[GBullet]

...or how I learned to be more humble.

Like many new shooters, I started off with a .22LR pistol. With my pistol, some ammo and a soda can, I marched off to quickly master pistol shooting.

Up to that point my training consisted of the finest westerns and action shows that Hollywood had to offer. Yessiree, I had memorized every pistol move of "The Good, the Bad and the Ugly", Hawaii Five-O and James Bond. What more could any budding shooter need?

With the can 30 feet away, I confidently fired my first shot...it missed. A fluke. I fired the second shot...it missed. Bad ammo I reasoned. By shot number ten I was pondering the possibility of a bent barrel. Undeterred, I fired another ten shots, all misses. The next nine shots were fired after taking one step forward before each shot. The final shot of the day was at three feet from the can. Thankfully it hit the can. I quickly disposed of the soda can before anyone saw a lonely hole and decided to restore my battered ego by reading and practicing.

The bad news was that I certainly wasn't a "natural". The good news was that reading and practice can lead to improvement. Someday my name will strike fear into the hearts of soda cans everywhere.

 

[SatCong]

I was lucky enough to have a Dad who grew up on a rural farm in the depression. He taught me to shoot and I stand on his shoulders with that, as well as all my positive, life shaping events. My first expeience was also a 22lr revolver, with my results not unlilke your-own, except I knew the barrel was straight when Dad made the can jump at his will! Dad is kinda like Quigley, he didn't say he couldn't use one, he just said he never had much use for one! He does, though, still take interest in each of my acquisitions, asking intelligent questions from which I usually learn much by trying to answer intelligently.
SatCong

 

[BigJon]

Mine was with a .22 also - an old H&R break-top. It was my grandfather's. When I was 10 (yes, this was back in 1880 or 1881 ), I took it, without permission, out into the back yard and promptly pumped a .22 short laterally through the pad of my right pinkie. At first, there was just a hole. It started bleedin' like a MOTHER after I stuck it under the hose though! All I could think of was ...

"Mom's gonna kill me. Mom's gonna kill me."

This was the old days though - rather than suing H&R, the ammo manufacturer and retailer, my grandfather, and the hose manufacturer, we just stuck it in epsom salts every night for a couple of weeks, and it was as good as new.

Regards,
Jon

 

[RIKA]

My stepfather hated guns so I never even touched one until I came to live with my real father at age 18. My first handgun was a 22 cal S&W Mod 18. His patience and enthusiasm for my interest in firearms helped me to progress very quickly. I can never thank him for what he gave to me.

RIKA

 

[41mag]

My shooting escapade was started w/o a role model.Too poor for guns as a youngster.No place to shoot in the inner city anyways.At 22 I bought my first.A 41mag revo.I missed pretty much everything I aimed at.By about '96 I had 10 handgunsbut very little practice.I put this hobby on hold until late last year.I bought a decent 22 this spring & have managed to put +/- 500rnds/wk through it in the last couple of months.It's amazing what a cart load of practice will do.
If I ever have a spawn he/she/they'll get a much different start.