How Experienced was the pistol that trained Y'all?

M118LR · 03-19-2017, 01:25 PM

I think this might be the proper place to ask how experienced the (Revolver) pistol was that first trained Y'all?

The Iver Johnson 36/38 caliber breaktop revolver (carried everyday as an original Pinkerton by Grandpa Stover) was the pistol that I learned to shoot. I'm going to bet that a few folks on this network may have cut thier teeth on Older more experienced SAA's? So PLEASE respond with Y'all's HISTORY!

csmkersh · 03-19-2017, 02:42 PM

My first revolver was a S&W Model 37 Air-weight Chief's Special bought new in 1955 as I was working on the Texas border at the time. It was followed by a BP Colt SAA in .45 Colt. After that, Uncle Sam loaned my a 1911 on hand receipt. My issue at the time was either a Garand or Carbine, depending on my duty job.

bearcat6 · 03-19-2017, 06:11 PM

My first personal gun was a Great Western .22 SA I bought when I was stationed at Ft Huachuca, AZ.

CaptainGyro · 03-20-2017, 03:38 AM

The only pistol I shot as a kid was my grandpa's .22 semiauto. I wish I knew now what it was. I remember it as being very similar to a Woodsman, but he had some kind of white grips on it, possibly ivory.

My first revolver training was with the .38 S&W that was issued to Air Force aircrews...made me embrace semi-auto's even more. What it lacked in power it made up for with lousy accuracy and limited capacity.

At least it would rip your survival vest off in an ejection.

IrishCop · 03-20-2017, 09:45 AM

My first handgun was like the Capn's. A USAF issued S&W Model 15, 4" Combat Masterpiece. The one I qualified with in Tech School had a target hammer and trigger...great for single action, not so great for double action.

I shot expert the first time...not much of an accomplishment...everything inside the seven ring of a B-27 counted, and 96 and above was expert (I think).

Luckily, I didn't have to worry about ejection seats, Mike.

The M-15's were good revolvers. All had adjustable sights of course. Target hammers/triggers were a hit and miss. Some had surprisingly good trigger pulls, some were horrendous. Most of them were carried a lot and shot very little, 50 rounds, twice a year or so. Some had a lot of scars, some not so much. Back then, revolvers were still King, and having a post were you carried a sidearm versus humping an M-16 was sought after.

SpecialEd · 03-20-2017, 12:29 PM

When I was about 20 or thereabouts, I bought a Ruger 10-22 rifle and a Ruger Mk II .22 pistol. I then set about training myself as best I could by reading, practicing, reading and practicing, repeating as the options were available. So my first pistol that I shot was new out of the box.

CaptainGyro · 03-20-2017, 02:32 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by IrishCop

...everything inside the seven ring of a B-27 counted, and 96 and above was expert (I think).

Terry, my proudest moment in firearms qual came with the M-16: in a one hundred round course of fire I qualified with 103 holes in my target.

I always go for the extra credit.

M118LR · 03-20-2017, 02:48 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by SpecialEd

When I was about 20 or thereabouts, I bought a Ruger 10-22 rifle and a Ruger Mk II .22 pistol. I then set about training myself as best I could by reading, practicing, reading and practicing, repeating as the options were available. So my first pistol that I shot was new out of the box.

I've got to give you extra credit points SpecialEd. I grew up under the tutelage of Allan Pinkerton's Best, not to mention my 13 Uncles had all served as Uncle Sam"s best, brightest, and finest. I was shooting before I went to a conventional school of education. So I had at least a 17 year training head start, so I'll pass along a BZ for Y'all's dedication.

IrishCop · 03-21-2017, 04:35 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by CaptainGyro

Terry, my proudest moment in firearms qual came with the M-16: in a one hundred round course of fire I qualified with 103 holes in my target.

I always go for the extra credit.

You are my kinda guy, Mike!

GunGeek · 03-22-2017, 11:49 AM

My first handgun was a 6" S&W M19...and after about 6 months I split the forcing cone while shooting factory Winchester 158gr JHP's. However, I'm still a big fan of the Combat Magnum.

threefeathers · 03-22-2017, 07:29 PM

My Grand Pa's Iver Johnson top break .22. My brother sold it when I was injured in the Army and he thought I would die. He wanted dope.

CaptainGyro · 03-23-2017, 05:22 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by threefeathers

My Grand Pa's Iver Johnson top break .22. My brother sold it when I was injured in the Army and he thought I would die. He wanted dope.

Wow. That's practically a whole book in three sentences.

GunGeek · 03-23-2017, 03:44 PM

My first .22 handgun was a Clark tuned MK 1 6 7/8" tapered heavy barrel...I didn't realize it was done up by Clark and I rather abused that pistol. Finally at a gun show once, there was a guy who had two Clark Mk 1's and I noticed that mine was conspicuously identical...but a little more "rode hard". Even hard worked, it had a magnificent trigger and was very accurate.

WaltGraham · 03-23-2017, 06:27 PM

Mine was a 2" M10 that my Father "appropriated" while in the USN.

First firearm I ever shot, and still has the best trigger of anything I own.

threefeathers · 04-29-2017, 06:43 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by CaptainGyro

Wow. That's practically a whole book in three sentences.

My brother was not a nice guy.

Charlie Petty · 04-30-2017, 06:59 AM

The first handgun I shot was a Colt New Service that belonged to the cop who lived across the street.

The first I owned was a Ruger lightweight Single Six that I bought new when they first came out. Was 14-15. Mowed a bunch of grass. My uncle and I went to the hardware store and I gave the clerk the money and he gave my uncle the gun. Have it still.

stand watie · 05-04-2017, 12:28 PM

M118LR,

My first handgun (that I actually owned) was a PRE-WWII S&W .38SPL M&P, that my mother bought me so that I could go to work as a Deputy Constable, just 4 days after I turned 18YO.
(She paid 40.oo cash for the revolver, gunbelt, holster, handcuffs & a half-box of ammo. = Wishing that I'd been smart enough to not have traded it off for a Model 64 "pencil barrel", when I got a "raise" to 70.oo per MONTH by the county.)

yours, sw

M118LR · 05-04-2017, 06:19 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by stand watie

M118LR,

My first handgun (that I actually owned) was a PRE-WWII S&W .38SPL M&P, that my mother bought me so that I could go to work as a Deputy Constable, just 4 days after I turned 18YO.
(She paid 40.oo cash for the revolver, gunbelt, holster, handcuffs & a half-box of ammo. = Wishing that I'd been smart enough to not have traded it off for a Model 64 "pencil barrel", when I got a "raise" to 70.oo per MONTH by the county.)

yours, sw

I thought this was the right forum to get some proper perspective on handgun basics. Thanks for sharing Gentlemen.

stand watie · 05-05-2017, 08:34 PM

M118LR,

Fyi, I met a lady "of a certain age" today at the FSH Commissary & we got to talking in the check-out line about firearms.
(She read the back of the tee-shirt that I was wearing from the 2005 Wild West Games at Ft McCoy, WI.)

She said that her every day carry firearm is her grandfather's circa 1910 Colt's .38-40 revolver that he carried when he was a City Marshal & later (during WWI) a Texas Ranger.

IF it could talk, I suspect that it could tell us some stories of when Texas was still the WILD WEST.

yours, sw

csmkersh · 05-06-2017, 06:00 AM

Back in the 1912-1925 South Texas was still the Wild West. Land wars between the Texicans and the Tejanos plus attempts to over throw the President of Mexico. Rebels were coming North to San Antonio and fomenting rebellion.

I missed when Camp McCoy was upgraded to a fort. Had to look it up and found that happened in 1974. When I was at Camp McCoy we had snow in June.

03-19-2017, 01:25 PM	#1
M118LR Banned Join Date: Sep 2015 Location: 29.62 N 81.219 W Posts: 538	How Experienced was the pistol that trained Y'all? I think this might be the proper place to ask how experienced the (Revolver) pistol was that first trained Y'all? The Iver Johnson 36/38 caliber breaktop revolver (carried everyday as an original Pinkerton by Grandpa Stover) was the pistol that I learned to shoot. I'm going to bet that a few folks on this network may have cut thier teeth on Older more experienced SAA's? So PLEASE respond with Y'all's HISTORY! Last edited by M118LR; 03-19-2017 at 01:35 PM. Reason: Not .357 36/38

05-05-2017, 08:34 PM	#19
stand watie Senior Member Join Date: Dec 2003 Location: San Antonio, TX Posts: 3,882	M118LR, Fyi, I met a lady "of a certain age" today at the FSH Commissary & we got to talking in the check-out line about firearms. (She read the back of the tee-shirt that I was wearing from the 2005 Wild West Games at Ft McCoy, WI.) She said that her every day carry firearm is her grandfather's circa 1910 Colt's .38-40 revolver that he carried when he was a City Marshal & later (during WWI) a Texas Ranger. IF it could talk, I suspect that it could tell us some stories of when Texas was still the WILD WEST. yours, sw Last edited by stand watie; 05-08-2017 at 01:30 PM. Reason: clarity

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03-19-2017, 02:42 PM	#2
csmkersh Senior Member Join Date: Aug 2003 Location: San Antonio, Texas Posts: 10,748	My first revolver was a S&W Model 37 Air-weight Chief's Special bought new in 1955 as I was working on the Texas border at the time. It was followed by a BP Colt SAA in .45 Colt. After that, Uncle Sam loaned my a 1911 on hand receipt. My issue at the time was either a Garand or Carbine, depending on my duty job.

03-19-2017, 06:11 PM	#3
bearcat6 Senior Member Join Date: Aug 2005 Location: Oregon Posts: 1,969	My first personal gun was a Great Western .22 SA I bought when I was stationed at Ft Huachuca, AZ.

03-20-2017, 03:38 AM	#4
CaptainGyro Senior Member Join Date: Sep 2011 Location: Greater Waxhaw Metropolitan Area Posts: 1,719	The only pistol I shot as a kid was my grandpa's .22 semiauto. I wish I knew now what it was. I remember it as being very similar to a Woodsman, but he had some kind of white grips on it, possibly ivory. My first revolver training was with the .38 S&W that was issued to Air Force aircrews...made me embrace semi-auto's even more. What it lacked in power it made up for with lousy accuracy and limited capacity. At least it would rip your survival vest off in an ejection.

03-20-2017, 09:45 AM	#5
IrishCop Senior Member Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: Decatur, Al Posts: 2,614	My first handgun was like the Capn's. A USAF issued S&W Model 15, 4" Combat Masterpiece. The one I qualified with in Tech School had a target hammer and trigger...great for single action, not so great for double action. I shot expert the first time...not much of an accomplishment...everything inside the seven ring of a B-27 counted, and 96 and above was expert (I think). Luckily, I didn't have to worry about ejection seats, Mike. The M-15's were good revolvers. All had adjustable sights of course. Target hammers/triggers were a hit and miss. Some had surprisingly good trigger pulls, some were horrendous. Most of them were carried a lot and shot very little, 50 rounds, twice a year or so. Some had a lot of scars, some not so much. Back then, revolvers were still King, and having a post were you carried a sidearm versus humping an M-16 was sought after.

03-20-2017, 12:29 PM	#6
SpecialEd Forum Admin Join Date: Sep 2003 Location: Wilmington, DelaWhere? Posts: 7,182	When I was about 20 or thereabouts, I bought a Ruger 10-22 rifle and a Ruger Mk II .22 pistol. I then set about training myself as best I could by reading, practicing, reading and practicing, repeating as the options were available. So my first pistol that I shot was new out of the box.

03-22-2017, 11:49 AM	#10
GunGeek Senior Member Join Date: Jul 2016 Location: Northern NV Posts: 771	My first handgun was a 6" S&W M19...and after about 6 months I split the forcing cone while shooting factory Winchester 158gr JHP's. However, I'm still a big fan of the Combat Magnum.

03-22-2017, 07:29 PM	#11
threefeathers Senior Member Join Date: Sep 2004 Location: AZ Posts: 1,181	My Grand Pa's Iver Johnson top break .22. My brother sold it when I was injured in the Army and he thought I would die. He wanted dope.

03-23-2017, 03:44 PM	#13
GunGeek Senior Member Join Date: Jul 2016 Location: Northern NV Posts: 771	My first .22 handgun was a Clark tuned MK 1 6 7/8" tapered heavy barrel...I didn't realize it was done up by Clark and I rather abused that pistol. Finally at a gun show once, there was a guy who had two Clark Mk 1's and I noticed that mine was conspicuously identical...but a little more "rode hard". Even hard worked, it had a magnificent trigger and was very accurate.

03-23-2017, 06:27 PM	#14
WaltGraham Senior Member Join Date: Aug 2003 Location: Shenandoah Valley Posts: 3,900	Mine was a 2" M10 that my Father "appropriated" while in the USN. First firearm I ever shot, and still has the best trigger of anything I own.

04-30-2017, 06:59 AM	#16
Charlie Petty Senior Member Join Date: Aug 2003 Posts: 7,055	The first handgun I shot was a Colt New Service that belonged to the cop who lived across the street. The first I owned was a Ruger lightweight Single Six that I bought new when they first came out. Was 14-15. Mowed a bunch of grass. My uncle and I went to the hardware store and I gave the clerk the money and he gave my uncle the gun. Have it still.

05-04-2017, 12:28 PM	#17
stand watie Senior Member Join Date: Dec 2003 Location: San Antonio, TX Posts: 3,882	M118LR, My first handgun (that I actually owned) was a PRE-WWII S&W .38SPL M&P, that my mother bought me so that I could go to work as a Deputy Constable, just 4 days after I turned 18YO. (She paid 40.oo cash for the revolver, gunbelt, holster, handcuffs & a half-box of ammo. = Wishing that I'd been smart enough to not have traded it off for a Model 64 "pencil barrel", when I got a "raise" to 70.oo per MONTH by the county.) yours, sw

05-06-2017, 06:00 AM	#20
csmkersh Senior Member Join Date: Aug 2003 Location: San Antonio, Texas Posts: 10,748	Back in the 1912-1925 South Texas was still the Wild West. Land wars between the Texicans and the Tejanos plus attempts to over throw the President of Mexico. Rebels were coming North to San Antonio and fomenting rebellion. I missed when Camp McCoy was upgraded to a fort. Had to look it up and found that happened in 1974. When I was at Camp McCoy we had snow in June.