What is your most vivid gun moment?

[W.E.G.]

1979 - at a campground - got up to take a leak around 0300 - found myself staring straight down a .44... and then being hit in the face with it several times... and ordered to kneel down... and running for my life into the deep dark night - until dawn.

 

[U.S.SFC_RET]

Being in basic training training you are controlled every waking moment of your life to include when you have to take a leak. "drill sergeant I have to take a leak" I says from a shooting foxhole. He being infantry says to me "shoot that 300 yard target and I will let you go" The wind comes from the left at 15 miles an hour so I give it a good 3 foot kaintucky windage to the left and peel off six rounds off lickity split. I never seen his eyes ever get so big, look like saucers. He also didn't know I was from Georgia and from the stix a that.

 

[U.S.SFC_RET]

Being in basic training training you are controlled every waking moment of your life to include when you have to take a leak. "drill sergeant I have to take a leak" I says from a shooting foxhole. He being infantry says to me "shoot that 300 yard target and I will let you go" The wind comes from the left at 15 miles an hour so I give it a good 3 foot kaintucky windage to the left and peel off six rounds off lickity split. I never seen his eyes ever get so big, look like saucers. He also didn't know I was from Georgia and from way out yonder in the country at that.

 

[Little Loudmouth]

Camp Perry 2007. Shooting first relay and hearing the Anthem playing before the commands began. Shooting third relay in 30+ MPH winds. Winning the Made In America match. Shooting a 99-5X during the Made In America match.

Anything related to Perry in general.

 

[camonympho]

my most memorable would be the shot I never took. Firat deer hunt , I was 8. Old mossberg 410 with slugs. I saw what I was sure was a deer thru some brush and waited for the positive id. Well i got the Id that it was a deer as i saw it running off. But to this day I know I did right in not shooting. This was pre-florecent orange law in cenral pa, where the amish hunted in their all brown coats. But I'll never forget that hunt. I was top of the world huntin with my mom.

 

[MIUper]

I was walking the long way back to camp after the morning hunt on opening day a couple of years ago when I saw a nice big doe cruising though the hardwoods. I pulled up my rifle, swung through and shot. After the shot she started running, she made it about 30 yards and I shot again and she dropped and skidded about 20 feet to a stop on the two track right in front of me. The "vivid" part is that I don't remember working the bolt or thinking about the follow up shot, it just happened. Practice pays off, both shots were fatal. I also bagged a decent buck that afternoon, it was a great day!

 

[Dannavyret]

Getting shot at by Somalis as we pulled out of Moagadishu after Clinton's disasterous leadership in 1994.

 

[cmidkiff]

Watching my 14 year old daughter grin as she emptied a magazine through a thompson sub-machine gun. A close second would be watching my 13 year old daughter pick off a (stationary) clay pigeon with my PTR91 at 100 yards.

Just a proud papa, I guess.

 

[strat81]

I am SO glad I started this thread. All great stories, and they really show how differently firearms can be used.

 

[jfh]

the most vivid moment was when I realized my Glock 20 was missing the top end, and I was wondering if it was imbedded in me....

the most enjoyable moment was when I shot a 50 on the first target with my custom target rifle built up by a newfound gunsmith friend.

Jim H.

 

[XD Fan]

So many...

When my father fired both barrels of a malfunctioning Norinco 12 gauge O/U. It was the first gun I had ever purchased (used, by the way). I could not get it to shoot. He took it and pressed the trigger until it fired and, boy , did it go kaboom!

 

[The_Antibubba]

I grew up an Anti.

Not one of the Brady-spouting types, mind you; but in a household with no guns, knowing no one who had any guns, and under a general sense of "Guns are Bad". I had no fascination with them either--they weren't even "forbidden fruit".

Sometime early in the '90s I went to visit a college friend about 2 hours away, and while I was there one of his old high school buddies (who'd I'd met before and considered an idiot) came over to show off his new .357 Magnum revolver. And I told my friend "Either it goes or I go", and my friend, who didn't like to be put in such a hard spot, couldn't say anything to his high school buddy--so I left.

As I drove home I was angry at my friend, and angry at the Idiot, but I was also angry at myself. I knew I had done the right thing, removing myself from a potentially dangerous situation, but I realized I didn't know anything else, like if the gun was loaded, or if I could have unloaded it safely, or what. I had no other recourse but to leave--and what if that hadn't been an option? I'm no fan of ignorance, especially my own, so I set out to read everything I could about guns. I had a job that kept me on the road, so I'd stop at gun and pawn shops, ask questions, handle them, etc. Oh, yeah, I eventually went to the range and shot, and loved it.

But the day I decided to educate myself is much more vivid than the first time I shot.

 

[CajunBass]

That smell of a freshly fired shotgun shell, on a frosty morning.

 

[esheato]

Two moments come to mind...

1. My (God willing) first and only ND.

2. The moment when I really realized how to shoot.

My first pistol was a Ruger P90. Not really difficult to shoot, but there are certainly more appropriate beginner guns. Also, money was tight as a 21 year old. Range trips were concluded in 50 round segments...maybe 100 if I felt like splurging.

One day, I bit the big one and bought a case. Wow, the possibilities are endless with 500 rounds! I went straight to the range and started shooting at the dirt berm at 25 meters. Soon enough, I had the place to myself and started moving in for some closer shots. Finally, at five yards and 400 rounds, it all clicked...

Breath control, trigger control and sight alignment combined into complete understanding. Ever since then, it hasn't been too difficult.

Ed

 

[ACP230]

I fired my first shot at the age of six.
Fifty years later, it's hard to pick just one memorable moment.

One is the first NRA Highpower match I watched. Most folks were using M1 Garands then and six or eight went off at once at the start of the slowfire prone relay. The noise and the smoke washed back over me and I started grinning. The next month I was on the line with a rifle myself.

The first time I shot pins at the old Second Chance Bowling Pin Shoot is another.
My old .45 had misfed with the Blazer .45 ammo I was using. I'd cut my left palm on the blade of the adjustable Micro sight trying to clear the gun. I was bleeding. I had pins still standing on the table.
And I was grinning all over my face.

The Second Chance shoot was a whole lot of fun.
I still miss it.

 

[49north]

My most vivid gun moment was scary. 15 years ago my kids were small and we were returning from a day fishing at a nearby lake that is very isolated and seldom visited during the week. On the way back we parked down the mountain to scout for bear and moose when a small beat up pickup with two disshevelled meth types, one who approached the truck with his hands behind his back and his buddy to my rear standing by the bed of his truck with his hands in it. My instincts screamed trouble..these fellas gave me the willies and I was scared. The one who approached gave me a story that was not right and I became further alarmed..all the time I was holding the browning buckmark all ready to go. The guys left but I was ready to take them out, and no, I don't think I was being paranoid.

 

[DrDavidM]

Colt Anaconda

I never remember not having guns in my life. My wonderful father got my brother and I started early. The thing I guess I remember most was, I had asked my local gun store to special order me a 6 inch Colt Anaconda 44mag. A few days later I developed the flu. The real flu. I couldn't stand up, everything was kind of confused and out of focus. I got a call from the gun store. My gun was in. I dragged myself promptly of the couch and went across Birmingham to get it. I was smart enough not to shoot it until I was well. Anyway, everytime I look at the gun I think about that day. Which was kind of confused and out of focus.

 

[Scanr]

It was not long after I bought my first gun, a Ruger 10/22. My best friend and I went to our usual shooting spot. While we were walking to the shooting area, a jack rabbit went running off behind us. We both opened up on this poor jack and emptied a 10 round magazine shooting at it. Neither one of us killed the dumb thing though it was hit once, it missed a step while running.

Sadly both the friend and the Ruger are long gone, and I miss both.

 

[41magsnub]

My first deer. FYI - to you parents out there this is why you don't put a 12 year old with questionable marksmanship and WAY too much ammo alone at a spot I now call "the grassy knoll" while you pheasant hunt the brush to kick the deer out!

I hear my dad shoot. A whole herd of muley does runs out in front of me about 100 yards downhill. I pick one out and shoot then look up.. no down deer. I shoot again.. look up... no down deer.. repeat 15 times (keep in mind this was with a bolt action .243). finally I remember the whistle trick so I do that and one stops and I drop it. Yay! I got a deer. Walk down to it and tag it feeling all proud waiting for dad to get to me. I hear another shot from my dad's direction. He walks up to me looking both pissed and amused and tells me to follow him.

I turns out I got 4 deer... 3 were dead and he finished the 4th with his pistol. Ooops.... My dad said it sounded like he was back in 'Nam.

 

[tasco 74]

my most enlightening gun moment was when i first shot my first handgun..... i had bought a s&w model 13-2 .357 magnum 4"........ i went to a place just outside of town here guys would go and shoot into a huge dirt pile...... i loaded the cylider full of federal 158 grain jsps of course i had no hearing protection with me (how load could it be)........ the first shot went off and i thought someone had slapped me in ears....... d^mn that was loud!! i shot the rest off the cylider full put the gun back into the gun rug and didn't go shooting again until i got ear plugs!.................

 

[sfhogman]

Two occasions stand out. The first was in the summer of 1959 or 1960 shooting a Crosman .177 gas gun with my Dad. He set a lit candle out at about 15 yards- this was in the backyard- took aim, and and put it out without touching the wick. I told him it was a lucky shot, and he proceeded to repeat it, over and over. I now know how he did it, of course, but at 12 years old I was impressed! Those summer evenings with Dad were what got me interested in shooting.

The other occasion was about 10 years ago when I first got into reloading. I took my first ever batch of cartridges to the range, and let fly with the GP100. They worked! After a while another shooter came up and asked what ammo I was using to get such nice groups.... Been hooked on reloading ever since.

Jeff

 

[Soul Assassin]

Accidental Discharge

I was shooting a S&W .44 magnum with a friend. We went through the rounds, thought all were spent, hammer not cocked, resting on what we thought was an empty casing. We are both very safety conscious, well......about 30-45 seconds (maybe shorter) the firearm discharged. The only thing we could attribute it to was a "slow burn". It was factory ammo. The firearm was pointed in a safe direction at all times, I refuse to use firearms with people who are careless. Scared the hell out of both of us...I will never forget that.

 

[denny11]

unfaithful gun

Just last year i got to go hunting for the first time. Before we went i had to practice and sight it in. I was shooting a 4/10. I am skinny and couldn't handle much more. On about my 7th shot i pulled the trigger. Nothing happened. I had checked safty so i knew for sure that was not the problem. I held that position tightly for 5 minutes. The gun was older so i thought if i held position it would go off. I was getting sore so i put the stock of the gun pointed up on my leg. Thats when it went off. There i sat shakin and scared. My dad was there the whole time telling me what to do. Anyways, I picked it up and shot again. .....No deer unfortunetly.