JJEH
Member
Going through my uncles gun catalogs as a kid. Later, when I was a teenager he let me handle a few guns. Before we got to the shooting part he moved away due to a better job opportunity. But I was hooked ever since... S&W and Weatherby.
What Started Your Interest in S&W?
- Thread starter TheHobbyist
- Start date
Going through my uncles gun catalogs as a kid. Later, when I was a teenager he let me handle a few guns. Before we got to the shooting part he moved away due to a better job opportunity. But I was hooked ever since... S&W and Weatherby.
My Dad was a collector, hunter and occasional shooter. A depression era child, he didn't deny my obsession with shooting, mostly .22 LR but, there were limits on other calibers. As a former combat wounded veteran of the South Pacific, he also mentioned "saving ammo for when you might need it the most."
He inherited a S&W M&P .32-20 from an uncle that had passed away. We never shot that revolver or the ammo that came with it in a brown paper bag but, we did shoot his collection of military handguns. A Luger, a P-38 and a Remington Rand 1911A1. I still have all three of those but, sold my Ruger Single Six, convertible. The .32-20 hangs on a nail behind my desk.
He gave me a Colt Huntsman for Christmas, my junior year of high school. There is no telling how many thousands of rounds that one has shot and what I learned from the experience. The Huntsman, its box and documents still reside in my safe. I still shoot it on occasion and it still does the job.
My freshman year of college, two of my best friends and I would go out to a remote area on the Cumberland River to shoot. One of them had a Ruger Superblack Hawk in .45 Colt and the other friend had a Colt Trooper in .357. I had to have a centerfire handgun.
My choice was between a new in box Mod. 27, 3.5", a 2.5" Mod. 19, also new in the box, or a lightly used Mod. 28, 6"with correct period target grips and 500 rounds of .38 spec. wad cutters. The problem resolved itself since the trade value of the firearm I was trading, at the time, would have allowed me to get any of the three but, the NIB handguns would have left me without money to buy any ammo.
The Mod. 28 got the nod. I probably put two or three thousand rounds through that revolver before selling it to raise money for my first Garand. I regretted letting that Mod. 28 go and replaced it several years ago. I have owned a couple of 4" 28's but, they have moved on but, the replacement 6" is one I will hold on to for a long, long time. The first was was obtained in 1973.
That started the addiction and on it goes!
He inherited a S&W M&P .32-20 from an uncle that had passed away. We never shot that revolver or the ammo that came with it in a brown paper bag but, we did shoot his collection of military handguns. A Luger, a P-38 and a Remington Rand 1911A1. I still have all three of those but, sold my Ruger Single Six, convertible. The .32-20 hangs on a nail behind my desk.
He gave me a Colt Huntsman for Christmas, my junior year of high school. There is no telling how many thousands of rounds that one has shot and what I learned from the experience. The Huntsman, its box and documents still reside in my safe. I still shoot it on occasion and it still does the job.
My freshman year of college, two of my best friends and I would go out to a remote area on the Cumberland River to shoot. One of them had a Ruger Superblack Hawk in .45 Colt and the other friend had a Colt Trooper in .357. I had to have a centerfire handgun.
My choice was between a new in box Mod. 27, 3.5", a 2.5" Mod. 19, also new in the box, or a lightly used Mod. 28, 6"with correct period target grips and 500 rounds of .38 spec. wad cutters. The problem resolved itself since the trade value of the firearm I was trading, at the time, would have allowed me to get any of the three but, the NIB handguns would have left me without money to buy any ammo.
The Mod. 28 got the nod. I probably put two or three thousand rounds through that revolver before selling it to raise money for my first Garand. I regretted letting that Mod. 28 go and replaced it several years ago. I have owned a couple of 4" 28's but, they have moved on but, the replacement 6" is one I will hold on to for a long, long time. The first was was obtained in 1973.
That started the addiction and on it goes!
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Rpg
Member
I'd owned a number of Colt revolvers and 1911's before Dirty Harry was released.
Of course, I had to have a M29, like most of the movie fans at the time. I finally found one in 1977: my first Smith.
Turns out, I didn't like it very much although I tried! It just wasn't handy: too bulky for all day carry while big game hunting and it wouldn't do anything as well as a 1911 for my purposes so it took up space in the safe until I finally sold it a couple years ago.
In 1978, I discovered my favorite Smith: a M34. Then it seemed like I'd run across a new to me Smith model every few months: the M38, 49, 40, 42, 10, 12 and 15 were soon in the safe and frequently with me as I went out and about. I also tried various 357 Smiths along the way, but never developed any love for the 357'magnum cartridge and rarely used them.
Now days, I'm still most likely to carry a Colt 1911. But if I'm not carrying a 1911, I'm most likely to carry a M38 or 49.
Of course, I had to have a M29, like most of the movie fans at the time. I finally found one in 1977: my first Smith.
Turns out, I didn't like it very much although I tried! It just wasn't handy: too bulky for all day carry while big game hunting and it wouldn't do anything as well as a 1911 for my purposes so it took up space in the safe until I finally sold it a couple years ago.
In 1978, I discovered my favorite Smith: a M34. Then it seemed like I'd run across a new to me Smith model every few months: the M38, 49, 40, 42, 10, 12 and 15 were soon in the safe and frequently with me as I went out and about. I also tried various 357 Smiths along the way, but never developed any love for the 357'magnum cartridge and rarely used them.
Now days, I'm still most likely to carry a Colt 1911. But if I'm not carrying a 1911, I'm most likely to carry a M38 or 49.
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ostlund
Member
Watching my dad carry his Model 19 to work everyday as a Customs officer.
My interest in S&W started with buying a 36 no dash from a guy and then getting on here to learn more about it.
THE PILGRIM
Member
Was down at Ft. Worth and hot on the trail of Colt SA.
I visited every Gun store and Pawnshop I could find.
I recall seeing all kinds N Frames in nearby cases when I was looking for Colts.
I saw Smiths which were plated, long and short barrels, lots of big calibers like 44s, 45s.
Saw the Red Eye Bull Grips. Didn't get it!
Later I was sent to Indiana where I saw the Light and started buying Smiths.
Bought a K22, an Outdoorsman and a 27.
Went to Guam and bought a 19.
Still got those and a few others.
I visited every Gun store and Pawnshop I could find.
I recall seeing all kinds N Frames in nearby cases when I was looking for Colts.
I saw Smiths which were plated, long and short barrels, lots of big calibers like 44s, 45s.
Saw the Red Eye Bull Grips. Didn't get it!
Later I was sent to Indiana where I saw the Light and started buying Smiths.
Bought a K22, an Outdoorsman and a 27.
Went to Guam and bought a 19.
Still got those and a few others.
sigp220.45
US Veteran
My path was maybe a little unusual. Got interested in guns as an adolescent without any family history of interest in guns.
Once I could buy guns as an adult, I bought some Rugers and then a 617 and 629. Then, in a bookstore in Austin, of all places, I came across the 2nd edition of the SCSW.
I collect gun books as well as guns, so I bought it.
I blame Jim Supica and Rick Nahas for my subsequent addiction.
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Once I could buy guns as an adult, I bought some Rugers and then a 617 and 629. Then, in a bookstore in Austin, of all places, I came across the 2nd edition of the SCSW.
I collect gun books as well as guns, so I bought it.
I blame Jim Supica and Rick Nahas for my subsequent addiction.
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
My dad never owned a handgun. If he ever shot one, it would have been in the Army. So I didn't get handgun desires from dad.
I've always liked shooting, starting with a BB gun. Then with a .22 rifle, then 12 ga hot gun, then center fire rifle, then handguns. Ive always preferred revolvers, so S&W went to the top of my list. I mostly plink and casual target shoot, but I have killed one deer and a pronghorn antelope with handguns.
I've always liked shooting, starting with a BB gun. Then with a .22 rifle, then 12 ga hot gun, then center fire rifle, then handguns. Ive always preferred revolvers, so S&W went to the top of my list. I mostly plink and casual target shoot, but I have killed one deer and a pronghorn antelope with handguns.
1974 Guns and Ammo had a cover article on a Llama Comanche....i read that and decided that I needed to get a 357....dad had only an old WWII Enfield and Savage 32 auto and never shot either in my experience....went to the shop a few months later with a buddy and picked up a lovely nickel model 19....hooked since.
Robert
Robert
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Ivan the Butcher
Member
My first handgun purchase was a Dan Wesson model 14 basic 357. Then I bought a used 39-2 in 1979, then a used 28-2, a couple of early model 10's, a couple of 25-5's. Then I got serious!
My brother needed another bedroom gun so he talked me out of a 64 no dash last November, I'm down to 16! but over the years I have had around 150.
Ivan
My brother needed another bedroom gun so he talked me out of a 64 no dash last November, I'm down to 16! but over the years I have had around 150.
Ivan
addiction
i was 61 years old. had been buying selling and trading all sorts of guns since i was 21. in that time many Smith came and went. all ways trading up or making a dollar or three. many Smiths coming and going as i was not interested in them.
met a young guy that had a Victory for sale reasonably so i bought it. barrel was cut down. chamber reamed for 38 special. with the military history i set about finding out exactly what i had bought'
ended up on this site in May 2019 and didn't leave. that Victory woke up something in me and so it began, this revolver addiction.
any who it was this little one here. probably have 3 dozen or so and try not to think of Smiths past as they were many and some very desirable pieces. krs/kenny
i was 61 years old. had been buying selling and trading all sorts of guns since i was 21. in that time many Smith came and went. all ways trading up or making a dollar or three. many Smiths coming and going as i was not interested in them.
met a young guy that had a Victory for sale reasonably so i bought it. barrel was cut down. chamber reamed for 38 special. with the military history i set about finding out exactly what i had bought'
ended up on this site in May 2019 and didn't leave. that Victory woke up something in me and so it began, this revolver addiction.
any who it was this little one here. probably have 3 dozen or so and try not to think of Smiths past as they were many and some very desirable pieces. krs/kenny
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When I went to work for a PD back in 1966 they said I probably should buy a gun to go with the uniforms I had to buy.
Bought a NIB Model 10 for $65.00. Traded it for a Model 58 two months later that cost $81.00 NIB.
BTW, back then a Combat Magnum cost $125.00.
Still got the 58.
Bought a NIB Model 10 for $65.00. Traded it for a Model 58 two months later that cost $81.00 NIB.
BTW, back then a Combat Magnum cost $125.00.
Still got the 58.
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There's a hundred ways I could tell this story and all are valid. I'll choose one and be succinct.
My first S&W was a 6-inch, "three-T's" Model 17-6, Christmas gift from my Mom 7+ months after my Dad died. I was 16 years old.
She and I joined a sportsman's club one town over. There I got on the smallbore rifle team and it began a journey where 4 or 5 of each 7-day week saw me at the club. Saturday mornings were PPC on the indoor basement range. It was here that this wide-eyed teenager watched intently while all the cops filled the place with smoke using their custom PPC rigs.
It was the following June when I had enough money saved up to buy my first handgun with my own money. It was going to be a 6-inch Taurus 669, a vent rib, K-frame sized .357 Magnum with a full lug barrel.
But when the time came to put in the order (a friend of the family was a kitchen table FFL), I decided to go big or go home and the money from my first real job and saved up paper route money instead went to a brand new 6-inch S&W 686-3. And one year later my Grandfather gave me the only handgun he had ever owned as a high school graduation gift, it was a S&W .38 Hand Ejector M&P, Model of 1905, Fourth Change and it was shipped from S&W in May, 1921 and he bought it in 1923.
So now I was a 17-year old that owned five guns, three of which were Smith & Wesson revolvers. And it was many years later when I finally figured out what the absolute true focus of my collection was to be. That's S&W also, but not revolvers. Smith & Wesson Performance Center "Limited" target pistols actually.
My first S&W was a 6-inch, "three-T's" Model 17-6, Christmas gift from my Mom 7+ months after my Dad died. I was 16 years old.
She and I joined a sportsman's club one town over. There I got on the smallbore rifle team and it began a journey where 4 or 5 of each 7-day week saw me at the club. Saturday mornings were PPC on the indoor basement range. It was here that this wide-eyed teenager watched intently while all the cops filled the place with smoke using their custom PPC rigs.
It was the following June when I had enough money saved up to buy my first handgun with my own money. It was going to be a 6-inch Taurus 669, a vent rib, K-frame sized .357 Magnum with a full lug barrel.
But when the time came to put in the order (a friend of the family was a kitchen table FFL), I decided to go big or go home and the money from my first real job and saved up paper route money instead went to a brand new 6-inch S&W 686-3. And one year later my Grandfather gave me the only handgun he had ever owned as a high school graduation gift, it was a S&W .38 Hand Ejector M&P, Model of 1905, Fourth Change and it was shipped from S&W in May, 1921 and he bought it in 1923.
So now I was a 17-year old that owned five guns, three of which were Smith & Wesson revolvers. And it was many years later when I finally figured out what the absolute true focus of my collection was to be. That's S&W also, but not revolvers. Smith & Wesson Performance Center "Limited" target pistols actually.
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A combo of:
My Grandfather's K-38 - his service revolver
Sonny Crockett's 645
Dirty Harry
David Starsky's Model 59
My first pistol was a 915.
My Grandfather's K-38 - his service revolver
Sonny Crockett's 645
Dirty Harry
David Starsky's Model 59
My first pistol was a 915.
DeplorabusUnum
Member
I was never around guns growing up. My dad never owned or even shot any gun. When I was in my 40s a friend of mine got me into bird hunting, so I bought a Beretta semi-auto 12 g. for duck hunting, and a Beretta O/U 12 g. for pheasant hunting.
Probably 10 years ago, my brother started carrying, and I started going to the range with him. My first pistol purchase was a Glock 19. I then got my CCL and over the next few years I bought 6 or 7 more semi-auto pistols in 22LR, 9mm, and 45 ACP.
Then I inherited an S&W 32-20 revolver model of 1902 first change, so I started shooting it, but I wasn't hooked.
About 5 years ago I got re-married to a wonderful gal. She let me commandeer a corner of our bedroom for re-loading. We love to go shooting, but she HATES semi-auto pistols. She wanted a revolver, so I took her to pick one out. She picked a model 66-8 combat model 357. We both loved it, but it was too bulky for her to carry, so we got a model 36, then a 25, and a 19, and a 17, and a 629, and a 27 and ... You get the picture. Finding this forum played a big part in all of those purchases. I'm hopelessly hooked. S&W is such a big part of this country's history.
Probably 10 years ago, my brother started carrying, and I started going to the range with him. My first pistol purchase was a Glock 19. I then got my CCL and over the next few years I bought 6 or 7 more semi-auto pistols in 22LR, 9mm, and 45 ACP.
Then I inherited an S&W 32-20 revolver model of 1902 first change, so I started shooting it, but I wasn't hooked.
About 5 years ago I got re-married to a wonderful gal. She let me commandeer a corner of our bedroom for re-loading. We love to go shooting, but she HATES semi-auto pistols. She wanted a revolver, so I took her to pick one out. She picked a model 66-8 combat model 357. We both loved it, but it was too bulky for her to carry, so we got a model 36, then a 25, and a 19, and a 17, and a 629, and a 27 and ... You get the picture. Finding this forum played a big part in all of those purchases. I'm hopelessly hooked. S&W is such a big part of this country's history.
Carried a Model 15 while an AP in the Air Force, and then I was issued a Model 10 heavy barrel when I joined the Police Force.
After watching Dirty Harry 4 times in one week, S&W was the only way to go. After shooting the 44 I decided to get the Mod.19 6" 357mag.
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