change things up: where did you learn to shoot?

[RUTGERS95 890]

try a different kind of thread for a change

 

where did everyone learn to shoot?

 

I learned to shoot at Ft.Dix when I was young kid and my dad was a DI.  I would go out with him and sometimes with my father and his friends to shoot.  Definitely different times today but I got to shoot m60s, throw a grenade and learned to shoot various rifles there.  I learned to field strip a firearm before my first kiss...lol  I drank my first beer at Dix too, a Budweiser.....

 

I also used to ride my cr80 around while everyone was training as well..lol

[Celraysoda 7]

My father used to take my brother and I to a range somewhere in the Bay Area. We shot an old tube fed Winchester 22. Actually found out he still has it 25 years later somewhere in a storage unit.

 

After that, 6 years ago shooting with the Chief of Police in a local town in his backyard. After that, bought my own and logged many hours at the range.

[Arbelest 29]

Summer camp at boy scouts back when I was 13. I can't remember which camp specifically but it was a bolt action 22 that every one used in the prone position.

[njJoniGuy 2,133]

At SGF Vacation Camp in Collegeville PA (behind Methacton HS) when I was 12

They had BB rifles the summer before, but in 1967 the appearance of bolt action .22s was the clincher for me!

[ogfarmer 138]

Shotguns when I was around 8 w/ grandpa duck hunting and shooting clays on the Cape

 

Summer camp on Cape Cod in the late 70's and early 80's we had a Air Rifle range and 22 rifle range where we advanced thru the marksmanship's. I guess I was around the same age

[Jon 264]

At the range my dad built next to his hunting cabin at 5ish yrs old while he held the rifle and I aimed it. Pistol-work I learned from mom at SCFGPA.

[checko 180]

First ever time shooting I took a first steps pistol with Joe Westfield at Phillipsburg pistol club. I was hooked. I "learned" to shoot pistol on my own taking tips from others when I could. I learned to use a rifle through a few carbine classes with some really good local instructors

[louu 399]

I taught myself, my dad was a deadbeat and gramps was killed in a car accident before I was born. Got my FID when I was 19 in 1999 and bought a Mossberg 835. Went old school clay shooting with the hand throwers every week for years on a buddys farm. That place is probably so contaminated right now but we didn't know any better back then.

[Norseman 2]

I have shot since they first put a toy gun in my hands. I've always been a naturally good shot. But I only purchased my own handgun back in September and that was the first time I had ever really shot a semi-auto. The only other handguns I'd ever shot beside bb and pellet were a 22 and a .357 but shooting .38 rounds. I've gotten a few pointers but I've watched a bunch of videos and read a great deal of articles; and I've really gotten much better since.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[karlkurtz32 0]

Army. Fort Sill, Oklahoma. 1999.

[BlueLineFish 615]

Police academy.

[jm1827 284]

Cherry Ridge and in the woods by my house.  My father used to take me and my brother and sister shooting at Cherry Ridge, we started with 22 and moved up from there.  I started around age 6 and moved to shotgun around 10 or so.  Used to shoor 2 or 3 times a week as a kid.  Lots of great memories!

[MedicYeti 96]

Boy Scouts laid the foundation for 22 rifles and Shotgun shooting. I had some friends help, I did a lot of self teaching, and I have taken a bunch of classes. I'm now an instructor, going through the instructor training has increased my knowledge. I still enjoy learning and taking classes.

[DSD1026 48]

Self taught..  My father liked guns before i moved away, but never really owned any (since my mother was definitely an anti when they were still married, thus I had no experience with guns growing up)..  I basically shot my first gun ONCE when i was about 14 (after they got divorced) and it was a Marlin 22 rifle.  I took about 3 or 4 shots (if i remember correctly) and I was a pretty poor shot, and didnt have a lot of interest in it back then.  I was focused more on the sports I played.  It wasnt until I moved away from Rochester down to NJ (to live with my girlfriend, now wife) that I even handled another gun, as she had her FID and owns a S&W 640.  That said, I never shot it until right about this time last year.  New Years Eve day 2012 is when I shot my first pistol, a rented Glock 17 and a Ruger GP100 and also brought the wife's 640.  After I fired my first shot with the Ruger (the first gun I tried), I was hooked.  I was much better as an adult (more strength and steadiness than when I was 14) and since then, its just been me at the range practicing.  Some pointers from fellow board members (gesf) and a few from RO's at the range is the only "training" I have had.  It helps when you enjoy doing something and WANT to practice it and become better. 

[mipafox 438]

A wooded cul de sac in a suburban Connecticut neighborhood when I was 4 years old. We laid down in the street in front of the house and rested the .22s on books or something on the curb. Shot at targets towards the treeline. Then 20 gauge shotguns at disposable plastic cups. Dad reached around me and held the barrel and stock as I shot.

[Shawnmoore81 623]

Vfw members at the gibbstown turkey shoot range.

[silverado427 10,775]

Army Fort Dix 1975.

[oneshot 45]

My father (Marine) started me shooting when i was 5. The very first thing he taught me was safety and respect  of firearms.

Started with my grandfathers old savage 22 bolt ,then moved up to 12ga lefever SxS and a model 94 30-30.

Been shooting ever since and never looked back. I miss shooting off the balcony of our house at botttles ,cans etc with my Dad. RIP pop..

 The good old days when you could do things like that on your own property

[millsan1 3]

Complex answer.

 

My step dad taught me how to shoot 22s, black powder and shotgun, but he was learning while he was teaching me.

 

A family friend taught me how to shoot rifles and clays.

 

Fast forward 25 years of no shooting and I took an NRA Basic pistol course.

 

Then I took a class on performance shooting and actually learned how to shoot well.

[WhiskeyTangoFoxtrot 358]

Camden

[Howard 538]

Well growing up on the west side of NYC shooting was not something one even considered doing.  I first fired a .22LR bolt action rifle at summer camp when I was about 10 years old.  Had not touched another gun for over 40 years.  When Hurricane Sandy hit with all the looting, Newtown with all the antigun talk, and our fearless Liar-in-Chief started with gun ban talk I decided it was now or never.  So, I got on the internet and watched a bunch of videos and learned by watching.  Then this past January I went to the range for the first time to put my internet learning to practice.  Got my FID in February and started to build my handgun collection since then.

[T Bill 649]

Dad and Uncle started me in the sport.  Went hunting with them as soon as old enough to carry (PA).  Uncle had a 75ft 22/pellet range in basement of the family house (grandpa built it, he was a contractor).  Spent hours down there with cousins shooting 22 shorts.  Backstop was a steel plate angled into a sand trough.  Used to sift out the 22 and pellet heads from the sand and put it in the smelting bucket.  Lead was melted and cast into other heads for reloading later on.

[Smokin .50 1,907]

The Vietnam War was still in full-swing back in the spring of '69 (over 44 years ago).  I was 10 years old and shot a friend's pellet rifle.  I was HOOKED!  So Dad bought a Belgian Browning BL-.22 Lever-Action tube-fed rifle and all three kids would be transported to the Winchester Shooting Center (the Englishtown Range), where we would chew-up $3.99 Bricks of ammo I would buy at K-Mart in East Brunswick while Dad waited in the car with my brother and sister.  

 

Fast-forward to HS Graduation and I used my gift money to buy a brand-spankin' new Smith and Wesson Model #19 .357 Combat Magnum for around $275.  It was a straw purchase plain and simple, since the store "sold it new to my Dad", and Dad immediately filled-out my P2P "selling it to me" as a "used" gun.  And it was all legal at the time, since an 18 year old could buy a hand gun (only NOT from a FFL) "right across a kitchen table" in a private sale.  So the store owner merely stapled the two carbon copies together to send to West Trenton and I was GTG!  Several other firearms came down the road, but the most memorable was probably my Dirty Harry Model #29 in its' presentation case.  I bought that new myself from the same store on lay-away.  That was back in '79.

 

After marrying the prettiest girl I could find, I worked my butt off for years and saved for a house and furniture.  Shot at Englishtown and then found out about Monmouth County Rifle and Pistol Club in Howell, next to Monmouth Airport.  My Brother got me involved since he lived "down the shore".  That's where I finally learned to be the Shootist that I am proud to call myself today.  By fully immersing into most all of the various disciplines that a private club has to offer, and being humble enough to take some welcomed mentoring along with some ball-bustin', I became a really decent shot and entered club competitions in various disciplines, including USPSA, High Power, Bowling Pins, Shotgun, etc., often finishing in the top three positions.

 

Once my Brother joined Old Bridge, he "dragged me there kickin' and screamin'", lol, and I was still a "Probie" (at the club less than 6 months) as the newly appointed Chairman of the club's PPC League.  I also became a decent USPSA shooter in both L-10 and Revolver divisions, often showing up to the indoor practice Friday night matches with the Model #29 and Cowboy .44 Spls. that make "major" power factor, often coming-in both first AND last in my division, lol!  While there at the outdoor range I smelled something "funny" and saw smoke risin' from around the berm, so I went to check it out.  Lance Brunner, the Black Powder Chairman put a "loaner" Cap-N-Ball revolver in my hand and the rest as they say is history....so now most of you know me as a Black Powder shooter, even though I can occasionally be spotted with my Model #586 Combat at an IDPA Match at Somerset and/or Old Bridge, where guys like Tom, Bob, John and several others would gladly serve me penalties for reloadin' prior to slide-lock on my .45 1911, dumpin' mags with rounds still in 'em, lol.

 

So I guess at 54 years old I'm still learnin'...

 

Merry Christmas to all on the Forum!

 

Dave

[jrfly3006 42]

When I was 12 my dad introduced me to shooting with an Ithaca 37 Featherlight at Knights Shooting center in Middletown Ny, then 22 bolt action(can't remember make) and a Ruger P85 9mm at a local armory...at 19 I went to the school of Hard Knox -US Army Armor school at Ft Knox where I got qualified with M9 Beretta(meh), M16, M240, M249, Ma Deuce M2 .50 cal , grenades and finally a 105mm rifled cannon on the M-1 Abrams.....there was nothing better than hearing at the end of field week "We can't turn this ammo back in so we have to blow it off now" from the Sgt...Ahhh I loved those " mad minutes"...

[TheLugNutZ 21]

When I was young my dad and I would shoot his pump bb gun, that was my 1st time... 

 

After that, I paid for a beginners pistol course with my at the time girlfriend (now my wife) because I wanted a gun in the house for protection and I wanted her to be comfortable using it.  That was about 7 years ago.

[Contrvlr 17]

 Shot at Englishtown

First time I've seen that place mentioned here, wasn't sure if anyone even knew of it

[mustang69 505]

Hard to know when I first shot - I don't remember any specific time.  My father was a LEO in Montclair back in the 60's and it's something I remember doing even back then when I was 4-5 years old.  I always had bb guns growing up and shot them everywhere - woods, garage, basement.  Boy Scout camp I was always hanging out at the range.  I was never really "into" guns, they were just always around so learning it was natural - like learning English I guess...

 

I got into it more actively about 18 months ago, for no other reason than I wanted to go shooting.  I inherited some handguns from an uncle (ex-LEO from Chatham back in the '70s) and didn't want them to just sit in the safe.  In the end I wound up selling what I inherited and starting my own collection.

[illy 1]

From a DEA guy with dreadlocks.

And a limp.

[HBecwithFn7 296]

I had been exposed to it all my life but, for much of it, was not actively involved. As a kid, there was a series of toy rifles (a lever, bolt, and carbine - back when they could actually produce toy rifles ). "Santa," it seems brought me the "bolt" action rifle. It would fire "real" plastic projectiles, maybe only 20 ft. or so (air style). IIRC, the plastic bullets could be re-assembled back into their "plastic brass."

 

When it dawned on my uncle what "Santa" had actually brought,  he went immediately into "safety" mode, making me keep the bolt action "open" at all times when not in use. I was also not permitted to fire it indoors or point it at anyone. Even though this was "New Jersey," my uncle had been Naval Reserve and had the training, etc. 

 

1-2 years later, our summer day camp had a senior counselor that (I'd imagine - I can't remember -  I was 10), might have been an NRA instructor. He was also Southern Military. He would be in charge of our annual "camping overnight bivoac" trip in the woods in Cedar Grove. Military style single pole field tent,  latrine, etc. etc. It was great. But he also took us on trips to a local private HS that had a makeshift 50yrd indoor range. And he would teach us at age 10, the very basics of single shot bolt action .22 rifles in the prone position.  So, that was my official  "education experience #1."

 

Fast forward to my sophomore year at Undergrad school.  Believe it or not, the Phys. Ed. Dept. offered a full fledged course in "Riflery," and I happened to take it. It was taught by the Marine GySgt. who was on station for the school's NROTC program. A great guy and taught you respect for the weapons. We shot both .22 semi auto pistols (standing) and .22 single shot bolt rifles in standing, seated, and prone positions. I can still hear him calling my gunnery to this very day... "WITHA MAGAZINE AND FIVE ROUNDS.... LACK & LAUUD!"   After the course, I actually stayed around to participate on one of the student teams in the team challenge. We came in first, beating the campus police dept. (although they won most of the individual competitions).

 

Fast forward again to about 2 years ago. I had not touched a weapon since that college course. I guess I'd felt I had not needed them for SD/HD where I was living all those years.  After all, if State Troopers live in my complex, it's probably pretty safe.    Enter my very close friend (a PA resident) who also happens to be my cave diving mentor. We became friends over cave diving. It's his most favorite thing to do. I would have never gotten into cave diving (I was, strictly, an "open water" diver at the time - cave diving was dangerous). But slowly, very slowly, he got me into it. He found the right cave instructor for me, and helped me by being my diving buddy when I needed one. Now, I've been "full cave" certified for over 2 years.

 

Well, if cave diving is my mentor's most favorite thing, his 2nd most favorite thing (and the one he does more of now), is freely exercise his 2A rights!  So, now that he finished making me a great cave diver, it was time for "round 2" and getting me back into guns. And, very slowly, he did that as well. I've been shooting actively for about 1.5 years, now.  I found my own training this time, but my mentor and I still go shooting when we can get together. I may even guest him into HG sometime within the next week.

 

Anyway, that's how I did it.

[olderguy 0]

1949 in a small range my step-father set up in our cellar when I was 7.