Two of my grandson's showed up tonight & one of them was interested in trying out a few of my 9mm's, he's thinking about buying one for summer carry when he's out kicking around in the woods or fishing. I showed both of them a few, a Walther PPS, A custom shop S&W 9mm M&P 2.0, a Kimber 1911 Eclipse with a 9mm barrel & spring installed & a Browning Hi Power with adjustable sights.
After handling them for a few minutes & showing them the controls a few times I sent them home with the Kimber & the Browning Hi Power, 2 loaded mags for each gun, 50 rounds of extra ammo for each gun & a mag loader. Both boys are experienced shooters, having taken deer, elk & bear & at least one antelope.
They have to start somewhere & going with the 2 all steel guns is a good start for both of them, plus both guns have safties on them, neither the Walther or the S&W M&P has a manual safety. They are out of school Friday & I'm guessing their gunsmith dad will go with them when they go. I can also turn them loose with some 38 specials & 357 magnum revolvers, both double & single action guns.
All the loads are cast, powder coated loads for each gun & the Kimber has 2 other barrels we can switch into action in a hurry, a 38 Super & a 10mm if they want to up the horsepower a bit. I like to shoot 9mm's this time of year because I have so much brass. Any thoughts on the choices of guns the boys picked out to test drive on the first day, thanks. I do have one S&W 38 Super I can throw in just for fun that has a red dot sight, they would love it. N Frame, 8 shot hot rod.

Dick

Interesting how times change. The traditional choice for kicking around in the woods and fishing gun would have been a revolver of some sort. For a first centerfire handgun that would probably be a .38/.357 in either a single-action Ruger or a double-action from Ruger, S&W, or Colt. Now folks want a high-capacity semi-auto of some sort. Not saying that is bad, just different.

I had the same reaction, but that having been said, it's great to see new people get into handgun shooting.

Interesting to me too. I don't have any heartburn with what they chose, but some years back when my son was in the same spot, I set him off with a 4 inch Smith, 686. That's why they make all different kinds, I guess. Admittedly, this could have occurred because I chose for him, rather than letting him pick.

Fine business grandpa.... the shooting world as a whole thanks you

👍👍

My grandsons carry 9mm pistols as well, other than the youngest. He’s 16 and carries the Colt New Frontier convertible .22 I gave him last year. He keeps one whole shelf in his bedroom cleared offfor just that revolver and accessories.

Those boys can sure burn through a lot of ammo of all kinds in short order.

9mm is a great choice for a first centerfire for the grandkids that Dick has. Brass is super cheap, or free if you scrounge it from the range, and since grandpa casts and powder coats bullets, they have a steady supply of projectiles, and cool ones at that! Plus they have a hunting teacher and mentor who is first rate. They are some super lucky kids to have ID1945 as their grandpa, that is for sure.

I gave my daughter a Sig Sauer P229 with .22 RF conversion for practice and a Glock 43x 9mm for carry. She often accompanies her LEO husband to the range for practice.