Your First Love

[orionengnr]

S&W M-66 no-dash.
Not my first revolver, but the first one I really appreciated and bonded with.
Bought it in 2004, still have it.
Many have come and gone before and since, but it is still here, and likely will be when all the dust settles.

 

[Sneakshot92]

Here's my first love. Bought her for $200 shortly after I turned 21.. She's officially retired from regular shooting duties now, but I still plan to run the occasional wheel or two through her..

 

[Riomouse911]

I can’t honestly say where my love for revolvers began.

I bought my first revolver in 1988 when I turned 21, a 6” Taurus 66 .357 in satin nickel. I sold this a short time after buying it because I fell short on the rent.

I bought my second revolver in 1991, a S&W model 640 Centennial.38 that I carried as a duty back up gun in a rear pocket. After my right leg nerves decided that sitting on the 640 for 40+ hours a week was no longer a good idea, I traded it away in 1993 with some cash for two Model 19’s, a 4” and a 2.5” version.

Ive kept the 2.5”, which I carried as an off-duty for many years in a Bianchi shoulder rig, but l traded the 4” Model 19 for a 7.5” SRH .454 Casull straight up about 10-12 years ago.

After the 2.5” Model 19, my longest-owned revolver is a .45 Colt Ruger old Vaquero 4 5/8” in shiny stainless. This was half of my SASS handgun pair, the other SASS gun was a Uberti Cattleman .45 C that I sent with a friend when he moved to far Northern Idaho.

Without a true epiphany moment that I can identify, I can’t really explain why the revolver force is strong in me. I’ve bought them in waves over the years; a pair of.44 Mag 629’s in successive years, then rimfire revolvers in .22 and .22 Mag, then mid-frame S&W and Dan Wesson DA’s in .357 and in .38, then small revolvers in .38, then Ruger centerfire single actions... then...


I guess the revolver just grew on me .

Stay safe.

 

[Hanshi]

The first one that truly stole my heart was a 5-1/2" .45 Colt SAA. Wish I had that beauty back.

 

[J-Bar]

My first revolver was not my first love. It was a H&R 9 shot .22LR top break. It felt OK in my hand but the trigger was .

It left.

My first love is still with me, a Smith and Wesson Model 18 .22 LR, born in 1981, purchased ANIB in 1983.

My love affair with S&W continues.

 

[bangswitch]

My first love was a 6" M19-2, Patridge front sight. Don't have it any more, but I found a nice 4" M19-3 about 5 years ago

 

[hemiram]

The first revolver I fell for was a Dan Wesson 15-2 that I bought to replace my first gun ever, a messed up Taurus 83 while it was in sunny FL being "fixed". Soon after I bought the 15-2, I got an old S&W 28-2 that had some appearance issues, but shot great and that gun gave me a love for N-frames. I never really cared that much about K framed guns, but I liked L frames a lot. All these years later, I have 2 DW 15-2's and a 715, along with a DW 44. On the N-frame side, I have 3 28-2's. a 629-1, and a 625-3. I have some other revolvers, but honestly, I don't really care much about them.

 

[aarondhgraham]

My first revolver actually belonged to my Mother,,,
But I got to shoot it quite often.

It was this Colt Frontier Scout:

But this gun wasn't my first love by a long shot.

I met the revolver that I fell in love with while stationed in Germany (1971) as a young Airman First Class,,,
It was the S&W Model 15 Combat Masterpiece in .38 Special.

I had a very unique job as a driver/courier/gopher for the Bird Colonel who was in charge of the Command Post,,,
He was a dyed in the wool cowboy similar to Lieutenant Colonel Bill Kilgore from Apocalypse Now.

He wanted all of his crew to be qualified and able to carry a sidearm,,,
So he sent me to the base range to qualify.

I made friends with the range-master and got to shoot quite a bit,,,
A little known fact back then was that every airman had a yearly allotment of ammo,,,
Enough ammo to be eligible to shoot a 50 round qualifying session every three months or so.

Very few Airmen ever did this so there was a lot of ammo just sitting there in storage,,,
Being friends with the range-master meant I got to shoot a lot of that ammo,,,
I was at the range getting very good instruction once every two weeks.

I fell in love with my issued pistol,,,
Even though it was all beat up and fugly.

After the Air Force (1978) I got married to a very anti-gun California girl,,,
So for the next 20-25 years I didn't shoot much at all.

During that time I only owned one firearm,,,
The K98 Mauser my Grandfather gave me for my 12th birthday.

Fast forward to 2006 and I got back into shooting again,,,
I finally got possession of my Mother's Colt,,,
And bought a Henry single-shot .22 rifle.

One day I was perusing the cases at The Evil Pawn Shop,,,
There I became reunited with my first true love.

In the case was a pristine Model 15 Combat Masterpiece,,,
It had he original box, waxed paper, unopened tool kit, and papers.

The Evil Pawn Shop Guy had owned it since it was new,,,
It had been fired but not very much,,,
There was no turn line at all.

The gun could easily have been passed off as Old/New Stock.
I asked him for an out-the door price,,,
He replied: "$500.00 if it's cash."

I said I would be right back.

45 minutes later she was mine,,,
I named her "Stella".



I bought a 1,000 round case of Winchester White Box ammo,,,
I still have just over 100 rounds left from that batch,,,
Still no turn line.

A few months later The Evil Pawn Shop Guy hooked me again,,,
He knew I had an affinity for matched pairs of guns,,,
He sold me a well-used but solid Model 18.

Meet Stella and Didi.


As I get older I'll be peddling off or gifting off many of my guns,,,
I have a feeling that these two ladies might go into my coffin with me.

Without a doubt Stella's ancestor was my first true love experience with a revolver,,,
Nothing else has ever come anywhere close to her in my heart.

Aarond

.

 

[sixgunner455]

My first revolver actually belonged to my Mother,,,
But I got to shoot it quite often.

It was this Colt Frontier Scout:
View attachment 966694
But this gun wasn't my first love by a long shot.

I met the revolver that I fell in love with while stationed in Germany (1971) as a young Airman First Class,,,
It was the S&W Model 15 Combat Masterpiece in .38 Special.

I had a very unique job as a driver/courier/gopher for the Bird Colonel who was in charge of the Command Post,,,
He was a dyed in the wool cowboy similar to Lieutenant Colonel Bill Kilgore from Apocalypse Now.

He wanted all of his crew to be qualified and able to carry a sidearm,,,
So he sent me to the base range to qualify.

I made friends with the range-master and got to shoot quite a bit,,,
A little known fact back then was that every airman had a yearly allotment of ammo,,,
Enough ammo to be eligible to shoot a 50 round qualifying session every three months or so.

Very few Airmen ever did this so there was a lot of ammo just sitting there in storage,,,
Being friends with the range-master meant I got to shoot a lot of that ammo,,,
I was at the range getting very good instruction once every two weeks.

I fell in love with my issued pistol,,,
Even though it was all beat up and fugly.

After the Air Force (1978) I got married to a very anti-gun California girl,,,
So for the next 20-25 years I didn't shoot much at all.

During that time I only owned one firearm,,,
The K98 Mauser my Grandfather gave me for my 12th birthday.

Fast forward to 2006 and I got back into shooting again,,,
I finally got possession of my Mother's Colt,,,
And bought a Henry single-shot .22 rifle.

One day I was perusing the cases at The Evil Pawn Shop,,,
There I became reunited with my first true love.

In the case was a pristine Model 15 Combat Masterpiece,,,
It had he original box, waxed paper, unopened tool kit, and papers.

The Evil Pawn Shop Guy had owned it since it was new,,,
It had been fired but not very much,,,
There was no turn line at all.

The gun could easily have been passed off as Old/New Stock.
I asked him for an out-the door price,,,
He replied: "$500.00 if it's cash."

I said I would be right back.

45 minutes later she was mine,,,
I named her "Stella".

View attachment 966695

I bought a 1,000 round case of Winchester White Box ammo,,,
I still have just over 100 rounds left from that batch,,,
Still no turn line.

A few months later The Evil Pawn Shop Guy hooked me again,,,
He knew I had an affinity for matched pairs of guns,,,
He sold me a well-used but solid Model 18.

Meet Stella and Didi.
View attachment 966696

As I get older I'll be peddling off or gifting off many of my guns,,,
I have a feeling that these two ladies might go into my coffin with me.

Without a doubt Stella's ancestor was my first true love experience with a revolver,,,
Nothing else has ever come anywhere close to her in my heart.

Aarond

.

I have a 15-4 and an 18 as well. They are treasures.

 

[C0untZer0]

Charter Arms 9mm PITBULL (the original 6-shot).

 

[jdavis123]

When I was a kid, I had a friend who had been given a S&W model 34 Kit Gun by his dad. He and I spent many days killing tin cans and pop bottles with that little .22. I learned to shoot a revolver with the help of his dad and my friend. Needless to say, I was hooked and in later years, I was able to buy my first revolver, a new model 17 S&W and the obsession began.

 

[jag1954]

What was *your* first love in regards to a revolver ? What hooked you on "all things wheelgun" ? For *me*, it was a 4" heavy barrel Mdl 10. The classic look and understated elegance and refinement.

Yup, same for me.

 

[Nathanael_Greene]

My first-ever firearm was a Taurus Model 66, blued steel, 4", 6-shot. I bought it in 1986. Paid $159, as I recall.

Beautiful item. Still love it.

 

[wcwhitey]

I was about 10 when my father started shooting bullseye at a local indoor range. Was mid 70's. Other than a few trendy 1911's it was all Model 19's and Pythons. My dads gun was a brand new no dash model 66. To this day it has not had anything but wadcutters and the occasional .357 out of it to clear the lead. Hasn't been shot since mid 80's. I clean it, inspect it but it still sits in its blue box with cleaning rod, combat grips and wax paper.