When did you buy your 1st firearm?

ERE99

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....what was it and do you still have it??

Back in 1979 I was 15yrs old and working for my dad in a tire shop in Newton, NC. There was a Newton cop working part time there that was a pretty cool, yiunger guy.
He got in a cash bind and offered me a Ruger Mini14-GB, 150rds ammo, and 3 mags for $150. Dad ok'd me buying it, and I wasted no time getting the guy the money!

I can't remember the last time I shot it, but it still to this day resides in my safe.
 
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Sometime shortly after I turned 21 in 2006, I bought a S&W Sigma 40. I hated it and sold it shortly after. The very first gun I bought was about 5 years prior: a Mossberg bolt-action 12 guage with the adjustable choke. Paid $110. I still have it.
 
I was 19. It was a 4" Smith and Wesson 29-2, nickel, in a presentation box, from a private table at the Merchandise Mart in Charlotte.

Came home and tried to buy ammo and was literally cussed out by the owner of the coin and gold place. Who knew?

Sold it to a friend who flipped it and learned me a lesson.
 
When I turned 18 in '84, went to the sporting goods store next to the records store downstairs in North Hills in Raleigh. Picked up a 10/22 with the Sporter stock like this.
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Sometime shortly after I turned 21 in 2006, I bought a S&W Sigma 40. I hated it and sold it shortly after.
At the time S&W did have Stigma about them.
 
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The first thing I bought for myself was a sig P228 from a gun store in MD. I traded it years later for a pistol my wife could handle better.

Later I bought a BPR in 30-06 from the same place.
 
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Hmm.... first firearm was in 1991. Mossberg 500. Currently in the safe. First handgun in 1992 (or '93, can't exactly remember). Glock 23. Currently in the safe by the M500.

Some things come and go, but those two will be in my possession until the wife tosses them in the pine box with me.
 
The first firearm I bought for myself was at 21. I knew what I wanted, an authentic WW2 GI 1911A1 but not having the funds, I settled for a Springfield 1911A1 GI reproduction. I still have it, shoot it, and I just bought some WW1 and WW2 grips for it.
 
Age 24, it was a revolver, but I traded it for my Raven, which I still have.
 
I was 15 and my mom and dad had gon on a cruise and left me with maw. I had been working side hustles in hay fields and chicken houses all summer and had $150 bucks in my pocket. There was this old chicken house flea mkt down the road where they had auctions every saturday night. They sold anything and everything just depending on what was brought in that week. My dad was a regular and even had his own permanant number. So saturday night I hopped on my fourwheeler and rode down there. Well low and behold on the auction table was a Marlin 336 gold trigger 30/30, Redfield television recticle scope, basket weave sling, padded leather zip up case and half a dozen boxes of ammo. I bid on that rifle ran it up to the afformentioned $150. Going once! Going twice!! SOLD SOLD SOLD!!! She was mine all mine... wait a minute what do you mean you charge tax??? Sorry son but you owe $160 dollars. I said I will go to maws and get $10 bucks. I hopped on my atv and hauled butt back to grandmas house! I get there and wake her up and tell her what had happened. She says well if you can't afford it you don't need it and would not loan me any money. I rode baaack down there, walked in and said "mister look I won the bid at $150 not knowing you charged tax and $150 is all I got, either take it or leave it". The guy kinda thought it over a minute and said "hell kid I reckon you just bought a rifle". I was over the moon. I carried it home like it was the baby jesus. When pops got home we set up a bucket on a fence post at 80yds and I hit it twice thus confirming my accuracy with this awesome deer slaying machine. The third shot out of the rifle was fired on Thanksgiving morning directly into the boiler room of a 10pt buck that scored 132B&C lol lucky dumb kid. Still have everything but the shells and that fog prone scope. I of course moved on and romanced the .270s and .308s but I always remembered my first. It has a decent scope on it now and gets drug out occasionaly to shoot a deer and remember the first time we done it together.
 
My mom bought me a 12 gauge single shot for Christmas when I was 13. The first gun I bought was at 14 I believe as my uncle took me to a gun store in Hickory, NC where I purchased a Remington 1100 and I hunted evenings and weekends for dove, squirrels, and rabbits. My first dove hunt I shot 50 shells and didn’t hit a bird. My grandfather laughed pretty hard as he shot less than a box and limited out.
 
This was back around '96, bought myself an H&K USP 45. It was a nice gun, shot just fine but the grip angle didn't work for me at all. Had it maybe a year, no regrets.
 
When I was 16, I had an amazing part time job making an hourly wage plus tips at a golf course.

I walked into the local Alabama gun store and told the guy I wanted a Ruger P95DC handgun.

He politely told me I was not old enough to purchase one.

The next day, I walked in with my dad... My father asked for the same gun, right in front of me.

The employee said, "I'm sorry sir. Your underage son was here yesterday asking for the same gun. If you buy it today, that's a straw purchase and it's not legal."

My dad laid my cash on the table, and the salesman gave my dad the gun.

I still have it. It's one of my favorites... Not because of its value, but because of its history.

I love my father, and I still talk to him every day.

God blessed me with a good father...
 
30DEC15 (older than most here to be sure in this context being in my mid-50's at the time); first AR DDM4V4; and yes, it is still my bed stand go-to.
 
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First purchase from a FFL on my own accord was a 12 gauge Beretta 391, age 18. First new gun purchased for me to use, Marlin MR-7 30-06, age 16. First gun to use as though it was my own was a break action 12 ga. hardware store special that my dad gave me (he purchased when he was 18) age 12. Still have them all.
 
I was 14 so that would make it around '60. I had primed tobacco all summer and saved $100. An uncle had a country store at the corner of Creedmore Rd. and Milbrook Rd. He did business with Brown, Rogers and Dixon, a wholesale distributor that used to be on North Boulevard and they carried shotguns. His cost, therefore mine, on a Fox Model B 16 gauge was ............. $100. Still have it. The next summer I bought a Remington Nylon 66 for $49....... still have that. And naturally, I still have my Winchester 37 .410 I got for Christmas when I was 12.
 
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I was in my mid 20's and I saw a Marlin .35 Remington and a 10-1/2" stainless steel New Model Super Blackhawk in .44 Magnum at a yard sale. I asked the seller if they were enough for deer and he said yes. I bought both. I didn't keep the Marlin long, I replaced it with a 700 .30-06 which I still use. I listed the .44 on Armslist for $900 and got full price though it took a few weeks.
 
By the time I was 17, I had bought a 10/22, an 870 Wingmaster and a Bauer .25. Pretty much in that order. Small gunshop in NE Ohio.
I had started working at 14, so I was used to getting things for myself.
Those 3 are long gone, pawned to pay bills in Tejas.
Didn't buy another one until '94(?) in GA, after my second divorce- Firestar M40. I got my first carry permit after a friend had been stabbed nearly to death over a woman. Been carrying ever since.
Moved to NC in '98, first buy was a 10/22 from Jim's.

Sent from my Pixel 2 using Tapatalk
 
Ballpark of 2007, so early 30s for me. Just never really had guns around the house growing up. About the time my son was born wife and I decided I should get one and my CHP.

Had a cop I knew buy me a blue label Glock 23 and then I met him in the parking lot to get it. :oops:


ETA: son was born late ‘06, and I joined glocktalk on 2/20/07, so the date above ought to be about right
 
1995 Ruger P89DC 9mm preban with two 15rd magazines NIB $365 out the door after seven day wait and PPP in hand. My coworker went down to the Wake County Sheriff office with me to get my two pistol purchase permits. Back then you needed to have another person sign that you were of good character. :rolleyes: I still shoot it regularly, replaced the factory grips with Hogue, got tired of the Ruger emblem being imprinted in the palm of my hand.
Escaped from NY in 1990, at the time you needed an application form NCR paper six copies with five non blood related citizens to say you were of good character, plus $150 fee, all for a target pistol that could only be used at the county range. Never bothered with that.
 
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Back then you needed to have another person sign that you were of good character.
If that were the case today, I’d have saved LOTS of money! :rolleyes:
 
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First gun I bought for myself was in '93, as a newly minted E5 at the Rod & Gun club in Heidelberg, Germany. Taurus 689, 4" vent rib, full lug, stainless .357. Went to the range the following weekend & rode back up to Heidelberg for a Taurus model 44, 6.5" ported .44Mag. That .44 gave me my severe dislike for .44Mag. Just unpleasant to shoot. That .357 however, I loved. With my 23 y/o eyes, I could nibble out the x-ring at 25 yards offhand.

Sadly, Customs lost/screwed up my paperwork when I came back home in '95 & I had to sell them there when I left. Good riddance to that .44, but that .357 was a really, really nice pistol. I've wandered off into .41Mag & .357Max in recent years, but have never been without a .357Mag revolver since that time. In fact, I bought yet another Taurus, a stainless 3" .357 model 66 I bought as soon as I got back Stateside in '95 to replace that 689 & still have it. Has been my faithful truck gun for 25 years. Shoots well, always goes bang. What's not to like?
 
Day of my 18th birthday I Purchased a Mossberg 500. Loved that thing. 4 years later a crazy Ex stole it and a bunch of other stuff.
99.9999999% sure it is at the bottom of the pond along Bethabara Road In WS along with all my other stuff.
 
First firearm I bought was in 2008 right before turning 23. It was a Springfield XD subcompact 9mm. Still have it today. Still carry it too. Been meaning to upgrade my carry choice to a Springfield hellcat.
 
I started working as a carpenter’s helper when I was 14.
At the end of that first summer I had enough money to buy a Mauser action rifle in 30-06. With a Redfield scope.
My first deer rifle.
I had at that time an air rifle, a .410 shotgun, a Stevens .22, a 10 gauge single shot and of course access to several of my dad’s guns.

but that was the first I had bought with my own money.
 
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first gun that I paid for I was 14 and wanted a camo remington 597 from bass pro cause it looked way cooler than a 10/22 so I gave my dad the money and he got it for me. I was lucky enough to always get guns as presents so I was 23 before I went into a gun store and bought a Ruger LCP It was the first year they came out and my and my former college roommate stumbled on two of them and we both walked out with one
 
1988, co worker was selling his pa-paws old police gun. Smith model 10 heavy barrel , still got it that 150.00 put me on a long road of wheel guns.
 
1998 Remington 870. I've missed plenty a clay pigeon with it. 4 or 5 years ago I had it shortened and added an extended choke tube. I sleep quite well knowing that it is nearby. ;)
 
1966. I was an 18 year old Lance Corporal with a provisional rifle company at a logistics base a little bit north of Da Nang. For some reason the First Sergeant thought I would make a good "duty shotgun" for the "duty driver", another L/Cpl who was a crazy bastard from Chicago. We had a Mighty Mite and it had no way to secure a rifle so Dawson refused to bring his, saying it would get all banged up bouncing around in the vehicle and he would get jacked up when he had to turn it in. He would carry his .45.... most of the time. He believed excessive speed would keep us safe.

I wanted "something extra" and put the word out that I was looking for a sidearm, preferably a .45 as that would not draw undue attention. Personal weapons were = to brig time.

One day a guy told me another guy had a .38 he would sell. I went to look at it. The guy had found it buried in the sand when he was left behind to rake up the area after a 4-holer had been moved. The 4" revolver, loaded with .38 Spl. rounds, in a Hunter strap-over holster all wrapped up in plastic. Someone had stashed it under that 4-holer.

It wasn't a .45 but I wanted it. The guy said to make him an offer and I said $50 (a lot of L/Cpl money in 1966). He said make it $60 and it's yours. It was mine.

You could buy ammo at the PX down by Dogpatch and I put a few rounds through it at the make-shift base rifle range. Couldn't hit crap but felt good just having it. Carried it on runs to Da Nang for the rest of my time and sold it to another guy when I left. I was afraid to try to get it back home.

My loss. When I rotated out I shipped most of my stuff and just carried a change of uniform and shaving kit in a small carry bag. When we got to Travis AFB they had tables set up in a hanger. Every other table was a Customs guy and the odd tables were Marine officers. I walked up to a Captain's table and started to unzip the bag and he told me there was no way I could hide anything in that little bag and waved me on. Damn.

It was a Colt Python. And I had no clue what I had.
 
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‘91


Bought an SKS at the Raleigh gun show, covered in cosmo, in a plastic bag. $70.
 
1981 ish I was 12 ish, I was an entrepreneurial child, Dad took me down to Kmart (Cary I think, I later worked there) and I bought a Marlin 60 with the squirrel stock with my own money.

About a year later I found Pawn shops.... I believe it was Reliable Jewelry and Loan in Downtown Raleigh, I bought a H&R .410 topper model, I seem to remember it was $70.... At 15 at a pawn shop in Cary on Chatham st. right there at the Academy intersection. I bought a 28" Wingmaster 12ga $150 I believe.

First pistol was at 21, purchase in Dunn at Gunners choice, sig P220.

I still have every one of them!!
 
When I was 13 I saved up for a 10/22.

Does it count if my mom had to buy it for me? Lol.
 
When I was probably around 23 or so, living in Upstate NY, I got a Colt AR and a Mossberg 12ga. You could get them pretty much just OTC back then. Different rules for Upstate.
 
Late 1980s. A 6 inch Model 19. Shot the hell out of it with full bore 357s. For years. We didn't have the internet, so we didn't know how "weak" the K-frame Magnums were. ;)

I still have it and it still shoots like a laser. Regards 18DAI
 
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