Where did your addiction begin and with what firearms (handguns)?!!

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cundiff5535

cundiff5535

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I figured I would stray off from my typical picture posts and talk about my journey into the the handgun addiction! More specifically, the 1911 addiction as that what most of my collection consists of these days!

It was fast and to the point, while being long and drawn out. Here is what I mean.

I didn’t get into shooting or forearms until my early 30’s. Up until then I saw no use for a gun... shoot, I hadn’t even held a gun let a lone shot one (and my dad is a huge shotgun and smith revo collector). I was honestly to busy playing sports and chasing girls to pay an attention to “guns”.

One day I went to visit my uncle who is a retired Chicago cop and he had a pistol sitting out on his end table. I saw it and started sweating (lol). I literally had no idea how firearms worked, how to tell if they were safe, or even a basic understanding of them. I looked at him like he was nuts for just having that “thing” sitting out on the table. We got into a long discussion about firearms, safety, calibers, shooting, and the second 2A. I left there feeling odd... a few days later I went back and we chatted some more. I asked him what his best firearm was... he pulled out a Kimber Eclipse Target in 9mm! He talked about the gun like it was one of his kids. He asked if I would like to shoot it into his home range in his basement. I was nervous, and although we spoke in depth about safety, stance, grip, and sight alignment I worried I would shoot a damn hole in the wall... ultimately I said yes and the firearm addiction started!

So the easy answer for me, the quick answer to the question of what started my addiction is that Kimber. Two days after I shot it I applied for my FOID (a license needed to own a gun in IL) and ordered a Kimber Team Match II in 9mm. I became the guy who had to have every Kimber model made (that’s just my personality). I was literally the Kimber fanboy that most people hate!!

That was back 2011...

In that one year, I literally switched all interest into learning to shoot and "collecting"! I had acquired nearly 25 Kimbers in a year. I "thought" I knew a lot about 1911's at that time... and then... I stumbled upon a few firearm/1911 forums. I started reading and posting and learning.... A LOT! I learned about Wilson, Night Hawk, Baer, and Brown... I quickly started to understand what made some 1911's better than others, but I personally could not fathom dropping $2K plus on a firearm (as if that made any sense seeing that I bought 20+ Kimbers in a year lol).

As 2012 approached I stumbled upon the Wilson Contemporary Classic from Wilson Combat. It was hands down the single most impressive 1911 I had ever seen. I wanted it! Of course that gun sold out in like 2 hours when it dropped in 2011... and we were in 2012. So it was out. That gun was the one that convinced me that I would sell some Kimbers to buy a Wilson. I asked for thoughts on several forums about who was the best builder was. Joe Chambers name came up a lot... So did a lot other smiths. I quickly realized when it comes to "custom gun". style, personality, and who was willing to work with you meant a lot. Well a few calls to Joe C back in 2012 and I had an order on the books. Oddly enough, he told me the gun would not be ready for 7 years. Well.. here we are. About 7 1/2 year later and I should be getting that gun sooner than later.

I do not have one Kimber left... But, I do have that Wilson Contemporary Classic (hunted one down a few years back to add to the stable)! The rest are all custom guns built by masters... and ALL of them get shot often! Its been such a fun journey... and I have learned a crap ton! Things were def different back then! But all in all, I can gladly say I have not only been addicted to the platform, I have been addicted to learning and talking with others about firearms!

Hope this was not to long, and I hope you all enjoyed my shared thoughts!! What was the gun that got you addicted to the hobby/sport? Anything you all wish to share or add would be great! I know I appreciate reading about other peoples journeys!

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As a kid I was fascinated by the 1911, especially from watching war movies and tv shows like COMBAT! They are still my favorite semi-auto. Here is one I have had for years...I got it when I received my commission and shot the heck out of it. Wilson Combat and Turnbull breathed new life into the old gal.

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The first handgun that I recall firing was a USGI Colt 45 Automatic ... when I was 9-10 years old.

By that time I had been shooting .22RF rifles for a couple of years during farm visits and my cousin and I had earned enough trust that the grownups would allow us to wander the farm, unescorted, with our .22s.

Some soldiers from the local Army base stopped by the farm (on which I have now lived for 30+ years) to say Hi to my maternal grandfather and do some fishing & shooting on the place.

They offered to let my cousin and me shoot the pistol that they had brought. I could only manage hitting around the target but that was OK. FUN! :)
 
The military did it for me. I never realized that targets over a hundred yards away were SO easy to hit with a rifle - even one you had never seen before and needed to be sighted in.
 
A while back I started another thread about the pair of Colt "Frontier Scout" .22 revolvers my dad bought when I was 11. I suppose those were the handguns that really "peaked" my interest - though I remember granddad (we lived with my grandparents when I was a little tyke) had a revolver of some kind on the top shelf of a cabinet by the kitchen door.
At any rate, I bought my first handgun, a High Standard "Sentinel" through my folk's country store/gas station when I was 17 or 18, (in 1965 or 1966) and I've been "addicted" ever since.:D
 
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My "interest" in handguns began with the various toy guns my brothers and me had to play with. Cap guns made by Mattel (always loved my Fanner 50s), Ideal Toys (The Man from U.N.C.L.E. Napoleon Solo Gun), Johnny Seven (M14 and M1911 set), Remco (my brother had the Monkey Division mortar set), Hubley (Trooper cap gun), and Marx (miniature cap guns like an M1911, Luger, and Colt SAA). Later we graduated to a Daisy Air Rifle, a Daisy Model 200 CO2 Air Pistol, and a Crosman Marksman Repeater BB Pistol.

I'm a little fuzzy on the exact timeline but my first "real" gun may have been an Astra Model 600, bought from a friend of a friend. That or else a WWII era Webley MK.IV revolver I found at an outdoor flea market. Later I picked up a Charter Arms Undercover for concealed carry and a Hawes Western Marshal .22 for a fun plinker. Soon I found myself looking for used Colt Governments or Combat Commanders (at the time new ones were very hard to come by), and used S&W Model 36s with a certain preference for the heavy 3" barrel, round butt configuration. i also took a very strong interest in the Ruger Security Six, owning a number of them from time to time.

When I finally could afford new guns I broadened my horizons with a number of various semi-autos like a Walther PP and PPK/s, Browning Hi-Power, MAB PA15, S&W Model 469, Manurhin P4, Colt Officer's Model ACP, Beretta Jetfire, Model 20, Model 90 Roma, and Model 84, and a Benelli B76 to name just a few. Revolvers were also present just not in the same quantities as the semi-autos. I had S&W Model 10s (loved the heavy barrel version), Model 38, Model 18, Model 57, and Model 58, Ruger Single Sixes and Super Blackhawks, Colt New Frontier .22s, and a Dan Wesson Pistol Pak.

As you can probably tell my interest in handguns is wide and varied as my present collection nowadays consists of many more guns from different manufacturers while still encompassing a number of handguns of the old gunmakers I use to enjoy back in the good old days.
 
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My interest would've started in the early '80's, around the time I was a security guard in college. Though I didn't work an armed post, I became interested in law enforcement and security style firearms. About that time, I remember looking longingly at the new S&W model 10 in the gun case at Montgomery Wards. It was $189...a little out of my price range.:D Nevertheless, I thought it was beautiful. With it's tapered barrel, it looked a little old fashioned even back then.

For about 60 bucks less than the S&W, I bought a Charter Arms Undercover .38 Special revolver, and I believe that was my first handgun. I had some of the real cheapo stuff, too - like Ravens and such - but I eventually bought my first nice quality revolver: The iconic Ruger Blackhawk in .357. I paid $275 for it new in the 1980's, and really loved it.

I preferred revolvers for a long time and never cared much for semi-autos, the exception being that I lusted after the beautiful Browning Hi Powers of the day. But alas, they were also out of my price range back then (I have two old ones now.) I can't exactly remember when I bought my first nice (or at least decent) quality semi-auto, but it was a Ruger P-95, so you can see that I came to semi-autos pretty late. I tend to like interesting or historically significant handguns now, but I actually own a broad range of purpose (and even quality) of handguns. My local gun store kind of knows me as the guy who'll either plop down 900 bucks for a nice old Hi Power...or 99 bucks for a mint Stallard!
 
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I got the bug at a early age. Dad was a career Marine and introduced to gun early. But on my 11th birthday received a Marlin Model 80 and that was the Rocket ship that sent me into the world of shooting. Must have dry fired that gun thousands of time, practicing breathing control etc. Many trips to the woods and range. NRA youth matches and on and on. Still have the gun, and now has the first scope on it. I used the stock sights for so many years and learned how to use them with quite a bit of distance shooting Jack rabbits. Learned the Power of the one shot kill.

Thanks Dad

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Father started me shooting before I started school and I just loved it. Had a .22 rifle he gave me that I of course could only use when he was with me. At about 6 a buddy of his had a Mil Surp 1911 he got mail order. We went to an old pit we shot at they let me shoot that. I had a couple toy ones I LOVED. That pistol was what did it for me and the 1911. All these decades later it's still my hands down favorite gun of all. Not really sure why, there are certainly far better designs now but I will go to ground still favoring the 1911 for some reason.
 
My first couple of guns were for work as a security guard in a Las Vegas casino. I had shot revolvers of various calibers, a 1911 (First gun fired period), and a bunch of .22LR rifles, but nothing like a .357 magnum. As time went by, I came to and left 1911's forever, started buying "wonder nine's" and other caliber service type pistols, most of them after shooting someone else's guns at the range and a couple of times, just out in the desert. Eventually, I settled on mostly hammer fired DA/SA guns, preferably in all steel , with CZ pattern guns being my favorites, along with SIgs and Beretta 92 variants. I do have some polymer pistols and with the exception of my CZ P07 and it's 2 clones, the other plastic guns are just tools to me.
 
My Dad got me started shooting with a .22 rifle when I was 12. While I was in high school, I bought a H&R 9 shot .22 from a sheepherder that worked for us for $15.00. I later sold it to herder for the same price. I bought a Ruger Single Six Convertible my first year in college. Between it and a Nylon 66 rifle, shooting jack rabbits on the ranch, and selling them to a mink farmer kept me in gasoline and beer during school. Still have the Ruger.
 
I did not grow up in a household with firearms, but learning about history was encouraged. My father was born in 1933, so had a living memory of WW2, and had served in the US Army during the Cold War. He just missed serving during the Korean conflict, and was stationed in Japan. So, I had a special interest in the weapons in use during WW2 and the Cold War. This meant the 1911, in the case of the primary handgun.

As I started earning money, in the late Seventies, I began to buy gun magazines, and paid particular attention to writers who authored articles on the 1911 type of pistol. Jerry Ahern and Leroy Thompson tend to write about Detonics pistols, and a local gun shop had a Detonics Combat Master, when I reached the legal age to purchase a handgun, so, yes, this quite unusual compact pistol was my first handgun purchase, in late 1982 or early 1983.

When I have gone out on a financial limb, to acquire a firearm, it has usually been a 1911, so, I reckon that qualifies as an addiction. I no longer have that first Detonics, as it was not reliable enough to be a carry gun. Eventually, after much trial and error, and bad luck, I swore off any 1911 smaller than a Government Model.

I currently own four full-sized 1911 pistols, three Les Baers, and one Detonics. Two of the Baers are vetted, and have been carried, including some amount of time in my police duty holster, from 2016, when I was able to take advantage of a rule change regarding duty firearms, until I retired in 2018. (I had previously carried full-sized 1911 duty pistols, 1997 to 2002, during a 33-year police career.)

I am monitoring three 1911 pistols, available at a nearby dealer that specializes in collectible firearms. I am unlikely to buy any of them, but, well, it could happen.
 
When I was 19 and my buddy sold me a Ravin.25 auto. For the sum of $50.00. Shot the snot out of it. Broke the firing pin. Been hooked ever since.
 
When I grew up in pre-1972 Germany I could not wait for the mail order catalogues to come in. Before I could even read, I went straight for the pages with rifles to just look at the pictures. After 1953 the Reichswaffengesetz of 1938 was largely reinstated, it was the most liberal gun law that German ever had and long guns were not regulated.

I remember that I especially always looked at a .22 l.r. Voere semi auto model 2114/2115 and on October 30, 2020 I finally got one. After fixing some spring related issues and finding the right high velocity ammo, it runs like a charm and shoots really well.
 
Growing up, my dad belonged to hunting club that primarily hunted birds. While too long to participate in the hunts, we would go out to the club during the summer time and fish on their lake and plink with the 22's. Eventually, I was old enough to hunt and we went on many pheasant hunts over the years. We shot some skeet and trap to improve my skills along the way along with continued plinking with the 22's.

While I never lost interest in firearms, it did not really grow until I graduated college. Not enough time or funds to pursue it much until then.
 
My firearms interest started early; I think my dad was teaching me how to shoot with a single-shot Marlin 15Y .22LR when I was around 8. A few years later I shot my first handguns, though I can't remember if the S&W semi-automatic 9mm and the .38 Special revolver were first, or if it was my grandfather's Highway Patrolman and Hi Standard that were first. And in about the same time-frame I got to shoot a magazine through a genuine P-08 Luger, as well as a cylinder full of .45 Colt from a real Colt Single Action Army.

Strangely, I can remember wanting a real 1911 for almost as long as I've been interested in shooting handguns. There's just something about the Ol' Slabsides I really like. I got to fire more than a few different examples over the years, but my personal semi-automatics were 9mm Glocks for a very long time. Then Colt introduced the Competition Model and I found the 1911 that I knew I had to have. I was over 30 by that point, but I don't think I'll be without a Colt 1911 ever again.

Here's the Colt I'm referring to:
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Let me also note, that I had some instruction in rifle shooting from a gentleman who coached a team of junior smallbore shooters when I was around 9 or 10. Around 21 I took up Highpower competition, shooting an AR-15 Service Rifle in .223 Rem, making 4 trips to Camp Perry, a couple of local regional state championship matches, picked up 26 Leg points toward Distinguished Rifleman and spent a couple of winters shooting 50-foot indoor 4-P with a loaner Winchester Model 52 in .22LR.
 
wanderinwalker
Then Colt introduced the Competition Model and I found the 1911 that I knew I had to have. I was over 30 by that point, but I don't think I'll be without a Colt 1911 ever again.
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You know I have tried any number of different handguns chambered for the .45 ACP (Colt Governments and Combat Commanders, a Browning BDA, an HK P9, a Springfield Armory M1911A1, to name a few), but when I went looking for a new .45 about 8 or 9 years ago, I went with a Colt again. Two of them actually: a Lightweight Government (range and concealed carry), and a standard Government Model (mainly range use and load development). At the time their build quality had really improved a lot (as the owner of the gun shop who also builds 1911s for competition, was good enough to point out to me), and the prices were right so I got them both!
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I grew up in the late 1950s and early '60s, so cowboys and WWII shows were all over TV. My dad was a WWII vet who was wounded at the Battle of the Bulge, and he had his Ike jacket and a box of medals that I was very proud of. Before "going over," he taught riflery at Fort Benning, GA. My maternal grandfather was a farmer, and had subscriptions to Sports Afield and Field & Stream, so the gun ads had a big influence on me as well. I fired my first gun at age 8, a Mossberg 16 ga. bolt action with a Poly-Choke. It rocked my world, and I couldn't wait for more. I used borrowed guns to hunt rabbits and pheasant until my 14 birthday, when my dad got me a Ruger 10/22. At 18 I bought my first centerfire rifle, a Winchester Model 70 in 30-06, and on my 21st birthday I bought my first handgun, a Ruger New Model Blackhawk 7½" in 45 Colt. Reloading equipment soon followed, so I could afford to shoot. Been at it hand over fist ever since.
 
Mine came from B&W westerns in the mid-50's,,,
All of my heroes were cowboys,,,
All of them carried guns.

But so did all of my maternal uncles, great uncles, and grandfather,,,
They all wore suits or sport coats and slacks,,,
All had a gun in their jacket pocket.

Even the old and young Aunties,,,
Most of them had a pistol in their purses

It was just natural for me.

Oddly enough though,,,
My Oklahoma born redneck Pop never ever carried a gun,,,
Mom quite often had a snubbie in her bra but Pop never felt the need.

Aarond

.
 
bannockburn said:
wanderinwalker...
You know I have tried any number of different handguns chambered for the .45 ACP (Colt Governments and Combat Commanders, a Browning BDA, an HK P9, a Springfield Armory M1911A1, to name a few), but when I went looking for a new .45 about 8 or 9 years ago, I went with a Colt again. Two of them actually: a Lightweight Government (range and concealed carry), and a standard Government Model (mainly range use and load development). At the time their build quality had really improved a lot (as the owner of the gun shop who also builds 1911s for competition, was good enough to point out to me), and the prices were right so I got them both!
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Click to expand...

@bannockburn , I'm not sure I've mentioned this before, but I really like (and am slightly jealous of) your Lightweight Government. There's just something right about how the full-size slide combined with the lightweight frame balances in the hand. One of my local friends stumbled on one in the last couple of years, and he didn't realize they were slightly rare until he saw how excited I got when he mentioned he had one!

A Lightweight Commander is still on my wish-list, with a set of Trijicon HD sights installed for good measure. Not entirely traditional but imminently functional on a defensive-type piece. Of course, there are about half a dozen .32 and .380 pocket pistols on the wish list too, along with various .22 rifles and S&W revolvers. I'm always keeping my eyes peeled for a pre-WWII Heavy Duty or Outdoorsman, even though my wallet whimpers at the possibilities... :rofl:
 
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