What is your most vivid gun moment?

[strat81]

What is your most vivid gun moment? Scary, fun, positive, negative, good, or bad...

For me, it's a toss-up: either the first time I went shooting, which was at a fun shoot at my FIL's gun club. I'm from NYC... so the thought of the citizenry shooting guns en masse was quite foreign! Or, it was the first time I shot a .460 S&W revolver. Imagine holding an M-80 in your hand and lighting the fuse and still holding on to it!

 

[Engel]

The first time I shot at a deer. I was in the everglades with my dad on his swamp buggy. I was about 4 or 5 years old. I'm not sure what kind of rifle he had, maybe a 30-30. I aimed perfectly and knew I was going to hit that deer. It was probably 150 yds away. Of course I missed but my dad told me that I hit him and he ran off. I was so proud of that.

 

[Joey_the_Wolf]

Probably the first time I fired a 1911 pistol. It was about 3 years ago and I had just turned 18. It was my first actual range trip too, at a nice quiet outdoor range outside of Hershey PA, and after shooting a handgun for the first time and doing well with it (an H&K VP70), the guy I was with pulled out a genuine GI WWII era 1911A1. He told me the story of how he got it (He's an older guy and was an Army officer). He found the frame at the bottom of a pond in Ft. Benning, and the slide was an Ithica slide, and he had it since the late 50s. It was a genuine, well worn, gray parkerized WWII era 1911. Wow... I drooled. When he put that in my hand I could just feel the history of the pistol (I'm a huge history buff), and immediately fell in love with the 1911 mystique. Best of all, even though the pistol was old enough to be my grandfather, it still shot tight groups and felt very smooth. That's gotta be the fondest firearms related memory I have.

A close second for "vivid moment" was a few months ago at an indoor range. There I was, with my own 1911, and 9mm Beretta, just minding my business, blasting away with a friend, and all of a sudden I hear BOOOOOOOOOM!. Sounded like a flashbang.... You could feel it in your gut too. Turns out the person in the lane next to me was shooting an S&W 500.... in an indoor range. Needless to say he had a huge grin on his face, and so did I
Also, I didn't hear very well for the rest of the evening, hahahaha.

 

[elenius]

First time I shot a rifle, 10 years ago. I was doing the mandatory military training back in Sweden, and I was shooting the AK5 (FNC). The ka-chunk of the gun cycling, the slight shove into my shoulder, the smell of gunpowder. Aaah

 

[Gunbabe]

The first time I shot a gun was about two years ago. I was always against them til my husband brought them into the home and I figured I better learn what to do. When we walked into the range I picked up my gun and thought what the heck am I doing I can't return this thing. As soon as I fired it I loved it and still do. I wish more ppl that were against guns had a chance to be around them and then make their mind up not just from crap that they hear.

 

[hankdatank1362]

My first, and last, ND.

 

[Omaney]

First deer I shot. Used a Marlin in .35 Rem. at 80 or so yards...she dropped without so much as a twitch. Delicious.

 

[igpoobah]

Step brother loaded an old BP pistol 'hot' and gave it to me, I was about 5 or 6. I wound up on my butt.

 

[doubleg]

One of the first times I went shooting my cousin brought his Desert Eagle 44, Tec-9 (pre-ban), Norinco AK, Russian SKS, Glock 17L, and I brought my beat up old Taurus PT-99. We spent the whole day trying to cut a tree in the bottom of his yard down. I've been hooked ever since.

 

[target1911]

The first time I shot a gun. I was at grand-pa's at about the age of 6. He handed me his single shot 410 and gave no instrution on how to hold it. I had my BB guns so I had an idea...LOL....I aimed at the paper plate, pulled the trigger, and nearly ended up on my but. It was at a family gathering so EVERYONE got a laugh at my expense.

#2 When Grand-pa gave me the Remington Speedmaster 22 that my parents got him for his B-Day when I was 2.

#3 My first dear. A nice 10 pt Buck at 25yds.

 

[springmom]

When I shot my first deer. 215 yards, DRT, and I swear, time just turned to molasses as I watched him fall, watched him try to rise and then just lay his head down.

That was a good day.

Springmom

 

[tydephan]

Camp Perry - when I was 12.

Two fun days of range time with ARs and 1911s.

 

[Gator]

Getting shot at was pretty vivid, fortunately they missed, getting hit would have been even more vivid.

 

[Desk Jockey]

I have lots of better memories, but this one's the most vivid.

No one saw it happen, and I've never told anyone about it until this post. I'm ashamed to admit it now, even though this occurred almost 35 years ago.

I was 12 years old on my first deer hunt, sitting in a tree stand at the edge of a field on our property. I'd been shooting and hunting small game since I was 6, had tagged along with my Dad and older brother on previous deer hunts, and had shot a number of groundhogs with my new Model 94 Winchester earlier that year. The safety rules had been drilled into my head, and I was very familiar with my weapon.

But I was 12 years old.

It was late morning on opening day, I'd been in the tree stand with my Dad since before daylight, and we hadn't seen a deer all day. Needless to say, all the excitement of my first opening morning had turned to incredible boredom. My Dad left the stand to walk a loop through the woods trying to kick something up for me. I was playing around with my Model 94, aiming at trees or rocks at various distances and pretending that they were monster whitetails. I caught glimpses of another hunter's orange vest about 200 yards away from me, as he made his way through the trees toward the far end of the field.

In spite of everything I'd been taught and everything I'd practiced for 6 years, I aimed my gun at the orange spot moving through the trees. I imagined trying to shoot a running deer at that distance with my open sights. I knew I was doing something unsafe, and the guilt made me stop after a couple of seconds.

As I took the gun from my shoulder, I was horrified to see that the hammer was fully cocked. I don't recall pulling it back, but I must have done it when I was pretend-shooting one of those rocks. The only safety on that gun was a half-cocked hammer. As I lowered the hammer back to safe, a wave of stomach-churning adrenalin came over me as I realized just how stupid I'd been and how close I was to killing someone by accident. I was still shaking a few minutes later when that someone stepped out of the trees and into the field. It was my brother.

 

[PILMAN]

My first time shooting a gun was about 12 years ago. I was 9 years old and my father taught me to shoot a gun in our basement, it was a pump shotgun.

I hadn't shot guns after that until I was about 19 years old, my friends took me shooting and it was my first time using a handgun (shot a Glock 21).

 

[230RN]

Incoming double on ducks, about halfway between Boulder and Lyons Colorado, about 1968(?).

What made it especially gratifying was not my shooting, but the fact that the young lab named Inge, whom I had personally trained as a field dog, marked them both perfectly, went out and got one, dropped it at my feet, and ran/swam out to get the other and bring it back.

And there were no witnesses.

I still have that dog's ashes, with the urn engraved,

Inge of Valhalla
AKC xxxxxx
A Champion to me

 

[f4t9r]

first time shooting my buddies AR , it was a good time

 

[orygunmike]

Rattlesnakes & Shotguns

When: 1972....I'm 13.
Where: Desert, miles outside of Las Cruces New Mexico
What: Hunting rabbits with my dad and friends.

we are a couple miles from the car hunting rabbits. My dad, 30 yards to my right suddenly leaps, scampers sideways, and curses. Then I hear, "snake!!!"....

He had come upon a nice size rattlesnake laying beneath the shade of a bush...had stepped just a few feet from the snakes head...causing it to stir, rattle, and assume the strike position.

We would had left that snake lying there and moved on, but because another adult and 3 other kids were walking a few hundred yards behind , following us...my dad was afraid they may come upon it and get bitten, he told me to shoot it. I did. I learned that a rattle snake doesn't fair well with a 12 gauge blast of #7 shot from 50'.

But mostly, I was glad my dad didn't get bit.

 

[MIL-DOT]

without thinking too hard to come up with a better one, i'm gonna say parris island, boot camp,spring 1983. qualifying day at the rifle range, it's pouring rain and gusting wind,and i was one of only two (maybe three) guys in the entire company to even qualify. fargin bastages just voided EVERYONE'S score, and had us re-qualify the next day.

 

[mjrodney]

A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away, I had the occasion to confront a fellow who was very close to boosting my semi-custom motorcycle out from under the protected patio and gazeebo next to my home.

Having had a bike one stolen out from under me just a few months ago (different location), and never having recovered it, I was primed for another attempt. SOB, I said, never again.

This time, a new alarm installed, we ended up looking at each other for what seemed like a long time, and then with a last concerned look at the S&W stainless snub in my hand....he bolted into the night for the street.

I always thought that I would have......well, in the end, I didn't. And I'm glad.

I didn't have to. That handgun did it's job, nonetheless.

 

[76shuvlinoff]

most vivid

25 years ago I was 22 yrs old, hanging out with my buddies, chasing girls and generally under the influence.. all at the same time on a bar parking lot. This guy pulls up to ask directions and somehow I was the only one on the driver's side of the car. I don't really know what his plan was but as we were talking he laid the barrel of a nickle plated revolver on the door leveled at my belt buckle. He said "look what I got." I was numb enough to be bold and said, "My buddies behind your car got your plates too." (there were four of them back there) He said "You're right." and drove off. I was drunk my buddies were drunk nobody got a plate number.

I don't drink much anymore, I carry.

 

[bigun15]

Either using an SKS for the first time and it being the first rifle over .22 I ever fired, or using an AK with a buddy in New Mexico. Both great memories. I'll tell ya what though: If you use an AK in a valley outdoors it makes a tremendous thunderous roar that you will never forget.

 

[Stevie-Ray]

Probably the most vivid was the first time I touched off my T/C Contender pistol in .45-70. I didn't know the best way to hold it, because I knew it was going to be a hell of a lot worse than the .30-30 barrel I knew and loved. I took a firm hold on the grip and grabbed the forend with the off hand. BOOOOM the gun viciously kicked out of my offhand and ended up practically against my side. This one was no fun at all. After about 10 rounds of Remington 300 gr loads only, I decided to have it Magnaported. Rather than pistol, I elected to have a full rifle job done. It helped.......a little. The blast was, of course, even worse after the port, and precious few of my fellow range enthusiasts seemed interested in shooting whenever I shot it. They were, in fact, downright miffed. I took the hint and don't shoot it anymore and I don't really miss it. It simply wasn't fun.

 

[grampster]

I've had many vivid memories, most of them fun and good. The most vivid though, wasn't fun. Around 1965. We had a man with a gun call at a local tavern. While on the way the call was changed to shots fired. I was a couple blocks away when I saw the a person that met the general description of the gun wielder and he had a long gun in his hand as he walked down the sidewalk.

I called it in and stopped and exited the cruiser. At the same time he was walking rapidly up a driveway between two houses looking at me. I noticed a fence between the houses at the end of the drive. I took an oblique path to the right of the driveway in front of a hedge that blocked both our views of each other and then dropped to my knees and scrambled around the hedge and up to the house. I had my revolver out and I lay prone and crawled to the edge of the house next to the driveway. I figured he wouldn't think that I'd be lying down and he would expect me to be standing and peeking around the house. He couldn't get over the fence. It was too tall. I knew he'd be waiting for me. This all is happening very very rapidly. I lay on my left side and extended my revolver as I looked quickly around the house. I was right. He had his long gun aimed at where he thought I'd show up, high. My revolver was cocked and I had my finger on the trigger and I had him com. I commanded him to drop it. His jaw dropped and his eyes widened and he immediately wheeled away from me and threw the long gun over the fence. Again, this was not a long process, it was over in a couple of heartbeats. It is hard to explain, but I knew I had time to do what I did because of my tactic. Had he not wheeled I would have shot him. I knew I'd have time if he attempted to change where he was aiming.

I have always been grateful that he did what he did in throwing away the long gun. Many of my fellow officers wanted to know why I didn't shoot him. In my heart I knew that I didn't have to, that was why. Again, not easy to explain, just one of those moments when you know you have done the right thing the right way.

 

[Fisherman_48768]

I've been a shooter all my life it seems like but my most memorable shooting event was in Nov 69 while over the Ho Chi Min trail working the vulcans, man those things were noisy. Fireflies coming up were a different perspective than I had ever experienced.