Which of YOur Handguns Almost Always Make it it the Range?

[Tallball]

I have dozens of handguns. There are four different family members/friends I like to go to the range with regularly. Lately I've been going every couple of weeks or so.

All of my handguns are reliable and I like shooting them all. If either of those is not true, I get rid of them.

I have developed a limit of six. I won't take more than six handguns to the range at one time. I need a little bit of time to adjust to each one as I start shooting it. And cleaning eight or ten afterwards is annoying. So I only bring six.

All of the above has been true for the better part of five years. I have noticed that there are certain handguns which almost always end up going to the range with me. Variety is the spice of life, but I enjoy shooting these particular ones so much that of the six I bring, at least three of them always seem to be from this list:

Ruger Single Six 22lr
Browning Buck Mark 22lr
Colt Model 1903 32acp
Colt Government Model 380
Tanfoglio Witness CZ75 9mm clone
Ruger Blackhawk 357 magnum
Rossi Model 720 44 special
Ruger Super Blackhawk 44 magnum (old style three screw)

Do any of y'all have handguns you enjoy so much that they always seem to end up accompanying you to the range?

 

[Tallball]

Ruger Single Six

The first firearm I owned was a Ruger Single Six. Eventually I gave it to a relative who admired it, shortly before his death. Not too long ago I bought a replacement. It had finish issues and was missing a small part. $25 and some cold blue made it plenty functional. I love Ruger SA revolvers and this thing is what they call a "tack driver".

 

[Tallball]

Browning Buck Mark

My daughter started complaining to me that I didn't have an accurate 22 semiauto pistol similar in quality to her grandfather's Ruger Mark II target model. She was correct. Soon afterwards my friend at the LGS had this one up for sale. It seemed to have been used very little and he let me have it for $300. It is extremely accurate. Sometimes I shoot it better, sometimes the Single Six edges it out slightly. It is an extremely accurate firearm. My good friend's son is about to join the US Navy. This morning at the range he put a magazine from this Browning into a space the size of a bottle cap. He figures he may have an advantage over some of the other kids in basic training. It is an outstanding pistol.

 

[Tallball]

Colt Model 1903 32acp

I end up teaching lots of people to shoot. Mostly they are women and kids. After they are bored with 22's, they are ready to move on. This is the perfect next step. It is nice and heavy. The recoil is squat. It fits almost anyone's hand beautifully. The sights are small, but if a person can adjust to that, it is insanely accurate. Yeah, JM Browning was a genius!

 

[Tallball]

Colt Government Model 380

They did not make these for very long and they are not easy to find. Eventually I got lucky. What a nice pistol! It is bigger than a Mustang or Sig equivalent, but still fires from a locked breach. It fits small hands well, but my giant XL hands hold it just fine. The sights are nice and big. The recoil is minimal. My daughter dislikes recoil very much, but could easily shot it when she was nine years old. What a great pistol! It is the perfect step up from the Colt 1903.

 

[Tallball]

Tanfoglio CZ75 clone "Cohai"

I kept reading how good the CZ75 was. But I was short on cash. I got lucky and ran across this milsurp pistol at a very good price. It is a somewhat larger than the regular CZ75. My understanding is that it was used for military training and/or military-sponsored gun clubs. It is amazing. The trigger is gentle as could be. It is astonishingly accurate. My FiL and my co-worker and I are 6'8". 6'4", and 6'6". It fits our giant hands perfectly. All three of us consider it to be the most accurate center-fire semiautomatic pistol we have ever shot. My FiL bought a brand-new CZ75 as a result, and is considerably annoyed that he still prefers this pistol (though his is very nice).

 

[Tallball]

Ruger Blackhawk 357

My Fil has a phenomenal Gp100 357 with a 6" barrel. The trigger is superlative. My 4" 357 is nice, but I could never outshoot him.

My co-worker has an old police turn-in S&W 4" &W Model 66. It has the best DA trigger I have ever felt on any revolver. It is incredibly accurate.

Then I found this old Ruger Blackhawk with a 6" barrel. It is so old that the loading gate has turned plum-colored. But it still locks up nice and tight.

I now have the most accurate 357 revolver of anyone I know! To shoot it is to love it.

 

[Tallball]

Rossi Model 720 44 Special

These things are amazing. I love 44 special, and several different people urged me to find a Rossi 720. I finally found one that had been abused. It needed some work, including a new hammer nose. But this is one beautiful revolver. it only has a 3" barrel, but at 15 yards it easily competes with a 5". The trigger pull is beautiful. 44 special is an amazing round. The grips fit my XL hands just as well as my 5'6" friend's tiny hands. Everyone who shoots it loves it. I have owned a number of Rossis, and IMHO this is easily the best firearm they ever made. It is exceptional.

 

[Ironicaintit]

I always have my hipower, but that's the only constant.
My wife brings her sp101 or a speed six, sometimes the p238.

And then I bring whichever one or two that need further testing, to diagnose and repair reliability issues.

 

[Salmoneye]

I let my Govt Model .380 go in a fit of insanity a few years back...

Don't ask what I was thinking, as I have no idea...

I still have the serial number memorized, for the love of pete...

[/whine]

 

[Tallball]

Ruger Old Model Super Blackhawk 44 magnum

Sometimes you just get lucky. I have huge hands. I love 44 special. I love Ruger Blackhawks. My friend who owns the LGS told me, "Hey dummy, you need a Super Blackhawk!" But he was having trouble finding a nice used one for me.

Somehow I ran across one on GB that no one wanted. I won it for a bid of less than $400. When it arrived at my LGS I started examining it. It didn't seem to work right.

My friend told me, "You are an idiot. Of course it doesn't work like a Blackhawk! Don't you realize what you have? It is a three screw!"

Somehow I lucked onto a 1970-71 Old Model Super Blackhawk for an insane price. The barrel is 7.5" long. The trigger is as smooth as butter. This is easily my most accurate centerfire revolver. My relatives and friends love it. I love shooting this revolver!

 

[horsemen61]

My new glock 43 makes it to the range every time i go

 

[bannockburn]

1) Beretta Model 70S
2) Ruger Mk.II
3) Browning Hi-Power
4) Kahr CM9
5) Colt Combat Commander
6) Ruger Vaquero

 

[dragon813gt]

Always Always - Walther PPS
Always Lately - Franken CZ(PCR lower / RAMI upper)
Almost Always - S&W 586, CZ 75BD

There are plenty more but it depends on what rounds I have loaded up. I'm not taking one of the Single 7s if I only have a box or two loaded.

 

[medic15al]

Either my VP9 or S&W Model 15-7 Heavy barrel variant. Real one hole cutter that M-15.

 

[Pistola]

Ruger Blackhawk .357 4-5/8" barrel. Had it re barreled 3 times from the 70's after 10's of thousands of rounds, mostly 700fps hollow base WC handloads. Had a 6" barrel one time but went back to the shorter one because of better accuracy (for me).

 

[Gun Master]

I really like the Tallball show it all. Very nice shooter collection!

I don't have any regulars. You mean you want me to make a decision like that?

Usually the ones I'm having trouble with, or one of my .22's is what I take.

 

[ColoradoShooter77]

I have 7 handguns total and I rotate them week to week, so they all get shot at some point.

My oldest handgun is the gen 1 XD-40, its a solid shooter and accurate, just lost the excitement factor for me. I probably only shoot this one, once a month. There's no money in these guns, so I'm keeping it, regardless.

Guns that always go with me:

FNS-40
PPX-40
SR40-C
SR9-C
PPX-9mm
Colt 1911-22.

 

[CZ9shooter]

 

[C0untZer0]

The S&W 929

Its such a pleasure to shoot.

 

[Zaydok Allen]

3" 686+ Talo

 

[hemiram]

Tallball- I'm not anywhere near your size, but my "Mossad" gun is what I almost always bring to the range. It's got a fantastic slide to frame fit and the SA trigger is really nice. I have both a full size and a compact, but the full sized gun is the one I like best. Both of mine are 90% plus guns. I got them for about $350 each. This isn't mine, mine is prettier, but it's exactly the same triggerguard, etc.

 

[Cokeman]

My newest one at the time

 

[gwpercle]

Ruger MKII , Clark Custom Gun's , with target trigger job , accuracy package and red dot sight mounted.
S&W Model 64 , 38 special with red dot sight mounted.
Ruger Blackhawk , older three screw model (not altered),38/357 magnum.
Walther P-38 , WWII era , that my dad mail ordered from Klein's in 1961( I wanted him to get a P-08 Luger.... he believed the P-38 better) he passed it down to me, I still wish he would have bought the P-08 ! Oh well,
Gary

 

[Spats McGee]

My G19 is really the only handgun that "almost always" goes to the range with me. There are certainly others I enjoy shooting, but: (a) I enjoy shooting my G19; and (2) it's my EDC.