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View Poll Results: What do you recommend for a first gun?

Voters
212. You may not vote on this poll
  • Still the 22

    131 61.79%
  • Airguns

    39 18.40%
  • Pistol Caliber Carbine

    4 1.89%
  • other

    7 3.30%
  • Depends

    31 14.62%
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Results 61 to 75 of 75

Thread: Is 22lr still your "first gun" advice?

  1. #61
    Boolit Grand Master


    Join Date
    Apr 2017
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    Aberdeen, South Dakota
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    Both my brother and I started at 5 years old with a Crossman (760?) bb gun. We had no problems pumping them at that age, at least for a number of shots. We never did get a 22lr, my dad never had one, I still never owned one. If you load your own ammo, I see no value in rim fires. Pellet guns are cheaper, and/or you can load pistol calibers on a progressive that is better than the 22lr "bucket o bullets". The worst problem is the opinion that 22lr is weak or safe. At least a .177 pellet gun is going to be very hard to seriously hurt a person short of a shot to the face, and nobody is going to short change a 38 special.

  2. #62
    Boolit Bub Beeks's Avatar
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    Feb 2019
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    Yes it is.
    USMC VETERAN
    NRA ENDOWMENT MEMBER

  3. #63
    Boolit Grand Master


    stubshaft's Avatar
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    There is still nothing better to learn on than a .22.
    Old enough to know better, young enough to do it anyway!

    Men who don't understand women fall into two categories: bachelors and husbands!

  4. #64
    Boolit Master Drm50's Avatar
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    Jun 2016
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    SE Ohio
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    Yea, 22 has been it for about a 100yrs. Why reinvent the wheel?

  5. #65
    Boolit Master

    Join Date
    Feb 2011
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    Oklahoma
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    My Dad thought BB guns were too dangerous so we got .22s and so did my boys.

  6. #66
    Boolit Bub
    Join Date
    Jan 2018
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    Upstate, SC
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    55
    22, it’s still the one.

  7. #67
    Boolit Master elmacgyver0's Avatar
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    Nov 2010
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    1,970
    Quote Originally Posted by DDriller View Post
    My Dad thought BB guns were too dangerous so we got .22s and so did my boys.
    So what are you trying to tell us?

  8. #68
    Boolit Master Win94ae's Avatar
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    Mar 2013
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    585
    Well, all our youngsters start out with a bb gun. I have 4 of them sitting in the corner.
    Whatever reason the adult wants a firearm for, is what will determine the firearm they'll be needing to train with.

  9. #69
    Boolit Master

    BigAlofPa.'s Avatar
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    Dec 2018
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    Shamokin/Coal twp Pa.
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    1,670
    I bought a cricket and a 1911 yesterday. And the carry case for the cricket has my 1st rifle on it. Pretty cool i thought.
    Click image for larger version. 

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    One round at a time.
    Member of the NRA,GOA and FAOC. Gun clubs Zerby rod and gun club. Keystone Fish and Game Association.

  10. #70
    Boolit Master
    Join Date
    Feb 2007
    Location
    South Western NC
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    3,820
    A .22 RF is the only correct answer to this question.

    First time shooters are just that, they have lot to learn about gun handling and accuracy. Real guns of any type are intimidating to noobs; why make it any harder for them to learn than is absolutely necessary? No noob is going to think an "air" gun is a real gun and a .22 RF is a real gun. No noob is going to be a reloader so the cost of sufficient ammo to learn much is a real consideration; a few Walmart "bucket-o-bullets" is the lowest cost way for any noob to get a serious learning foundation. The nonexistent recoil and low noise makes it easier for noobs to concentrate on learning the fundamentals of marksmanship. And .22s are just fun!

    I wore out two Daisy "Red Ryders". They were fun but they were toys and I knew it. The first real gun I ever fired was my grandfather's single shot Remington .22 when I was five; I loved it and still do! When I was eleven and visiting I'd be allowed to take it into the woods around the old family farming home. I shot a few birds and squirrels (and missed a lot more) but it made me a shooter and hunter. My two younger cousins did about the same, with the same rifle, but now, some 75 years later, my granddaddy is long gone but his squirrel (and 'possum) rifle is in my gun safe. It will go to one of my four grandsons. They all fired their first "real" ammo with it too. One round at a time, they put a lot of "bucket-o-bullets" in small water filled balloons at varying ranges in my river bottom pasture; the oldest shot high score in his military training. Meaning, done right, learning memories can make a cheap single shot .22 far more valuable to someone than any other gun they may ever own.

  11. #71
    Boolit Grand Master FergusonTO35's Avatar
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    May 2012
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    Boonesborough, KY
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    6,925
    After shooting centerfires almost exclusively for 20 years I am moving back to .22's. Have purchased a Glock 44, Charter Pathfinder, and Ruger Wrangler so far this year and have an LCP II .22 on the way. Also looking to add a Remington 572 at some point, however they are pretty spendy!
    Currently casting and loading: .32 Auto, .380 Auto, .38 Special, 9X19, .357 Magnum, .257 Roberts, 6.5 Creedmoor, .30 WCF, .308 WCF, .45-70.

  12. #72
    Boolit Buddy sonoransixgun's Avatar
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    Feb 2017
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    the desert
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    My first gun as a kid was a pellet gun....wore it out....Borrowed shotguns a lot for hunting.

    My own kids all got .22's...They were all in 4-H and competed. For airgun, they just used the guns that belonged to the club.

    I think either way is good...

    (4-H is a really great way for them to learn safety and marksmanship, especially if they have a good coach like our kids did.)

  13. #73
    Banned








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    Mar 2005
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    munising Michigan
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    I can load cast 9s about as cheap as a 22 and don't have to worry about idiots buying them all out and hiding them in there closets. No brainer to me. I used to have over 20 22lrs in the house. Now theres two. A 1022 take down and a 22/45 4 inch heavy barreled ruger. Neither have been shot in over 2 years. Traded off the rest or gave them to family. Today id be more interested in a good air rifle then a 22lr.

  14. #74
    Boolit Master Dapaki's Avatar
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    Jan 2020
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    Minne-Snow-Ta!
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    All 6 of my kids and 1 grandchild so far (2 more in the oven) have cut their teeth on one of my Marlin .22's. I cannot think of a single case where a gun of any kind or type would be a better starter or cheaper to fire. I bought a bit of Armscor .22lr over the past few years and while not the most accurate, it will feed all day long with no fouling and at $0.024 each, there is no reason not to shoot all day!

  15. #75
    Boolit Master
    Join Date
    Feb 2007
    Location
    South Western NC
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    Just to keep this discussion on track, the question was what we should suggest as a first gun. It wasn't what we old hands may own or like to shoot best or how inexpensively we can reload anything for. After all, no new guy has a closet full of guns (yet), he doesn't know what type he'll like best (yet) and he sure isn't going to be a reloader (yet), right?

    The right answer to that beginner question is a .22 RF.

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Abbreviations used in Reloading

BP Bronze Point IMR Improved Military Rifle PTD Pointed
BR Bench Rest M Magnum RN Round Nose
BT Boat Tail PL Power-Lokt SP Soft Point
C Compressed Charge PR Primer SPCL Soft Point "Core-Lokt"
HP Hollow Point PSPCL Pointed Soft Point "Core Lokt" C.O.L. Cartridge Overall Length
PSP Pointed Soft Point Spz Spitzer Point SBT Spitzer Boat Tail
LRN Lead Round Nose LWC Lead Wad Cutter LSWC Lead Semi Wad Cutter
GC Gas Check