The gun that started it all was my Crossman pump BB gun. I can remember going outside and setting up targets along the tree line at our house in Ringgold, VA. Looking back at it now, it was definitely a work out having to pump the gun at least 7 or 8 times to get enough power to knock down heavier targets and take out one of the local squirrels that had been trashing the bird feeder. Later, after that gun broke because of heavy use, my father bought me a brand new Ruger 10/22 rifle. This was a dream come true. Now I didn't have to pump my gun endlessly between shots, I could just aim and fire off 10 shots with it's detachable magazine. I loved that gun. I cleaned it daily, even though I didn't shoot it very often. I thought I was the coolest kid around. That gun came with brochures for the NRA and as I started looking though everything I found out that there were endless amounts of accessories you could buy that would improve accuracy, aesthetics, function, and accessibility. I was hooked. I found a Cabela's shooter catalog and have never since put it down. First it started at looking at things for my 10/22, but then it branched out to other rifles, handguns, black powder rifles, tactical gear, knives, etc.
I became hooked at an early age with this fascination about guns. Now that I am a little bit older, I am able to finally purchase those things that I drooled over as a kid. I am currently residing in Utah, even though I grew up in Virginia. School brought me out here initially, and after finding my wife and going back to school for my Masters, it looks like we will be here for a little bit longer. But I must say, Utah is a great place to buy a gun.
The first gun I bought out here in UT was my 12 gauge Mossberg 500. It is an 18.5" pump action shotgun. It is their basic model, and it even came with both the shoulder stock and their standard pistol grip. I was looking for something inexpensive to both protect my family and have fun with at the range/outdoors. One word of caution; if you decide to put the pistol grip on, be sure to only shoot low recoil shells. I recommend Fiocchi low recoil shells. They have worked out great when I have the pistol grip installed. I say this because I was shooting with my buddy a few months ago and shot a normal shell with it and the recoil was much greater than expected, and I left with a large chunk of my upper lip missing.
My second purchase is my current favorite, a Taurus 1911. This is my favorite for a few reasons. It is a gun that I regularly carry, it is an iconic handgun, it recently became Utah's state firearm, and it is a blast to shoot. Taurus had been under fire a while back because of quality concerns, and a lot of people ended up with some lemons, but this is one of their newer models and it has performed flawlessly. The only problems that I have had with it have been because of me. It eats everything that I have put through it.
My last and most recent purchase is my Sig Sauer P250 compact 9mm. I was in the market for another handgun that would be more of a range gun, something that I can take to the range and shoot hundreds of rounds and it not be too expensive. My 1911 is very expensive to shoot, so I started looking for a 9mm. I found this one while looking online and decided to head to my local gun store and check it out. I did, and fell in love with it. I am going to make a separate post about this gun to review it, so I will talk more about it there.
