What Is Your Absolute Favorite Handgun and Why?

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Well I really couldn't just pick one as an overall favorite, but the one with the most sentimental value would have to be my Ruger Redhawk. I bought it when I was around 16 in 1985. I worked all summer building lobster traps to save money and was short a few bucks when the job ended. My awesome dad picked up the tab for the leftover amount and I was off to the desert for some shooting!

Back then I could ride my bike to the local gun store and they would sell me 100 round shrink wrap packs of PMC 240 JHP's. I am not sure if it was 100% legal, but they knew I was a good kid so that became my monthly ritual for a few years.

Beside the connection to my father, this gun has become one of my son's favorites. He loads his own .44's for it as a bonus. It has now touched the hands of three generations in my family and hopefully will touch some more in the future.


Here is a pic of both my son and I shooting the family Redhawk.
AA74B48A-F7BE-44EB-9E4B-ED7BD5FA00A5.jpg
 
ECVMatt said:
Well I really couldn't just pick one as an overall favorite, but the one with the most sentimental value would have to be my Ruger Redhawk. I bought it when I was around 16 in 1985. I worked all summer building lobster traps to save money and was short a few bucks when the job ended. My awesome dad picked up the tab for the leftover amount and I was off to the desert for some shooting!

Back then I could ride my bike to the local gun store and they would sell me 100 round shrink wrap packs of PMC 240 JHP's. I am not sure if it was 100% legal, but they knew I was a good kid so that became my monthly ritual for a few years.

Beside the connection to my father, this gun has become one of my son's favorites. He loads his own .44's for it as a bonus. It has now touched the hands of three generations in my family and hopefully will touch some more in the future.


Here is a pic of both my son and I shooting the family Redhawk.
View attachment 1078041
Click to expand...

Great story and I love guns that have family lineage, passed from grandfather, to father, to son.

I have to ask though, what state were you living in where you would build Lobster traps, then shoot in the desert? Must have been Southern California as it wouldn't be that unrealistic to live near the sea and make the drive to the desert to shoot.
Enquiring minds wants to know.
 
ECVMatt said:
Well I really couldn't just pick one as an overall favorite, but the one with the most sentimental value would have to be my Ruger Redhawk. I bought it when I was around 16 in 1985. I worked all summer building lobster traps to save money and was short a few bucks when the job ended. My awesome dad picked up the tab for the leftover amount and I was off to the desert for some shooting!

Back then I could ride my bike to the local gun store and they would sell me 100 round shrink wrap packs of PMC 240 JHP's. I am not sure if it was 100% legal, but they knew I was a good kid so that became my monthly ritual for a few years.

Beside the connection to my father, this gun has become one of my son's favorites. He loads his own .44's for it as a bonus. It has now touched the hands of three generations in my family and hopefully will touch some more in the future.


Here is a pic of both my son and I shooting the family Redhawk.
View attachment 1078041
Click to expand...

I hope you were shooting it in the 1980's. ;)
 
Capybara said:
Great story and I love guns that have family lineage, passed from grandfather, to father, to son.

I have to ask though, what state were you living in where you would build Lobster traps, then shoot in the desert? Must have been Southern California as it wouldn't be that unrealistic to live near the sea and make the drive to the desert to shoot.
Enquiring minds wants to know.
Click to expand...

Yes I grew up in Manhattan Beach. In high school it was a big deal to go body surfing in the morning and then run up to Wrightwood to ski on the same day. We would also do the same for shooting in the deserts near Lancaster and Victorville.

One summer I was tarring the traps and had to go register for classes at Mira Costa HS. I was covered with tar from head to toe. Some of the kids asked what I was doing for work and I told them that I was cleaning the dinosaurs at the La Brea Tar Pits. I told them I was making 20 bucks an hour, a huge sum back then, and that we normally wore special suits to keep the tar off of us but I did not have time to put it on today because I had to register. I told them we had a few additional openings. As this new spread through the school, more than one kid headed up to the tar pits to look for work. We all thought this was really funny.

We did have a couple of great gun shops in Manhattan Beach. One of them was the first importer of Chinese AK47's. If you look around you can find Chinese AK's stamped Golden State Arms, Manhattan Beach CA. Chuck Norris also lived in town at the time and would buy his guns from the local store. It was not uncommon to see him buying guns and ammo. He was a really nice guy and always cool with us kids.

Anyways not to totally thread drift, but I am getting my 10 year old daughter ready to shoot the Redhawk soon. She has already practiced holding and aiming it. We will start with some nice Special loads for her. I will post some pics when we get back from the desert.
 
Can’t believe we’re at 6 pages and no Browning Hi Power pics. Let me fix that with this T Series

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Why? It’s a classic. High quality in design and execution. Aesthetically beautiful but not at the expense of functionality. Fits my hand perfectly. If I’m going to the range to shoot pistols it’s going with me.
 
I have never been fond of pistols. I have a Glock 43 and 30S strictly for self defense. But as I have posted here, I recently purchased a Springfield Mil-Spec 1911 for my Dad.
By the time I was in the Army, the 1911 had been gone for a few years as the standard sidearm, but it kind of grew on me as I handled it before I gifted it to him.
This last week my LGS had these two come in, so I pulled the trigger. :thumbup:

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My favorite is my Wartime Commercial Mauser C96 Broomhandle in 7.63x25. I bought it at the end of 2016 after having wanted a shootable Broomhandle since sometime in the mid-1970s. I ran across this one at a gun show. The story was that it was a WW2 GI bring back, which makes sense as it is bereft of import marks. I nearly peed myself after I ran a patch through the bore at home, because it was mint.

c96-right.jpg

It came with a stock. The serial numbers don't match but it's an original German stock. ATF has exempted C96s with original stocks from the NFA, so this is perfectly legal. I really lucked out with the wood. Normally they are pretty plain.

c96-stocked.jpg

And yes, I shoot it. So far only with Prvi Partisan factory loads but it's gone through at least 600 of those with zero malfunctions. With the stock attached it's easy to bang a gong the size of an IDPA target at ~75 yards offhand.

Now, if I was limited to one handgun it would have to be the S&W Model 15-3 that I bought in 1996, since it's a lot more practical.

SW15-3.jpg
 
For me the S&W 2206 or the AMT Lightning 25-22.

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I tend to not leave till the red is shot out which is 150-200 rounds. With the 2206 that is usually at 15 yards. The AMT at 25 yards which is the max distance at the local indoor range. ( I chuckle at this target with the flyer in the lower left corner. Was doing consistently good till that one.)

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Capybara said:
Here are the simple rules folks. Bonus if you can post an image of the gun you're posting about.

1. What is your absolute favorite handgun (any type of handgun is qualified, revolver, semi-auto, single shot, AR/AK pistol, etc.) you currently own or have owned in the past?

2. What about this handgun makes it special to you? Is it the way it shoots, it's history, sentimental value, family heirloom, mechanical uniqueness or it saved your life? Give us some background.

3. Out of all of your guns, rifles, shotguns, handguns, AOWs, MGs, etc. is this handgun the ONE gun you would keep if circumstances dictated that you only would get to keep one gun? If so, why and if not, what would be the one gun you would keep and why?

Just doing this to see a cross section of High Roaders, what we all like, prefer and treasure.
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My Colt 1911 Series 70- have had it for 42 yrs- won’t sell it. Love most all 1911’s, but an original Colt to me is such a beautiful pistol, reliable and powerful, so much history, still popular as ever after over 100 yrs! DCE6EDC3-8915-4E8B-B692-096482120E79.jpeg
 
1. Hmmm. Dan Wesson VBob
2. I love 1911s, and this particular one just fits me perfectly, even compared to more expensive options.
3. No, the last gun I’d get rid of is the old .410 side by side my grandpa gave me, it’s the only truly sentimental thing I own.
 
I'll have to go back and read the entire thread, because other people's preferences and reasoning might sway me... :)

But for now, just going based on gut reaction, I'll say it's my S&W 63 .22LR kit gun (6 shot, 4" barrel). I bought this gun used from a friend in 1980. I like to say this 63 is as tight and accurate today as the day HE bought it. :cool: He tweaked it with a Patridge front sight, a tuned trigger, and custom grips. There's something about this configuration that has made it an absolute tack-driver for me.

I suppose I could find a piece today to equal or surpass its performance and fit to my hand -- but I don't think I want to invest the time, effort, and money to do that. As a defensive piece, it might be a bit wanting. I guess, as Jeff Cooper once advised, I'd have to practice with it until I can hit a bouncing ping pong ball 20 times out of 20... :D

Pictured below, on the bottom... I never quite warmed up to its sibling, the 317 kit gun (but it had a high bar to meet :)).

kitguns rsz 1200 shrpx3.jpg
 
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This one. My first full size Glock. My wife picked it up for us shortly after my 21st bday and it's seen a fair amount of use and is never very far. Can't go wrong with a simple handgun that just works and most glocks tend to be just that.

I wish I had some super fancy, limited run, engraved something or other, but for me it's just a Glock 17.....or 19........it's hard to decide. Glock

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Pistolay said:
My absolute favorite handgun was one that I no longer own, my Glock 26 Gen 5. Second favorite was my Gen 4 that preceded it. Between the two of them, I had many thousands of rounds without ever a single failure, and dead-on balls accurate. Unfortunately, arthritis in my shooting hand finally got to the point where I could barely rack the slide, and disassembling it for cleaning took several minutes of frustration. So now it's gone, and I miss it.

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That just sucks man. Sorry. I hope you find or have found an appropriate replacement to fill the void. The 26 was always one of my fav's.
 
My absolute favorite is my 1961 6” Royal Blue Python. I’m the third owner, my son will be the 4th. It was my grail gun. I shot one way back in 1987, and still to this day remember how it felt. Shot a Trooper MKIII that day as well, but it was the Python that I remembered until I finally bought that 61. That was 2005.

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I’ve since added, and let go, a 4” 1974 RB Python and a 1992 6” Anaconda. Recently added a 1975 Trooper MKIII,

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Another favorite would have to be my 39-2, just because. I love shooting this thing,

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But if I had to choose just one, it would probably be this old 19 with Wilson internals,
CE3C5520-E15E-4AFD-AD21-24FA37E17995.jpeg

Or one of the 2 1911s on the right. Top is a Sig TacOps, Bottom is a Springfield Emissary. Left side is a Colt Competition and a RI .22tcm/9mm combo.
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