What was your first Smith and Wesson??

Thinking about my reply to this thread I surprised myself that it was relatively recent. I've been a gun guy all my life, I'm a very young 73 now. So when I started thinking back it's only been 2013, twelve years. Guess I'm a late bloomer. My first S&W was a 629-5 5".
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Which I sold a couple years later. I now have a small but I think respectable collection.

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29 No Dash 6-1\2"
K22 Pre-17 (1952 Vintage, Birth year gun) 6"
629-4 5"
610 No Dash 5"
10-8 4"
 
My first privately owned S&W was this Model 14-6 purchased in 1996. Also in 1996, I started at the New South Wales Police Academy in 1996 and was issued this Model 10. (New South Wales is a state in Australia which has Sydney as its capital. We only have State and Federal Police in Australia. NSW Police is the largest in Australia with about 13,000 sworn officers and 8,000 civilians - around the time I first joined).
 

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Grew up shooting my dads 10-5 4". First one I bought at age 20 when I got my NY permit was a 6" 629-2. Magnaported and wearing Hogue rubber grips. In early 2000s I sold the "obsolete " 44 mag to buy an Encore in 243 for deer hunting. Couple yrs later I realized what a dumb thing I'd done. The buyer was a friend of a friend. He sold it back to me for what he'd paid for it. He never shot it. I've killed deer, turkeys, woodchucks, and a hog with it. My son will someday be the next owner. He got dads model 10 for his 30th birthday
 
My first Smith & Wesson was actually a pair.

In November 2001 I bought a set of new in box, old stock, consecutive serial numbered 629-1, the 8 3/8" in my avatar and it's companion with a 6" barrel. I had been looking at this pair for a couple of years every time I went to the gun shows, I actually only wanted the 8 3/8" but the seller would not break up the pair so I ended up buying both for $950.

I rarely shoot the 6" but have put thousands of rounds through the 8 3/8" gun. One of them has March 19 1984 ink stamped on the inside of the stocks. l own both of them to this day and still have the boxes, paperwork and tools.
Very nice! My first Smith & Wesson was a model 19-2 357 Combat Magnum and my second one was a model 629, then a model 66 no dash 357 Combat Magnum
 
Mine was a brand new K-38 I bought right after my 21st birthday (I had other handguns I had bought back before the GCA-68 went into effect) but IIRC this was my first new center-fire.

It taught me, on the second cylinder full of factory ammo that revolvers were not as reliable as 1911s! Of course that was my fault and I didn't know you had to eject the shells with the muzzle up! The gun locked up so tight I had to beat the cylinder open with a rubber mallet (being careful not to let it swing open all the way and spring the crane!

Live and learn ;)

At any rate I traded that gun off a few years later since I didn't have a lot of money back then and I was trying to learn the business - forget what I traded it for.

I recall the second new S&W I bought - it was 1974 and was a Highway Patrolman - never shot that gun we gave it away at a pistol match we held in Winchester Ky - actually Ken Tap was in that match. It may have been his introcuction to "practical" shooting as IPSC hadn't even started yet. I forget who won that gun?

Riposte
 
Hello:
What was your very first Smith and Wesson that you purchased?

Mine was a model 64-5 from a few years ago. I got back into shooting a few years ago.
I have several now, but the 64 was my first and favoriteView attachment 787815
My first S&W was a model 29, traded a Ruger Blackhawk 357 plus $250.00. It was new in a presentation case, late seventies. Still in the family passed it on to my son a few years back.
 
My 1st was my issued duty gun, a brand new S&W Model 10 with heavy barrel. Had a chance to buy it for $75.00 when the Dept. went to Model 66's, but I declined. Dumb move on my part. When we went to Sigs, I bought both my 4" 66 (Patrol) and my 2 1/2" 66, which I issued to myself when I went into the Det. Bureau. Each gun was $75.00. I was the armorer and firearms instructor.
 
Mine was a model 14, 6" barrel, bought from a California Highway Patrolman. He stopped by with it wrapped in a towel, $125 cash. No paperwork, no registration even in California. Different times then...
The story with it was, it had been his duty weapon, and one night he stopped a car for no taillights, and the huge driver bolted out of the car yelling and swinging a big wrench. He had to shoot the guy five times, and still had to handcuff him to bring him in. Went down the next day and bought a .41 mag. and I wound up with the .38.
 
First revolver, model 27 .357, 8 3/8" barrel. I bought it in 1961 at Warshal's in Seattle. They have been gone for years, but I still have the
revolver. It came with a outstanding trigger. It did come with the magnum grips, so they matched my hands perfectly. It shoots like a rifle.
I am 87 now, and my son covets it. I have used it while hunting rock chucks in Idaho. Several whistle pigs went away. I started reloading because of this pistol, and still do.
 
Model 17 6" i bought in 1977 when i worked at a sporting goods store . 3 T's.
$167.50 but i made $4 per hour...
bought a matching 14 a few year ago that had hardly been shot. i hardly ever shoot IT because ia have a 627 5" PC 8 shot.
But i still gotta have it...
 
When I was a young fellow, Skeeter Skelton convinced me that the best all around handgun was a 4", medium frame 357 revolver. A Model 19 or a Colt Python. I had my heart set on a Python, but found out they cost about twice as much as a Model 19 even back in the late 70's, so I went with the Model 19, a 4" one of course. It would not be my last.
 
I was right out of college and my first job was teaching in a high school. The janitor sold me a WWII S&W 38 which had been pawned with him for $50. It had been chromed with plastic stag grips. It lead to a 70 plus collection of S&Ws. Still have it, though I have been selling my collection off. No kids and my wife passed away; dog cannot shoot straight. Main pieces now are a 1854 Volcanic 8" Navy and a Model 1, first issue.
Get that dog some high grade training!!! 😀
 
Model 28 with a 6" barrel, in 1976...don't remember the exact price but I'm pretty sure it was less than $400. I was in the Navy then stationed in Idaho Falls, ID and it was an awful lot of money at the time.
Hi Riceintn.
I was in the same condition in 1974. Air Force at Loring AFB ME I bought my first S&W. An M28-2 6" barrel. It was $135.00. Really took a lot of schmoozing my wife to spend that much on what she called "a toy" at the time. By far the most accurate revolver I have ever shot. The bluing on this gun is beautiful. Very close to my M29-2 and I had the action fine tuned at the factory for $50.00 in late 1974. I think I have the most rounds fired through it of any other gun I have, at around 7,000 +. Still have it and will until I go to my grave. It was the start of my 12+ S&W handguns.
 
New 6.5" Blue M29-2. Got it for $350 in February 1978 from Shooters Supply Gun shop in Holcomb NY. Down the road apiece Creekside Gun shop had the exact same model for $700. Unfortunately it was stolen on August 31 2012 by a punk kid that lived 1/4 mile down the road. I discovered it was gone the next day shortly before I was informed my mother had just died. It's not likely I'll ever get it back either.

Rick
Funny, I bought my first M-29 used in 1976, back home they were indeed running $750 to $800 for any one longer than 4" and I didn't want to put that in it. I was visiting a cousin in Morristown TN and we dropped by a little shop in another small town and he had one in the wood case for $350 so I bought it, the owner of the shop gave me a box of shells that came with it - they were remington 240 gr JSPs and there was one empty case in the box the rest were unfired :)

The proprieter later sold his business to some guys in Clarksville TN and it is now called Midsouth Shooting Supply.

Later I cut the barrel to 5" and killed my first boar with it and then I gave it to a friend who had "worried a bore" do death with a .357 magnum - he still has it (by then I had severeal other .44s).

Jim first boar.webp

The one I killed was the grey one, the other is the one my partner shot 4 times through the heart with his .357 - he is a heck of a game shot - just didn't use enough gun (actually the .44 wasn't all that impressive).

Riposte
 
I purchased my first revolver in Jan of 1971 for duty use at a local gun shop we were taken to, to buy all our duty gear (If you did not own one that qualified).
Some got Pythons or Smiths, but I ended up with a Colt Trooper, they were out of Pythons when I stepped up to the counter, but I didn't know the difference anyway.

When I got off probation in 1972, I bought a 6 1/2" model 29-2 S&W, blue, in the wood display case. Carried it until 1976, then switched to a 4" S&W Nickel, model 58, 41 mag. Had that modified by a local gunsmith to accept S&W target sights. Carried that until 1985 when I switched to a 1911. The 58 & a revolver duty rig were always in my trunk, as you surrendered your gun to Det's after a shooting. Always nice to have another duty gun handy on the scene. Always qualified with several guns.

Always carried a back up gun, usually a S&W snubby, but I went thru a collection of smaller guns looking for one that was just right...including Colt Det Special, Detonics Combat Master, Ruger GS 32 (357 mag)fixed sight (This one stayed under my console, where it could be reached - Issued patrol cars were made easy to modify to your needs).

When assigned to Special Ops (plain clothes) in 86, I switched to a Detonics Scoremaster in .45 acp.

Years later, back in Uniform as a SGT, I switched to a Para P-14 .45 acp {14 rd).

Went back to Special Ops as SGT (plain clothes) for 3 years, then back to uniform in about 2000.
Went to the Traffic Division until I retired in 2003.

Saved almost everything, except the Trooper (sold to a city cop) & the Model 29 (which went to a friend in need).
 
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