I need to upload a photo of it, but in 1998 I picked up a late 50's Colt Detective Special as my new EDC. It has long ago been replaced in the rotation but I won't be selling that little gem. I liked it so much that when I ran across a great deal on one around 5 years later grabbed it as well.

That's quite an event to undertake together, I hope you still have it.

quote:

Originally posted by Michael J. Shannon:
That is one beautiful S&W! My first handgun dates back to my college days at Michigan State U where I
purchased a Colt .357 from a campus policeman. That was 1957. I carried that Colt as a city police officer, and later as a US Secret Service agent. It served me well in Cleveland, Ohio, where a counterfeiter, armed with a S&W Combat Magnum, shot
it out with me and another agent. Little did we know he was on the FBI most wanted list. My Colt
won over his S&W.

Got my first handgun at 11, so 40 years for that one.

Got out of the ARMY (the first time) in fal of 99. Got a well used Beretta 92F around Thanksgiving time because that’s what I had on active duty and because- nostalgia. I still have it and shoot it semi regularly.

Just two years shy of my 20th anniversary since graduating the Police Academy. My graduation present from my adopted Dad and Brothers was (is) a 2 1/2” pinned and recessed 66-2. I still carry and shoot it too. I have all but one of every duty gun I’ve carried as a LEO. They will probably not upgrade again before I retire and they’ll give me my current G17 gen5.

I have 2. Smith & Wesson 66 with 2 1/2 in China barrel purchased in 1985, and JJ code SIG P225 purchased in 1991. Both are shot quasi-regularly. The Smith is one of the guns on my California CCW. I always use the 225 to qualify for my Nevada CCW.

The gen 3 Glock 23 was the workhorse for the longest time. I rediscovered my Gen 2 Glock 19. The trigger felt “really heavy”. Quick inspection and disassembly- it’s got a NY trigger spring. Ordered 3.5 disconnect and 6 lb trigger spring.
Needs some range time with upgrades.

Colt Government .45 I bought new in 1980. I knew nothing about guns, wanted one for home defense and this is what the guy at the gun store sold me. It wa my only firearm for the next 30 years. About ten years ago I got more interested in firearms, learned a lot, acquired others better suited to particular purposes and it has not seen much daylight since then. Need to do something about that. Thanks for this thread.

Still carry my HK USPc .40 that I purchased in 1999. Superb firearm.

quote:

Originally posted by SigFan:
I’ve had my Ruger P89 since I bought it new in 1993 (it replaced a P-85)

This. My decocker P89 is newer (to me) than 20 years, but I love it.

My W. German P226 is the oldest I've got.

When I was a junior in high school, my father felt that I was old enough to shoot his father's Colt 1908 pocket hammerless. This was in 1969. When my parents moved in 1980, they did not have room for the gun rack, and I was gifted two of my grandfather's guns, the Colt 1908 and a beautiful .410 double barrel shotgun that Pops won as a prize in a turkey shoot. The shotgun is now in the custody of my brother's grandson.

The first pistol I ever bought was a Colt Government .380 that I bought in 1990 and I still have.

When I married in 1986, my wife came with her father's S&W Registered Magnum and a S&W 36.

So I have had some for over 30 years.

I bought my Browning Hi-power in 1970. NIB for $110...+$3 tax.

quote:

Originally posted by neex:

quote:

Originally posted by SigFan:
I’ve had my Ruger P89 since I bought it new in 1993 (it replaced a P-85)

This. My decocker P89 is newer (to me) than 20 years, but I love it.

My W. German P226 is the oldest I've got.

That P226 is impeccable. Actually, they both are. Very nice! May I ask why you swapped out the takedown lever?

With reference to AR3T3 post; yes indeed I have kept that Colt .357. After JFK assassination the
USSS issued us S&W model 19's, and that was what I. carried for the rest of my 28 year USSS career.
Around the time I retired, the USSS went to Sig
226 and 229's. I started collecting Sigs following
my retirement. Now I understand the USSS is going
to three different Glock models.

I will never part with that Colt .357!

Ruger Security Six 357 Mag 6" barrel, bought NIB 1981 still looks great.

Yes, my very early production two-pin gen3 G17. I purchased this pistol February 14, 1999 and it has been my house gun ever since.

First loaded with CorBon 115 grain +P+, then in 2001, switched to Federal Hydra-Shok 124 grain +P+, and from 2008 to the present, loaded with Speer Gold Dot 124 grain +P. My trusted friend.

Shown here in a pic from 2006, wearing a Surefire X-200B and the old style +2 toeplate. It now wears an X-300 and the newer style +2 toeplate.

Now that's true love! Man I love that pic! Replace the G17 with a Beretta M9 and you have MY "Holy Trinity" of handguns.

My .22 Peacemaker, from 1972; a high school graduation present from my uncle. He gifted all the male cousins graduating HS with a firearm. Others, that I remember, got a Ruger Single Six, Winchester 94.

I have 1991 Glock 17 I paid $441.36 still shoots good, I don't pull her out very often anymore though.

My first pistol that I purchased myself as an adult was a Browning MK II Hi-Power. I bought it as a 21 year-old E4 in the Navy in November of '85. I will never sell it, but after having fired somewhere in the neighborhood of 10,000 rounds thru it, it is semi-retired. I have several "favorites," but this one is Numero Uno.

quote:

Originally posted by elberettas:
That P226 is impeccable. Actually, they both are. Very nice! May I ask why you swapped out the takedown lever?

I didn't put the newer takedown in there--Sig did. Had to send in the gun a while back due to a bizarre issue with the decock function. Long story short, I had to send the gun back in several times, as the issue was apparently not easy to fix. In any event, during one of the visits to NH, the pistol got a complimentary makeover with new springs, upgraded parts, etc., as a courtesy for the hassle of being without the weapon on and off for several months. I didn't expect that, or complain, since they sent the original parts back to me. It's a 1-2 times a year range gun, and I honestly forgot about the takedown being upgraded until I saw your post.

But, yes, thank you, that's my favorite gun I own. I've got the yellow box and everything else except the test target.