Age of shooting first centerfire handgun?

[AL45]

My son-in-law , grandson and myself headed to the range yesterday. We were armed with a 9mm semi-auto, a .45 colt judge, a .45 colt redhawk, a .454 casull super blackhawk, a .357 Dan Wesson, a Ruger security six .357 and a couple of .22 revolvers. Starting with the .22's, we let my 11 year old grandson shoot each handgun. Note that he fired .45 colt through the .454 casull and all the ammunition he fired were mild reloads and nothing heavy. He did fantastic. It got me to thinking about my first experience. I believe I was about 13 when my older brothers allowed me to shoot their .357 magnums. I don't recall the recoil being a problem, but 44 years later, my ears still ring. What age and what gun/caliber was your first experience?

 

[Hawg]

Remington Rand 1911 when I was 10. Next was an 1873 Colt in .45 Colt the same year.

 

[44 AMP]

Very first time? I don't remember anymore. Probably when I was strong enough to hold one up. 6? maybe...

Somewhere between my 14th birthday present (a Winchester .22 rifle) and my 16th (a Winchester Model 12) I was allowed to shoot handguns, under supervision enough to begin learning to be proficient.

Got my NYS Pistol permit at age 18. Been enjoying handguns since the early 70s. First centerfire? .357 Magnum S&W Highway Patrolman. Colt Govt Models .45 ACP and .38 Super. (some of Dad's pistols)

 

[RickB]

10-11 years old, a Colt M1911A1.
I didn't consistently wear ear protection until in my 30s, but didn't do too much harm, prior.
A buddy has considerable hearing loss from a single discharge, and another buddy with a tiny piece of brass embedded in his eye, so definitely not advocating for anything but always wearing "eyes and ears".

 

[MarkCO]

I did not fire a handgun until I was 15. One of my Dad's hunting buddies handed me a box of 22s and a Ruger Mk1 and told me to go shoot enough Rabbits to feed the 6 of us. It took me most of the box, and half an hour to get 6 rabbits. I had to figure out how to load it and shoot it on my own. Not something I'd suggest. When I got back, he let me shoot a few rounds out of his .357 Magnum.

I started my boys on 9mm Handguns at about 8 and 9 years old.

 

[DaveBj]

In my late 50s. I had never fired a handgun until my older son (then an Army NCO and instructor at Fort Benning) took me shooting at a range in Columbus. The gun that he rented for me was a 4" .357 Magnum. I had wimpy hands and arms, and I found the kickback to be . . . impressive

 

[ballardw]

Colt .38 Special when 9 years old. Loads may have been wad-cutter target as Dad had been on a military pistol team. I hit the tree stump at 15 yards or so that the target was on.

 

[Spats McGee]

Probably a S&W .38 revolver at age 12 or 13.

 

[Crankylove]

2-3 years old, with a little help from dad.

By myself, with no assist from dad? Probably 6-7ish.

My two oldest, 10 and 9 now, started at about 8.

 

[Drm50]

I remember sitting in old man’s lap and shooting at the white glass inserts for jar lids with a Iver Jonson Sealed 8. I wasn’t big enough to hold gun myself so it would have been south of 5 yrs old. 5th birthday OM bought me a Marlin 1897 for $8. Probably 1st center fire would have been a 32 S&W HE, same year.
Family Tradition hunts, all the adults brought along their pistols. Most were WW2 Vets and had various war souvenirs. That’s when I fired 1911s, Lugers and such. We the OM decided I was big enough to hang on to it.

 

[tex45acp]

I was 12 years old when I shot my Grandfathers 1911. I have loved that platform since that day. My EDC is a 4" version that I have carried for 20+ years.

 

[Sevens]

Compared to most hardcore knee-deep gun cranks, I started late at 15 years old. My first actual .22 rifle and .22 pistol and then centerfire revolver were all on the same day.

Rifle was a Stevens Model 86C, bolt action
Handgun was a Ruger Single Six, .22LR
Centerfire was a Ruger Security Six, .357 Magnum with .357 in it.

I was a little apprehensive with the .357 before squeezing that trigger.

It is NO OVER STATEMENT that the Security Six changed the path of my life. Very, very shortly after I joined a 4-position smallbore rifle team and also began shooting skeet twice a week but there was no doubt whatsoever that I became a handgunner on that day.

 

[L. Boscoe]

Age of shooting first centerfire

About 8- sneaked my father's SW 44 police special out and shot a few rounds, sneaked it back into the drawer.

 

[ScottOh]

This Charter Arms Undercover .38 spec. It was my Grandpa’s gun, when I was 10 he let me shoot it with him. When he passed, it was given to me!

Scott

 

[Electrod47]

I was 19 years old. Fort Ord California 1966. Sgt. Donaldson handed me 2 magazines at the firing range. Unholstered my Remington Brand .45acp loaded and fired as fast as I could one handed into a wood stump set up at 10 yards as target. Reholstered the weapon and got back in line. Told this is a weapon of last resort, depend on your M-14 boys.
Have owned several Colts since then. Still have 2. One on the bedstand every night til today.

 

[Aguila Blanca]

U.S. Army -- M1911A1. I was 23 at the time.

 

[jetinteriorguy]

For me I was around 35+- when I bought a S&W model 39. Loved that gun, another one of those sellers regrets. Next was my Blackhawk .41 mag which I quickly traded in on the Model 57 that I still have today. Didn’t mind shooting the Blackhawk, just too tedious to load and unload.

 

[BarryLee]

Although I had shot a lot of rifles and shotguns my first handgun was a Ruger Super Blackhawk at about 18. Needless to say, I loved it and purchased the exact model as my first handgun.

 

[Shadow9mm]

First time i shot any firearms i was 15. Started with a 22 rifle, worked up to 12 ga in a day. Shot a couple centerfire handguns that day. I know one was a 1911 in 45acp.

 

[stinkeypete]

I started shooting a little Savage .410 kids gun when I was 6.

The nice feature of the savage was the firing pin was retracted by a knob at the breech and required so much finger strength a kid could not do it. This was a tiny gun and I was closely supervised by my dad. The result on tin cans instilled respect.

When I was big enough, I shot a .22 rifle, again at the quarry… what we had for a range back then.

My family hunted and shot for plinking fun and the rule was you could carry your own rifle hunting alone when you were 12.

Pistols could only be shot under close supervision when you were 12, and only alone when 16. The reason was that muzzle control is so much harder with a pistol. No argument … it’s much easier to lose muzzle control with a pistol.

Us kids could shoot the bb pistols when we were 12, and we knew any call for shining the muzzle incorrectly would be called out. We got called out a lot, kids have short attention spans.

Times were different then, we could walk out the back door, past the neighbors house, and hunt rabbits. Try that now and there are houses and apartments for 3 miles to the closest woods.

Those ages might seem arbitrary, but it has been a family rule for generations. It made turning 12 an exciting milestone. Back then, turning 16 was already exciting because car.