Been a while since we have done this. For those who have been around long enough to think "If i had it to do over" what recommendation would you make for the new guys and gals just starting in our hobby. Each person reply with one tip.

Mine:

You only need one type of .38 special ammo. Dont buy FMJ or LRN for target shooting and fancy $1.00 a round JHPs for your Jframes. Buy 148Gn Lead Wadcutters only and use those for all your .38 special shooting needs. Accurate, inexpensive and actually one of these best loads for self defense out of a jframe.

Next...

If ammo is cheap buy and buy a lot.

Reload.

Trigger time lots and lots of it.

Bolt guns are not ghey. Easier to reload. Can neck size.

Revolvers are not ghey. Easier than picking up brass.

Never built the ultimate ar15. Trust me when you are done. Some cool assessory
Will come out the day you finish your build.

Let a kid or lady shooter burn thru all the 22 lr ammo they want before shooting a "big gun".  Get them addicted to the fun first.

if you really want to improve your gun handling skills you need to shoot USPSA or IDPA.... and you will need a progressive reloader...

Les  L-747

Buy more 22, ignore the hurtful words as they call you a hoarder.

Not exactly an "old guy" here, but a little older and wiser for it. Here's my advice:
Never, ever, should you sell a perfectly good gun. Buy, barter, and trade, but don't
sell, except to buy desperately-needed bodily organs! Unless if you're giving up a
$50 piece of shit at one of those gun buy-backs for a $100 gift certificate, you will
almost always lose money. You'll almost always, at some point, regret letting go
of any given gun.

Attend a couple of Appleseeds to learn how to use that sling, how to build a good sling supported firing position and become a much better shot with your rifle.

If it's a good now as it was 7 or 8 years ago, it would be well worth it.

I say 2 because there is so much information, so much to learn/practice, that quite often it takes a couple weekends to really figure it out and put it into practice.

Funny you mentioned that. My dad recently gave me an old S&W mod 36, he told me to "just carry 148 lead wadcutters"

No matter how much you may know about guns, somebody knows more (or at least thinks they do).  Save your advice and opinions until somebody asks you for them, and even then dispense sparingly.  
     The same goes for the number and type of guns you have.

Oh what do you know!  

When trying to get your wife into shooting, don't do this.  Don't invite another friend that is kind of a whildman who has a .44 Magnum and likes to rapid fire it.  While in the shooting bay right next to the wall.  It might just scare the crap out of her and hurt her ears.  My ears were hurting.  

Yeah, stick with a .22 and give her your full attention.  Maybe find another girl that already likes to shoot and invite her.  As long as she doesn't like rapid firing big guns.  Indoors.  Outdoors is easier on the ears.

Learn how to shoot well with  irons before buying optics.

If you're brand new to the hobby read up on your firearms.
Learn how they work BEFORE you take them out for the first time.
Buy some Snap Caps and practice loading/unloading/etc.
Do NOT show up with a firearm you do not know the basics of.

Do not be intimidated by others.
If you want to learn get off your butt and GO shooting.


Do not be discouraged by poor shooting. We ALL started out poorly at first.
Keep at it. You'll get better. Go shooting.

Don't be a puss. Whining about not shooting well or ammo costs too much is pusswhah talk.
Go Shooting.

Listen to wisdom when you hear it.

Set the targets at 5 yards to start.  Let them IMMEDIATELY start punching holes.
Also, reactive targets are paramount!
Eggs, bottles of water, anything that moves.

Avoid "caliber confusion". More is not better.
As the old timers said, beware the man who owns 1 rifle, he knows how to use it. Though dated, I would say now beware the man who owns 2 rifles. Learn the ballistics and trajectories of your chosen calibers (Based on what you intend to do with your firearms) i.e. bullet selection/weights/coefficients, velocities, range effectiveness etc of a caliber and different loads of that specific caliber. Learn it inside and out. Go to the range and practice.

Have I followed my own advice? No. I've been all over the map through the years. That's why I have pared back my choices and now strive to become a more effective rifleman with what I have.

Not exactly an old guy, but have been shooting for several years. My advice to new shooters would be:


- Handle as many different models as possible when you are in the market for a new gun and, if possible, try and get som triggertime on them too. Also don't be blinded by the "cool" factor of a guns looks. Sure it may look "badass" and be the "in" thing right now, but If it doesn't fit well  in your hand and you can't shoot worth a damn with it, then what's the point?


- Seek advice from more experienced shooters, but also do your own research before buying.


- Practice is essential to becoming a good shot, so consider the Price of ammo for the caliber you are thinking of buying. If you cringe every time you pull the trigger due to the cost, you probably won't practice enough to ever be really proficient with your weapon. And  a  gun you aren't proficient with is not worth much for either target shooting or self defence.


- If you have never shot a gun before, consider starting out with a 22.LR to get the basics Down. It's cheaper and, in my opinion, easier to do than with larger calibers.


- Gun safes come in one size: Too small. Nonetheless, buy the biggest one you have room for (even though you might think you'll only get a 10/22 and a 38.)


- Don't be a cheapskate! If the gun you want cost a Little more than what you have budgetted, save up some more Money. Don't underestimate the joy of owning quality firearms, rather than having a safe full of cheap POS that you'll never shoot anyway.

If I were to do it over, I would have limited the number of calibers I got myself into.

Stick with standard calibers untill you're well along into the sport.

For the love of Pete, have fun!!!

Don't get all caught up with the single shot 22, one shot per minute......pfffftttttt

Have fun.  Go burn some 22 shells.  Lots of safety, ears and eyes always, but have fun.   Don't hand the 20 yr old girl that weighs a hundred lbs soaking wet a 12 ga with slugs cause it's "FUNNY".  It isn't.

Doc

If you buy a handgun that doesn't work you, don't buy the same model 4 more times thinking it will get better.

When headed to the range, bring only one gun. You will enjoy it more, and get more out of your range time rather than trying to fit many guns into a session. Less cleaning later too.

Whether shooting a rifle or pistol, I have three suggestions to becoming more proficient,

Focus on the front sight, focus on the front sight, focus on the front sight.

Wpns Man

I agree.  Only bring one or two, and focus on different grain ammo, shoot at different distances, and write on your targets what load you used, in what gun, and at what distance, you shot, and date them.  
Then, take a pic of the,targets, or save them, and learn what you did wrong and what you did right.
Make sure the gun is reliable, and sighted in, the way you want it to be.
Make sure it works with the different loads, mags, optics, etc.
There will be some guns you can rely on, and shoot very well, and some, you may never feel confident in using for self defense, or hunting.
Your favorite guns, will be the ones that are reliable, and accurate, and don't be surprised if the guns you wanted to be your favorites, before you actually shot them, turn out to be the ones that sit in the back of the safe,
and rarely go to the range.

Don't be the guy that needs the newest gun or gadget out there. There is much to be said for waiting for others to make the mistake of buying a hyped item that turns out to be a turd. Plus if you wait you can usually get it cheaper. Either the item price will drop after initial release or you can score one lightly used.

I say these things having been guilty of this in the past.

Bought a CX4 Storm carbine before the magazine release issue was caught. Mags would drop free while firing. A spring had been put in backwards at the factory.
Bought a Tac-Con 3MR trigger from the very first lot released.
Bought a S&W M&P10 during the panic from Quantico Tactical on a MIL/LE only special for $1800, within a year these were going for $1100 new from the same shop.

ALWAYS wear eyes and ears. The ONE time you forget is the one time something on you gets broken permanently. Recently at a night match I was jaw jacking and took my ears off for a second, as a guy shot a binary 1 pound target 50 yards from me.
DO NOT shoot reloads you didn't make yourself. That INCLUDES ammunition of unknown history bought at gunshows or off buddies. EVERY gun I have seen blow up was from reloads.
Buy quality guns because if you shoot alot the cost of the gun itself is tiny compared to the ammunition. I have owned shit guns, I know guys that did not heed that advice and have also owned shit guns they complain about constantly.
IF you don't know, ask someone that does. I have broken more shit and caused myself more grief by not reaching out for help than I should have.

You are better off with a few really good guns than a truck load of mediocre or random stuff.  If I lost everything and had to start over, I would get a good AR, a Glock 19, a .22lr pistol, a 10/22, a good 308 bolt gun and a Bennelii shotgun.   Those 6 guns will get your through most all shooting needs.

I have a bunch of stuff that I bought that I just had to have and some of it hasn't been touched in 20 years.  I recommend waiting until a new gun has been out and proven for a few years before you cave into the urge to get whatever it is.  A lot of time, the urge wears off after time or you get to try one out your friend bought and decide it isn't all that great.  I have avoided a lot of bad buys by waiting to see how it performs for others first.

Avoid the latest in craze in whatever is guccii at the moment.  You will drive yourself crazy trying to keep up with the latest stock, grip, rail...

Somebody said, only accurate rifles are interesting.  I would make that statement, accurate and reliable.  I hate an unreliable gun and what is the point if its not accurate?  A K98 beats an inaccurate semiauto to me.

Limit your ammo supply chain to simplify life.

90% of my shooting is 223, 9mm, and 22lr.  I can grab 1 range bag, 1 ammo can and I have ammo for 90% of my guns.

I do have 308 and 7.62x39, but the 308 is usually handloaded target ammo and the 7.62x39 is just commie crap to go with my AK's.  I have avoided 5.45x39 just cause I didn't want to stock another caliber.

commonality of mags is a good thing.  I have a bunch of AR's that all use the same mag.  I have pile of Ak's that all use the same mags.  It would be aggravating if I grabbed an AR and then realized I had brought the mags for some specialty thing instead of just basic old GI mags.

Buy ammo, mags and guns when there isn't a panic or shortage, like right now.

To the new guys...


Don't buy into the hype.  After you get maybe two good semi-auto rifles and two semi-auto handguns, plus a decent number of mags, you're good.  Everything is superfluous.

Is there anything wrong with superfluous?  Not at all!  Unless it means you're loading up a credit card to get it done.  Do not put yourself in a position to be paying $300 interest a month on some idiotic debt that you just can't pay down.  It is WAY too easy to turn a story on CNN about Ebola into a $2,500 credit card purchase justification.  Don't do it.  You'll be fine with what you have.

(That said, if you haven't purchased 20 good mags, you're a dope.  These are the good old days.)

Breath
Relax
Aim
Stop
SQUEEZE