Poll
Question:
Have you ever fired a gun?
Option 1: Yes
votes: 32
Option 2: No
votes: 10
Option 3: N/A (specify)
votes: 1
I have once. It was a rifle at a cousin's farm when I was 11.
Yep, a bunch of them (.22 Mossberg rifle, Ruger mini14, Colt AR-15, Norinco SKS...). I don't own one.
I would like to one of these days. Maybe over the summer. That skill could be important later in life...
Many conservation areas around here have shooting ranges and hunting availability, and then there is Bass Pro, which has an indoor pistol range.
At least about four dozen different kinds of pistols, revolvers, rifles, and shotguns. I used to frequently join friends and family out at ranges. It was always a good opportunity to try something new, especially when I was buying ammunition. My brother in law has at least 35 firearms in his gun safe, his AK47 was probably the most fun...maybe the Single Action Army too. Oddly I've never found the need to bother with gun ownership. When I lived in Arizona I was always too busy to bother with getting one (at the time open carry didn't require a license) nor could I really settle on what I wanted. If anything I would prefer something at least 9mm or .45 caliber.
At ranges (rifle, .22 pistol, .45 revolver). Took a riflery course in college.
Between the .22 and the .45 at a range (later in life), I got a tighter grouping with the .45. Maybe because it was heavier.
Yes, but it's been years–every time was at Cub Scout or Boy Scout camp rifle ranges while growing up. I don't own a gun and don't want to own one.
A .22 rifle at a YMCA camp one summer, about 50 years ago. That's all.
Quote from: kurumi on May 19, 2020, 12:18:02 AM
At ranges (rifle, .22 pistol, .45 revolver). Took a riflery course in college.
That sounds like an awesome college. Didn't have that as an option at UMass-Lowell, and I would have taken it especially since I worked in a sporting goods store in my time thru college.
Just once as well, at a weekend friends get-together somewhere in the Poconos. Couldn't even tell you what gun it was.
Yes, but only a couple of times. And not between about 1998 (high school) and just 1-2 years ago.
Up until December 26, 2019, my answer would have been No. The guns I have fired include a Browning Hi-Power (my favorite among pistols), a 1911 Colt, a Smith & Wesson .38 revolver, and a .22 rifle. I won't miss the barn door if it is right in front of me, but I haven't put in the hours or rounds to build marksmanship.
Quote from: 1995hoo on May 19, 2020, 07:44:15 AM
Yes, but it's been years–every time was at Cub Scout or Boy Scout camp rifle ranges while growing up.
Similar story here. The last time I attended one of these campouts, one of the adults that came along also demonstrated how to safely use a black powder rifle and handgun. Once they were done, the owner then allowed those of us in attendance to fire a couple of shots from the handgun, even though we were supposed to only be using the .22 rifles.
Does a bb gun in boy scouts count?
I'm a northern child of a pacifist family, and I happen to love guns but just haven't had the money or time to learn to shoot.
When I was visiting my girlfriend at the time at her dad's house in rural Virginia though, when I was 17, he set me up with some bottles in front of a giant oak tree so that if I missed, I'd hit the oak. And he taught me the very basics (always assume it's loaded and point down, finger away from the trigger til you're ready to shoot, and allow for a bit of kickback) and handed me a revolver.
Guys... when I say he set the bottles and cans in front of a giant oak... I mean giant. Absolute monstrosity of a tree that probably remembers the Powhatan tribe meeting the British colonists.
Six shots. Not one of them even hit the tree.
Voted yes, I'm to scared to fire any gun more dangerous than possibly a rifle. My scout troop fired rifles at camp but I was tired so I sat it out. Probably the only guy to ever fall asleep on a shooting range!
Yes. It performed terribly, missed a lot of work due to being hung over, would not follow directions, was insubordinate, and was just all-around not a good fit for the organization, so I fired it.
(https://i.pinimg.com/originals/66/f5/88/66f5880453d5344208b2b34c6ab12d1e.gif)
Quote from: hbelkins on May 20, 2020, 11:22:22 AM
Yes. It performed terribly, missed a lot of work due to being hung over, would not follow directions, was insubordinate, and was just all-around not a good fit for the organization, so I fired it.
Have you ever shot one?
Quote from: Roadgeekteen on May 19, 2020, 09:49:55 PM
Does a bb gun in boy scouts count?
Due to lack of gunpowder, a loud "boom", or an impressive hole in an object...I would have to say "nay."
Quote from: cjk374 on May 20, 2020, 03:52:12 PM
Quote from: Roadgeekteen on May 19, 2020, 09:49:55 PM
Does a bb gun in boy scouts count?
Due to lack of gunpowder, a loud "boom", or an impressive hole in an object...I would have to say "nay."
When I was in 5th grade or thereabouts, my friend set the butt of his BB gun down on the ground while his hand was covering the end of the barrel. The gun fired, and the BB was visible under the skin on the back of his hand. I'll leave it up to you to decide if that was definitely gun-worthy (went almost all the way through his hand) or definitely not gun-worthy (didn't even come out the other side).
Yes. In ascending order of firepower:
1) Blowgun - good for terminating mice in the house
2) Paintball (leaves nice welts where you take a shot, so it's better to be more stealthy/agile than I am)
3) BB/Pellet rifle - good for terminating squirrels in the yard
4) .22 pistol - good for terminating most everything else in the yard except armadillos and deer
5) .22 rifle
6) 9mm pistol
7) .40 pistol
8) .357 revolver - good for armadillos/home protection
9) SKS
10) AR-15
11) 30-30 Winchester lever action rifle
12) 30-06 bolt action rifle - good for deer
13) .300 bolt action rifle
14) .45 pistol
15) .50 Desert Eagle pistol
16) 12 gauge shotgun - good for deer/ducks/dove
17) .58 cal muzzleloader - leaves a substantial exit wound in a deer
18) .50 cal Armalite bolt action rifle (clears your sinuses really effectively with the muzzle brake on that one) - with armor piercing round will go through a bulldozer blade, but not the track right behind it
While I personally haven't participated, I have family/friends that have also dabbled with dynamite/tannerite for clearing beaver dams and root balls from collapsed creek banks.
I'm glad none of your weapons has "good for terminating a relationship" next to it. :biggrin:
By the way, what can "N/A" possibly mean in this context?
Quote from: kphoger on May 20, 2020, 04:14:29 PM
I'm glad none of your weapons has "good for terminating a relationship" next to it. :biggrin:
Thankfully the home has not needed protecting at this point, except from property damaging/tasty wildlife :popcorn:.
Quote from: kphoger on May 20, 2020, 04:15:11 PM
By the way, what can "N/A" possibly mean in this context?
Paralyzed and/or unable?
Quote from: MikieTimT on May 20, 2020, 04:21:40 PM
Quote from: kphoger on May 20, 2020, 04:15:11 PM
By the way, what can "N/A" possibly mean in this context?
Paralyzed and/or unable?
If that were true of me, I'd simply vote "No".
No, the closest for me is shooting a BB gun at my friend's cottage :).
My older brother went to a shooting range for his friend's bachelor party. I think it would be cool to try.
Quote from: Roadgeekteen on May 19, 2020, 09:49:55 PM
Does a bb gun in boy scouts count?
No, and .22s don't count either.
I've fired a few guns including rifles, handguns, revolvers and shotguns. A few years ago, I fired both an AK-47 and an AR-15. I liked the Kalashnikov better.
I can't believe more people aren't citing military service here...
Quote from: Konza on June 05, 2020, 01:46:33 PM
I can't believe more people aren't citing military service here...
I can't believe there aren't more people from the South here?!?
Quote from: Konza on June 05, 2020, 01:46:33 PMI can't believe more people aren't citing military service here...
I'm not surprised--we are now almost a full fifty years into the era of the all-volunteer military. All four of my grandparents' sons/sons-in-law came of age during Vietnam and of them, three served. They have had a total of seven male children (by both blood and marriage), of whom none has served.
Quote from: J N Winkler on June 05, 2020, 02:33:40 PM
Quote from: Konza on June 05, 2020, 01:46:33 PMI can't believe more people aren't citing military service here...
I'm not surprised--we are now almost a full fifty years into the era of the all-volunteer military. All four of my grandparents' sons/sons-in-law came of age during Vietnam and of them, three served. They have had a total of seven male children (by both blood and marriage), of whom none has served.
My dad was a WWII Army combat vet who fought in the South Pacific (and to the topic, he used a Browning Automatic) and both my brothers are retired military (Army and Air Force).
On a few occasions, yes. Though only with rented guns at shooting ranges.
My funny story with this is that the very first round I ever fired hit a dead bullseye in the target. My dad burst out laughing and said "okay, stop there, your average will never improve". And indeed, my aim has not been as good with most subsequent rounds I've fired.
The most memorable weapon I've handled was a .50cal Desert Eagle handgun. That thing... that packs recoil. It's like hitting yourself in the palm with a mallet.
I've also gotten a chance to fire a couple of fully automatic rifles on one of these shooting range trips. What I will say to that is... it seems more fun in concept than it actually is in practice. Because y'know you don't actually get to stand there and fire the thing off Rambo style. To actually handle full auto properly you want to fire in short bursts, and firing 3-4 rounds in one trigger pull doesn't really feel that different from firing 1.
A rifle, and I also fired a military weapon during an ROTC summer camp in high school.
Quote from: Konza on June 05, 2020, 01:46:33 PM
I can't believe more people aren't citing military service here...
If I must... when I was an Air Force officer, I qualified as an expert marksman on the M9 (a 9mm semi-automatic handgun), M15 (a Smith & Wesson .38 special revolver), and M16 (essentially a .22 caliber semi- and automatic rifle, or "machine gun" if you will, firing rounds with a larger charge than a standard .22). Fortnunately I never had to fire one in combat.
Quote from: MikieTimT on June 05, 2020, 02:27:58 PM
I can't believe there aren't more people from the South here?!?
What, ya think no one hunts up north? Where I live in Pennsylvania (between Philadelphia and Harrisburg, certainly not the backwoods), the schools all have off for the first day of deer season (the first Monday after Thanksgiving) because so many students take off school that teaching that day is a waste of time.
My hunting rifle is an 8mm Mauser (pronounced MOW-zer, rhymes with HOW-zer, for the uninitiated). Produced in post-WWII Germany (1948), it has a wood stock and an attached open-sight scope. It can fit four rounds, one in the chamber and three in the internal magazine (although a decent hunter should not need that many). When fired it provides a substantial and satisfying kick in the shoulder. I harvested an 8-point with it many years ago.
Quote from: Konza on June 05, 2020, 01:46:33 PM
I can't believe more people aren't citing military service here...
Less than 10% of the US adult population have served in the military.
https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2017/11/10/the-changing-face-of-americas-veteran-population/#:~:text=There%20were%20around%2020.4%20million,how%20this%20population%20is%20changing.
EDIT: I have not shot one, nor have I even held one.
Quote from: qguy on June 08, 2020, 03:29:43 PM
Quote from: Konza on June 05, 2020, 01:46:33 PM
I can't believe more people aren't citing military service here...
If I must... when I was an Air Force officer, I qualified as an expert marksman on the M9 (a 9mm semi-automatic handgun), M15 (a Smith & Wesson .38 special revolver), and M16 (essentially a .22 caliber semi- and automatic rifle, or "machine gun" if you will, firing rounds with a larger charge than a standard .22). Fortnunately I never had to fire one in combat.
Quote from: MikieTimT on June 05, 2020, 02:27:58 PM
I can't believe there aren't more people from the South here?!?
What, ya think no one hunts up north? Where I live in Pennsylvania (between Philadelphia and Harrisburg, certainly not the backwoods), the schools all have off for the first day of deer season (the first Monday after Thanksgiving) because so many students take off school that teaching that day is a waste of time.
My hunting rifle is an 8mm Mauser (pronounced MOW-zer, rhymes with HOW-zer, for the uninitiated). Produced in post-WWII Germany (1948), it has a wood stock and an attached open-sight scope. It can fit four rounds, one in the chamber and three in the internal magazine (although a decent hunter should not need that many). When fired it provides a substantial and satisfying kick in the shoulder. I harvested an 8-point with it many years ago.
Off day for hunting season? They would literally murder anyone who supported that around here.
Quote from: Roadgeekteen on June 08, 2020, 04:20:50 PM
Quote from: qguy on June 08, 2020, 03:29:43 PM
Quote from: Konza on June 05, 2020, 01:46:33 PM
I can't believe more people aren't citing military service here...
If I must... when I was an Air Force officer, I qualified as an expert marksman on the M9 (a 9mm semi-automatic handgun), M15 (a Smith & Wesson .38 special revolver), and M16 (essentially a .22 caliber semi- and automatic rifle, or "machine gun" if you will, firing rounds with a larger charge than a standard .22). Fortnunately I never had to fire one in combat.
Quote from: MikieTimT on June 05, 2020, 02:27:58 PM
I can't believe there aren't more people from the South here?!?
What, ya think no one hunts up north? Where I live in Pennsylvania (between Philadelphia and Harrisburg, certainly not the backwoods), the schools all have off for the first day of deer season (the first Monday after Thanksgiving) because so many students take off school that teaching that day is a waste of time.
My hunting rifle is an 8mm Mauser (pronounced MOW-zer, rhymes with HOW-zer, for the uninitiated). Produced in post-WWII Germany (1948), it has a wood stock and an attached open-sight scope. It can fit four rounds, one in the chamber and three in the internal magazine (although a decent hunter should not need that many). When fired it provides a substantial and satisfying kick in the shoulder. I harvested an 8-point with it many years ago.
Off day for hunting season? They would literally murder anyone who supported that around here.
Oh, the irony.
In Wisconsin, if you measure hunting by the number of permits sold duing the 9-day gun hunting season, it has dropped off considerably.
The number of permits peaked at 670,000 in 1985 when the population was about 4.7 million. Last year, 564,000 licenses were sold and the population is 5.8 million. (Note that licenses are sold to out of state residents but it shows how hunting has dropped off here over the last 30+ years.)
Did once as a kid. My uncle has a farm where they will shoot various animals that stray onto their property. They also have a practice range I got to shoot at. First and last time (at least I hope it's the last time).
When I was in Breezewood Thanksgiving weekend before last for the meet, the place where I stayed was filling up for Sunday night (I left Monday morning early) because of hunting season. I was surprised to hear that schools were out.
That late in November seems awfully late for deer season to be opening. It's earlier in the month here, but we have so many seasons (primitive weapons, bow and arrow, antlered/antlerless, etc.) that I can't keep track of them, not being a hunter.
Quote from: kphoger on May 20, 2020, 04:15:11 PM
By the way, what can "N/A" possibly mean in this context?
They reject the premise entirely? :-P
Quote from: hbelkins on June 09, 2020, 04:47:47 PMThat late in November seems awfully late for deer season to be opening. It's earlier in the month here, but we have so many seasons (primitive weapons, bow and arrow, antlered/antlerless, etc.) that I can't keep track of them, not being a hunter.
I am not a hunter either, but I have long been under the impression that hunting seasons are generally much shorter for guns than for bows, crossbows, etc., because they are higher-yield weapons, and tend to be somewhat longer in Southern states than elsewhere in the country.
Quote from: J N Winkler on June 10, 2020, 12:02:33 PM
Quote from: hbelkins on June 09, 2020, 04:47:47 PMThat late in November seems awfully late for deer season to be opening. It's earlier in the month here, but we have so many seasons (primitive weapons, bow and arrow, antlered/antlerless, etc.) that I can't keep track of them, not being a hunter.
I am not a hunter either, but I have long been under the impression that hunting seasons are generally much shorter for guns than for bows, crossbows, etc., because they are higher-yield weapons, and tend to be somewhat longer in Southern states than elsewhere in the country.
In Pennsylvania, deer rifle is the two weeks following Thanksgiving. Deer bow & arrow is from the beginning of Oct to mid-Nov and from the day after Christmas to late-mid Jan. Deer muzzleloader is a week in late Oct. Deer flintlock is the same as the second part of bow and arrow. (I think I have that right.)
But what I'm sure everyone is dying to know is that porcupine season is mid-Oct to the end of Jan, daily limit of 3, season limit of 10. (Order now before they're all gone.)
Which reminds me (not the porcupines), I've also fired a flintlock muzzleloader a few times. Really different. With an ordinary rifle, trigger squeeze and firing are nearly simultaneous, although my brain seems to significantly protract my time perception when I'm firing. With a flintlock there's a noticeable time delay between the trigger squeeze and the firing.
A rifle goes squeeze-boom. A flintlock seems to go squeeze... clap... ka-BOOM. You need to keep it steady longer. And since they're heavier than rifles that can be tricky.
I've also fired larger rifles and .45 and .45 magnum handguns. Don't know why I'm only remembering that now.
I don't know, for me there's something very... satisfying about firing a weapon. Perhaps part of it is the ability to extend one's physical reach a great distance. I'm sure part of it is that the weapon feels like an extension of my body (much like the sense of satisfaction I receive when I'm driving, especially a stick-shift, and the car feels like an extension of my arms and legs). I don't fire weapons very often but I enjoy it very much.
I know that I'm late to respond, but....
Quote from: kphoger on May 20, 2020, 04:15:11 PM
By the way, what can "N/A" possibly mean in this context?
One possibility: Every time (the only time?) I pulled a trigger, I had a squib load.
Does paintball count? In other words, no, and I don't plan on ever doing so.
Yeah! When I was a 10 year old, my other brother let me fire his BB gun.
I've fired bubble guns and water guns, because actual firearms bore me.
Quote from: noelbotevera on June 12, 2020, 08:22:02 PM
I've fired bubble guns and water guns, because actual firearms bore me.
But how much do they bore you? 0.22 inches in diameter? 9mm? 0.336 inches? :)
Quote from: MikeTheActuary on June 13, 2020, 04:42:58 PM
Quote from: noelbotevera on June 12, 2020, 08:22:02 PM
I've fired bubble guns and water guns, because actual firearms bore me.
But how much do they bore you? 0.22 inches in diameter? 9mm? 0.336 inches? :)
Depends on the type of magazine I'm reading.
Quote from: noelbotevera on June 12, 2020, 08:22:02 PM
I've fired bubble guns and water guns, because actual firearms bore me.
Re: Threads you'll never see on aaroads.comHave you ever bubbled while firing a gun?