YOUR FIRST HANDGUN?

[Buford57]

First handgun was a Euroarms .44 C&B Remington repro. Also the first gun I ever had pointed at me.

First cartridge handgun was a Colt Frontier Scout .22 Mag. A fun gun. It came with 2 bricks of Remington .22 Special ammo. (I later found a LR cylinder for it)

First centerfire handgun was a 6" M&P .38 Spl from about 1920. I had to trade it toward a 4" M28 when I joined the PD. The chief was stuck on 4" barrels.

First semi-auto was a Nazi-marked 1922 Browning .32. Utterly unreliable for more than 2 or 3 shots. My then-girlfriend was so appalled that I would use it as an off-duty gun that she bought me a 2" Colt Lawman.

The Lawman and the girl are still with me. Our younger son has the Colt. The rest were traded or sold away years ago.

 

[hemiram]

I bought my first handgun on my 21st birthday, in 1977. It was a Taurus model 83, and it looked just like this one:

And it was awful. It spit, the barrel was messed up, six shots and I had to pound the lead out of the barrel with a brass screwdriver. Taurus "fixed" the gun twice, they solved the spitting problem the first time it went to Florida, but they denied there was anything wrong with the barrel, even though it was obviously messed up badly. While the Taurus went down to FL, I bought my second gun, a Dan Wesson 15-2, that had a problem with light primer strikes. The previous owner had brilliantly clipped the mainspring in it, so it was an easy fix. When the Taurus came back the second time, I sold it to a guy who didn't seem to care about the leading problem.

 

[bananaman]

1975- Ish. H&R 949 from a local gun/pawn shop. NIB for $52 including tax. I was looking at this thread yesterday, and it jogged my memory today! Of course, haven't had it for a long time. Bob

 

[gfors]

First handgun was a Rossi .38 snubby, that my evil ex-wife purloined. it was a gift from my bosses, in 1983, to protect myself, in a rough bar, that I managed. Used it once to dissuade a knife-wielding miscreant , from stabbing me (I pointed the gun, between his eyes, from 6' away, and told him that, if he took one more step, he'd be dead man. I thank God every day that the dude retreated and dropped the knife.)
Divorce lawyer said it would be a bad idea to mention the gun during court proceedings; so, I never got it back.
First one I bought myself, was Springfield Range Officer, in .45ACP., about 7-8 years ago. That was followed by 6" 686-6+, then a 29-10, in 6.5".

 

[Grayfox]

I grew up in a farming/hunting family. I've been shooting rifles and shotguns from the time I was able to hold one up. Never really gave any thought to handguns.
1977, newly married, short of money and living in, shall we say, a "questionable" neighborhood. I was working nights and didn't like the idea of my new wife being home alone.
Went to a local gun shop and found a very nice used 4" Model 19. It cost me a whole week's pay, but it was love at first sight.
Now you see what that led to.

 

[GUNMIKE]

My first was a Ruger Blackhawk 357 mag. I bought it in 1972, while at Ft. Wainwright Alaska. I seem to recall that it had a 6 1/2" barrel. It was bought from another grunt that was PCS'ing back to the lower 48. Good gun that I regretfully sold before leaving for civilian life in 1975. Ah, to be able to turn back the clock and reverse some of those decisions.

 

[brucev]

The first pistol I ever owned was a Ruger Mk. II standard model. Carried it many a night working guard duty in a shipyard on the Intercostal Waterway in New Orleans, La. Wish I'd kept it. Oh well! That was many years ago. Sincerely. bruce.

 

[Ray]

That was my first, bought used in 1981.
Regards Ray

 

[peh_7]

My first handgun was a S&W model 39 that I bought when I was 20 years old and a sophomore in college. I paid $120 for it and kept it in my dorm room. Reloaded ammo in the dorm too, and shot thousands of rounds through it. When I was stationed in the AF, taking Navigator Training I sold it, since it was getting somewhat battered, and replaced it with a model 59.

 

[PALADIN85020]

My first handgun was a Ruger Standard with a 6" barrel. When I turned 21 and could legally buy a handgun in Arizona, I found it at a Fed Mart. In 1960, it set me back $37.50. I had fired a similar Ruger in the early 1950s once, so it was familiar to me.

I first fired it on our college ROTC range underneath a stadium at Arizona State. My first impression was that handguns are LOUD, particularly surrounded with concrete walls. My second impression was that I had a lot to learn about shooting handguns accurately. I secured the help of an Army sergeant to show me the proper techniques. And with the help of cleaning patches stuffed in my ears, my handgun shooting skills improved a lot.

I often carried it in the glove compartment of my car; it saved my girlfriend and I from some big trouble when we were set upon by a bunch of yahoos in a truck one moonlit night. They jumped out of the truck and ran to us, then seated in my car. I pulled out the Ruger, jacked a round in the chamber and held it up for them to see. They all ran back to their truck and bugged out. Sure glad I had it available!

John

 

[robvious]

proudly my first handgun was a S&W 422... saved up my summer job money and got it new.. still have it along with the box & all the goodies... I had access to my dad's handgun collection.. he shot IPSC back in the 70's, 80's & early 90's. but he did not have a functioning 22lr for just fun...I fixed that and we both had fun with the 422..