Favorite Handgun?

[Michael Tinker Pearce]

Of the handguns that you own or have owned in the past, which is your favorite? Not necessarily your best, fanciest, most tacti-cool or expensive- the one you love. Also why is it your favorite? Stories and pictures encouraged!

Mine is one many of you have seen before- my custom Cimarron Richards-Mason Conversion in .38 Special. My darling wife bought it for me for Christmas one year as a 'cowboy gun' I could actually afford to shoot (.45 Colt had become prohibitively expensive.) Eventually I got the notion to bob the barrel and give it a 'bird's-head handle... and did after carefully reassuring myself that spare parts were available (in case I screwed it up!) It was my first serious effort at gun-smithing, and the start of a new hobby. It shoots great and feels wonderful in my hand. Not the most practical gun in the world, but I love it!

 

[Cokeman]

I like the size, weight, trigger, and looks.

 

[Zaydok Allen]

686+

• Zaydok Allen
• Oct 28, 2016

muzzle

ballance, accuracy, and overall shootability are great

 

[Mowgli Terry]

How about a HK USPC compact in 45 ACP. Super accurate and easy to handle.

 

[AZAndy]

I guess my favorite would have to be this Sig Ultra Compact in .45.

I'd been to several shops looking for a Colt Defender. The one I got this one from didn't have any Defenders either, but I happened to spy this in the case. (If the counter guy had been on the ball, he might have mentioned it.) Weighs about a pound and a half, so is easy to carry, and shoots very well indeed. I was so impressed by it that I picked up a P938 as my first 9mm. I guess I'm a Sig convert.

 

[red rick]

I guess my favorite would have to be my 686 . Mainly because it was my first handgun , not to mention how accurate it is .

 

[bannockburn]

My favorite...that's easy. It's a Colt Combat Commander from the late '70s, part of a limited run put out by Colt's Custom Gun Shop. Saw it in an ad in Shotgun News by a large Colt distributor who also had a small store front presence in a town about an hour and a half from where I lived at the time. Drove down there on a whim just to check it out and when I got there (near closing time, of course), it was love at first sight. I had just enough cash for it (only other model was one with an ambi safety but that would have cost just a bit too much), and I can't remember another time when I was that excited about getting home with a new gun. I later added the Pachmayr grips along with their straight mainspring housing because I liked the way it felt and handled for me plus I think it's pretty classy looking.

And if the bright nickel finish wasn't enough to put always put a smile on my face, the fact that it's been incredibly reliable, durable, and as accurate as a Gold Cup over all these years would easily make it as my favorite handgun.

 

[Jimster]

Love my Rock Island.

 

[DDDWho]

My favorite always seems to be the last one I bought. This is holding true with this Taurus PT111 G2. I gave less money for this one than any other. I can't put it down, great shooter and packable.

 

[JRWhit]

I never shoot it, it frequently jams, and is worth less than $100. But I do not own another with a better story. Rigarmi Brescia 25 acp. My Grandfather woke one morning and found the muzzle of this little guy buried in the center of his chest. He was a bit of a hound and the woman that he had fell asleep next to the night before was not happy to find out that she wasn't the only companion in his life. He was able to talk her out of expelling him and obtained the pistol. He later gave it to my mother and then eventually she gave it to me.

 

[stoky]

Colt Series 70 MK IV Government, ≈ 50K rounds, like George Washington's axe with a new handle and new head, too whuped for pix, but what the heck:

 

[Dog Soldier]

My favorite handgun has always been the one I have, when I needed it.

 

[Bullseye]

Easy for me. My first one. 4 inch blue Ruger Service Six .357 from the 70's.
Shot it a lot and got very good with it.
It got worn but not worn out and I regretted selling it ever since. Have not fired another Service or Security Six that I could equal my abilities I had with that one.
Current favorite is a cheap Rossi 877 snubby in .357 that I shined up.since it is usually the one I have handy along with a Glock 43.

 

[chicharrones]

Favorite handgun? That's a tough choice.

Possibly my Ruger Single Six.

 

[gunlaw]

Probably my model 28. First center fire i bought. Paid $250 for it in 1987. For a guy in grad school that was a lot of dough. Gotta say she still shoots great.

 

[Bullseye]

Single six 22 mag is on my short list! Nice set up there!

 

[Blacksmoke]

My favorite handgun is a toss up between a Colt New Service in .45 Colt and a Colt 1911A1, neither of which I own any more. Sad.

 

[GBExpat]

No. I have no single Favorite.

I actually went downstairs and opened the gunsafes to see if one of them really appeals to me more than the others.

As I hefted each of the 3 dozen+ pistols, for the brief time that it was in my hand, each one was my favorite. {sigh}

 

[AZAndy]

No. I have no single Favorite.

I actually went downstairs and opened the gunsafes to see if one of them really appeals to more more than the others.

As I hefted each of the 3 dozen+ pistols, for the brief time that it was in my hand, each one was my favorite. {sigh}

I know the feeling. I get 'em all out once a year to freshen up the surface coat of oil, and then have a hard time putting them back.

 

[AZAndy]

My favorite...that's easy. It's a Colt Combat Commander from the late '70s, part of a limited run put out by Colt's Custom Gun Shop. Saw it in an ad in Shotgun News by a large Colt distributor who also had a small store front presence in a town about an hour and a half from where I lived at the time. Drove down there on a whim just to check it out and when I got there (near closing time, of course), it was love at first sight. I had just enough cash for it (only other model was one with an ambi safety but that would have cost just a bit too much), and I can't remember another time when I was that excited about getting home with a new gun. I later added the Pachmayr grips along with their straight mainspring housing because I liked the way it felt and handled for me plus I think it's pretty classy looking.

And if the bright nickel finish wasn't enough to put always put a smile on my face, the fact that it's been incredibly reliable, durable, and as accurate as a Gold Cup over all these years would easily make it as my favorite handgun.

I'm in awe of its awsomely awsome awsomosity.

 

[Panzerschwein]

This won't come as a surprise to many of you:

My Bulgarian Makarov PM (Пистолет Макарова):

This is the gun I carry every day to protect my life, and it is my favorite to shoot at the range. It has been flawlessly reliable over thousands of rounds, is very accurate, has acceptable power for the task, and has an extremely interesting military history. The simplicity and excellence of design, interchangeable parts requiring no hand fitting from anywhere in the world, using only 27 total parts, ability to be detail stripped with nothing more than the standard issue cleaning rod, economical price of ammunition, modest recoil, very safe design, and continued use by the Russian military, are all proof to me that this is without a doubt my most favorite pistol. I love introducing people to the greatness of comrade Makarov's design.

Long live the PM!

 

[tark]

This one. Les's retirement present to me. I put one mag through it and now it sits. It will go to my son.

 

[Valkman]

For me it'd be a SA Mil-Spec 1911 I had completely redone by Bob Miller. It is a sweet, sweet shooter.

 

[Arkansas Paul]

Mine is my 7.5" Ruger Blackhawk in .45 Colt.
I just acquired a 6.5" Blackhawk in .357 mag but haven't gotten a chance to put it through its paces yet. We'll see if it can unseat the big bore.

 

[Bang!]

Would be on of these two. Depending on how I'm dressed or what I'm doing.