Two questions.. Average age and what got you started?

[rbmac52]

I'm 72. Bought my first S&W at age 21; a Model 14-3 8-3/8" with an interest in target shooting. Subsequently acquired a Model 60, a Model 17-3, and a Model 29-2 6-1/2". Got into reloading around the same time to save money on ammo.

Entered law enforcement at age 27 when revolvers were still in vogue, but in the mid-80's everyone was going to automatics. I held out for a while but bought my first semi-auto in 1985, a Beretta 92FS, and carried that until I retired in 2005.

Still have a great love of S&W revolvers and have many from the 70's, 80's, and early 90's, but I have grown to appreciate semi-autos, too, and have a bunch of those as well, especially 1911s.

Acquiring S&W's is a great hobby and I'm always looking for more, but the ones I like are quite expensive these days. Thankfully I can afford them, and I'm quite happy with what I have, but there is always room for one more.

 

[GypsmJim]

My Dad was a hunter and shooter when he was young. He served in the South Pacific in the early 1940's. When he came back he didn't shoot any more. Now I realize that he had PTSD, but I also knew that his shooting buddies did NOT come back.

I was always lured to the Parker and Winchester in the front closet. Sometimes he let me hold them, but never by myself.

When I was 13 I convinced him to take me shooting. He reluctantly agreed. After that we went some more. At 16 I got a hunting licence and he went along (after a 25 year hiatus).

Eventually he warmed up. I got an 03FFL and bought a few. In subsequent years we BOTH became gun collectors.

At age 88, with advanced tinnitus, heart disease and arthritis he said he wanted to go shooting. I took him to camp. He couldn't walk all the way to the Target, so I put a spooting scope on the bench. He wasn't strong enough to shoot his 1911 or Garand without limp wristing and jamming them.

On the way home he said it was one of the best days he had in many years. It was for me too.

I have all of his prize possessions. My son has half of them, and the rest will go to his grandson when my time comes.

 

[31FordA]

I’m 50. I can’t recall a time I wasn’t interested in guns. Even as a very little kid I was interested in S&W revolvers and Colt Government Models. The first real gun I ever held was Dad’s S&W 3” Model 36-1 when I was 6. Dad gave me his 6” Model 28-2 when I was 14, and when I asked for the Chief’s as well he gave it to me. I’ve been accumulating S&W revolvers ever since. I didn’t get my first Colt until I was 21.

My main gun interests are still S&W revolvers and Colt pistols, but I’ve accumulated a wide variety of firearms since I was 14. I just started shooting muzzle loaders last year, having a lot of fun with them.

 

[BC38]

Is this forum mostly over 50’s? Older? Younger?
How old are you guys and what got you started collecting/accumulating?
I figure the older the forum era, the older the collectors are, due to $$ value and what they grew up seeing?
Just an assumption but I had to ask.
How long have you been collecting and how many S&W do you own?
What is the main allure of the revolver for you?

I am 61 years old, and my interest in / addiction to S&W's started in 2013 when I bought a M36.
I did a google search to learn more about my newly acquired M36 revolver and found this site.
I've been hooked ever since I joined this forum.
My modest accumulation of around 60 handguns is a little over 1/2 S&W's.

 

[BLLefkay]

Started at 61, 2 years ago and on my 13th handgun, a BG 2.0. All previous guns gone, I get bored, move on, not a collector yet.

 

[erikpolcrack]

I am 75 - started almost 60 years ago. My grandfather taught me to shoot and gave me a single shot 22 when I was 10 or 12, a nicer Marlin mag gun a year or two later, and a Marlin 32 WS when he taught me to hunt. My first summer job paycheck got me a sporterized Springfield and my second weekly check got me an M&P 38 Spl. My most basic interest is S&W revolvers, but I have some Colts and a few Rugers. Got a variety of pistols, more 1911s than anything else. Got a few milsurp and various hunting rifles and shotguns.

 

[Lucnic]

64 years old. Got started seriously when my Dad gave me a Colt Match Target for Christmas when I was 24. Been hooked on handguns ever since. Own 15 revolvers, 9 are S&W’s. 14 of the 15 I own are snubs. I’m a snub nose addict. Main allure of a revolver is the reliability and versatility.

 

[ImDrRich]

70. The day I turned 21 I filed for my permit and never looked back. My dad was a Military Policeman in WWII and saw action in Europe. He brought back a few and showed them to me when I was about 12. They disappeared after that. That's what sparked my interest - also my pride in his service.

 

[Lucnic]

I’m 64. Got started when I was 24. Dad gave me a Colt Match Target for Christmas. Been hooked ever since. Own 15 revolvers, of which 14 are snubs. Nine are S&W. Reliability and versatility are their main attributes. Carry one every day.

 

[scott024]

Early 50's. Dad had a model 19, and I remember him letting me and my cousins shoot right before dark so we could see the fireball when we shot it. I've been buying guns since I was 18. I've traded/sold a few over the years and always regretted it. I have plenty to shoot, so I only buy high condition in the box Smith's now. I think they are works of art and nice o look at.

 

[old tanker]

I'm a half dozen years past the Biblical allotment of "three-score and ten." My first pistol was a DCM M1911 bought with paper route money and the connivance of an uncle. It was my only handgun for a couple decades. A family meant other priorities for a young sergeant's pay. That all changed while stationed in Germany. Newly unencumbered, with an S&W Model 25-2 from the Nuremberg Rod & Gun Club I began an accumulating revolvers I found interesting. So far Colts outnumber the Smiths by a few with a smattering of Iver Johnsons and 3 screw Rugers in the mix.

 

[madmikeb]

I'm 64, my stepfather got me shooting an Ithaca single shot .22 rifle when I was around 12. Got my first handgun at 15, a Ruger Standard Auto. First Smith at 18, a 4" M19. I have some semis, but I am a revolver guy through and through.

 

[.455_Hunter]

I am 48, and shot first my first S&W at age 11 during a 50 mile Boy Scout backpacking trip in the Tetons. Maybe surprising to some, it was the Scoutmaster's 4" 629 bear gun, but I suspect was not loaded with full performance .44 mag loads for us little squirts. My older brother has a 649 that I started shooting at roughly age 14. I bought MY first S&W, a 6" 28-2, at age 21, with a NIB 60-12 at age 22. Other models followed over the years. I got my 4" 629-0 in 2013, and turned it into a working defense gun, and NOT a safe queen.

I am a 50/50 revolver to semiauto guy. I appreciate the history, engineering, and manufacturing of all quality guns. I find nothing to appreciate about typical "modern" polystrikers, so I generally head for the used case when entering any LGS.

 

[alwslate]

I'm 79. Got my start with cap guns about six years old. I've had a love of handguns all my life. Got my first S&W at the age of 21 in 1966. Today I have way too many and have to fight the urge to buy more. I'm not going to live forever and I have several I've never even fired so I have finally been able to stop buying.

 

[Retired W4]

55 years ago, when I was 21, I arrived in Vietnam and I was issued a S&W Victory. My second unit issued me a Model 10 (probably a -5). After returning to The World, back in Ohio, I started buying Smiths for myself, which included a M-38, M-58 and a M-66-1 2 1/2". In the 80's and beyond I continued accumulating various weapons of all kinds. Some time after Y2K I divested myself of most of the milsurp guns and various odd brands and started concentrating on S&W revolvers, mostly from the post WW II era through the 1950's. Those first 38 special revolvers from 55 years ago set the stage for my interest, that some might call an obsession for S&W's.

 

[Tinyman]

75 and about six years ago. Mrs. Tinyman thought it would be best to "arm-up" with the world as it is, and y'all know not to argue with your spouse.

 

[Rusty parrot]

I’m 76 years young and still act like a kid at Christmas when I get to add to my Smith collection. Grew up with Gene, Roy and the Lone Ranger and had squirt guns cap guns and Fanner 50’s with Greenie Stickem caps.First Smith was a Model 29-2 in 1972 and about 5 years ago a pre-27 3 1/2” started the ball rolling. Have thoroughly enjoyed the people I’ve met, the hunt for a new model and the education about the guns I’ve collected.
Thanks for starting this thread and allowing me a trip down memory lane.

 

[Model19man]

Most of the members here, like me, are retired and either gray headed or bald. To care about old guns or new ones is a rare thing these days.

 

[Hawg Rider]

I'll turn 70 tomorrow! My Dad was a WWII veteran, so we always had some "bring back" firearms around the house, and "Combat" was my favorite TV show. We were a blue collar family without much money for luxuries, so only a pellet pistol and a Sears .22 single shot rifle for me while growing up. During college I would purchase tired old shotguns from the local gun stores, do a little shade tree gunsmithing, and sell them to college buddies for extra money. After I graduated from college and I had my first real job with real money, I bought my first S&W in 1978...a brand spankin' new 4" blued Model 57 with mahogany presentation case. What a great revolver! Unfortunately it was stolen during an apartment break in and never recovered. After that, life intervened with getting married, traveling around for work, kids, house, etc., so guns were sort of out of the question for a few years. By the mid-1990s I was at a point where I could justify picking up an occasional firearm (vintage Winchester rifles, Remington shotguns, an AR-15, and a Colt Defender), but it wasn't until 2004 that the S&W revolver bug hit me again. I started off with a 4" blued Model 28-2 and never looked back. My modest S&W collection (less than 40 handguns) now includes vintage Models 1917, 1926, 10, 15, 17, 25, 27s, 28s, 29s, 57 revolvers, as well as a few modern 642, 627, 686 revolvers and 1911 and Shield Plus pistols. There are a few Colts, Rugers, and Uberti SAA in the mix, too. What got me started with revolvers? Probably westerns, Film Noir (Bogart, E.G. Robinson, Cagney) and of course, "Dirty Harry" and "48 Hours".

 

[BAM-BAM]

70

My Dad shot on the Department Pistol Team in the 50s through the early 70s. He started me shooting when I was about 9, got my first rifle a 60 some year old Steven's Favorite the same year. A new Remington 511-X for Christmas 63/64. Still have both.

Eight years on High School [WPIAL AAAA champs in 71 and second in State] and College Rifle Teams

Bought my first handgun in 1979, about 6 months out of Law School. A "used" 4" Model 10 like Dad's duty gun at the time. Quickly upgraded to a 4" Model 19....... added a 2 1/2" 19 a few months later, the rest is history!