As a teen, yes. My brother and I did target shooting with a .22 rifle; we fired at stuff on slag dumps and at strip mine pits in SE Ohio. We fired some handguns with an older teen, shooting at wood chips that were coursing along a creek.
Later, I had to learn to fire several kinds of weapons with my army association. After that, I had to get qualified on a few different hand guns with both left and right hands for my association with another government agency.
Interesting story: when learning to fire any kind of weapon, one has to allow for the weapon's "kick." If you're unfamiliar with that term, it is the weapon's own response to the firing of the weapon. When the trigger is pulled, the firing pin ignites the gunpowder and causes a small explosion that sends the bullet down the barrel of the gun. That explosion of the gases inside the cartridge makes the weapon "jerk" from that event. That's called the "kick." That's why, if you're firing a rifle, you want to tuck the stock solidly in the crease of your shoulder and brace for the recoil of the weapon. If you don't, you'll get quite a surprise, and possibly even a bruised shoulder. OK... so much for the background. Now for the story:-
It was my first time firing a 30-ought-six rifle (a 30-06, which refers to the calibre of the bullet. The "30" is the calibre/caliber and the "06" is the year of its adoption [1906].) This weapon has an effective range of up to around 1000 yards or twice that if you're a decent shot. This particular rifle had a scope on it that allowed us to zero in on a target at about 2400 yards from us. Well, I tucked the stock of the rifle into the crease of my left shoulder and lined up the shot. It was the first time I had ever used a scope, but I knew there would be a decent kick. So I left about an inch and a quarter between the scope and my left eye. I lined up the target, slowly squeezed the trigger, and fired the shot. The shot hit the target. The scope's recoil was about one and 3/8ths inches (in other words, the circular end of the scope jammed into the flesh just above my left eye.) It didn't hurt, but head wounds are head wounds, and they all pretty much bleed like crazy. My friends were all spotting the target, and they were letting me know that my shot hit the target. I touched the skin over my eye when I realized it was wet and warm. Yep, it was blood, all right. I held out my red fingers and said, very quietly, "Medic. Medic. Over here." Then I laughed like crazy; I knew it was not serious, but I also knew I had just learned a lesson about how far a scope on a 30-06 recoils. I had a slight headache for about an hour, but nothing after that. Not amused? Well, I guess you had to be there. :-)
