and got him a BB gun but he seldom used it. Now his game is golf - boring. To maybe inspire some interest, a couple of years ago I gave him a Marlin 1895G Guide Gun (.45-70). I don't think he's ever shot it. When he was in high school and worked as a grocery store bag boy, he won Winchester Model 1200 in a raffle and he's very fond of it though.

I hope to do better with his son (my grandson). I'll be teaching him right. I've already bought him, along with my other grandson, a .44 mag levergun, but it'll be a few years yet. I'm gonna have both broken in good by then - the guns and the boys.

[Dave]

I gave my girls Chipmunk rifles. They are light as a feather. After they got the hang of safety and shooting I tied a rawhide loop on the cocking piece so they could get three fingers in there and cock the gun themselves. We shot those guns a lot. Only one of my kids is actually "gunny" the other ones can shoot and are safe but don't have the fire.

[2ndovc]

My wife's boys were 10 and 13 when we started dating. I had a neat little horse ranch at that time and taught the
basics with my first guns that my Dad had taught me with.

A couple years later I bought them a 10/22 and a Savage MK II. Her oldest is autistic and mentally challenged and has a hard
time remembering how to use his brother's Ruger. But, the Savage he works like a pro and is actually a better shot than his brother!

I also gave my best friend a Mossberg 590 Riot Gun because he was having some trouble in the rotten
neighborhood he used to live in. He had a real problem with a local one night and nothing but a trash can to chase the drunk away.

jb

[BenT]

My son (10) got a Henry youth 22 for his first rifle and my daughter a Charles Daly 20 gauge auto. She's 12 and likes to kill turkeys , no interest in deer. From here on out they they will be buying their own guns. They can borrow mine , but they need to learn to save for what they want.

[Ysabel Kid]

Jr's first gun was a Red Ryder bb gun.

Y2K's first gun was a Red Ryder BB gun as well. I bought it the day he was born, so the receipt would have his birthday on it. My wife still busts my chops about leaving her at the hospital to make a run to buy it!

His first firearm was a Marlin 15YN "Little Buckaroo" .22 rimfire bolt-action. Marlin was nice enough to send me a factory-second stock free of charge, so I cut it down to fit him (he started shooting it at 5 years old). Since the second stock was free, I spent some on blackpowder furniture from Dixie Gun Works to customize it to look like an Indian trade rifle, since he had seen one in one of my reference books and really liked it. Here he is with it years ago:



And here he is shooting it:

[TedH]

Pink Crickett 22.

[Ysabel Kid]

I had so much fun with Y2K's first gun, I refinished a 22 rimfire bolt action for his little sister. This is a Western Auto - a Marlin knock-off/private label. Here is her reaction getting it Christmas a couple years ago:



She loves it!



And, by the way, she has a pink-stocked "Red Ryder" as well!!!

[2571]

Gave my 21 year old daughter a 70 Series Colt 1911. Learned to use it pretty well.

Couple of years later she stops at my deer camp and sees my middle-aged friend doing something dumb/dangerous with his new Kimber. Very adroitly, she takes the pistol from him, clears it and hands it back to him, all the time talking about the new car she was buying.

I wanted to laugh. Knew what she was doing and did it with such aplomb & nonchalance, the guy didn't get embarassed.

[azzhandler]

I dont have any kids, but I have 2 nephews, and everyone in my family knows that when my time is up that my brothers boy < who carries family last name > gets all my brownings ( 28 as of now ) and my sisters boy gets everything else. my brothers boy kinda squealed when he found out he was getting not even half as many as his cousin, I just kinda told him not to b!@#H to much his were worth a whole lot more then just last week I did give my dad a cricket. lol he was complaing about carrying his long barreled winchester while coon hunting,
when he said that I knew exactly the gun he was going to get I traded the last 10 pheasants that I had for the gun, and when he seen it ,the only way I think he could of made him smiled more, was if I would have told him I was gunna have another grandson for him.

[C. Cash]

A Marlin 39A to my middle son Alexander. Unfortunately, had a case seperation last month which ruined the bolt face(would have ruined his eye had he not had on his shooting glasses). Should get it back in 2-3 weeks, with a new bolt.

[2X22]

I gave a 20 ga Browning Citori to my son for his 12th Christmas. The first of MANY I've given.

2x22

[Griff]

Buffalo Killer's first gun was a Rossi 1892 in .357Mag/.38Spl carbine for cowboy action shooting.

[fordwannabe]

I gave my Mom her first gun after my Dad died and it was a double 12 gauge with the really low recoil Aquilla duplex loads. We went to a range and learned how,when, where, all the basics.

My tiny 17 yo son,6'4 and 240 with a size 16 foot, got a marlin bolt 22 as his first when he was 12. He now has a 16 pump, a savage 308 bolt, sporterize model 44 mosin naagnt, and an inline muzzleloader. Tom

[66GTO]

I gave my son a Red Ryder when he was 6, the same age that I was when I got one.

When he turned 16 I gave him a Marlin 336, 30-30. So I made sure his first two guns were lever actions . I think he wants a bolt action rifle next, but he still likes his 336.

[TNBigBore]

I gave my son a Winchester Wildcat .22 for Christmas last year, and he got a H&R 30-30 for his birthday this year. He has two little sisters 5 & 3 that love to watch brother shoot his .22. They may end up with a pink Cricket rifle of their own in a year or so.

[lthardman]

I don't have kids, but I think I can actually report something here as well.

Every year, I deer hunt with the same group of guys. Most are my cousins, and they have quite a crew of kids. The first gun those kids hunt with is one of mine. It is a Winchester Model 94 in .30-30, made in 1949. At last count, 22 young folks have gone to their deer blind for the very first time on opening morning carrying that rifle. Now it is being used by some of their kids. And, the old 94 is making a real good accounting for itself. Looking through the photos, at least 12 of those youngsters are shown beaming with pride holding that old gem while standing next to their first deer. I feel pretty good about that.

[cubrock]

All my kids get a Marlin 39A, pre-safety when they turn 7. For those under 7, I already have their guns tucked away awaiting their birthday.

[AJMD429]

The same to both. Ruger 10 22's. Both still have them. Neither are southpaws, so no learning how to do right handed things left handed for them.

Each of my kids actually 'got' a Ruger 10/22 when they were born, although they didn't actually take possession of it until they got older - I figured it was the most likely gun that pretty much anyone might use as they grow up, even if they didn't particularly wind up liking guns as a hobby (...is that even possible? ). The 10/22's are inexpensive, reliable, and accurate, but since they are semiautomatics, of course they are NOT the guns the kid will actually wind up shooting first, but were more of a 'symbolic' gift like giving a kid a 20-year savings bond. If we become a third-world police-state, such a gun wouldn't be a dramatic 'EBR', but would be among the most practical guns a citizen trying to endure such a situation could have. If we (hopefully) go back to a freedom-oriented society like most of us grew up in, it is the best non-levergun item for pure fun, affordable firearms recreation.

For when they learn to shoot, my Ruger 96/22 LEVERGUN has always been the gun of choice, topped by some sort of red-dot sight. When shot at the little metal 'flip-up' targets, it has never failed to excite and entice 'newbies' and I wish I had one of them to give each kid, if only to use when they have kids they want to get excited about shooting. I did manage to aquire a 'spare' for me so I could hand down one to my youngest daughter, though.

Ideally, I would eventually like to see to it that each kid would someday be able to inherit a .22 LR handgun to go with the 10/22, and of course a center-fire levergun/revolver 'pair' in .357 Mag, and if I can complete the collection before I keel over, a semiauto pistol and 'EBR' of some kind. That would be a nice 'collection' for each kid, of six firearms per kid. But that is still a 'project under development', and the ones I've so far accumulated towards that goal are still MINE now...

It would be cool to do something like get a kid a gun on every 2nd birthday from age 8 to 18:

• 8 years old - .22 LR levergun (yes, obviously 'used only with supervision')
  10 years old - .22 LR revolver (yes, obviously 'used only with supervision')
  12 years old - .357 Mag levergun (or .44 Mag if they were a big kid)
  14 years old - .357 Mag revolver (or .44 Mag if they were a big kid)
  16 years old - .223 Rem EBR (by then if they were 'shooter', a .308 instead)
  18 years old - 9mm pistol (by then if they were 'shooter', a .45 ACP instead)

[CEMENTHEAD]

I gave my best friend, of 27 years, a sporterized 1903A3 Remington.

Caliber: 30-06, Condition: excellent

Scope: Weaver Steel Scope, 4x Ranging reticle, crystal clear and repeatable

Stock: Bishop, condition: good

I'm happy in my heart that I gave it to him.....wish I had pictures of it to show

Thanks, Tom

[Steve Collins]

My oldest son got a Chipmunk .22 bolt gun with camo stock when he was 6 years old. A couple of years ago he took my Ruger 10/22 because he'd gotten too big for the Chipmunk, which then went to his little brother. #2 son enjoys shooting my Ruger 22/45 more than his rifle, so I spend lots of time loading magazines when we go to the range.

Their sister got a Springfield XD 9mm for her 18th birthday, now we're just waiting to get her permit in TX.

[bsaride]

Sis got a Ruger 22LR Pistol
Bro got a Ruger 10/22
Mom got a Ruger SP101 in 327 Federal
Katie (niece) got a Savage left hand bolt action 22LR

[bdhold]

gave my 10-y-o daughter an Avanti 845 bb/pellet gun.
Peep site so I can shoot it, too.
Inexpensive with lots of plastic, seems like a stout mechanism, and a cheap-to-make but accurate barrel - can group a quarter-inch at 10-m.


YK, great photos.

[madman4570]

Brother----Ruger #1 in 7mm Mag(w/3-9X Redfield Illuminator scope)
Daughter---- Ruger 10/22 (200 year Comemrative edition)
Wife---- Remington LT20 1100 Skeet edition (2 barrel set)

[Huntermb]

my son got a steven rolling block 22 with an octagon barrel for his first rifle. The girls didn't want their own they are just happy to borrow dad's...