Do you remember your first handgun? What was it, when was it & where is it today?

Bought a 36 cal. cap & ball revolver from a sporting goods store in the spring of 1969. Copy of a Colt Navy revolver, IIRC; but don't recall who made it. Shot it a lot until entering the service later that year. After I got out it just sat around until I sold it to a friend about 1974 or '75. He never did much with it either and sold it off about a year later.

I inherited a S&W 10-6 4" HB in Nickel when my father died. I was 8. I was allowed to shoot it at 12 and received it formally at 18.

The first I bought was a Dan Wesson 15-2 V 6" I bought it in like new condition at 18.

I still own both.

PS If I already answered this, excuse the repeat response.

My first handgun was a Taurus 66 357 mag 6". I bought in 1986. Keep it a few years traded it off on a Ruger Super Redhawk 44 mag.

1. Series 70 Colt, blued,. 45acp
2. Christmas 1978
3. in my safe as my bullseye wadcutter gun

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My fist handgun was also my dads. I inherited his Smith and Wesson model 28 when he passed away when I was 21.
The first one I bought was a Ruger stainless 2 3/4 " Security six, which I traded for something somewhere along the line. I sure wish I still had it though.

My first was a Smith and Wesson Model 19 (probably a -4, but I knew nothing of such things then). I kept it a couple of years, then got bit by the IPSC bug and traded it off on a Colt 1911. No idea where it is today, but I check under the grips of just about every Model 19 I see, looking for the mark I put on it.

Maybe someday.

To the OP. I had one of those Taurus' too. Mine looked like a HB Model 10. I think it was the Model 82. Mine had a fantastic trigger, and shot 38 wadcutters like a target gun. I wish I still had that one.

Deanimator said:

1. Series 70 Colt, blued,. 45acp
2. Christmas 1978
3. in my safe as my bullseye wadcutter gun

Added image:

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You mentioned once that you were in the Army.

What handgun(s) did you use, and how did they compare with the Series 70 Colt?

The first handgun I bought of my own was a Ruger Super Blackhawk in 1998, 7.5” standard fare. Remains in my safe, and remains as my “go-to” deer hunting revolver. A little work done here and there to make it more accommodating, but not a thing wrong with the old beast. Shortly after buying the SBH, I realized the error of only owning a 44magnum, and I purchased a Ruger Mark II 22LR, to which I largely owe competence I can claim as a handgunner. It too has had some modifications over the years, but it remains my “go-to” small game hunting pistol as well as a dependable representative in my handgun courses. It’s been in the hands of dozens of students in its time, introducing them to the world of handgunning.

Oldish school photos:

My first handgun? A Daisy 747 .177cal Target Pistol. I still have it and use it for casual indoor target practice.

My first Centerfire Handgun? A Glock 17 Gen2. I still have it although I don't use if for CC anymore I still like to take it out and shoot it.

My first Rimfire Handgun? A Ruger Mark 3 Competition. I still have it and its my usual warm-up gun when I go to the range, although I use it for informal bullseye target practice, too.

dbz77 said:

You mentioned once that you were in the Army.

What handgun(s) did you use, and how did they compare with the Series 70 Colt?

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I actually carried that very gun in the Army, sans rail and dot sight.

I carried it (along with my Ithaca Model 37DSPS) on the DMZ in Korea in 1981.

I carried it once as a pay officer at Ft. Knox when all of our .45acp ammunition was withdrawn without replacement. We were given the option of carrying M16A1s (a ludicrous non-starter when carrying large pay pack) or carrying our own handguns. I carried that gun loaded with my own hot handloads of 200gr. Hornady JSWC "Combat Target" and a heavy charge of Unique.

Other than elderly S&W M&P and newer Ruger Police Service Sixes carried by pilots and female MPs respectively, those were the only U.S. handguns I encountered on my four years of active duty.

After I left the military, it became my bullseye wadcutter gun, along with a .38 Special Giles M1911.

My first Handgun was a Sig P226.

Pops got it for me.

It came in 40 Smith. I bought the 357 Sig barrel and then a 22LR kit, and eventually a 9mm kit.

I put Dawson sights on it and a Gray Guns flat trigger int it.

I still have it. It is, hands down the pistol that gets shot the most in my humble collection.

ETA: last year I had the family motto engraved on the slide. Makes me happy every time I pull it out of the safe.

First hand gun I shot was at my Dad`s side, it was his WW11 US Navy S&W victory model, that he brought home with him.The first shots fired, was when I was 12yrs old in 1958. I had it refinished once, and a couple of springs replaced. I still shoot it from time to time, but most of the time, when I am not holding it, it is in my safe. A great gun with a lot of history.

First handgun: Ruger Mark 1 Bicentennial with bull barrel and walnut thumb rest grips.
When was it: 1976
Where is it now: I still have what is left to it after the 2011 Texas wildfires. I would post a picture, but it is still pretty depressing.

SIG P220 purchased in 1997. I foolishly sold it.

Ruger Blackhawk stainless .357 she still resides with me today.

My first handgun that I owned was a Sig sp2340 in 357 Sig. I bought it around 12 years ago and sold it 4 or 5 years ago. I kinda wish I had held onto it now.

I'm am quite impressed to see the number of people who still own their first handgun--has to be 75% or so.

First handgun I ever fired was my dad's WWII 1911, probably age 8 or so. He sold it to finance a 50th anniversary dinner for his parents. He left when I was 12.
Nearly 15 years later, first handgun I bought was a WWII 1911 (not A1). Probably 1982-83, think it cost me $75 or so. It was either nickel or chrome plated, terribly worn, and wouldn't feed FMJ very reliably, much less JHP.
If I owned it today, I could probably make it work, but I was young, foolish and impatient; sold it and moved on.

The upside is that the 1911 seed remained within me, and in the intervening years I have probably owned 25 or so, and currently own half a dozen.

I no longer possess or know the whereabouts of my first love, my first dollar bill, my first motorcycle, my first handgun or my first ounce of common sense.

The first handgun I bought for myself was SIG-Sauer P225 in 1993. I still have it but for daily carry replaced it years ago with a Glock 19 Gen 3.

A Colt Frontier Scout .22 with a 4 & 3/4 inch barrel. I was a teenager working for my dad in his furniture store making 18 dollars a week and saved $50.00 bucks, walked across the street to a Sears and Roebuck and bought it new from them. Loved that .22 but it got away from me later on. I still miss it. It was really accurate. I also had it's big brother the Buntline and it also was traded on some forgotten relic.

My first gun was bought in 1977, a day after my 21st birthday, it was a Taurus 83 in nickel. The nickel was well done, the gun looked good, identical to this one:

It was total trash. Bore was totally messed up and the timing was off a mile when I got it. Went to FL twice, but Taurus wouldn't even admit the barrel was messed up. I hope it was long ago melted into a hunk of steel that became a good gun.

My first handgun was a Ruger 3 screw Flat top Single Ix with 22 LR and 22 Mag cylinders. I still have it and still shoot it.

6.5” Ruger single six convertible in 2010. It rides along in my work truck and gets used for medicinal purposes every now and then.

BearBrimstone said:

My first handgun that I owned was a Sig sp2340 in 357 Sig. I bought it around 12 years ago and sold it 4 or 5 years ago. I kinda wish I had held onto it now.

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That’s a bummer. I’ve bought and sold a lot of guns but I’m keeping my first handgun unless I’m totally broke and need the money to survive.

S&W 645 - Stolen - used in a murder and never got the gun back..

Smith wesson model 19 2.5 barrel. Got out of the academy and everyone wanted stainless model 60's and 66's. Needed a off duty gun so I paid 229 for it.