Calibers U start with; Calibers U shot; Calibers at the End. More important than guns

[oddshooter]

A thread asked me to:
Pick the gun I shoot the most.
I discovered it was a difficult question that didn't make sense to me.

I think it was because I chased different calibers at different times in my life with different guns. My answer only makes sense with some historical context.
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I started out as a young Texas cowboy with a twin pair of Roy Rogers cap guns I put on layaway at Sears before my mom knew about it. By the time I was a 12 year old boy, my step-dad had turned me on to his first gen Colt SAA in 32-20 WCF. That was a great starter round with good accuracy and almost no recoil. The SAA is of course, Iconic. I started my handloading in 1961 at 12.

I shot a lot of everything until I was a Junior in High School. I went off to the New Mexico Military Academy in preparation for the Naval Academy and they gave me my first M1. I shot that 30-06 sucker every day with a crusty old master sergeant from the Rangers. I slept with that beast several evenings until learning how to disassemble blindfolded. Once I got good, rifles were boring; no longer a challenge.
In college, I spent a summer on board the air craft carrier, Coral Sea, that just got back from Yankee Station off Nam. Learned about serious shooting from F4 Phantoms. I was hooked. All I wanted in life was Jets.

I then fell in with a flower child and was lost to shooting for a decade. Once my son was born, we started going out to get him educated in all things that went bang. 15 years later, after several years apart, he reintroduced me to shooting in a big way. We had something we both enjoyed that brought us together.

end of history lesson
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I'll give it a try now for favorite guns to shoot.
They are definitely revolvers with long tubes ringing 100 yard+ steel. Handguns are definitely a challenge to shoot well.

The first in love was probably a Ruger Mark II with scope. It shoots tiny little groups of any ammo.

The second was probably a SW 19 that just felt perfect shooting the 357 magnum. That is probably still my favorite all around caliber if including the 38 and the Maximum.

The thirds were back to 22 with Colt Woodsmans and HS model E's.

The fourths were a Python and a Diamondback. Great shooters all around great hawglegs in 38 and 357.

The fifth phase was 357 Maximum with Ruger, Dan Wesson, T/C, and others.

The next phase was anything from United Sporting Arms: 357 Maximum, the 44 mag, the 45 Colt, and the 357mag. I didn't even like the 44 Magnum when I bought the Abilene. That Abilene was just tooo beautiful to pass up and it lead me into the wonderful 44 specials.

For the last several months, its been .32's: 32 long, 32 H&Rmag, 32-20, 327fm. The first was a Ruger Convertible, then a BH8 in 327, then S7 in 32 H&Rmag, then a SW 16-4 and a SW 631. The downside is none of these are long tubes.

I had to list them to figure it out. I can see a movement between calibers that seems to drive my new gun obsessions.
Now I see that it's the last gun I bought that has me hooked.
Although I have several of the best semi-autos known to man, my wheelguns are the ones I grab and that grab me right back.
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So I'm interested in how You got where You are.
I'm a caliber guy; Calibers lead me to my next purchase.
I'm betting most of you are manufacturer guys. I've known a bunch who are model guys. They own every style and model variant of one model.
Some of us just got old. Maybe a lot of us. We got weaker and shakier. Shooting big bore calibers just isn't in the cards anymore.


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[Echo40]

It all started back on my 6th Birthday, when my Grandfather got me a Red Ryder BB Gun, and I was subsequently taught safety before my parents really allowed me to shoot it. By the time that I was 12 I was shooting it in my backyard practically every afternoon. Eventually, once I was around 17 I had gotten out of shooting it, and lost pretty much all of my interest in shooting for a good decade.

After mass reports of all manner of violent crimes broke out in my area, I decided that it was time to get something for Self-Defense. I purchased my first firearm at age 28, a Walther PPK/S chambered in the diminutive .22LR of all things. I was ignorant of the effectiveness of cartridges at the time and was pretty much operating on the simplistic logic that any gun was potentially deadly, that 10 rounds were better than 7, and that Self-Defense was about stopping the threat rather than killing them. It was small, relatively lightweight, had virtually no recoil, and was extremely accurate, so I felt good about my choice. Also, it's worth mentioning that at the time, I was hearing a lot of exaggerated overzealous comments regarding how powerful and hard-kicking 9mm Luger was.
Within a year of buying it though, I was convinced that .22LR wasn't an adequate choice for Self-Defense, and since I had already become familiar with the PPK/S, I bought another one in .380 ACP. (Some would argue that .380 still isn't adequate, but keep in mind that I was working under the belief that 9mm Luger was a powerful, hard-kicking round.)

Shortly after getting my first firearm, I discovered the sporting/recreational side of shooting, and my whole outlook on firearms shifted. Even in my youth, I had never really thought that shooting a real firearm could be fun, although I owned a Red Ryder BB Gun since I was 6 and had shot it throughout many summers for fun, go figure. But after my first trip out to the range with my PPK/S .22, I knew that I enjoyed shooting.

Sometime after that, after reading many articles and posts about how .380 ACP was the absolute bare minimum of Self-Defense cartridges, I decided that I wanted something with more oomph for Home Defense, and the resulting research showed me that the folks who said 9mm was a hard-kicking round were either wimps, shooting extremely lightweight 9mm subcompacts like the Kel-Tec PF9, or both. Furthermore, my brother owned a Taurus Judge he used for Home Defense, and I just ended up really liking it. It was cool, versatile, powerful, and could easily be stored at the bedside for quick deployment. Also, my brother had accidentally purchased a couple of boxes of 3" Federal Premium 410 Handgun 000 Shotshells which wouldn't fit his 2.5" chambered Judge, so I bought a Taurus Judge Magnum which was chambered for 3" shells and took the ammo of his hands.
People love to hate the Judge, but I like it. It's incredibly fun to shoot, is devastating to all manner of targets downrange, and based on what I've read about its usage in self-defense scenarios, it's very effective with 000 buckshot and .45LC. Turns out birdshot isn't effective against humans though, which shouldn't be surprising, but apparently a lot of folks who dislike the Judge love to cite that fact as if somehow reflects poorly on the firearm as a whole. Also, buckshot isn't accurate enough out of a 3" Barrel to hit targets reliably at a distance of 50+ yards, which again, shouldn't be surprising, but the haters sure seem to think that it is. Fortunately, the interior dimensions of my home between rooms is nowhere near 50 yards, so I think I'm okay.

After that I ended up getting a Mossberg 590 Shockwave because I really wanted one and stopped caring what ignorant people had to say about my choices in firearms, since I have basically been told that each and every firearm I own is a terrible choice and how I should be carrying whatever generic, disinteresting, Armchair Commando-approved Military/LE standard issue firearm the insipid masses are carrying.

Since then, I've become something of a recoil junky, the more it kicks, the more I like it, which is funny considering that going in I had started with a .22 followed by a .380 because folks had me believing that 9mm had snappy recoil.

 

[Nevada Ed]

Some of us just got old. Maybe a lot of us. We got weaker and shakier. Shooting big bore calibers just isn't in the cards anymore.

BINGO !!

One reason that I down load now.............
the 30-06 is now my "Krag", my 270 became a 6.5mm but I do come home with a lot more meat and no purple shoulders.

Even full power pistol and revolver loads are being used less but I will let a few rip, now and then.

 

[memtb]

Started with a .177 cal Benjamin Pump @ age 7, a Stevens 22/410 @8, a Rem. Nylon 66 (22) @ age 10, a Browning Nomad (22) @ 13 or 14, a Win. Model 88 .308 @ age 14, a S&W Model 28 .357 Mag @ 17, a bunch of stuff since then. My one and only hunting rifle since 1990, is a .375 AI, and my hunting handgun a S&W 460 XVR since around 2014. Hopefully, I’ve a few more years before I have to retire the big stuff! memtb

 

[rwsmith]

The succession...

Pop guns and air rifles

BB gun

An 1894 Daisy that I loved and shot thousands of BBs through.

I shot .22s but didn't own one...

Bought a 'real' S&W model 10 in my early 20s

Started reloading.

Got a 30-06 rifle.

Traded the .38 for a 686

Got a Third Gen S&W

Got a Shield, a Kel tec P11, a Sig all in 9mm

Got some other 9mm my son ended up with.

Got a 9mm Keltec carbine

Got a Mosin Nagant

Got an SKS

Got a Henry .22 classic, reminiscent of the BB gun I loved so much.

Along the way I inherited or came by several shotguns, one a 1929 Browning A5 12 ga.

I may have left something out, but that's the jist of it.

Oh, I forgot the .22 pellet rifle I had that I wouldn't mind having another one.

 

[mikerjf]

As a kid I had a Cadet Trainerrifle, looked like a Springfield and had a fake wooden bullet built into the bolt face. It was for learning drill I think, but it was my play-army gun. Also had two different plastic Thompsons and a couple 1911’s, and a Dick Tracy Det. Special with the shoulder holster. Wore that out to dinner on my birthday,

Had the Daisy BB gun like a Winchester lever. Was that the 1894? Still have a good pic of dad shooting it.

First handgun was a S&W 19 with the blue all worn off the sides of the muzzle. 357 was a handful but I never shot a 38 in it.

First auto was a Beretta 948. It was worn enough that it would sometimes shoot 2 rounds at a time. Once it even did 3! Still, I really liked it.

Had some other cool stuff, a Browning 1910, a no-dash 60, three different Ruger 22 autos (I remember one had the bull barrel). Finally bought a Colt Mark IV with the spring collet, and then a couple satin nickel Combat Commanders, all in 45. Never got a Broomhandle, tho I always wanted one.

Peak of my interest was probably the dewat Thompson. Wish I could have fired it!

—Hiatus of some 20 years—

Got interested again and picked up a Beretta 950 from a friend’s pawn shop. NAA mini, Beretta 1934, CZ 1945, some other mouseguns. Tried different things, kinda settled on J frames and a G19.

Oh, and I finally got a Red Ryder, at age 63, LOL... that’s the only one the wife has shot.

 

[oddshooter]

Fascinating what has driven our purchases.

The BB gun has got a lot us started. and then the 22.

The evolution through calibers for Harry is seen often. I've too often myself let others influence my choices. We each seem to learn to trust ourselves somewhere along the line. I think my search through calibers is very similar in trying to find what I liked, not someone else. Really, it's OK to like .32's.

I think many of us have been through liking the big boom and the recoil phase. Age tends to moderate that long before the thrill is gone.

Seems like several of us have had that hiatus. My own Renaissance has been quite enjoyable.
So I'm only half as crazy as I thought. Or maybe, you guys are twice as crazy as I thought.

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