Do you still have your first handgun? In 1971 my dad took me to the gun store and bought me this Ruger .22. A little later we were at the flea market and he got this lefty Hunter rig for me. The unscrewable steel lined holster part was damaged so he made a whole new steel lined one and laced it up. It still fits perfect to this day. He laced it rather than stitching. I've made holsters for guys on this forum with those same tools. Then I saw this gunfighter in the movie "The Culpepper Cattle Company" carry a pearl handle Colt and my dad took me across the bay to a S.F. gunshop and he bought me these Jay Scott "pearl" grips.
This whole outfit just has "DAD" written all over it.

Very nice revolver and a very nice holster rig with it.

That's a right fancy rig sir! And yes I still have my first revolver that I purchased a Dad signed for...a Smith & Wesson Model 28-2 Highway Patrolman!
Thanks for sharing Wyatt, aint no gun like the first one. Dale

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Nice outfit. I bet it has killed a million tin cans. Larry

You are fortunate. Nice looking rig. Looks like something a real "workin' hand" would be wearing.

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That would have been top of the line gun and rig back then. Your Dad provided the best.

My first rig which I still have is a Ruger single six similar to yours with the plain old Hunter holster and cartridge belt. Wouldn't part with it for nuthin.
Thanks for sharing.

A wonderful story, thank you for sharing.

Mine is not as special, however I do have the first handgun I ever purchased. It is a Ruger Super Bearcat, I wanted a small .22 as a fishing gun. I paid all of $53.00 for it brand new in 1973. Oh, the path that revolver started me on.

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1601 (ret)

That is a good story and the pic makes it a good visual. Plus I know the movie which you talk of. Good memories are pricless!

My first was a Ruger, too. But it was a Ruger P-85. Not nearly as cool or romantic. But I got a good deal on it from a friend who was selling it for his widowed sister, and they let me pay it out over two months. Man, that seems like a long time ago, and then again, it seems like yesterday. Lots of handguns under the bridge since then.

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My first handgun was a Daisy BB pistol that looked like a Colt Woodsman.
Still got it but it doesn't work any more. Still have the holster for it somewhere too.

First .22 handgun was a Ruger Mark I bull barrel target pistol.
In a fit of dingbattery I sold it and had to replace it with a Mark II when I took up bullseye shooting again.

My first handgun was also a Ruger Single Six Old Model. I bought it in 1969 from a friend of my dad with money I earned from cutting firewood with my dad. The deal was that he cut the firewood, I got to load it, and unload it for the customer. He was selling it for $10.00 / pickup load. I cut was $2.00/load. I bought the gun with a Hunter belt and holster for $50.00.......you know how much firewood I had to load and unload to earn $50.00?
Many fond memories of firewood with my dad abound.....gazillions of pop cans marauding in droves fell to my Ruger. Still in the Old Model configuration.......
Randy

I don't think of myself as especially sentimental but I saw this post and immediately went to the man cave to recover my Ruger Single Six. My Dad took me to buy it in 1976. I still have the box, reciepts, hang tag and magnum cylinder draw string pouch. The 1970's must have Herretts Stocks, Reyes belt and the Bianchi #1 holster we bought the same day. It's worn but I know how every mark was made in this gun and would never part with it. One day it will go to my son.

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Ruger Single Sixes appear to be a common first handgun for many people, regardless which forums they gravitated to later. around 1983 when I got divorced I stayed at my parents house for a while and my sisters boyfreind stole my Single six and shot up a Jack In The Box with it. When I noticed it was missing we went to the police station and lo and behold, they had the gun and told us how they got it from the Jack in the box incident. Then they gave it back to me.

Great story, thanks for sharing. I envy your relationship with your Dad.

Regards,

Dave

Can't top that one. Mine has never been out for fast food.

My brother and I traded a heifer to my cousin for two .22 revolvers. He got the hi-standard and I got the ruger. Mine was the sole survivor of my house fire 30 years ago. It was was, as usual, in the pickup.
Dad never believed in handguns. Mostly due to his brother-in-law, who found out he could shoot faster than he could draw.

I, too got a 5.5" Single Six. Mine was a graduation present (1968, when you could buy pistols at 18). Got a tooled western holster from a Scoutmaster friend of my dad's. Converted the loops from 357 to 22. Carried it all summer, put it on every morning while I worked at my cousin's shoestring mining operation in the National Forest.

Several years later, I left it with my ex when we split. Never got it back. Good news is that my daughter has it now!

My first pistol was a single six when I was 17 at christmas I had asked for a stainless taurus pt92 9mm with the shoulder hoster. Would rather have the ruger any day. I have had a ball with it. This past thanksgiving my dad told me about my first rifle when I was turning 7. He was working as an engineer for the rail road and as he came up on a crossing a cotton truck pulled onto the track and they collided. The train jumped the track and started rolling down the embankment. He said all he could think about was he was going to die in that wreck not only by the crash but the cars behind him were carrying grain and that would bury him and the men who were with him in the cab and that he would never be able to give me my first rifle. I remember him calling me to his room while laying in his bed after he got out of the hospital and telling me to pull that big long box out from under his bed. It was a browning 22 that ejected out the bottom and could be taken apart. He said we would shoot it when he could and when we did we probably shot it hundreds of times into the burning barrel from the back deck. Some of my most memorable times was shooting with him at that rusted out trash can. Sorry for the tangent. Doeboy

My first handgun wasn't obtained until I was an adult. I went to a New Years Eve party in 1973 and wound up trading a Damon Howatt recurve bow for a Colt Frontier Scout in .22 with the .22mag cylinder. I do still have it but wish I had the bow back now also.

Great rig and story sir. Now we know how you acquired such a taste for quality guns. Every young man should have a father like yours.
Thanks for showing us that rig.

My first good revolver was also a ruger 6 1/2" convertable single six that I bought new in 1961. I shot it a lot and seemed to be good at throwing cans, bottels or whatever, drawing and shooting them in mid air.
Then in 1968 it was stolen. I was on a trip from california to wisconsin and back on my harley. I was in jackson wyoming and called a GF who was watching my house. She said someone busted in and stold all my guns! I didnt have near what I have now, but still it was a armfull! Jackson is exactly a 1,000 miles from tjunga where I lived. I started out at 7am and 7am the next morning I pulled up in my yard! I belive I spent close to 4 hours in salt lake buying a recap harley tire and putting it on. Another hour in vegas stretching my legs in the process. I crawled off the harley, litteraly crawled into the house, left the harley packed in the backyard. Looked to where I had hid my long guns in a closet and there they were! I THOUGHT I had told the GF I hid them there, but she said I didnt. In fact the house was broke in with a tv, the ruger, and a air pistol gone. I had left the ruger in a drawer by the bed for her in case she stayed there. It has never showed up.
I bought this replacement years ago. It was as new but was made in 1959. I have only shot this one once or twice but will break her in more in better weather.