I notice that most revolver and 1911 guys are older.

[Gary A]

"Am I doomed to become an old fart with a S&W revolver and 1911 .45acp?"

One can only hope. The alternative to becoming an old fart (regardless of how armed) is considerably less attractive, at least to me.

 

[MoNsTeR]

I'm a "revolver and 1911" guy and I'm 22.
Most young shooters seem too hung up on tactical plastic to learn what a first-rate trigger pull feels like, and then they wonder why they're all over the paper!

 

[444]

I am a big fan of the 1911. I got my first one when I was in my very early 20s. I do admit that part of the reason I stick with the 1911 is that it is what I have been shooting all these years. The muscle memory is there. I operate the controls with no conscious thought. And, the 1911 is a very good handgun. It works well and I don't see any real good reason to change. I have tried the Glock 21, I own a Glock 17, I have owned a Sig 220, I own a few double actions. I personally just don't see anything that is so significantly better that I would re-train myself. If you think about it, every model has it's advantages and disadvantages. Everything is a trade off. You see a new design and it offers feature X that seems better than what you have now, BUT you have to give up features Y and Z to get it. The older I get, the more I realize this and decided that it is far better to become really good with the design you are comfortable with and forget worrying about the latest thing out. Most firearms made by reputable manufacturers do the job well. Buy whatever pulls your chain, get some quality instruction right from the beginning, practice a lot, and shoot in competition to test your skills against others so you have some basis to judge your progress.
The gun is only a tool, you are the weapon.

 

[Mike Irwin]

I'm 38, but I became a revolver devotee in my early 20s.

 

[Delmar]

Gosh blamed whipper-snappers!
Why, back in the good old days, we never had all this high thumbin, optical sightin, compinsatin barrelled, melted framed plastic fantastic hockey pucks!
Too heavy? Builds character!
Sharp edges? We wore them edges down with our hide!
Titanium? Whats THAT?

Ain't technology wonderful?

 

[sig970]

Wow, I'm ready for the old folks home at 37

 

[DDGator]

I am 34. I grew up shooting revolvers (and a Ruger Mark II). I got away from shooting during college when money was tight. When I came back I wanted a Wonder9 and a .40 and a compact .45. But, now that all is said and done -- I am definitely coming back to wheelguns.

I shoots IPSC and am starting IDPA and plan to use a revolver. I always respect the real shooters who can use a 6-gun to outscore some guy weilding the latest Glock.

 

[BerettaNut92]

Who would you rather have shoot at you???
Or another way to ask, who usually shoots worse at the range?
Old guy with 1911... or young tactical guy with a black wonderpistol?

I don't think marksmanship has much to do with age and gun selection.

Seen young guys with black guns shoot well and older guys with 1911s and revolvers shoot crappy, and verse vica....

And that DJJ mofo is pretty deadly good with his stock SA MilSpec and Marlin lever gun

 

[MJRW]

I think you aren't entirely off base. I think them old fellers get confused by new fangled polymers. And they forget how many rounds they've shot half way through the magazine. Ya know, senior moments. However, most of the young'uns are too frail and weak to heft a mighty revolver let alone shoot it. And that 1911? Kids are lazy these days and impatient, too much to do on an 1911. Grip safety, thumb safety, line up sights, and then after ALL THAT, you still have to pull the trigger. And you only get to shoot 7 rounds before you have to reload! However, when you reach handgun enlightment, as my own humble self has, you find peace with all (reliable) handguns. I sometimes sit in green fields with flower petals floating around me surrounded by various handguns while meditating. Sometimes the winged spirit of John Browning will come and sit on my shoulder. Other times its Sam Colt.

 

[valnar]

I have several reasons I can state.

1) Good revolvers and 1911's are deadly accurate. I consider most of them target accurate. Many modern semi-autos are "combat" accurate, which just means it will get in the ballpark.

2) 1911's are customizable. Just like a good muscle car of the Chevy Camaro and Ford Mustang era, people love to tweak their 1911's to make them their own. It's an open design that allows for many improvements and changes. While an HK USP or SIG P220 are good guns, they are just that. Wanna change them? OK, how about a trigger job and refinish. 'Not much else. What other parts can be changed? (Maybe mount a scope.) To use a computer analogy, they are not "open standards."

3) Revolvers are very collectable, especially S&W and Colt. This adds to their desire. Many different shapes, sizes, special runs, variations, engraved editions, barrel lengths, etc. Some people (like me) can live on one or two 9mm guns and be happy. What do I need more for? But I can't get enough revolvers in my stable! 'Too many variations.

4) From a pure aesthetic standpoint, revolvers and 1911's are beautiful. Show me any other design that is as nice on the eyes. That, along with all the custom and variations, makes them more collectable.

OK, so most of those reasons are for collecting rather than carrying/shooting them. But they are also fun to shoot! I'd rather shoot my revolvers than any semi-auto.

-Robert

 

[bountyhunter]

True

Two cave men were arguing about which of them had invented dirt. One guy pulled his revolver but the other guy shot him with his 1911.

 

[sensei]

57 years old.

Most of my generation were in the military. Thats what a lot of us learned to shoot pistols with.

sensei

 

[Andrew Wyatt]

I'm 20. I prefer 1911s to any other autopistol, because they fit me. nothing else that i've tried does.

 

[NapAttack]

One of the things you learn from age and not necessarily wisdom is that newer does not mean better. New and improved means the company that built it found a cheaper way to make it.

Plus, I think it's a desire to simplify your life. When there are so many choices available it actually becomes a problem. Walk into almost any gunshop in the US and you're likely to find parts and ammo for your 1911 or S&W revolver. Your new ubertactical tupperware, unlikely.

When I get home at night I want the same lady I've been married to for 15 years there, she knows my ways and I know hers. I'm not having to constantly adjust and change my ways for someone new. Same way with my pistols. I pick up my 1911 or my S&W revolver I've had for 20+ years and it's comfortable and familiar, I don't have to try to adjust to a new safety or trigger or grip.

If I want to play with something new I play with my kids' or grandkids' toys but when it's time to get serious I go home to Mama. When it's time to get serious, I want my 1911 or S&W revolver close to hand. They're comfortable, familiar and I know I can count on them in a pinch.

 

[Dave Markowitz]

Hmmm. I'm 35 and my favorite handgun is my S&W Model 15 Combat Masterpiece.

 

[yesterdaysyouth]

i knew i was feeling older than everyone says i am....

they say 23... i say 43....

go figure


i really don't like 1911's much but i love a shiny old S&W revolver.... nickle or stainless...

only problem is there a sig on my hip, i wouldn't want to scratch one of my revolvers, then i would cry......

 

[Gunner45]

I was 25 when I bought my 1911. Oddly enough, it was three days before I got married, when my money was still just mine.

Most of my friends went the black and plastic way, but have now grown up and got a 1911. (sorry I just had to say that)

Gunner45

 

[Archie]

I notice that most revolver and 1911 guys are older. Is that because these are older guns and the people that carry them are just hanging on to what they know or is it that they are more experienced and just naturally gravitate towards these guns because they are some of the best?

All of the above. That is what we know and yes, they are superior.

I find that more and more, I am becoming a revolver guy, I still don't go crazy over the 1911 or the .45acp even though i have owned several.

Half a loaf is better than none. You're getting there.

Am I doomed to become an old fart with a S&W revolver and 1911 .45acp?

Only if you're lucky.

I have never met an older, experienced shooter that did not respect the 1911 or the great revolvers from S&W, Colt and Ruger.?

Good taste and appreciation of quality comes with experience. You already understand that flashy and shiney doesn't mean functionally superior.

I used to hate revolvers and blue steel. I used to think that someday all these old guns will be replaced by SS autos, now I fear that day. What is worse is the plasitc craze that has been so popular as of late. I have owned a few plastic guns and I really can't stand them. Can it be that these old shooters are just more advanced than the rest of us that still think that hi-cap semi-autos are the way to go??

Are you talking about the people or the guns? If you mean the people, it's just us old coots have had time to play with stuff and work out the kinks. If you mean the guns, most of those guns were designed by men who understood the concept of shooting and fighting. That makes a big difference.

 

[J Miller]

I notice that most revolver and 1911 guys are older.

With age comes wisdom. Do not fight it my son.

 

[JCM298]

Revolvers/Autos

I started with revolvers with one agency but switched to a 1911 in the Army,and back to revolvers with my second department, and revolvers for the first 20 years with my third department, but had to switch to a Sig in`85 and carried it for my last 5 years.

After retiring, I went to a forth department and carried either a Python, the Sig, or a J-frame. Now, I'm a civilian with a fifth department and I'm not allowed to carry any gun while working.

Both revolvers and autos have served my needs since `61. Good quality guns and practice have made me comfortable with both types of guns.

John

 

[firestar]

Are you talking about the people or the guns? If you mean the people, it's just us old coots have had time to play with stuff and work out the kinks. If you mean the guns, most of those guns were designed by men who understood the concept of shooting and fighting. That makes a big difference.

I was talking about the people but I guess it could have been taken to mean the guns.

I like the 1911 and the .45 but I am not crazy about them like some are. I had a SIG 220 in .45acp that was great but didn't fit my trigger finger (too long of a reach) and I have a Star B in 9mm that I really love, I just haven't found a 1911 in .45 that I fell in love with yet.

I am begining to understand what I don't like about some 1911s. Most new 1911s come with flat mainspring housings but my Star B has an older, rounded one that feels so much better to me. Also the old 1911s and clones like the Star don't seem to have as many sharp edges. I knew a guy that had his dad's old 1911 from Korea. He showed it to me and I really liked the way it felt. It was probably made during WWII but it felt better in my hand than any new Kimber has. Maybe one of these is lurking in my future but the cost is high, maybe I will give a modern 1911A1 clone a try.

I hope I don't become a cliche. I can just see it, I will be 65 with with a bunch of P&R S&W revolvers and some WWII 1911 .45s. There are worse things I guess, I could be 65 and not yet understand that my plastic fantastic hi-cap semi-auto isn't really the bee's knees. No offense you Glock heads.

 

[Parker Dean]

Originally posted by firestarI used to hate revolvers and blue steel. I used to think that someday all these old guns will be replaced by SS autos,

That about covers it. The perception of "old tech" and looks. Most of the time the "kids" want that uber-tactical look with the square edges, flat black finish, light rails, and can't forget the must-have, the laser sight. Plastic, errr excuse me, POLYMER frames are just so high-tech as to be positively orgasmic.

And these old guns designed by dead white guys? Don't even go there...

now I fear that day. What is worse is the plasitc craze that has been so popular as of late. I have owned a few plastic guns and I really can't stand them. Can it be that these old shooters are just more advanced than the rest of us that still think that hi-cap semi-autos are the way to go?

What I suspect happens is that when a person learns how guns work and what is actually important to proficiency their idea of what makes a good fiream choice changes. Plus a healthy dose of been-there-done-that. If you buy all the plastic types when you're young and think they look cool there are only so many other possibilities to try when you're older.

So yes, it is a function of age

 

[Majic]

I like blue steel and wood or bone. I can tolerate SS, but polymers/plastics/tupperware or whatever just ain't got it for me. The spaceage metals would be great if I was going in space. I can't see having a gun so light for carrying that it's painful shooting. Shooting is suppose to be fun with me. If it ain't fun to shoot, I ain't got no use for it.
What I have seen in my 47 years of living on this lil ball in space is that all the newfangled handguns on the market today is just the same old designs being carried in a different bag.

 

[Standing Wolf]

When I was a young buck, I figured the old timers knew more than I did, so I asked lots of questions, did what they did, and tried to learn from their mistakes. They were mostly right in most ways most of the time.

 

[jonny wong]

I am 27, I own a TRS .45 and a BHP 9mm. Never own anything else in my life, no need to.