Mine was the Smith Model 39 I purchased in the 60's. It shot much better than it should have.

Browning Hi Power

CZ-75

Browning Hi Power. It remains my only 9mm Pistol.

Walther P38. One of the Manuhurin imports.
Aluminum frame and dirt cheap in the early 90's.

HiPower. Different one now but still my only 9mm

Steyr GB

High Power

Beretta 92SBC a long time ago

Glock 26.

beretta 92

German Luger

A S&W 659 that I paid $150 for from an insurance company. It was recovered from a burglary and the original owner had been paid off.

If a .380 counts, I had a Beretta 84 several years earlier. That one disappeared after an incident. I would like to have it back.

1st. A S & W semi auto piece of garbage.
2nd. Walther's P1 a lot better than the S & W
3rd Beretta 94 that I let my dad borrow until he does not need it anymore. I have not fired this one to know how it is.

Other than for training purposes I do not have much use for the round.

I guess it was a 459. Nothing special.

Guess it kind of depends on how you look at things...

38 Super .356 in 1911
9mm Parapellum .355 in G19

Super was first by 18 years.

An ol' cheapo Makarov!

Kahr CW9 I bought this year.

Mine was the ole ugly ass Ruger P-85 in 1985. It was ugly, but at least it worked.
Next 9mm was a High Power, and then the first Glock 19 that I could find when they came out.

Gen2 Glock 17 I bought in 1994. Still my only 9mm, and I carry it a lot.

would have to be a hi power, then followed by a lot of other stuff.

Browning Hi-Power WWII bring back, traded it for a S&W M10 nickle even up.

Browning HiPower.

Springfield XD 9mm sub compact. No longer own it, but it was a good accurate pistol.

Sig P-6

Mike

Mine was a CZ 75. I've owned a lot of 9MMs since. Now, they all say "Glock" on the side. A M17, a M32 with a 9mm barrel in it, and a M43.

Easily one of the easier decisions I ever made was to go Glock and Glock alone.

Mine was my Beretta 92F in 1986.

S&W 6906 in 1989. Gave it to my daughter a couple years back.

Smith Sigma.
Was my first duty gun and absokutely hated it

Yep. They were a POS. Buddy sent his back to S&W 5 times and his still jammed.

G19

92

A Star Model B. FIL was taking an RV trip to Alaska and asked if he could borrow a pistol. Never got it back.. It was a good one however. Second was a Ruger P-85 it was a POS. Never have had another 9mm.

I had a pair of long-barreled "artillery" Lugers. I haven't owned a 9mm since.

Tom

i'm surprised nobody mentioned a walther p38.

The P6 is a very well built gun.
Piece of history. German police were using a .32acp until munich and the israeli/palestinian shootout. At that point they wanted to upgrade mag capacity and power, and that is when the P6 was introduced. As it was superceded later by even more capacity firarms.
Friend of mine in bavaria told me you could just about tell how many rounds were fired through the gun. Maybe a box a year at best. So if you have one with a 1998 stamp on it, figure 50rounds a year till they were dumped over here.
I had the chance to dig through a whole bunch of them when they first started coming in. Some were unfired except at the factory.
At the german manuals, test target, and so on with the box.
My best score was a german police shoulder holster, left handed.
One of the other items that often came was kind of a trick holster with the guns, on a swivel. It could be separated from the holster. The flap holster required two separate movements to get the gun out. I asked the bavarian friend about those, he said they were designed that way as they really didn't want the normal police to be drawing the weapon, only as a last resort. If they ran into a shooting situation, they called a special swat type team to handle it.
European mentality.
all the ones i have seen are marked NRW which is north westphalia, that area around hamburg, which is where my family lived years ago. I never did it but was thinking of having the serial numbers traced through him to the guy issued too in germany.

Ditto - first handgun purchase, also...

Glock G17 Gen III

I owned whatever replaced it in 40. Those have to be some of the worst guns ever. The trigger pull on mine was so heavy it was dangerous. Absolute POS. The M&P isn't even that much higher and it is excellent. I don't understand why they make that gun anymore.

I don't know for sure. Probably a Ruger Blackhawk 357/9mm convertible. If not, then possibly a Ruger P-85. Personally I didn't/don't think those guns are that ugly.

I can't imagine a PD expecting men and women to trust their lives to Sigmas. What a POS. whoever was in charge of purchasing duty guns must have been sold a bill of goods.

few years ago, i got one of the grandson's to trade straight across a sigma for a remington 760 pump carbine in 30.06 with a scope mounted. Told him it would be one of the better trades he ever did.

Beretta 92 while stationed in West Germany.......those were interesting times.

Traded with a friend in college for a 60s vintage Browning Hi-Power in the mid-1970s. Had it for about a year and then traded it back to him. He had it till he died in 2010 and now his brother has it...

Bob

Sure did.

Ruger Blackhawk 357/9mm.

complete with pull-free magazines, burned out night sights and all...

1913 Erfurt Luger my father brought back from WWII. That was stolen in a burglary in 1981.

Second 9mm and the first one I purchased was a Beretta 92 bought just a few years ago. Not counting the Luger I've only bought four 9mm's in my life, all in the last 3-4 years. Still have three of them - the Beretta and a Kahr CM9 and a CW9.

Ruger P95, kinda regret having sold it a few years ago.

My first 9 was a Ruger P85

I couldn't hit schitt with it. Traded it for a S&W 639.

Then a 3913, Kahr P9 and PM9, Beretta 92

And presently own a Sig P226 and a Glock 43

Now have two "keepers"


Virgil B.

Browning Hi Power was my first 9mm.

Browning HP, WWII production.

An Inglis Hi-Power with the tangent rear sight.

1915 Erfurt Luger, bought 30 years ago from the brother of the guy who brought it home from France in 1918. He was walking around a gun show with it in a paper bag, trying to sell it to all the wrong dealers. I bought him a hot dog and negotiated a fair price and took it home with me. He found it in his dead brother's sock drawer and was appalled. At least he brought the "nasty thing" to a gun show to dispose of it and not the garbage can. Kinda neat knowing I'm only the third owner of the thing.

i have posted this on here before, but it is a 9mm thread. I have a artillery luger, WWI, that with some help in germany through the serial numbers on the grip i traced to the Bayerische division in WWI. Hitler's division. The cool part of all cool parts is i looked up that artillery segment of that divison, it was headed by a man with the germanic spelling of my last name from the same place near hamburg my direct decendents came from. Had to be a distant relative. I like to think the pistol finally found it's way home.

First and only 9mm I've owned,(41 byf) still have it, don't shoot it much.


Now a 380 is also a 9mm, do those count?

My first 9mm was also a Luger; a 1916 Erfurt that one of my late uncles liberated from Germany's V-2 rocket factory, (the Mittlewerks at Nordhausen) in the spring of 1945 when Uncle Sam cleaned the place out and shipped everything to the U.S.. He was in the air force, was from a German family, and also spoke German fluently, so he wound up there as a translator for all the German civilians that were hired to help pack everything up. He got the Luger out of a glass display case in an office area of the factory where it was on display along with a large Nazi parade flag, which one of his fellow Americans got. I inherited it in 2001 and always wondered why was it on display in an office area of Germany's V-2 factory? Unfortunately he never got any capture papers on it either because Germany had just surrendered and he said that at the time the general attitude was: "Hey; don't worry about it!... the war's over!" I rarely shoot it because its already had a LOT of rounds through it but it works well. I shoot lots of 9mm through my Gen3 Glock 19 which is my second 9mm that I bought in Feb. 2012.

Not the very first, but close.
Bob

S&W Model 39-2..........It jammed with all the cheap stuff I fed it but when it DID function, it was extremely accurate.

Unfortunately I sold it a couple years after buying it second hand in the early 80's.

Kahr CW9. Since, I have landed this one and it is a favorite.

1st was a Hungarian clone of the Browning HP , it went away PDQ.

2nd was a Star BM , good little pistol , it stayed a while but it went away too.

Within the past year a G19 , G26 , S&W Pro & a S&W Shield , they are all still here.

Mike

Very cool story, Ron.

There are some other parts to the story, shoulder stock and leather, snaildrum magazine, the loader tool, and some other mint condition german firearms.
I had occasion and reason to visit the home of the widow, a friend was handling the sale of stuff. What i really wanted was a triangular medal pendent, in Boer, on it was first armored car to enter tobruk 1943(or some such date) His library was just filled with books on germany and the two wars.
I also noticed quite a number of framed photographs of high ranking german officers. When she saw me picking up on that stuff, i was escorted out rather quickly.

There were some rather interesting P8 wwII lugers, russian captures, that came into the country a few years ago. Typical russian crud repark, and the crossed sabers indicating a capture.
Lugers are lugers, and lots of variations. But i kind of like their replace the p38 in it's own right.
Both are instinctive pointers somewhat handicapped with cruddy sights.
But the P38 was a far superior combat pistol. Lugers were time consuming and costly to make, and they didn't work well in the mud.

hipowers are all over the map depending on who made them and when.
But, Israel used a bunch of them. Belgian browning made, military park finishes, but still belgium browning with belgium mags. I have seen them with the belgium factory manuals. They are a military pistol so not high gloss finish, but they sure do function.
Some of the early feg's were actually pretty good.
9mm is a very common military cartridge, thus their are a lot of handguns around the world chambered for it. It can be a fascinating subject.

and i kind of went the other way, i have a bunch of glocks, but i like the cz's better.

Browning Hi power, 1968, wish I still had it.

Jim, I have one of the WWI mauser broomhandles, called the RED 9, cause thats what they cut in the wood, that also shoots 9mm.

the star bm is a good little pistol, small version of the 1911 in 9mm. If you like a 1911 you like the star.

Lots of the Israeli BHPs showing up state-side now; Cabelas has a bunch, and most under $500; some under $400.

Smith 940

6906

hitting paper plates at 100 yds was no big deal with it.

Ruger P-85, stainless. Big and bulky, but very reliable. I was newly out on my own when I bought it and could scarcely afford to buy it. Buying ammo was a huge luxury back then.

All of the FEG Hi Power clones were very good pistols. Some were better finished than others, but they all had it where it counted. The later ones that use the S&W 59 style locking system is actually a very good improvement on the Hi Power, it's really a shame FEG didn't stay in business, because they were developing the Hi Power in very positive ways. Where FN has been doing their level best to kill off the Hi Power, but they still have very healthy foreign military stales of new pistols and massive amounts of parts.

that hipower system has been copied by a lot of different manufacturers.
I have a feg pre smith system, and its not a bad pistol.
Not as smooth maybe as a belgium but it could be smoothed out.
it's a testimony to the design that so many countries used them and still continue to do so.
I fell in love with them years ago when there wasn't much choice in hi cap 9mm's. I had one out one day and was shooting rapid fire at the center of a wheel rim, and shocked how easy it was to stay on target. That love affair has cost me a bunch of money through the years.

S&W 659

Smith and Wesson M-39 in nickel. I preferred the lighter weight to the 1911.

Doc

Ruger P-89 with 2 10 round "Clinton gun ban" mags. All for $225

CZ 75 , still have it. A great 9mm.

S&W Model 39.

MM

SIG P6 bought them for my sons.

Mine was a S&W Model 59, essentially the same as yours, but with a double stack magazine. I bought it in the early to middle 1980s. Sold it for some reason, and then got the more "tactical" version of it that came out a few years later. Main difference was the superior sights. Both were completely reliable, but I think both of them had an issue with the mag release screw gradually working its way out. At least the latter one had that issue, which was why I sold it.

That was my third 9mm, purchased in the late 1980s.

Have yet to "have" a 9mm.

1st S&W 39-2, after that, in no order

Browning HP Adjustable sights
EXcam TZ-75 (Tanfoglio with hammer drop, no likey)
Kassnar PJK-9HP (Hungarian hi power)
Polish Radom P-35
Browning HP MkII
Tanfoglio CZ copy
real genuine CZ-75
Glock 19
Browning HP Practical
Had a spare 9mm barrel for my Colt .38Super, too.

I've done a heckuva lot of 9mm shooting, some of those guns I flat wore out shooting. Shot the Hi-Powers in to rattling clunkers (they are still my favorites, though).

I'd shoot them at IPSC matches, just for giggles, and win anyway. I'd shoot them at work (I worked at an indoor range and would shoot every morning before we opened). I just shot the heck out of them every chance I had.

I still carry a .45, though I'm real comfortable with the 9mm. I like most anything that goes bang.

CZ 75. Still shoot it a lot.

Think it was a Walther P-38...back in the '80s the market was swamped with european police trade-ins. Came in a factory box and with a used holster. Seamed like the going price was about $250.

Star Firestar. Neat little single action, but was kinda heavy for it's size. Traded it for .380. Should have kept it.

Glock 19 bought last Jan.

Glock 17

Glock 17 gen1 bought in the 80s (in the cute lil Tupperware box with the post in the center)
One of the first ones here
Sold it a few years ago now I wish I had not at the time I was not ready for it I was a revolver shooter and it sat
It was one sent in for testing and than resold
Hank

Never was enamored of the cartridge. Shot a G21 for ten years before buying a G19 in 2001. Traded it away a couple years later. Bought my only two 9mm's in the last year and I'll probably be done for a while.

Bought the 92 just because I wanted one:



To go with my 84:



I've just about decided that the LC9s is the best concealed carry pistol I've ever laid hands on.

My experience with my first Glock was similar. Mine also was purchased shortly after they hit the US market. I had a couple of Gen 1s and soon after sold both, for very similar reasons. I have recently, however, really learned what they're about, and now I like them a lot. At least I like the 17, that is.

Mine was a Walther P-38. Man, I ran a lot of ammo through that pistol!

First one was an Argentine FM HiPower. Decent pistol. I killed a lot of Bluejays with it using the big pile of 115 grain Silvertips that came in the deal.

Second and last one was an old Beretta Centurion with night sights. Splendid shooter and scary accurate with Federal 9BPLE.

Haven't owned one since 1998. The nine is just not for me.

H&K USP......my dad bought it for me in lieu of payment for painting the house. Summer of '94, I think......

Still have it, not going anywhere.

Ditto
Hank

Smith & Wesson 6906, then moved up to the Beretta 92.

Ruger P85. Bought it from the original owner who never shot it much + 3 High Capacity factory mags, $350. Still sits on the nightstand for things that go bump in the night.

Fully loaded it weighs about 18 lbs. Built like a tank and will outlive me for sure.

About 1 testicle-weight

First 9mm was an Erfurt 1918. Had to order ammo as none of the local stores carried it.

Browning HP (Inglis) & German artillery Luger w/ shoulder
stock.




Jim

A P-38 I picked up in the Philippines around 1970....left it there, too.

My first 9mm was a mis-matched Luger that was given to me (along with a trunk load of WWII war souvenirs) by my neighbor when I was about 15. Next was a P-38 courtesy of Martin Retting in Culver City, Ca. Then, in rapid succession a few years later, came a S&W Model 39, a CZ 75 (still shoot it), and and FN Hi-Power, a gift from John Bianchi.

Browning hi power.

None
Colonel Cooper taught that 9's don't work
(Source of my --dated-- bias)

First and only was an H&K P9S.

Next will likely be the S&W Shield.

Mine too, except that I never got comfortable with it. I traded it in on an ASP, which of course is a Teflon-coated, cut down 39 designed and sold by Paris Theodore.

That one I really liked and I had the nice OWB and in-the-pocket holsters. I had to sell it with a lot of other nice guns in the '80s and have always regretted that.

I kept a special issue parkerizedHi Power with dual thumb safeties. I put on Trijicon sights which now need to be refreshed. It feels incredibly good to me.

I am now experimenting with smaller 9s, too. I can't afford another ASP, but I'd like to find something similar.

1970ish P35.

Col. Jeff, with whom I discussed guns in the 1980s, was very dogmatic. Some of his ideas made sense, but he often flip-flopped around depending on what manufacturer sucked up the most.

Let's face it, he had a point on the 9mm cartridge, based on the ammo available back then. However, there is far better more effective defensive ammo available today and many more choices in highly reliable 9mm pistols.

Consider the Czech CZ75, which Cooper found to be outstanding in ergonometrics. There are many CZ75 clones, some with polymer frames and very lightweight and compact.

German surplus p38, next was the Browning Hi Power

Browning Hi-Power Practical

AC 44 ( Walther) P-38 war trophy. With hard shell holster.

Gen 1 G17, complete with the awesome "sporter" pancake holster and mag pouches. I sold it to a friend and I think I had close to 20,000 through it and never saw a jam.

Beretta 92 since i figured it made sense to use the same gun for my personal use as I trained with at work.

To be honest I've not owned many 9mm handguns that I'd consider "mine". Quite a few passed through the shop or at gun shows, but these were considered "shop guns" to be sold or traded.....not personally used. Just never liked the weak 9mm as long as they were still making .45 ACP handguns.

My first 9mm was obtained and used my me when I was 14 or 15. A Walther P-38. Traded for it because it looked "cool". That gun was responsible for the beginning of my dislike for double-action trigger pulls and the 9mm chambering.

I did own one 9mm handgun that I really liked (except for the weak chambering).....a Star BM. It handled and shot very well but I eventually traded it away when I figured out that it was unlikely I'd need to stop a changing field mouse or chipmunk,

Always sort of wanted a Hi-Power, but just never have made the plunge as .45 ACP 1911's are still available.

S&W Model 39. A very fine shooter but not much good ammo in those days. (this was before Super Vel) Would still have it today if there had been better ammunition.

Bersa Thunder 9 bought it new when I turned 21 for $200.
It cycled fine but would not group well sold it and now I own a Walther PPX ugly thing but shoots amazing.

Ruger p89 dp. accurate but terrible trigger.

S&W Model 59. I traded it on a Browning Hi Power and never looked back!

HK P7M8

Sig P226 West German, carbon slide. Still my favorite and most accurate handgun.

Ruger P89DC...

H&K P7M13

My first one was an H&K P7 - like it so I still have it. It would have been a BHP, but my first one of those was a 40 S&W. Wish I had kept it.

Late to 9mm pistols. I don't dislike the cartridge anymore, but I really don't prefer it.