Best gun that I almost traded? That's easy - my namesake, a Colt Model 1991A1 Stainless that is my sole automatic pistol. (Hence my moniker)
What makes this story interesting is that I've never been particularly attracted to semi-autos, in fact I'd never planned on owning one. Revolvers are my passion, and you're about as likely to catch me browsing the autos at a gun show as you are to find the Pope in a house of ill repute. Yet one day, back in the Spring of 96', I was standing in my favorite shop purchasing two Rugers when the Colt caught my eye and out of pure curiosity I asked to see it. The salesman eagerly obliged, and as I handled it he offered me a sweet deal if I bought all three together. To tell you the truth I didn't really want the pistol, but I'd had my eye on a stainless Ruger New Model Blackhawk at another shop and figured that the .45 would be more than adaquete to negotiate a trade. So I took the deal and seven days later walked out of the shop with (gasp!) a brand new semi-auto.
I'd planned on picking up the Blackhawk the following Tuesday, but as luck would have it I was delayed for nearly two weeks and during that time I occasionally pulled the Colt out to examine it. Gradually it began to grow on me, yet still I resisted because at first it seemed so intimidatingly complex. You might laugh, but back then I had absolutely no idea how to clean or even disassemble such a pistol and therefore had convinced myself that trading it off was indeed the best option. However fate, in the form of a co-worker, soon stepped in. He'd served as a chopper pilot in Vietnam and together we'd spend hours talking about guns. (I especially enjoyed listening to his firsthand accounts of the war.) When I casually mentioned that I'd bought the .45 he gladly offered to teach me how to field strip it.
Although I still wasn't sold on the idea of keeping the gun, I've never been one to pass up a chance to learn something new and so I brought it in one evening. I'd always heard of the simplicity of John Browning's design, but just the same I was absolutely amazed at how easily it could be taken apart and reassembled. Understanding how it worked gave me the confidence I needed to take it to the range for a test fire and from that moment on I was thoroughly hooked. When I drove to the Gulf Coast of Florida on vacation that summer the Colt was with me and for years it was my bedside companion. I'd never owned a semi-auto before then and haven't bought another one since. I suppose you could say that when it comes to semi autos that gun is my one and only love. In fact I almost felt as though I were cheating on it when, during my last vacation, I chose to pack my S&W Model 642 instead.
Now, for you fans of the Twilight Zone, here's a bizarre side note to this story. Two months before I saw that Colt in the shop I'd wandered into a used bookstore (gun shops and bookstores are my hangouts) and while looking for another volume came across a copy of "Book of the .45", which believe it or not it had fallen on me from the shelf above. Since it was really cheap, not to mention loaded with photographs, I figured it would make a nice addition to my library and on a whim took it home. I'd stuck it on the shelf and forgotten all about it - taking it down to read only
after I'd decided to keep the pistol.
Go figure.
