Thread: What guns do you own?

Hi there! My first post here, and I thought I'd display some of my firearms for a good start (Pistols first).


Glock 22 (.40SW). My very first firearm. Didn't like the spongy Safe-Action trigger, the grip ergonomics or the snappy recoil and the fact that it caused my shooting hand some pain after extended range sessions, but I appreciated the 15-round magazines, reasonable accuracy, simplicity of operation/maintainence, durability and great reliability of this weapon. I sold earlier this year, however. (and I miss it quite a bit.)


Walther P22 (.22LR). My first .22LR pistol. Decent enough trigger, nice grip feel and overall ergonomics, easy to take care of, very light recoil (duh), and came with 3.4" and 5" barrels. However, with either barrel, it's not too accurate, and it's VERY picky about ammo.


Bulgarian Arsenal Makarov (9x18 Makarov) My first DA/SA pistol. Didn't like it at first; It had a long and fairly heavy DA pull, but the single action was very sweet. But, for such a relatively small caliber, it was fairly snappy, and actually caused quite a bit of pain to my shooting hand. So, I swapped out the recoil spring for a stiffer one, and replaced the plastic grip with a Pearce rubber grip, and it was like a new gun. The gun was now painless to shoot. Moreover, I've found it to be extremely accurate and very reliable. Only thing I don't like about it now are the small sights.


From left to right - CZ 85 (Pre-B model from 1987), CZ 75 SP-01, CZ 75 P-01, CZ 2075 RAMI, all chambered in 9mm Parabellum. As you can see, I'm quite fond of the Czech manufacturer's products. My favorite in terms of looks and trigger feel is my CZ 85. I just bought my SP-01 very recently, but in the time I've used it at the range I've found it to be superbly accurate. My P-01 is perhaps my favorite all-around handgun in my collection. IMO it balances accuracy, reliability, size and capacity perfectly. And finally, my RAMI. Despite it's small size, it's very accurate, has little recoil and carrying it concealed for long stretches of time is no problem at all.


Springfield Armory 1911A1 Mil-Spec Stainless (.45 ACP). As my firearms collection was growing, one day it dawned to me that there was no 1911 in it, so I decided to rectify that and ordered the gun you see here. When I went to the range to fire it the first time, I was a bit apprehensive, as I've heard many stories of how the .45 was an extremely hard-kicking an painful round to shoot. To my surprise, I found the gun to actually be relatively mild in terms of recoil, IMO considerably less than my Glock 22 in .40SW. I also found the gun to jam occasionally at first. But with a little break-in time, and switching to high-quality aftermarket mags, it is very reliable now, and very accurate.


Smith & Wesson 686 Plus 6" barrel (.38 Special & .357 Magnum). After getting my 1911, I decided I wanted a revolver to add to my collection, and ordered the gun seen above. I also wanted something a bit different from your standard 6-shooter, so I ordered mine with a 7-shot cylinder (hence the Plus). Firing .38s out of it produces almost no recoil, almost like a .22, and firing .357 Magnum rounds out of it, while loud and producing a lot of flash, are actually not very painful at all and quite fun IMO (and quite expensive compared to .38s ). It's proved to be exceptionally accurate with the 6" barrel, and the single-action the trigger pull is very light and crisp.


Smith & Wesson Military & Police (.40SW)
I've heard a lot about S&W's newest semi-auto a few months ago, and decided to go my usual gun store and try one out. The grip ergonomics were far and away superior to my Glock, the sights were a considerable improvement, and the trigger, though DAO, was surprisingly smooth and light, and didn't have the mushiness of the Glock's trigger. Suffice it to say, I sold my Glock to a friend at work the next day, and later came home with my new M&P. After the requisite field-stripping and cleaning, I took it to the range and was even more impressed with the gun. I found that I could not only shoot the M&P more accurately than the Glock, but a good deal of the snappy recoil was gone, there was no pain in my shooting hand after long sessions, and I could reaquire targets for follow-up shots much quicker with the M&P than I ever could with the Glock. The only drawback to the gun IMO is the impossible to use the slide release after reloading (in order to chamber a round after a reload, you must tug the slide back). Fortunately, S&W has already produced a larger slide release, and I've ordered one for my M&P.



High Standard H-D Military (.22LR). My first 'antique' gun (made in 1947), I originally bought this weapon as a christmas gift for my dad, but thanks to my mom and her strong dislike of firearms, he had to give it back to me. It's been over a year since I've bought it, and I'm still debating on whether I should fire it or just keep it locked away in the safe.