Christmas, 1965, I was a junior in high-school and wanted a handgun. Dad gave me a 27 6.5" that was manufactured in '58. He'd bought it new in '61 and shot it some, but not a lot. He had a 28 that he used a lot and saved the 27 because it was "too nice" to shoot.
I lugged that thing around for years, in an old WW2 vintage Army bag or satchel, took it everywhere I went. During my college years it was the only gun I had (aside from a .22 single-shot rifle) and I hunted deer with it, actually got six over a period of about 10 years while I was in college, military, and vo-tech school. I also shot countless gophers, rocks, pine-cones, tin-cans and sundry other targets-of-opportunity. I handloaded for it with an old Lee Loader, took me about an hour to put together 10 rounds so I was pretty careful not to waste ammo. I even used it on two occasions for self-defense. Fortunately I didn't have to fire it either time.
Still have the gun. It's a safe-queen now, although would be a fine shooter still.
Here she is:
PS: The grips are not original. It came with Magnas and they seemed too small for my big paws, so I traded them to a guy for these really beat Targets (I think I had to toss in a few $) and then refinished them. I wish I still had the OEMs, but they're long gone. These are at least contemporary if not the matching SN grips.