21 for me. I'm 22 now.

Not to sound like an old , I'm only 48, but things were definately different when I was a kid. My first handgun was given to me by my dad when I was around 13 years old. It was a reblued Walther P-38 and I loved it. My dad taught & trusted me to be responsible with firearms. People were also more gun-friendly, heck I remember walking around with my .22 rifle in the neighborhood...there was a lot of woods around our home.

I'd shot my brother's 1911, then, living in northwestern Montana and all, my Mom got me a Ruger SuperBlackhawk .44 magnum for Christmas one year. Now my carry piece is a Beretta 92FS.

I confess, it all started at age 14 and continues on through the years with a 20 year gap in between
purchases....

Age 14 - A hand me down from my Grandfather, a namelss short barrel, single shot, bolt action .22 rifle

Age 18 - USAF Boot Camp, M-16

Age 26 - USAF Flight Engineer School, .38 special

Age 29 - Bought my first gun... Ruger Mark I Standard .22, then a Ruger Security Six .357 followed by
a Charter Arms Bulldog .44 special

Fast forward 20 years....

Age 49 - Mossberg 500A Persuader 12 Ga

Age 59 - M&P .40, Sig P226 .40, Springfield 1911 .45, Ruger Mark III .22 and a Ruger SR9 9mm

Age 60 - my next purchase... a small 9mm CCW pocket pistol (make and model yet to be determined)

Where did all those years go????

First handgun, around 12. Fathers High Standard 9-shot da revolver, SA style grip, Nickel. My brother has that now (darn him)
Had been shooting .22's for about 2-3 years with my dad and older borther. Tried dads 16ga at about 11. He stood behind me to catch me when it kicked (sitting on the porch steps.) I still love that gun. Its a featherlight though so it kicks like a mule

When I was about 10, my dad drug home an old car from the junkyard and was fixing it up as usual.(we never had good cars,lol)

Anyway ,I found a .22lr H&R revolver under the front seat.It had some rust on one side where it had been stuck to the carpet for so long.Since I've alway's been a tinkerer,taking it apart and cleaning everything was fairly simple.I let my 12 year old brother in on my find and he recalled seeing some bullets out in the barn.Sure enough,sitting up on a shelf in the old tack room was a jar of .22 ammo that was left by the old farmer who rented the house to us.(I know what your thinking....There's gonna be trouble) The only trouble we had was our oldest brother and his teenager friends taking it from us when they heard us shooting at cans in the back field. He wanted to know where we got it,so when we told him,he claimed that it was his and he left it there....who were we to argue???I never saw it again....

That's the first time I ever shot a pistol.

I was about 15. I started going with my Father, Sister and brother-in-law Steve. Tons of fun!

Living in NY state for 47 years along with having to wait 18 months to get a permit made it a tad bit hard to buy or get into Handguns. I owned shotguns since I was 18 but never a pistol.

I moved to VA this past Oct and couldn't wait for the 30 days before I was able to buy a handgun. I purchased a Taurus PT 92 AF and love shooting either at Blue ridge Arsenal or Clark Bros, both in Northern VA.

Both my son (21ys) and I have become avid shooters, and try to go twice a week.

I think its time to invest in a reloader, as it is getting expensive....

Loved my air guns as a kid. My first was a Daisy "Golden Eagle" (same as a Red Ryder). I outgrew that right away and purchased a Crossman 760 pump.....put scope on it.......took the scope off. Then I got into air pistols. Bought a Crossman 1911 clone (Spring powered) that was a piece of crap. Then I picked up a Daisy (?) Co2 powered pistol. It worked better but I thought the Co2 cartridges ran out of gas too fast. I was looking at getting a pump pistol......but then girls started to enter the picture and I forgot all about guns .

25 years later.....lol; I just purchased my first "powder" powered handgun......a Ruger Mark III competition target. Having a great time with it so far. Will be joining a local "Mens Pistol League" and shooting Bullseye and maybe some silhouette.

Originally Posted by Sig Al

I was about 15. I started going with my Father, Sister and brother-in-law Steve. Tons of fun!

exact same here! still try to go w/ the old man at least once a month!

When I was about 13 or so, my dad pulled some strings with a friend of his and got us a tour of the FBI's HQ in NYC.

At the end, we got to see their shooting range - and got to shoot my dad's friend's service revolver. That was the coolest thing I had done up untill that point, and still ranks up there. I've still got the target I shot, and that was well over 20 years ago!

Just bought my first gun a few months ago, a Ruger P89. I'm 23.

18 unless you want to count a bb gun

I was 15 when I shot my first gun, a Berreta 25. It belonged to my older brother who was eventually shot and killed by an intruder who broke into our home.

6-10

Air rifle at 5 , 410 at 7 Iver Johnson model 1936 target pistol 22 LR at age 8 ( used it to kill hogs on the farm.) 22 rifle at 10

I shot my dads 12 guage when I was about 15.....Never shot anything after that untill about 3-4 months ago (I will be 41 in a few days)..that is when I bought my XD.45....Then I bought an XD SC .40 a month later...Last week I traded the .40 and bought an XD9...

I am just learning...I shoot at least once a week ever since buying the .45

Willy

I can't remember the very first handgun I shot, it was either my uncle's .22 Bearcat or my friend's .22 Trapper model. After returning from Desert Strorm, our "group" felt very naked having had to give up our M-16s so we all promptly went out and bought several handguns. Mine was my first, a Navy Arms Uberti SA Army reproduction in .45LC. The only others I remember were two 10" Super Blackhawks, one was SS w/walnut grips and the other was blue w/ Pachmyers. We had a lot of fun then.

At 18 I got to shoot my first 1911 in Navy boot camp. Couldn't hit anything. At 20 got a .357 Dan Wesson, Couldn't hit anything. At 45 got a Beretta PX4 in 9mm. Hit everything without even tryin'. I've been into handguns for almost 30 years, but really got into it when I started hittin' stuff.

I was about 11 when I shot my uncles 22 revolver an old 9 shot top break H & R. I loved it and when I was 12 I borrowed my other uncles WWII Remington Rand .45 and once I shot that I was hooked forever. Read all Jeff Coopers stuff I could get ahold of at the time. The first pistol I was able to buy was a Ruger MKI 5 1/2 inch bull barrel target at 18. My next purchase was a Colt .45 Combat Commander when I was 21. Still hooked at 56 there's nothing more enjoyable to me than going to the range and shooting pistols. Or hunting small game with a 22 pistol.

I was 15 years old when I got into shooting. The first pistol I've fired was a Ruger 45 ACP, and every since then firearms he been a big part of my life. Just randomly thinkingI have never fired a 9mm pistol before, maybe I should go buy myself one.

21st birthday - it was a Sunday. I bought a handgun that first weekend!

Let's see here...
Shot 1st rifle around 8....................single shot .22
In between there and 12.................both a double and a pump 12 gauge (the pump's mine now) and a 300 Savage Model 99 (grandfather's that is now mine for deer)
12...............................................N ew England Pardner 20 gauge single
Somewhere around 16 or 17.............Dad bought a Ruger Mk II (so 1st handgun I shot) and he bought me a Rem Model 597 .22
Turned 21, and within the week........XD40SC and my PA LTCF (CCW permit)
Later this year (still 21)...................5" Walther P22, my UT CCW permit, and a Kel-Tec P3AT

Lots of fun, and future plans include: within the year: 18" 12 gauge for home defense and a .22 supressor for the P22 (likely Gemtech)
Within the next few years (the time frame depending on how a job goes and how this election goes as well): some AR variant, a full size pistol (likely full size XD or Sig 226 Tactical) and finally a larger eccentric rifle such as a Barrett .50....We'll see...That's a ways from now.

It's been a fun ride already

Always had shotgun handy and/or rifle in the house,but realy got into handgun when my kids got older. No lets say I have a choice for every night of the week and than some.

I had my first handgun shooting experience when I was 9 years old. It was an.22 revolver and all I can recall is it had Hollywood on the barrel. It also was black and had white grips with black spots. (Looks like the gun in the start of Gunsmoke).
My father let me shoot it and used my non-trigger hand to balance the gun around the cylinder and I received a slight powder burn. My Father ( God bless his soul) wasn’t watching me close enough and my Mother swore she would never let me shoot anymore.
But needless to say by the time I was 12 I bought my first handgun at a local sporting goods shop here in East Tennessee. It was a Taurus 22 Mag revolver.
Ahh the good ole days!!!