Hello everyone,
Does anyone here have a favorite handgun that they care to affectionately talk about? Just curious to hear about them and why they are your favorite.
Not looking for this to lead to any critisism of anyones favorite. Please, no disrespecting of any calibers either.
I just know that when you shoot long enough you develope a fondness for a certain gun or guns.
I can say that after roughly 23 years of handgun shooting that I've favored a few different handguns, but my ultimate all time #1 favorite has been the single action FN/Browning P35 Hi-Power pistol. I just love this pistol Never get tired of shooting it, ever. Own a parkerized MkII and a newer MkIII (finished with a baked on matte black epoxy paint over a parkerized base finish). I also own a parkerized Inglis No.2 Mk I* (a hi-power that was Canadian made during WWII for issue to commonwealth airborne troops).
No one person introduced me to this gun. I remember reading about it in a book somewhere when I was a high school senior. About three years later I saw the Browning Hi-Power MkIII that I now own under the glass of a local gun shop. It was in the early part of 1994 and the MkIII had just replaced the older MkII version some five years prior. Asked to see it, the guy opened the action, verified an empty chamber, then showed me the empty chamber, then handed it over. Wow, my first thought was (with the exception of 1911's and some older revolvers) that the gun felt more solid and heafty than any other modern pistols I'd handled. It felt like pure solid quality (it's an all steel gun, slide and frame). The gun also balanced so well, and fit my hands like a tailored glove. I bought it, and never looked back nor regretted it since. The guy behind the counter commented at the time that not too many people, let alone the younger guys, are interested in the old P35 Hi-Power. Back then all the rage and hype was for the Beretta 92, and that's what I had originally gone in there for to buy.
Since then I've accuired the older MkII and Inglis Hi-Powers. All three are chambered for 9x19mm. I've put over ten thousand of all types of 9mm rounds through the MkII and MkIII without one single hang-up, not one!! I've put less through the 62 year old Inglis, still with total reliability, though it's chamber ramp is stricktly designed to feed military ball ammo. Field stripping is a snap on these too. I just love these guns