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

[rct269]

88----seven days ago.

Started all this foolishness in my very early 20's---as a shooter---Bullseye---practiced three days a week at an American Legion indoor range---shooting at teeny-tiny 50' targets---where close isn't good enough!

Kept on with Bullseye, but gradually found I was more interested in blue steel and walnut than I was in posting scores.

Then I started buying more guns than I needed----not so much collecting as accumulating, because after about 30 years and 135 or so guns---target guns (defined as anything with target sights) I came to the realization I didn't have a collection, but simply an accumulation of guns with target sights that had no real history, and told no story.

At that point I sold damn near everything, and started over---this time with REAL target guns (from the beginning to the end of the "5 screws")----plus a few more just 'cause I liked them---65 in all----not counting "working guns" (those I shot).

Then, there came the time when I was already well past the normal expiration date, I decided it would be best to leave behind a pile of money rather than a pile of guns. At that point I called David Carroll and told him, "Come get this stuff and dump it."

He did, and he did---and we all lived happily ever after--so far!

If I had it to do all over again, I'd be better focused; because it takes more than adjustable sights to be a target gun.

Ralph Tremaine

 

[russp1]

Shot a few times (rifle and handgun) when in my 20's but didn't really get started until my wife's mom passed away and we went through her dad's things. Found a few cheap guns but also a 1930 S&W Model 1905. That's puts us in our early 50's when we started, now late 60's. Guns became a bit of an addiction for both of us.

 

[Hawg Rider]

This is about what I expected, age wise. A generally older group and several younger than me, all who appreciate the aesthetics and engineering.
The target shooting is the cherry on top, but it’s mostly about owning and collecting.
I see this a lot with guitar collectors who play a little but love the instrument. I guess it’s the same with any collection that mostly doesn’t get used, although there are some hunters out there.
I enjoyed reading everyone’s story.
I fired my first shot last December and currently own 21 SW with another about to be shipped, one to be paid for, and another I will hopefully win on GB this afternoon…
It is an addiction of sorts but I will t be doing it if these things didn’t hold their value.

Another one of my hobbies is electric blues guitar. I have 3 guitars, and each guitar (Gibson Les Paul Studio, Epiphone Sheraton II, and Fender Stevie Ray Vaughan stratocaster) gets played in rotation through my Fender Blues Deluxe Reissue amp. I try to play a little almost every day, but I'll never be a true axe man. I just play for my own enjoyment. I do belong to a local rifle and pistol club, so my firearms do get out to the range occasionally. I was shooting USPSA Limited and Action Steel, but have backed off on that a little. Summer heat and humidity here in Florida can be brutal so I'm glad Autumn finally arrived!

 

[ussmanlovede36]

I'm 71 and I guess watching westerns got me started. Right after I turned 21 I bought my first handgun a Colt Diamondback 38spl. Right now, I own 3 S&W's, Outdoorsman 1933, Heavy Duty 1950 and a Chief special 1980.

 

[bob richardson]

Accumulator

I'm 68 and got the bug at 21 when my brother ( police officer) came over with a fellow officer that needed a little extra money and offered a S&W 66,29-1, and a Colt python for sale.I bought all 3 even though I thought the Python was the ugliest gun I had ever seen at the time.The 29-1 really spoke to me and was the most beautiful gun I had ever seen and the 66 was awesome too.I still have those in my collection too!My collection consists of around 17 29's now from .44 magnums to 29-2's as well as 19's,66's,& 27's.Around 50 total.Two of my 3 kids are cops and have no interest whatsoever in my collection.When I turn 70 all my collection is going up for sale.Let another caretaker appreciate the fine S&W's that I have enjoyed watching over for the last almost 50 years!

 

[CajunBass]

I'm 72 and while it was Roy Rogers and Rowdy Yates that got me interested in handguns and a matched set of Fanner 50's that satisfied that interest for years, it was Skeeter Skelton that really lit the fire. He convinced me that the best all around handgun was a medium frame, 4" barrel, 357 from either Smith and Wesson or Colt. I haven't seen much to make me think anything else since then.

Oh, I've only got a dozen or so now, but have probably owned at least 100 over the years. I figured out it was the hunt for the gun I really enjoyed. Going to gun stores and shows. Looking at guns, talking about guns. Trying them out. Then I was ready to move it on and look for the next one.

 

[A10]

Lee, I'm thinking this thread ought to be a Stickey. There are a lot of great people with a ton of great stories here, and they shouldn't be lost.

 

[wundudnee]

I have lived on gravel roads for probably 75 of my 85 years. I was shooting and hunting at a very young age. Living in a rural area we ate game quite a bit. My mom would tell me to get two rabbits or three if we had company and I could have them shot and dressed within twenty minutes. ammunition was expensive and wasn't shot much just for practice. You counted your hits on game to the total shots made. My passion for shooting was mostly quail and pheasant hunting.
I only had a couple revolvers for years, a Double Nine used to dispatch injured animals and my grandfather's first model hand ejector.
In the late 1970s I bought a nice sased model 27-2 and the game was on. Since then I have accumulated quite a few S&Ws from a really pristine Chiefs Special, to a .45 cal. of 1950. Several model of K22s and many others.
I have an extensive collection of Winchester .22 boy's rifles and most of Winchester's pre 64 model .22s. Several M1 carbines and other Mil surps.
I have them all numbered, cataloged and identified. My whole family is gun friendly, so I don't worry about leaving them when I'm gone. whatever the family doesn't want will probably go to Kasey to sell.
I have had no urge to sell what I have and at this time I have a room reserved in Tulsa for this falls gun show. I might buy a .22 rifle.

 

[Frailer]

I’m in my early 60s, and growing up in rural Kentucky shooting—usually for game or pest control, but also “plinking”—was something everybody did from the time they could hold the end of a rifle or shotgun barrel level.

The first handgun I ever shot was a Chiefs Special over 50 years ago, and I’ve been a fan of the 2” round butt S&W revolver ever since. I didn’t start “collecting” until I retired from the US Army in 2010, and my specific interests have evolved over time. I started with stainless J-frames, which led me to seek out the models that preceded them: the .32 HE, Terrier, “Baby Chief,” and the Centennial. This led me to the original 2” S&W Hand Ejector, the pre-war M&P, and then to its post-war 5-, 4-, and 3-screw descendants. I now seem to have wandered into the early Airweight versions of these guns.

The only gun I’m really itching for at the moment is an early Airweight Centennial with an alloy cylinder. I’ve yet to see one “in the flesh,” and I may never find one, but that’s OK, as the fun is in the hunting. I know I have the tendency to buy with abandon, so I try to maintain focus and avoid being distracted by any “bargains” I may come across. I much prefer to “overpay” for a single gun I really want than spend even more for a pile of guns that aren’t as interesting to me, regardless of how good a deal they each might have been.

As might be apparent from the above, the aspect of this hobby that most intrigues me is the history, particularly the period extending from the decade prior to WWII to the decade following. This period of relatively rapid innovation at S&W interests me greatly. The catalogs, books, and periodicals of this period are almost as engaging as the guns themselves.

 

[rct269]

I'm 71 and I guess watching westerns got me started. Right after I turned 21 I bought my first handgun a Colt Diamondback 38spl. Right now, I own 3 S&W's, Outdoorsman 1933, Heavy Duty 1950 and a Chief special 1980.

Well now, you see, waiting until you were 21 slows the process way down!

The hot set-up for me was to have a girl friend in Tennessee---about 50 miles from Georgia. I lived in Missouri---where you had to be 21----and you had to have two letters of character reference, and had to get a record check from your Sheriff, and $5 for the County Clerk, so he/she could issue a permit to buy THE gun---with its description and its serial number duly noted. That was the process---for EACH gun----even if/when you wanted to buy another gun the next day!!

What to do?!! What to do was to be over 18, borrow your Mom's car to go visit your girl friend, and head for Tennessee. Once you got there, you and your girl friend took a ride to Georgia---to the Dalton Hardware store in Dalton GA. You were pretty much struck dumb when you got there, walked in the door, and saw blue boxes stacked to the ceiling all across the one side of the store that was the gun department. These blue boxes were chockablock full of S&W's of every description, and they were most certainly prettier than Colts, so the selection process was simple: In my case, I selected a K-22, documented the fact I was past my 18th birthday, handed over the requisite sum of money, and headed for the door-----all on account of having gone to visit my girl friend.

She's still my girl friend-----and still has the Kit Gun she decided was HER'S-----never mind my collection was going to be sold!

Ralph Tremaine

 

[Birdgun]

Age 78 - (I just a 10-year-old trapped in a 78-year-old body)

In the 1960-70's I had four S&W revolvers:
1. Model 15 "Combat Masterpiece" (for home defence)
2. Model 17 "K-22 Masterpiece" (for hunting and plinking)
3. Model 34-1 "Kit Gun" (for wife)
4. Model 36 "Chiefs Special" (for personal defence).

Then one way or another I parted with all but the wife's 34-1.

When I retired in 2013, I came on this S&W website, coveted, and started buying and shooting S&W revolvers. Not a big collection (nine total - eight revolvers, one semi-auto), but I replaced the Smith's I parted with and added some others that I wanted.

So what got me started accumulating...again?
It's all this website's fault!!!

God bless,
John T.

 

[anoblefox]

The first handgun I shot was my father's Ruger 22 single six? revolver, I was 13. I already had my first rifle, a Remington 572 pump 22. Later in life after I was married our apartment was broken into, luckily all they got was our wedding present TV. Within the next week I went to a local gun shop and bought a S&W model 27, five inch. Also, at this same apartment the landlord had a habit of coming in unannounced while we were away at work. I had his phone number and called and asked that he not come in without our knowledge; he then said he could come in anytime he wanted. To that I replied "I just purchased a 357 magnum revolver, I have never met you so I would not know you from a burglar." Very quickly, he answered and called me by my Mr. last name and said, he would make it at a time and date when we were home before entering our apartment in the future!

 

[Enzo Rules]

67 here. My family was never into firearms but I developed an interest. My first handgun was a Colt Python which I foolishly traded away. Most of my handguns are semi autos but I’m looking for some revolvers now. I have always enjoyed the friendships I developed with other firearm owners. Years ago i introduced my boys to firearms. I truly enjoy range days with my boys.

 

[CH4]

Early to mid 20s I started collecting Sako rifles. I had 90+ by the time I hit 40. For the past 10 years, I’ve changed my primary focus to S&W/Colt revolver, 1911s, Winchesters and random guns of interest.

 

[gwpercle]

In South Louisiana you begin hunting as soon as you can follow your daddy and paw-paw around .
We hunt everything in the Louisiana swamps , forest and fields ...
small game to start , birds and ducks then you graduate to deer and hogs .
It's a way of life and I enjoyed handgun shooting so much that I started competing in NRA Bullseye Match competition at a local indoor shooting range ... that allowed shooting anytime and was a lot of fun .
Last August I made 75 ... getting old yes but not down and out yet !
All my firearms are "using guns" no collection , I don't have many but they all get shot and have a purpose .
Gary

 

[heeter3]

Ive got 8 S&W revolvers and am now 71 years old.I started when I went on the job at 21 in 1974.

 

[pasound]

Turned 74, two weeks ago. Bought my first S&W, a 4" Pre-10 HB, a local PD trade-in at a local hardware store (!) ~50 years ago. It was after my roommate had a Charter 38 stuck in his face by his ex girlfriend.

I remember that it had a barrel pin. My roommate never got shot. A good thing. Sadly, I sold the M&P when cash was scarce.

 

[Valmet]

Lee, I'm thinking this thread ought to be a Stickey. There are a lot of great people with a ton of great stories here, and they shouldn't be lost.

Not to clutter up the thread but I’ll second this ^^^

 

[Walstib]

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?

Well, 75 in a couple of weeks, or “¾” as we’ve taken to saying around here. My father was a rifle and pistol coach during his 30 years in the Navy, including the coach on the Pacific Fleet flagship, USS Pennsylvania, on the wrong day in 1941 in Hawaii, so I pretty much grew up with a number of match target firearms, including his 38/44 Outdoorsman. That was the first revolver I ever fired, at maybe 7 years of age (3 grains of Bullseye pushing a 156g handcast bullet, if I remember right), and by 12 I was casting bullets unaccompanied, and reloading on our Herters turret press, which I still have (although I use my Dillon nowadays). I currently have seven Smiths, including two Registered .357’s, a 1917, the Outdoorsman, and three modern revolvers. I have to confess my proudest possession is a ‘sort-of’ Colt 45 Auto, but only because Papa (a Chief Machinist’s Mate at the time) made it out of what he called “Battleship Boilerplate”, test-fired it on December 3, 1941, and it has his name stamped into the side of the frame. He made one of these for each member of his team, stamped their name into the frame, and I often think these other 45’s are floating around with whoever owns them wondering why some guy’s name is stamped there. But mostly, I love my Smiths in general. I do have other favorites in the safe, including three Winchester 52’s (“Perfection in Design” reads the sub-title of the book), one of which actually weighs 22 pounds counting its 24X Unertl scope, OMG! And of course, there are simply no words to describe the ‘handmade-by-John Dubiel’ 300 H&H (SN 500), based on a Mauser Magnum action, from the mid-1930’s… I don’t have the largest gun collection by far, but I’m pretty happy with its quality, and they have kept me the best of company through these many years since I was seven and took my first shot. The groups aren’t nearly as tight any more (stupid eyes), but I still love to punch holes in paper. I just choose not to deal death and call it sport these days. I think there’s already plenty of death to go around. And to me, it would only be “sport” if they shot back. Perhaps not a popular sentiment on this site, but like Popeye said, “I am what I am, and that’s all what I am…”

 

[fdover]

Age and what got you started

I just turned 80 and got my first gun as a Christmas present in 1959 from my dad. It is a JC Higgins 22 rifle. Shot it since it was new and still works great. My first Smith is a Model 19-2 4" in 5/78. Great gun. Many Smiths have come my way from forum members over the years. Thanks to all for letting me be the next caretaker. My first handgun is a Colt Python 4" blue in spring 1978. That Colt blue is like a mirror. Smith comes close and even beats Colt, but those are the older models. Let's just say I have a number of Smiths, Colts, and Rugers. No numbers. Fred