Your first introduction to handguns....do you remember when?

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inSight-NEO

New member
I remember that my dad brought home a Colt .38 Detective Special and man did I love that gun! I remember one occasion where, after spotting a bullsnake moving toward a pile of bricks out back, I grabbed my dads .38, ran back outside and hopped up on the brick pile. By then, the snake was roughly 15 feet or so away. So, I slowed my breathing down, lined up and shot. The first shot made the snake go crazy, but nothing more. The second shot stopped him. Upon going over to the deceased "target," I found 2 bullet wounds...one roughly 4" behind the head and another 1/2" from the center of his head. I was elated.

Having experienced this "thrill," I had to have a gun of my own. But, I wanted a bit more firepower. So, I went out a picked up a .357 Magnum. I continued shooting on a fairly regular basis, hitting my target most of the time (from around 10 to 12 yards), but I was shooting at cans back then...as a kid. Then, upon later being introduced to the semi-auto, I bought a .45ACP and never looked back. But, even then, I only shot at cans and frogs...being the "country boy" I was. Unfortunately, after only shooting on occasion for a year or so, I lost interest and only recently have I picked it back up.

Almost every time I shoot it takes me back to my "childhood" introduction to handguns and makes me wonder....why did I ever give this up in the first place?

These days, I tend to primarily shoot .45ACP as its my current HD handgun of choice. Still, the .38 Special will always hold a special place in my heart thanks to dear ol' dad, his .38 Special and that pesky snake!

Of course, thanks to my dad as well, I generally dont shoot at animals anymore. :)

Anyway, what do you remember about your first time with a handgun? What caliber made the greatest impression?
 
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I was 12 years old when I started shooting my Dads Colt 45 acp. At that age I was a little scared of the handgun. So my father bought me a Crossman air pistol to help me with my trigger control. By the time I was 14 I was pretty accurate with a 45.
 
My friends dad's Colt 1911 Gov't model 45.

A thrill to shoot but very expensive (so much so that I would rather a 9mm)

I was a pretty good shot to, considering it was my first time.
 
I honestly do not remember...

...but in my family you were introduced to firearms as a whole pretty early (as you can see from these old home movies).

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...and I grew up with toy guns.

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I grew up with rifle and shotguns. It wasn't until I was in my 30s that had a serious intro to handguns. It was a handgun safety course with the local police trainer, 1:1. Very good classroom instruction, then relaxed shooting at the range with a S&W M27 .357 (.38 wadcutters, then .357 mag), and a Colt 1911 Gold Cup. Two simple, fantastic handguns. I fell in love with revolvers and pistols right then. Everything that instructor said to me stayed with me over the years regarding safety, trigger and sights. One good guy.
 
My first introduction to handguns was when I was robbed and kidnapped.

It was a smaller caliber, perhaps .25 Auto, in a small-frame gun, probably some junk gun. But it was made of steel and shot real bullets, I'm sure.

Seriously, my Dad was anti-gun. When I got to be 18 I went to the range on my own and rented a gun. Never actually owned one until I moved to Texas.
 
Two years ago at the tender age of 27 :) A LEO friend of mine took me to the gun shop / range for the first time. He had a few Glocks and a Sig. I left the range that day $500 poorer with a brand new G23. About 2 months later I had my CCW and a serious case of "gun sickness" that will likely never be cured :D

I found a new passion that day. Since then I have been collecting, accumulating, reading, learning, and shooting anything and everything I can get my hands on. This particular site has been a priceless resource for me as well!
 
Although my Dad was an avid hunter, and I was safety trained on long guns at an early age ( 6 or 7), he wasn't into handguns at all. There was only one in the house ( RG.22:barf:) that nobody ever shot...thank God LOL

First handgun I shot was a neighbors H&R .22 breaktop, not sure of the model, but I think it was an old 999...sure was a hoot to shoot, and deadly on all those evil tin cans. Fell in love with the 1911 in the service and now have 13 of those, but my 1st purchase was a Ruger Single six at age 20...just can't beat a .22 for fun as hell plinking.:D Shorty after that came the .357 Blackhawk...my brother still has that one, another fun to shoot pistol that has eaten cases of ammo over the years.
 
Intro

It was a BB gun. It was my cousin's. I was about 12.
The gun was one of those Marksman "BB repeaters" that was made up to look something like a 1911. It had (has...I still have the one that I acquired) what turned out to be about a two inch long brass smoothbore barrel.
I loved that goofy little pistol. I was a skinny kid and had a hard time cocking it but liked shooting the thing. I wanted one desperately
I remember very distinctly when I got my own a bit later. I set up a cardboard box filled with newspapers and with a hand drawn target on the front, stood about three feet away, loaded and cocked the gun, extended my arm (one hand hold, thank you) and squeezed the trigger. Sprang! No hole. Nowhere on the target or box. I was amazed. I did it again. In fact, I shot six times and never hit the box at all.
I did, however, learn to shoot the thing eventually.
Pete
 
We had a range in our basement, where my Dad taught my brothers and I how to shoot, In 1968, my Dad took me to a gun shop to buy my first pistol, a Colt Woodsman MT. We put many thousands of happy, happy rounds into that backstop. :D I still have that Colt and it still makes me smile.
 
I had shot rifles, but when I was 7 my Dad showed me how to shoot his Ruger MkI. It was a target model with adjustable sights. When I was 9 I was cleaning out a shed for a little old neighbor lady of my grand parents and found a rusty old 1911 of WWI vintage. It belonged to the widows husband and was non-functional. Even in the shape it was in the lady was not going to give it to a 9 year old kid, so she gave it to my grandfather, who lived nearby. My grandfather who had been in WWI and my father, who had been in WWII did not look favorably on the 1911. A useful pistol was a .22 of some sort to shoot pests or .357 Mag revolver to belt on when you were out hunting. Still my grandfather helped me clean it up and with the help of lots of cheap parts from a war surplus store we got it shooting by the time I was 10. My grandfather bought me one box of ammo, and I would get a box for my birthday or Christmass, but it wasn't till I was a teenager that I started to shoot it a bunch since my dad had a reloading bench in his workshop and I had been saving my brass over the years.
 
My father was a state policeman for 30 years and I have been hunting and fishing since I could hold a gun. I remember the first time I shot my fathers Smith and Wesson 357 service revolver I was 5 and I could hardly handle the 38's that were in it. He had to help me so my hands wouldn't fly up above my head.

I have always had hunting rifles and a couple hand guns, but not until a year or so ago did I become the enthusiast I am now. I was looking for a little 380 for my wife and it resparked my passion fo guns, now I own 9 hand guns, a defense shot gun, and 3 rifles. Watch out boys its addictive!!! It's also an investment (or that's what I tell my wife at least).
 
Around 1962 - at age 16 - bought a High Standard Sentinel (9 shot .22revolver) with a 6" barrel. Shortly after that my uncle gave me a box of old gun parts that turned out to be a Colt 1911 - learned a lot putting those parts together and then shooting .45 FMJ ammo. Quite a difference compared to .22LR.
 
1989, age 13, went shooting with my buddy and our dads. My dad did not own any handguns at the time, but we got to shoot my buddy's dad's High Standard .22 auto (can't remember the model) and a Smith&Wesson "Pre-29" .44mag.

Soon after, my dad purchased his own .44mag, a Ruger Super Blackhawk.
 
First Introduction

I grew up with toy guns also. Not so sure its a good idea.
At age 4, my family was at a drugstore soda fountain where
the manager asked if I would like some ice cream. When I
followed him behind the counter, I spotted a pistol on a shelf
at about my shoulder level at the time. (I was later told it was
an 08 Luger, round chambered, safety off)

Fortunately, the weight must have kept me from raising the muzzle
more than 45 degrees or so when I picked it up and squeezed
the trigger. The explosion of that discharge as the round shattered
a display case of cold cream and stuff left me so stunned that I
really don't remember anything else that day.

I wasn't punished, and people didn't sue like they do today,
but I'm kind of surprised I ever even touched a gun after that.
 
my first handgun experience was when i was 11, my dad bought a 6" GP100 in .357mag for deer.

both of us killed lots of deer with that gun, i still remember going to town to check some deer, and every giving me crazy looks cause i was a small 12yr old with a big 'ole pistol in an adult shoulder holster, that dropped it down just above my hip, perfect for cross draw! lol
 
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