Do you remember your first and how did it feel?

[USP45usp]

Expanding dasmi thread.

Do you remember your first pistol that you were able (either because of age or because you had the money and age didn't matter) to buy?

And how did you feel when you were able to lay down the cash for it and walk out of the store with it?

My first was a GP-100. I had just turned 21 and walked into a pawn shop. I was bound and determined that I wanted a pistol. Didn't know much about guns or gunstores vs. pawn shops back then (pistol wise on the guns) but I knew that I wanted a pistol, any pistol and I had money in my pocket for it (was active duty military then).

I didn't really know about semi's vs. revolver but I did know that my dad kept a S&W .357 in his nightstand, so that may have been a factor in my choice. I passed up a Colt 1911 because it looked too beat and saw, as well as fell in love with, a Ruger GP-11 SS .357.

I still remember filling out the paperwork, I was shaken like a kid doing something special for the first time. I had that "poopy" feeling (like you have to go poop) in my gut and the excitment was making my heart race. I paid close attention to the paperwork and wrote in my best handwriting. When I signed my name I had a bit more "flare" to the letters, a happy flare if you will, an excited flare.

When I walked out and got into the car I stoked and handled the pistol with care, with a type of love. I opened and closed the cylinder, I cocked the hammer back and eased it back (I knew the gun safety rules/laws and I hadn't bought any ammo for it yet). I listened to the click and watched the cylinder advance. I was just full of excitement and happiness.

I couldn't go shooting right then so I had to go back to base and put it in the armory (I had a .22 rifle that I had brought with me when I left home to the base (my first duty station) so I knew the rules).

I dreamt about it that night and every night until I finally got to shoot it.

And when I went into the canyons that weekend, I must have fired at least 150 to 200 rounds. I had gone alone so I don't have proof that my smile and happiness were so evident that someone would have thought that I had just won a billion dollars but I can say that when I got back to base (lived in the dorms) that my friends all said that I had a "glow" about me.

Those two days, the day of buying and the day of shooting, have to be up there with my favorite times of my life.

I will comment that I still get that "little kid" feeling when I buy another gun (and especially the first C&R gun that I bought locally and signed my license to give to them and they didn't have to do a nics check).

So, how about the rest of you? You remember your first, how you felt, and the way that you saw things after you found that you could, in fact, buy and own such a tool of beauty.

Wayne

[Hard Ball]

My first pistol was a Smith&Wesson .38/44 Heavy Duty N frame revolver. It had been customized by the old King Sight Company of San Francisco. It shot superbly.
I paid the awesome some of $90 for it (this was back in the dark ages). I still have it and it still shoots well.

[larryf1952]

Wow, after reading Wayne's report, I think I need a cigarette...and I don't even smoke. In comparison to that, I feel cheated. The first handgun that I bought was a used Iver Johnson .22 revolver that was a total POS. It was so far out of time that I couldn't hit a milk jug from 10 feet. It shaved bullets so badly that I could feel lead hitting my hands every time I fired it. Of course, I knew nothing about any of this, or the reasons for it, at the time.

It didn't take me long to figure it out, though. I had my Dad raffle it off at work (was that legal? ), and I went back and bought a NIB Ruger Standard Model...$49. That was 1973, and I still have that gun to this day. After that, I was much happier.

[omegapd]

I was 21 and putting myself through the police academy. The Academy had some old beater guns that were N frame .357s with target grips and the grips were too big for my hands at the time. Plus, I had never shot a handgun before at all.
Anyways, I picked up an old U.S. Navy stamped S&W Model 10 .38 from a pawn shop for 100 bucks and qualified with it. I think after that I bought a Model 65 and carried that on duty (with a Model 28 occasionally) until everybody went to Glock 22s and we didn't have a choice anymore. I still have the model 10 but it's mainly a safe queen now. It'll be a good gun to pass down the line if I can.

Still love those wheelguns, though. Would carry that 65 in a heartbeat if I could...

EW

[larryf1952]

I have a very weird and dry sense of humor, please bare with me.

Wayne, I just read your signature. Are you asking people to get naked with you? That is, indeed, a pretty funny statement...and pretty dry, too! Or, do you mean "bear" instead of "bare"? Sorry, I couldn't help myself...

[bci4usa]

I thought this was about sex, I remember the first time and how great it felt and great it still feels great when I get it,

my first Gun was a Sig P 226, I was so happy i got a sig I tock it down stairs to the range below the gun shop before we went home. I still have that gun 12 years later.

[PAC]

I remember the first handgun I ever bought...well, I guess I better...it was today! lol

Glock-22...yeah, I feel pretty excited right now...yeah, I'm handling it like it's a piece of glass...yeah, I'm wiping the slide off all the time...yeah, I feel like a kid on Christmas morning...


I haven't shot it yet...maybe tomorrow evening...can't wait

[Bullrock]

I'm sure this thread was meant for the young! However, I do remember that my first gun purchase was a Ruger single action six at the local Sears & Roebuck Catalog Store. I don't remember how I felt about it. I also don't remember what happened last week, but I do remember this week I purchased a Sig 232 sl and a CZ 75 B in glossy blue.

My smilies don't work! [big smile]

[Robert Allison]

I had a couple of handguns that my dad had given me before I ever purchased one, but the first one that I bought on my own was a Colt Combat Commander in 9x19, brand new. I suspect it's a fairly serious collector's piece today. I traded it off a couple of years later, wish I still had it.

[Trapp]

I traded a pair of car speakers for my first. I was 17 and my pops said he would claim it as his. A .45 acp Llama Max-1. It shoots horribly, I still have it and it still shoots horribly. At 15 yds it shoots 6 inches low and a little to the left (3 inches). Even with my handloads it shoots a minimum of 4 inch groups.

[Duxman]

Beretta 92. I walked into a gunstore with my dad one bright afternoon, and picked up a 92FS and he picked up a Sig Sauer .45. We took it to the range in two weeks (damn the CA waiting period back then). Fired it many times. After cleaning it, I held it in my hand for a long time in admiration. Broke my heart when I had to sell it.

4 years later, moving to VA, I picked up another 92FS at a gun show. In honor of my original. I still have the gun, and it makes me happy everytime I shoot, clean or just handle it.

Almost as good as sex...

[Ozzieman]

And the best thing about it is that after over 35 years I still have it and still shoot it

[Hans]

The first pistol I bought was a Hi-Point 9mm. While it was a total piece of junk, I still loved shooting it. Since then I have sold it and bought three other pistols. I still get that excited feeling every time I buy a gun, I don't think there are many things that compare to it.

[nobanforme]

My first was a Ruger security six stainless with a 6" barrel and it felt GREAT!!! I still have it almost 25 years later.

[USP45usp]

larryf1952,

I used the word BARE, as in spelling, on purpose. To kinda prove my sig line. I am a person that people either love or hate, or hate to love .

To all, I did create (word) the post to make it sound like sex for the first time, as in, buying your first handgun was almost the same thing.

I do hope that the people in charge don't mind that comparision.

I did notice that some, myself included, have bought some real "dogs" when it comes to brand or style of gun. As I mentioned, I too bought, and didn't buy, guns that would be worth more now or could have been modified, rebuilt and been the best thing that I'd ever bought.

Yet, I cannot say that I am disappointed with my choice of the GP-100. It was a beauty then, it's still a beauty now.... I love that gun and I need to feed her soon .

Wayne

[Ala Dan]

Greeting's All-

Really I don't want to remember my very first handgun, for any
number of reasons. I was 21 years old, newly wed, not making lot's
of money, and had a K-Mart charge card in my wallet. With that
in mind, I wanted a snub-nose revolver "like the detectives carried".
My local K-Mart didn't sell Smith's or Colt's in those days, with the
highest quality handgun in stock being a old model Ruger Super Black
Hawk .44 magnum with a 7.5" barrel. So, I decided upon a Arminus
.22LR 8-shot revolver with a 2-3/8" (?) barrel, I think. Anyway, the
detective style ( ) revolver sold for $42.50 plus sales tax. The
clerk rang it up, and I whipped out the old charge card and the gun
went in hiding for three days (GCA '68). When I did manage to
get it out, I felt like a new papa (Laughing Loudly). I kept that POS
for about a year, before selling it to my newly acquired father in-law.
Its a darn wonder he didn't shoot me with POS for selling it to him!
Nowdays, I'm definitely older and a lot wiser with regards to firearms
transactions.

Best Wishes,

[cuate]

Mine was a Luger, the next several buys, ditto. In those days a teen ager could buy a pistol and the Pawn Shops had Lugers galore for around 40 bucks. I'd buy one, shoot a box or two of shells and get hard up and take a loss and sell it back.

Did that three times that I can remember over three or four years. Now over fifty years later I still have a Luger, don't shoot it much, dislike the angle of the grip to barrel.

I saw two many WWI movies where the enemy had Lugers and just got the yen to own one way back then.

[Dwight55]

On the black market, . . . Saigon, . . . March/April 1966, . . . WW2 .45 ACP model probably left over from the big war.

I felt like I was no longer a sitting duck for the first VC who wanted to take me out. Liked the feeling, . . . even though in reality it was more a placebo than real medicine.

Sold it before coming home for same price I paid for it, . . . was cheap insurance for the 10 months I had it.

May God bless,
Dwight

[guntotin_fool]

i remember my first, too and it felt really good till i heard the garage door opener start to run.......oh damn wrong topic


First one was a ruger single six. guy in the gun shop knew it was my first and played me like a fiddle, If he had said i need a blood test to get it I probably would have believed him...


anyway....I still have that gun, and lots more...

[foogoo]

Not really first purchase (would be illegal if I did) but how about first time shooting?

Went to a local indoor range w/ two friends and randomly picked a Beretta 92FS. Some people I spoke to recommended a 9mm since I wanted more kick than airguns I've been shooting (which supposedly is what a .22 feels like) but didn't want to break my wrist first time shooting. Went to the range, loaded the mag, aimed, shot and grinned at my friends. Even though I knew all the rules and what to expect, the actual feel of 9mm kick is nothing like a rifle, airguns or watching someone shoot. I still get excited when I shoot friends' handguns

One more year.. the 92FS is still on my list of potential first handguns...

[Pezo]

ARRRRR , maity , it was me first blunderbous while sailing the seven seas's ARRR!

[WaltherP99]

I remember it like it was yesterday....Man was she a demon in the.....

Oh wait, Sorry, Got carried away there....

My first was my Walther. I was so happy that day...couldn't sleep half the night cause I was so amp'd to get it. One day I will never forget!

[PAC]

Oh, another thing about my first handgun purchase...I went there "just to look"...and walked out with the gun...the price was even a little bit more expensive than other places...after handling it I couldn't leave it there, like it was a puppy or something...

[Garand Illusion]

First pistol was an heirloom from my grandfather. A 9 shot .22 revolver. Still love that gun.

First I bought was a Ruker MK II .22. Although I enjoyed shooting that gun for years, it was never that special to me. Don't know why.

But my next gun many years later ... was my dream gun. A S&W 4" .357 in Stainless Steel. A thing of beauty I would just sit and admire in the evenings. Still think it's a work of art.

[InToItTRX]

My first was a Walther P99, bought it right when I turned 21. God I wish I still had that pistol.