Your "beginner" handgun.

[Goodtime Charlie]

I started out working in a discount department store, working automotive and sporting goods. I got to show firearms to the customers, and started reading every gun magazine I could find. I bought the annual Gun Bible books that were published, and studied them religiously. Based on Skeeter Skelton's advice, I knew just what characteristics I needed for my beginner hand gun: it would be a .22LR, single action revolver with a 6" barrel with adjustable sights. So, with that knowledge in mind, I went into the local gun store, and told the owner what I was looking for. He reached under the counter, and brought out my beginner hand gun--a 6.5" barrel, stainless, Sturm Ruger New Model Super Single-Six Convertible revolver with the matching .22 Magnum cylinder! I bought it on the spot!

I couldn't wait to try it out, and ended up at a local unofficial dumpsite on the edge of town. I had forgotten my ear protection, but by gosh, I was going to try out that sucker anyway! A mistake that I still hear to this day. Tinnitus. The .22LR report was one thing, but DUDE! That .22 Magnum really rang my chimes! After my shooting session, all I could hear for an hour was the ringing in my ears. Don't try that at home, boys and girls! ALWAYS WEAR EAR PROTECTION! You only have one set of ears, and they have to last you a lifetime, so take good care of them.

I ended up getting a Safariland holster for my Ruger. I have to say, that Ruger was a CHUNK! 40 ounces of DEAD WEIGHT! That was one of the things I didn't like about it. I also didn't like the noise that it made cocking when I was hunting--very noisy. Oh, and then there was the pain of cleaning the barrel plus six cylinder holes. When it comes to cleaning time, I think semi-auto pistols are superior.

I enjoyed the heck out of that revolver, and learned to shoot well with it. Had some fun times hunting with it. But, as often happens, I ended up having to let it go along life's trail. I still hang on to the Safariland holster, though, hoping that someday, I'll get a replacement to fill it, and have some more enjoyable times, just like I did so long ago.

 

[ILGAC]

My first handgun also was a Ruger Single Six convertible that I bought as a college freshman in 1972. And like you, after three years in the Army and 42 years as an electric lineman (retired almost 5 years) I also suffer from tinnitus.

My original single six went by the wayside 50 years ago but I do have a replacement that I bought 10+/- years ago.

BTW, it is not stainless but carbon steel in the white. The grip frame is polished aluminum with the anodizing stripped off.

 

[jagdawg]

European American Arms .380 that was a PPK knockoff. Purchased in pawn shop in Independence Kansas around 1985. Meh. Fun for awhile. Sold it.

Soon after, a 71/2" Ruger Blackhawk .44 mag that I wish I still had. Super accurate. Took a few deer with it. Sold it too.

Miss that one. The .380...not so much.

 

[ILGAC]

European American Arms .380 that was a PPK knockoff. Purchased in pawn shop in Independence Kansas around 1985. Meh. Fun for awhile. Sold it.

Soon after, a 71/2" Ruger Blackhawk .44 mag that I wish I still had. Super accurate. Took a few deer with it. Sold it too.

Miss that one. The .380...not so much.

The Super Blackhawks are great revolvers that can handle some pretty stout loads. I have a 7.5" that my wife gave me for my birthday 1991. I scoped it 12-15 years ago. I agree that it is a more than adequate deer gun.

I also have a 4 5/8" stainless SBH that I usually shoot 44 Specials through.

 

[JimK]

Mine was an Armi San Marco .36 Colt M1851 Navy revolver reproduction. I loaded it with 20 grains of 3fg black powder & a .375" ball. My buddies & I used to shoot empty beer cans stacked pyramid style. The rule was one point for shooting one can each at a time. If you knocked two or more, you lost your points. Nobody kept score. I sold that revolver many years ago. I miss it once in a while.

 

[ILGAC]

Mine was an Armi San Marco .36 Colt M1851 Navy revolver reproduction. I loaded it with 20 grains of 3fg black powder & a .375" ball. My buddies & I used to shoot empty beer cans stacked pyramid style. The rule was one point for shooting one can each at a time. If you knocked two or more, you lost your points. Nobody kept score. I sold that revolver many years ago. I miss it once in a while.

Mine was an Italian FIE made in 1973. It was a lot of fun to shoot but took a long time to load and cleanup was a chore. I still have it but I am pretty sure that I haven't fired it since the late '70s.

 

[Alpha-17]

My first handgun was a Para Ordnance P14.45 LDA. Great gun. Heavy as hell, but it shot well. Ended up selling it to buy another Para, an Expert GI, that I used as a carry gun for several years. And thus began my long love affair with 1911s.

 

[Red Baron]

I bought an Eibar(?) 1851 .36 cal. brass frame in 1966 or 67 for $60 of hard earned bale handling money. Long since gone down the road.

 

[JimK]

Mine was an Italian FIE made in 1973. It was a lot of fun to shoot but took a long time to load and cleanup was a chore. I still have it but I am pretty sure that I haven't fired it since the late '70s.
View attachment 82

I didn't mind the clean up much as I had had some experience with a flint lock rifle before acquiring the revolver. The slow loading was just part of the game. Almost meditative in a way.

 

[Willfully Armed]

European American Arms .380 that was a PPK knockoff. Purchased in pawn shop in Independence Kansas around 1985. Meh. Fun for awhile. Sold it.

Soon after, a 71/2" Ruger Blackhawk .44 mag that I wish I still had. Super accurate. Took a few deer with it. Sold it too.

Miss that one. The .380...not so much.

Is this the one that cost you a tire?

 

[Willfully Armed]

My first handgun was my Colt New Frontier convertible 22 dad gave me at 14. I really wish i had a realistic round count for it. Its on its second firing pin. The first was mushroomed and broke into two pieces. A conservative count would be 250,000 rounds. Although i believe it to be higher than that. Dad and I spent countless days running brick after brick of Winchester Wildcat and Federal Lightning through it when I was younger. Still have it, still shoot it. Although i havent run any mags through it since their price went so high. It also ended the lives of countless rabbits. Back in our oilfield days, all we had to do was stop 50 feet short of the pumpjacks, and the rabbits would always be sitting inside of the 6"steel pipe that was the base of the pump stand. We ate rabbit, ALOT.


My first 4473 purchase was a Taurus PT92AFS. Had zero experience with a centerfire pistol, and at first, all my shots were 12" low of center. The wonderful Jess Martin (Martin Gun Co that used to be in N Topuker) told my i was squeezing my whole hand in anticipation of the recoil, and that fixed my issue.

That stupid gun had around 24k through it before I sold it 7 years ago. It was superbly accurate, never had any of the "taurus" problems. It really set my opinion of Taurus much higher than the median gun guys.

 

[Goodtime Charlie]

My first handgun was my Colt New Frontier convertible 22 dad gave me at 14. I really wish i had a realistic round count for it. Its on its second firing pin. The first was mushroomed and broke into two pieces. A conservative count would be 250,000 rounds. Although i believe it to be higher than that. Dad and I spent countless days running brick after brick of Winchester Wildcat and Federal Lightning through it when I was younger. Still have it, still shoot it. Although i havent run any mags through it since their price went so high. It also ended the lives of countless rabbits. Back in our oilfield days, all we had to do was stop 50 feet short of the pumpjacks, and the rabbits would always be sitting inside of the 6"steel pipe that was the base of the pump stand. We ate rabbit, ALOT.


My first 4473 purchase was a Taurus PT92AFS. Had zero experience with a centerfire pistol, and at first, all my shots were 12" low of center. The wonderful Jess Martin (Martin Gun Co that used to be in N Topuker) told my i was squeezing my whole hand in anticipation of the recoil, and that fixed my issue.

That stupid gun had around 24k through it before I sold it 7 years ago. It was superbly accurate, never had any of the "taurus" problems. It really set my opinion of Taurus much higher than the median gun guys.

I don't know about the Win. Wildcat, but that Federal Lightning was some cheap and dirty stuff! After a few boxes of that, I learned my lesson and switched to the copper plated Federals. Cleaning that Ruger was a lot easier after the switch.

 

[Telum]

I know this is not what you intended but this is where it started for me.

 

[ILGAC]

I know this is not what you intended but this is where it started for me.

View attachment 237

Actually, for me too!

 

[Goodtime Charlie]

Yep! I think for most Boomers, it started out with cap pistols of the SAA type. Western TV shows and movies were the rage, back then, and I think most boys probably got a toy cap SAA pistol for Christmas or a birthday. My grandmother lived in Dodge City, and during the summer I would visit her. We walked to the shoe store, and I got cowboy boots, and then at Boot Hill I got my cowboy hat. I was all set! I probably have some old black and white photos of me in that outfit somewhere, but I'm not digging through all those old photos to find them!

My brother and I also had a snubbie that took spring loaded cartridges that fired a little plastic bullet. You put a cap on the cartridge, and so it had a report, plus fired the little bullet with the spring power.

Later, I had the little snubbie that took the little yellow caps that look kind of like primers. No bullets, just the pop.

Wow, fun times! Kids today just don't know or understand. Now it is all about first person shooter video games. No real physical play like we had playing cowboys and Indians, cops and robbers, or war.

Funny thing, the missus and I just watched several old episodes of Bonanza this afternoon! Some coincidence!

 

[ILGAC]

Yep! I think for most Boomers, it started out with cap pistols of the SAA type. Western TV shows and movies were the rage, back then, and I think most boys probably got a toy cap SAA pistol for Christmas or a birthday…

My brother and I also had a snubbie that took spring loaded cartridges that fired a little plastic bullet. You put a cap on the cartridge, and so it had a report, plus fired the little bullet with the spring power…

I had one of the snub nosed revolvers that shot the spring loaded bullets. Mysteriously, all of the little grey bullets disappeared… still had the cartridge part for the stick on caps, just no bullets to shoot my two older sisters with…
Hmmm…..

 

[DMaddox76]

My first "real" handgun was an RG .38 special. I bought it in a hardware store in Council Grove when I lived there
in the late 70's. If I remember, it was a 5 shot snub nose.

 

[ILGAC]

My first "real" handgun was an RG .38 special. I bought it in a hardware store in Council Grove when I lived there
in the late 70's. If I remember, it was a 5 shot snub nose.

I'll probably take some heat for this but some of those RG pistols were actually quite serviceable.

I worked in Council Grove from 2000 to 2020. During all of that time there was only one gun shop that stayed open less than a year. Plenty of FFLs that will transfer guns for you though.

This RG 38 was given to me after its elderly owner passed away. Found loaded in a dresser drawer.

This one is a 6 shot though, about K frame size. Has a ZAMAK frame like every RG I have ever seen.

For size comparison with my model 10

 

[DMaddox76]

Great pictures! Mine looked similar to that but had reddish orangish plastic grips.

I could hit what I was aiming at with it. To be honest, I kinds of miss it. It was a nice little gun.

 

[Upsidedownjack1]

1963. 1911 45 ACP ISSUED U.S. NAVY Vietnam.