In February of 1973 I bought a new Colt GM. I was only 17 so my mother actually bought it for me. Retail price was $135. The MSRP was probably $125 but that dealer had a monopoly on gun sales in town and routinely added $10 to all new guns. I don't recall the exact day of the month, but this is February 28 so it was 42 years ago this month.
I have no idea how many thousands of rounds I have put through it. I bought military surplus ammo in the 1970s and 1980s by the armload until supplies ran out. This was the first caliber I started reloading and I have rolled a bunch for this gun. In all those countless rounds it has never once failed to feed, fire, or eject.
In 1975 I bought a set of ivory stocks for $32.50 and had the S&W sights added. For the next 37 years the gun looked like this:
In December of 2011 I was visiting my mother for Christmas. She gave a me check for $1,000 and said to go buy myself something I wanted. Three days later she died. After giving it some thought, I used the money she gave me to have the old Colt engraved. Now it looks like this:
I have no idea how many thousands of rounds I have put through it. I bought military surplus ammo in the 1970s and 1980s by the armload until supplies ran out. This was the first caliber I started reloading and I have rolled a bunch for this gun. In all those countless rounds it has never once failed to feed, fire, or eject.
In 1975 I bought a set of ivory stocks for $32.50 and had the S&W sights added. For the next 37 years the gun looked like this:
In December of 2011 I was visiting my mother for Christmas. She gave a me check for $1,000 and said to go buy myself something I wanted. Three days later she died. After giving it some thought, I used the money she gave me to have the old Colt engraved. Now it looks like this: