All time favorite handgun

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JoeHenry

JoeHenry

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Might be it’s your most accurate, most enjoyable to shoot, carry, or just how it feels or looks.
I’ll start buy submitting my Smith & Wesson Performance Center 945. It is the most accurate handgun I own. Shooting off the bench against a Wilson CQB 5” and a Less Baer premiere II long slide (6”barrel) it has the best 5 shot group. In all the years I have had this piece, I don’t recall a single malfunction. F3E54DAD-821E-4B88-8ECC-A0A09E60C94D.jpeg
 
For me, it's function, function, function. Prettiness or general appearance has nothing to do with it. My carry piece: SP101. Woods protection: GP100. Range competition: Ruger Mark 1.
 
1923 Colt New Service in 38-40. It has low recoil, slings a big hunk of lead, and i love the looks of the New Service. I have a 1917 Army New Service that is a close second.

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All time favorite: Colt Combat Commander part of a limited run by Colt's Custom Gun Shop. Besides being tuned up and accurized, it also featured a bright nickel finish, a Gold Cup trigger, and an MMC rear sight. The gun is as accurate as a Gold Cup but not as finicky as one. Super reliable too, with just about any ammo (though there is a marked preference for 185 gr. Silvertips), even after being good to go for nearly 44 years.
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Second place favorite goes to my Number 1 Fun Gun, my Beretta Model 70S. Hard chrome plated after ongoing problems with the bluing, this gun is my semi-auto version of the "Kit Gun". Constant companion on hikes, walks, and trips to the range.
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My Favorite?

Not because it's "the best",,,
Or because it's the most accurate,,,
Or any other qualifying reason one could think of?

Easy choice for me,,,
It's my S&W Model 15 Combat Masterpiece.
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It has nostalgic value to me,,,

It was the first handgun I received formal training with.

It was the handgun I carried (briefly) in the USAF.

Picking it up is like shaking hands with a dear friend.

If it were the only handgun I owned,,,
I would still feel well armed.

Due to the cost of .38 Special ammo,,,
I shoot my Model 18 in .22 LR much more often.

But my Favorite handgun is still the model 15,,,
Shooting it just makes me smile.

Aarond

.
 
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JoeHenry said:
Might be it’s your most accurate, most enjoyable to shoot, carry, or just how it feels or looks.
I’ll start buy submitting my Smith & Wesson Performance Center 945.
Click to expand...
I like the fishscale slide grips.

I really don't have one all-time favorite, there are several I love to shoot, for various reasons, and their accuracy really lies with me, as they are all more accurate than I am. For no longer than I've had it, my BHP is fast becoming a favorite, though. It has great sights, but is a natural pointer, and is a beautiful gun, to boot.
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The GP100 in my profile picture is almost 10 years old now. No idea how many rounds through it. I have guns that are older and guns that are newer, guns that have been shot more or carried more, guns that are more interesting, but probably no gun that's more useful. If I could only have one handgun, that's the one I'd choose.
 
I'm 75 now but never thought about it before...a single favorite for all time...actually, I have two....

Since the early '70's, as a prolific reader of Keith, Skelton, Jordan, Askins et. al., I longed for a .44 Special...to be specific, a single action .44 Special...the king of all handguns. I waited over 40 years for Ruger to fulfill that itch and they finally came through with that Lipsey's special run of them, Ruger's Flat Top BH .44 Spl. I managed to get one of the early ones with a 4-5/8" bbl. It turned out even better than my idle dreams. Groups at 25 yds with my own cast 'Keith' LSWC's were right at an inch. I was 61 the year I bought this one. I've spent considerable time re-stocking it and fine tuning it's loads. I shoot it at least weekly here on our farm.

The 2nd and tied with the first is a .45 acp 1911. I've loved, shot and carried one almost continuously since my college days...through two tours in Vietnam, and the decades since as a civilian. Nearly a decade ago my younger son presented me with Sig's .45 acp 1911 RCS; while I'd shot a friend's down in N. Carolina at our cabin, I'd never found one for sale. This example turned up in a Mom & Pop LGS that we both frequent and at a very good price. He made my birthday that year a really special one. It's my regular carry piece for trips to the big city, tightly housed in a self-built Askins Avenger high rise holster. It has all the traits of a great carry auto: Match bbl, ported, checkered fore and aft, melted exterior, officer's model grip and great Novak type tritium night sights. A great trigger at 4.5 lbs. completes the package...I can do no better. I also have a Sig .22 LR upper unit for it that's as dead nuts precise as the .45 acp top.

YMMv but for me, these two will do...

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FO Sight Small.jpg

The one gun I've had no desire to sell over the years is my S&W 617 10 shot .22. I've done a lot of work to it over the years and the trigger is fantastic with the newest Apex Mass Drive Hammer. Trigger pull averages around 7 pounds and it shoots Federal BYOB coated bullets the best. If I want to shoot CCI Mini Mags I up the trigger pull to 8 pounds and I can shoot just about anything.


I actually shoot it faster in Steel Challenge Matches then I do my Black Mamba. I'm just a revolver shooter and really know how to prep the trigger and stay on target. Accuracy is much improved when shooting double action.

My second favorite is my Black Mamba. Unbelievably reliable with over 100K rounds though it. I opt to shoot the Mamba for 6 months a year and the 617 for the other 6 months just so that I stay current with each of them.

I use DS-10 Speed Loaders and Loading Blocks. They really help when I have to re-charge the cylinder between strings. I don't worry about a speed reload because if I have to go to 10 shots on a stage I've screwed up too much for that string to count. I have less misses with the 617 as well.
 
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