First Firearm!!

[u/YDpr99]

Hey everyone,

Just got my PAL and starting to plan out my first few pickups. Curious what you’d recommend as a solid starting point.

Right now I’m leaning toward a 12 gauge semi-auto as my first since a few of my close friends are into skeet shooting and hunting, so I figure that’s what I’d realistically use the most right away.

That said, I’ll probably end up adding a .22LR at some point for cheaper range time, and I’ve also been thinking about eventually getting something like a .308 Win for hunting down the line with a little target practice —but not sure if that’s jumping too far ahead.

For context, I grew up going to the range with family (mostly ARs and pistols), but obviously things are a bit different now. My main focus at the moment is target shooting, with some interest in getting into hunting.

Would love to hear what you started with and what you’d recommend for a first setup in Ontario.

(And yeah, the photo is just for attention—no real connection to the question 😅)

[u/Iokua_CDN]

I started some clay shooting with a cheap pump  action. Works fine. Recently picked up an old used S x a double barrel shotgun off Intersurplus. Plenty of over unders there too for skeet and clays.  Semi autos im less informed on, likely will get one myself someday here,  bug the prices on the good ones hurt, and the quality on the cheap ones hurts too.

As far as target,  nothing better than a 22lr go blast away with. I went with a cheap bolt action because I like working the bolt. Lots of folks go for the semi autos instead. Ruger 10/22 is popular if you want to modify it.  Winchedtor Wildcat  is like a cheaper 10/22 with more stuff,  but less modifications. Good if you don't want to modify your gun.

Lots of good gins in 308. Mine is a now discontinued CZ 557, now they have the CZ 600 Alpha which is about the equivalent. It's a decent price and really good quality.  Other folks recommend  Tikka as they are even better quality, but of course that comes with more price. So I prefer the cheaper CZ.

Another fun type of gun to grab is a 357 lever action. Well, really any lever action, but 357 is the cheapest to shoot and still has nice power with the 357, and low power cheaper  38 special rounds. 

Another fun gun is going foe an Intermediate rifle round. Like 7 62 x39 in an Sks, or 223 in one of the Turkish semi autos, or either round in a bolt action.   Cheaper to shoot than the 308 but still fun for target shooting and such. You can even hunt with them, though some areas may not allow 223 for deer hunting.

The most fun guns I own, probably are my 357 Lever action, my 22lr bolt action and my silly ridiculous 410 revolver  shotgun.