What was the first handgun you ever owned and how old were you when you got it?

Walther P99. Walked 2 miles to the gun store with cash to buy it right on my 21st birthday. I still own it.

My first handgun was also a Ruger Mark I with the 5.5" bull barrel. I was just 18 and bought it from a friend at work for $30.00. He had only fired 2 boxes of bullets thru it and was disgusted that he couldn't hit anything. I had no problems and still have the gun to this day.

S&W Model 39, I was 27(1978). Part of a USN squadron give-away..first USN squadron had a WestPac/VN/combat cruise(1968)..open purchased 32 S&W Model 39s rather than use the crappy revolvers issued. Fast forward 10 years and the Ordnance Officer was tired of hauling them around.,CO gave the top 32 officers in seniority a Model 39(I was number 32!)..About 6 months later USN(BuWeps at the time) found out about it and wanted them back..

On my 21st birthday back in the mid 1970s I went into a local gunshop and bought a New Model Ruger Blackhawk 7½" in 45 Colt. Two weeks later I started reloading for it. I no longer have the revolver, but I do still have and use the Rockchucker press and dies.

After I got out of Basic Training, I was sent to Fort Carson, CO. Shortly after that, on 17OCT87, I walked into Dave Cook in downtown Colorado Springs and plopped down a whopping $169.99 for a Browning Buckmark .22. Back then, there was only the 'Standard' model. Probably half the lead buried in the Front Range is from that pistol... almost every weekend me, alone, or a bunch of us would go shooting. Usually it was 500 rounds, but often much more than that. Still have that pistol... it's in semi-retirement. The early Buckmarks had a really bad system to secure the top rib on the frame, and the rear mount hole on mine is eyed out. Still shoots like it's brand new...

I turned 21 in Basic... so I was still 21 when I bought it.

Here's my bad self popping them off, up in the mountains... complete in '80's attire... the only thing missing is Big Hair, and that's the Army's fault.

I was 12, right after WWII. Put 50c down on an H&R 22 at O.O. Ruftys in Salisbury NC. They put it on lay away and I put a bit down each week till it was paid. Bullets in those days were about 18c a box. No parents approval required. Truly the good ole days! LOL That store was still in business till a few years ago.

I was 12, nickel Colt Police Positive with imitation pearl stocks in 38 Spl. My dads aunt gave it to him, and he gave it to me. Gaudy as hell, but I was happy to have it. Sold it off a few years later and took the proceeds and some summer job money, and bought a new-fangled NIB 4" S&W M28.

My first handgun was a Ruger Single Six .22/.22 Mag bought in 1965 at age 18. Still own it.

When I was 14 I bought a converted RG starter pistol from a friend in Jr. HS for $5. He had drilled out the block in the barrel and lined it with a piece of auto antenna. Fired .22 standard velocity shorts in my cousin's basement when his parents weren't home.

40 something years later got $200 for it in a buyback in Brooklyn.

Speedo66 said:

When I was 14 I bought a converted RG starter pistol from a friend in Jr. HS for $5. He had drilled out the block in the barrel and lined it with a piece of auto antenna. Fired .22 standard velocity shorts in my cousin's basement when his parents weren't home.

40 something years later got $200 for it in a buyback in Brooklyn.

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Your story reminded me that my first post was in error! This was my first pistol. I was about 14 or 15. The gun used a cap meant for cap guns and would lob a BB about 10 feet. A bit further with some powder from a fire cracker in the barrel behind the BB

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A 6" barreled Ruger GP100 bought in 1993 at the ripe old age of 28 years.

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Rich1939 said:

You never forget your first. Mine was a stainless Ruger Blackhawk 357, the year was 1959 and I was 20 years old.
(Lost it a couple of years later in a poker game, holding queens over full, to 4 deuces)

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THAT is a killer .
I probably would’ve hung up my cards forever after that.
Stay safe.

Riomouse911 said:

THAT is a killer .
I probably would’ve hung up my cards forever after that.
Stay safe.

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LOL never did learn that lesson.

1958, I was 14. Wanted a Ruger Single Six for my first handgun. My dad, who had veto power, lobbied hard for an Iver Johnson because he had a Sealed 8 when he was a kid. Special ordered an IJ Trailsman 66 from the local Coast to Coast store. The second time it came back from the factory and still had indexing problems (both sides of every charge hole were peppered with firing pin strikes), dad let me trade it for a used Single Six. I still have the Single Six. Even though the current IJ is completely divorced from the original company, I won't touch anything IJ. Is 63 years too long to hold a grudge?

A Raven .25 auto. Bought it at 19. Its gone. Broke a firing pin so I trashed it. Wasn't worth fixing.

I bought a 6" High Standard "Sentinel" (9-shot .22LR) through my folk's country grocery store/gas station when I was about 18. I foolishly sold it when I was about 25.

When I was 18 I got a Rossi 357, a .380 Makarov, and a AMT back up in .40 S&W. I don’t remember which I got first, I only still have the Rossi.

1968. I was 15.

My first was a Smith & Wesson 586, when I was 25 y.o. I sold it 3 years later when I got in a tight spot financially. That is the only firearm I regret selling and I've sold plenty of guns since then.

Ruger 22/45 when I was 15

buckmark camper 17 or 18

My first hand gun was a Ruger MK1 when I was 24. Still have it. Still love it!

Colt Diamondback .22. Brick after brick of Wildcats went through that little gun.
1976 or so. Anyone remember a brick of .22’s for $9.00? Usually at Gibsons.

Crap. Diamondback. Bricks of .22’s for $9.00. Gibsons. All memories. But, I still have the gun.

It’s got Herrets on it now. The factory grips got loose. The pin holes actually wallowed out a little.

My first was a Taurus 83 in nickel. Terrible gun. I was 21 the day I bought it in 1977. Looked exactly like this one.

About 10 years ago. Age 39 or 40. Glock 17 gen 3. New.