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

My first was a Ruger Single-Six with a six-inch barrel. I bought it for myself and a 4" one for my girlfriend. Shooting .22s from all that steel was like a pop gun. Accurate as all get-out. Wish I had kept it; glad I lost the girl.

 

Ruger New Model Super Single Six Convertible. I still have it and the magnum cylinder is still in the red velvet bag.
That’s it on the bottom.

 

Ruger RST-4 and it is in the safe. It got toted in an old Buchmier in the woods until the snap popped off the strap then moved to the glove box gun position and finally to a small handgun case for just range work.

My first centerfire was a Colt Series 70 Mark IV, currently with in reach. Bought it in Germany at the American Rod & Gun Club in Neu Ulm. While an M60 gunner was allowed to carry it once instead of my assigned issue M1911A1. My second trip to Europe and as an officer I carried it and was never issued an M1911A1. Its rubber grips and brushed nickeled mainspring housing (yes I replaced the 1974 Colt internals and initially went with a flat mainspring housing and when I went back to Arched the Brushed Nickel was all I had at hand) caused the occasional stir as did my carrying it in a 1911 Cavalry holster with the swivel and thigh belt most of the time in the field. It spent time in heavy coat pockets, OWB and IWB holsters and for several years was in a belt pouch. Occasionally it traveled in a shoulder holster under a suit. Currently has a standard barrel bushing rather than the Series 70 spring collet bushing but may soon get that original part back as it is not carried for defense these days and for sport shooting I need all the help I can get on accuracy! Four decades and counting.

I consider both to be my CDF guns and hope whoever gets them then will appreciate them.

-kBob

 

Glock 17, Gen2 was my first real handgun, not counting pellet or rimfire guns. It is still the one I trust and it still comforts me when I sleep.

 

Yes I do: ruger single six convertible my dad gave to me when I was 11-12.. still have it. It’s in my revolver drawer snuggling up to my smith and wessons.

 

Ruger gp100. Long ago traded off. No miss it.

 

Iver Johnson Trailsman 66, 1960. Failed to index after two trips back to the factory. I hope it is at the bottom of the sea.

 

My still-beautiful Beretta Model 70 Puma. Not recognizing the razor sharp corners of the slide; I paid the price but learned my lesson. I seldom fire it anymore but love to look at and hold its heft. Cosi bello.

 

Jennings .22. Not proud.

 

Colt Trooper MkIII in 1989 for $250. It was a great first handgun and the start of gat fever. Perhaps inevitably, that fever meant the Colt got traded off for a FM Detective. Which got traded off for God knows what. The ‘90’s were a handgun blur!

 

No, sir! A Jennings .22 was my brother's second pistol... not only was it reliable, but it kept me out of a scrape one night out on the motorcycle. The mere sight of that mighty chromium plated, fully illuminated (in their headlights) pistol sent them scurrying for cover. In some ways I wish I still had that stupid pistol....

(I see your location... it was in Columbus, OH, that I wielded that mighty Jennings...!)

 

My first was also a Taurus .357, a Model 66 with a 6” barrel. It shot well, but I sold it decades ago to a friend when I was between jobs and sold several guns to pay for food and rent.
Stay safe.

 

Taurus Model 66, purchased the day after I turned 21, from Oshman's Sporting Goods in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida, in 1987. Was sworn in on the job shortly after, and even carried it for a brief while.

It was stolen in a vehicle burglary in 1989, and recovered in 1991 or 1992 after a car/foot chase in another jurisdiction.

It's sitting in my safe, well-accompanied, today.

 

Mine was an Armi San Marco brass frame 1851 C&B in .44, I had just turned 18 and picked it up at a gun show, one of the few handguns I could buy at the time.
My first centerfire handgun was a cz82 I bought later that year in a private sale. It got stolen out of my car a couple years ago but made its way back to me.

I still have both, but don't shoot the ASM much...

 

My very first handgun was an M&P9 2.0 Compact with the 4" barrel. I bought it the day I got my pistol permit. Traded it a few months later for a Glock 23 Gen4. I have no idea where the M&P ended up, but I never had second thoughts about trading it in.

 

Walther P99AS in 40. Bought it right on my 21st birthday. Still have it and sitting in my safe at the moment. My PPQ Q4 replaced it as my full size carry option.

 

1972....to exercise the ability to buy a handgun on my 21st birthday. Tough decision whether to go with a Nazi marked original Luger or a Stoeger .22 caliber Luger. Figured I'd get more use with a rim fire and would be less expensive to shoot.....in hindsight, should have gone with the original Luger. Never the less, it's been a good gun, all my kids and grand kids have enjoyed it. Still sees frequent use.

 

S&W 4053. .40 smith and Wesson. DAO. Formerly LEO gun. bought it used about 10 years ago. Great gun but arthritis in my shooting hand makes it uncomfortable to shoot often now. Only goes out to the range a couple of times a year now. ( Prior to buying that I was only into long arms) Also got a good safariland holster for it (brand new not used) for $12.00.
Gun is in the handgun safe. Holster is on a shelf in the closet.

 

The first one I owned, was a Smith & Wesson model 14. 6 inch barrel, Target Hammer, Target trigger, Target grips. There's a bit of family history to that one. At some point, before I was born, my grandfather wanted a 357 Magnum for deer hunting. My dad and my grandma went together to buy him one. However, grandma didn't know a gun from a bun. She went and bought a 38 Special, albeit the nicest 38 Special they made. It sat, honored but unused, in his cabinet for years. Fast forward to when I was 18: when he heard that I was working night shift alone, at a gas station next to the interstate, he gave it to me, with directions that I carry it.

I actually did, for a few months. But a 6in K frame with Target grips, is not the easiest gun to conceal. That led directly to the first gun I purchased. I went into a gun show looking for a snub nose, but they were all out of my price range. Did I mention working at a gas station? However, this was the tail end of the great police revolver sell-off, so I was able to get 4" Model 10 for $120.

I still own both. The Model 14 sits semi-retired, in 95% splendor, in my safe. The Model 10, is actually holstered on my hip as I write this. It's pinch-hitting for my usual SR1911CMD, which was out getting night sights installed.

 

Ruger NM Blackhawk/ .357 Mag./ 6.5" Bbl.

​

Still prime hunting pistol.




GR

 

My first handgun was a Rohm RG66 22.lr. Bought it with my own money when I was 16. The first centerfire was S&W 32 S&W Long. I think that it was a model 30. Neat little revolver that shot well. Sold both when I screwed up and got married. Cost me a Franchi 20ga Falconet too.

 

Ruger Single Six with 6 1/2" barrel. I bought it shortly after my 21st birthday just because I could.

 

Mine was a Smith M-28 I inherited from my father in 1971. I carried it in Alaska for several years, finally sold it in 1974 to finance a NMBH in .45 LC. That one still gets shot every year, and accounted for several Kodiak Island blacktails over the intervening years. AFAIAC, it was a great trade-off.



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