How big of an impact did it make on you? Did it play a role in making other handguns easier to shoot more accurately? What was the determining on your selection?
Ruger MKII Target, a present from my father when I was 10 years old. Great handgun to learn fundamentals with, and contributed to my lifetime love of shooting.
Also a Ruger MKII. Bought it myself in about 1986. Sold it and a later S&W 469 when SWMBO was scared of them and we had a baby on the way. Now have a stainless MKII Bull Barrel. Always shot well with the old MKII. Not so much with the 469.
My first was a Taurus PT-92 in 1991. I bought it because of my familiarity with the Beretta 92 in the military. I was still on active duty when I bought the Taurus and I still have it. It does wear different grips now.
S&W 645, nice heavy handgun. Nice to shoot. Lead me to want another handgun, a 4" S&W 28-2. Then start of many, a 70 series 1911 GI. Still have my first 1911. The 645 and 28-2 I do not. Found the 1911 to be my favorite, most accurate and fun to shoot.
H&R 686 .22/.22 Mag. Loaded and unloaded with a cowboy style gate purchased for me about 1981.
It’s in the bottom of Deer Creek canoe flipped while night fishing about 1983. I even tried a big magnet several times to no avail it sleeps with the catfish.
Glock 23. I've bought other Glocks because of it. I've also bought several other guns in .40. My best friend had bought one a year earlier and I really enjoyed it and on paper it looked just as good as any others.
H&R Model 949 blued 22LR. 5.5" barrel, loading gate, cylinder pin, ejector rod, and looked like a SA revolver, but it was a DA, 9-shot cylinder. Only complaint was a heavy trigger pull, but I have regretted getting rid of it. Eventually traded it for a new Ruger MK2 Target. I had gone to Downham and Sons in Logansport in search of a Ruger Single Six. They didn't have any, but the price on the H&R was good.
Most silly gun I ever purchased was a plastic framed 9mm pistol in 1988. It had flimsy plastic sights, a polygonal rifled barrel, and an ugly nitride finished slide. Made by some upstart gun company in Austria. After the plastic sights fell off, I replaced them with Novaks. Otherwise, this G17 has worked exceeding well over the last 30 years. I have replaced the trigger spring at least once, maybe twice. And that gun company is still in business.
Springfield Armory 1911A1 in .45ACP.
This was back in the day when you had to put them together.
Belonged to one of my roommates in college.
He needed cash and I was working part time.
It was your typical 1911 of the time, would only feed FMJ.
I spent a lot of time and money on it and actually got it running really well.
Ended up selling it to a guy I worked with who shot it and fell in love with it.
He kept bugging me and offering me more $ every payday.
It finally got to the point where I could have bought a new one.
He was on the Bremen auxiliary police department and needed something better than the Bersa he was carrying.
Learned a lot about 1911s and how they function.
Also helped me figure out what works and what doesn't.
A Frankenstein 1911A1 that followed me home from the USMC. Remington Rand slide with an Ithaca receiver. Even by Marine Corps standards it was wore out. It taught me not to shoot until you can smell what kind of gum they were chewing...
Wanted a somewhat big bore revolver and found a 41 mag I liked before a 44 so went for it. Bought some revolvers since thin but just learned I like semi autos better but if I want a big bore, revolver is the way to go. Plus throwing a silencer on a revolver isn't as easy as a semi auto