I still lament missing Market Hunting.

Starling safari hell for me for the same reason....

Hand-me-down Savage 99 in .300 Savage with Weaver K-4 glass. Good for first deer at 11. Still have both.

.243 Mauser given to me by my father when I was 12 (32 yrs ago) straight-shootin' SOB. Gave it to my brother in Wyoming to help him keep his varmits under control.

My 7 year old just got his first gun. it is a Daisy 22lr bolt action. It is a real POS. Stock is coming off, trigger takes him 2 fingers to pull, the grip is too long and made for adult hands, all of the stock is plastic. But he loves it to death. I didnt get to buy it for him, Father in law kinda jumped in front of me with this purchase. He found it at a garage sale and swears it is worth a couple grand. I have an old rem .22 bolt rifle(my first gun) I was going to have a donor stock made to fit him and keep the original stock for when it fits him. The F-I-L beat me to the punch. He loves to shoot none the less and is getting pretty deadly with it. I take him out shooting all the time and he has already graduated to a scope. I take out all of my empty pop cans and fill them with water(you know when you hit one), he can consistently bust 8 out of a 10 round clip at 30 or so yards. If the gun fit him a little better and had a better trigger i'm sure he could do 10for10. I think from here on out I will be in charge of giving the little ones firearms.

My first rifle was an old Marlin 22 Lever Action that belonged to my Granddad it had an octagon barrel. I wish I stil had it. My brother sold it while I was living in Florida.

The first rifle I bought was a Remmington Model 742 BDL in 30/06 in 1965. Either someone wanted it more than I did or the EX wife got rid of it along with a Steoger Lugar 22 Pistol.

The first gun I hunted deer with was an Winchester Pump 12 GA Shotgun my dad had bought from some guy in Alaska. It had been stuck in a snowbank and fired so six inches had been cut off the end of the barrel. Talk about a scatter gun, that was it as there was no choke whatsoever. It put a new meaning to the term Scatter Gun.

My first non BB gun was a 22. Winchester mod. 490 semi out. I paid my uncle $290.00 for it. Still have it and won't get rid of it. It was my first gun. It just sits in the safe now. Someday I will give it to one of my kids maybe.

Kris

Not counting BB guns..

Right when I turned 18 I bought one of those collapsable "survival" rifles. I think Henry made them.

Not sure why they're called 'survival' rifles, because if you had to rely on one to survive, you'd be better off shooting yourself.

And even then, with a .22 you'd prolly just fug yourself up really bad and not get the job done.

On one hand it was cheap & accurate.

On the other:

It jammed every 2-3 rounds

It took 15 minutes and a screwdriver to pry the pieces out of the stock before even screwing it together.

When I went to clean it, I removed the side plate, and PING! All the springs & guts shot out like those snakes in a can and one of the tiny springs went right down the floor register and was gone for good.

I jammed what was left back in hodge-podge and sold it at the nearest pawn shop for $50.

my first was a single shot remington .22 when i was 8, 50 some years ago. still have it and still kill grouse with it. that gun has killed a lot of meat. dad used to let me kill are pigs and beef in the fall.