We seem to talk about defensive guns an awful lot, so I thought perhaps we could talk about fun guns.

For me, my two most favorite handguns for fun are:

S&W 617 and Colt .38 Super 1911

My absolute two most favored for a trip to the range.

My 617 with my other two favorite .22's


And my Super .38 Automatic with its HBE Com III

A reliable accurate .22 LR semi auto is hard to beat for pure fun...

this

I recall back in 2004-ish, I went out with the FN LE rep and shot all their toys, including the 5-7, and P90. The P90 is the easiest SMG imaginable to shoot once you get used to the trigger because it’s half way pull for semi-auto and full pull for full auto…a little strange to get used to.

The 5-7 I shot was really interesting. I recall it was very accurate, even when I tried it at 100 yards, hits were remarkably easy even though the trigger was less than stellar. Of course, recoil was next to nothing. At the time, ammo availability was questionable at best, but I have always thought a reloader could have a lot of fun with that cartridge.

Dan Wesson Model 15 in .22 lr.


Perfect balance,superb accuracy and cheap to feed.

Either of these two.

The top one, a 1958 vintage Flattop in .44 shoots like a rifle out to 75 yards. No bowling pin is safe at that distance.

The New Model Bearcat is a squirrel killing machine! Just plain fun to shoot.

I know a judge who carries a 5-7 under his robe... for those dummies who get past the bailiff

Anything that's not a bullseye pistol is a fun gun to me. I practice almost daily during the season (Jan through July, sometimes Sept), so a pistol or revolver that's not a target gun is a pleasure. Here's a few recent fun guns...
Bob

Colt SAA .44...mucho fun


Swiss 1906 7.65mm


S&W .44


Jap Type 14 8mm Nambu. Not as bad as you would think


Colt pre-war .38 heavy barrel Official Police, shooting with .38 ball

Say, RGK could you share with the class on the history of that Swiss 1906. Nice.

Got it from an estate; Made by Waffenfabrik Bern in 1920. I had a master grip dude on the Luger forum freshen up the stocks, then I put a new 7.65mm Swiss barrel back on it (some goofball installed a DWM military 9mm barrel that was pitted). Since most Swiss parts aren't numbered, it's "almost" correct. It's my shooter Luger. Except for the tiny sights and horrible trigger, it's a great pistole. It is superbly accurate with a perfect bore.
Bob

Here it is with another recent addition (top) that fell into my lap while I was passing thru CA...a 1906 Portuguese DWM that has a very nice bore, no rust or pitting, just some blue loss on the high spots


Nothing like a Luger. 1920 DWM commercial in 7.65mm, about mint.

Yeah, there is just something about those Lugers.

All my guns are fun

Walther P22 and my 2 .22 rifles, the #4 Remington rolling block .22 LR and the Savage 72 (Stevens Favorite reduex) I rechambered to .22WMR.

My S&W M63, Ruger MKII 5.5" bull barrel, and my M1 carbine.

For range or plinking use my old 4" MK II standard is about as fun as it gets. I've always shot it quite a bit but with the addition of kids in law and grandkids it really goes through the ammo. My daughter was quite adept at moving targets with it when she was around more.

Probably my 10/22 with a lot of Kidd parts, my 22/45 Lite, and Taurus PT1911 aluminum.

I enjoy a single-action for fun. I haven't had this Single Six for more than a year or so, but it is a lot of fun to shoot.

GunGeek, is that a 121 in your first post?

I do really enjoy shooting the Ruger SR22, and the SW 66

About as much fun as a guy can have with his clothes on!!

VERY close. Winchester Model 61, the competition to the 121. Both were magnificent rifles.

My Colt 1911 and Ruger NV aren't going anywhere; but for pure fun, this one takes first place.

Looks like you got it dialed in, too.
Bob

Thanks Bob. I had to make and solder in a taller front sight to achieve a usable 25 yard zero- and I was having a really good day.

Having a fixed-sight gun that shoots to POA is one of life's great pleasures.

Been wanting to try this one (the one on the bottom)...never shot a BP revolver before. Both are Colt re-issues from 1971.
Bob

1. Model 10
2. Long barreled Colt . 22 single action

I'm looking for a classic pump 22. AND, a Marlin 39 for the kids. And me....teehee

Just something about big lead bullets at moderate velocities and their interactions with "stuff".

I used to do a lot more revolver shooting when I lived in Sacramento. There was a "revolver" league at the old police range where we shot K-22's and wadcutter guns...I really miss that.

The two handguns I'm shooting most right now, are .22s. I have a 4.5" SR-22 that shoots pretty well, and an S&W M&P 22Compact, which is a neat little gun and shoots pretty well, too. If my hands didn't hurt so much now, it would probably be a Colt 1991 Custom Shop gun. Arthritis sucks.

For me its my Dan Wesson Super mag in 357max in its 4" configuration--When I squeeze off a round other shooters seem to step back and check out what they just felt!

I take spells. Right now it's center fire in the shape of a 625-3 and a 686. Other times it's Rimfire. My 41 or a mk 2 . Hasbeen

New stuff. At least new to me. Those are a Ruger Redhawk 5.5" 45 Colt, S&W 66 with LEO lineage aka Georgia Highway Patrol, , Glock 40 MOS, and a Taurus PT111 Gen 2 9mm. A S&W Shield in 45 ACP is on the way, too. But I'm also rehabing a 112 year old house, so not much time to shoot these days, but those will come.

Well....since this is the handgun forum I'll say either one (or both) of my J frames.



I like to shoot my center fire rifles too but for pure dee ol rifle fun it's my 452 hands down.

Look like K frames to me.

Gun Geek: I have a source for free "clay pigeons" and for fun I often take 20 or so of them to my range and set them up on the dirt backstop at my local range.
Then I shoot at them with my first model Smith & Wesson Model 66 with 6 inch barrel.
I have had a little work done on this pistol and the trigger is superb.
Anyway I back up about 25 yards and shoot at these clay pigeons with 38 wadcutter ammunition.
Offhand about every fourth or fifth shot I manage to hit one with my favorite "fun gun"!
Fun factor here is very high.
Hold into the wind
VarmintGuy
P.S.: That reminds me I need to clean my Model 66 as I haven't got around to that since my last "pigeon shoot".

Poured a lot of rounds when younger through a Python pops had.
And a fair amount through his Woodsman and Kart slided 1911.

25 and 50 yard stuff.

Liked my 629-3 6" a lot. mostly 50 yards but some 100.

Dunno if I can handle all the boom/roar anymore.

But if I can.............a 9.5" Super Redhawk and shooting 100 and 200 yards would be fun. Pops had one, damn thing shot great (took my deer at 150).

Probably the funnest range days I've had with handguns in the last 15 yrs..............................

Shooting 200 yards with a beater WW2 1911 a buddy had. We scared the target a couple of times, was all over the place. Was a freakin' hoot!
That and my kid running my Combat Commander on pop cans at 15 yards with two old Korean war vets watching. They were all smiles

Without question, my funnest gun is the CZ 452 Varmint with improved trigger. But this is a handgun forum, so after that, it would be the MKIII Hunter with Fastfire sight and VQ internals. Both very accurate and easy to shoot accurately.

6.5" 610 shooting 40's and a 22/45 are probably the most enjoyable. They are about polar opposites, but when new shooters shoot with me they always come back to those two and want to shoot them again.

Lately I've been enjoying the heck out of shooting a .22 LCR as fast as possible from 10 yards. I'm not a speed shooter or in any way "trained" but I think throwing 8 rounds through that short barreled revolver as fast as possible has improved my shooting with all handguns.

Clay pigeons against the backstop is one of my absolute favorite target. At 3.25" they're a decent challenge at most ranges, and of course, it's a reactive target that breaks up when hit. And they're cheap...or in your case, free; what's not to like?

Oops......senior moment.........

Here's a favorite "range" gun: Ruger .357 Maximum, 10.5" barrel. Wonderfully accurate at 200 meters, where it has to be to take down the Rams in IHMSA competition, which is where I use it most. H4227 under a 180gr Hornady XTP in Starline brass with Remington 6 1/2 primers.

Short barrels are no hindrance to enjoyment at the range. 3.5" S&W M27-2 with a gold-bead front sight and Ivory micarta grips by John Culina paired with a Tyler T-grip. 180gr Laser-Cast truncated cone bullets over Power Pistol in Starline brass.

Few things beat an accurate rimfire, and this Anschutz Exemplar 22lr is that in spades. I've replaced the Leupold 2.5x-8 and the Ken Light riser mount with a Bushnell 3200 2-6 scope mounted on a Weaver adapter in standard position over the action.

In centerfire trim is a Remington XP100 in 7TCU in a custom laminated stock with BoMar sights. 139gr Hornady's over H322 in Lake City brass makes for an accurate, gently recoiling round that hammers Rams at 200 meters.

By the by, in my experience once someone has the opportunity to hit targets at 200 meters with a handgun--and I've seen first time shooters do this when provided with the proper guns--the idea of shooting decently sized targets at 50 yards hardly seems to be "long range."

Also one of my favorites. Bust 'em on the 50yd berm with handguns first, then pick off the little fragments with the scoped 452.

I just had my 5.7's trigger reworked. Not perfect like the old smiths could be made, but a lot better. E

My favorite handguns, of all time were the K-38 S&W, 6 inch I had back in the 60's, and my current Kimber Stainless Custom Target. Very accurate guns. From a rest, the K-38 would put all 6 into an inch, outside spread at 25 yds. with the old WW, Western .38 Target Ammo. With both guns, off hand, two handed on a good day, I could 1.5 inch groups at 25 yds.
Had a Browning H-P that used to put my 90 Sierra handloads into an inch s well. Still kick myself for letting both it and the K-38 go. E

Now that I've accumulated several hundred rounds of factory brass, this one is getting a lot of play at the range. A Herters 401 Powermag. I'm using 200 grain SWC from an Arsenal mold and waiting on an LBT mold for a 240 grain WLN. Its a well made and strong revolver though a little ungainly looking. I wasn't sure about the large grip frame but after shooting it and my Powermags in 357 and 44 with heavy loads, I find I like the Powermag grip. It seems to handle recoil on a par with the Ruger Bisley grip frame, which I prefer for heavy loads.

The 401 has been a fun project and very enjoyable to shoot.

Very cool Mart! I remember the Herter's ads for those from when I was a kid.

If I had spent as much time studying my school books as I did the Herters catalogs, I might have gotten better grades.

This old Mountie is hands down one of my favorites.



Plenty of guns that cost more, but I consider few as fun.

The funny thing is that when hunting, it has become so second nature to work the action, that sometimes, I will shoot at a jack, then go a bit further and then look down and see that the hammer is down. Then I have to see if I have worked the action, and then let the hammer down already. Often, I have done it, not thinking about it. Just thinking about where the bunnies are going to pop up next.

That gun is hell on empty shotgun hulls too. Great fun trying to see how far you can launch them into the air.


A suppressed .22 shooting subsonic ammo is hard to beat, especially camping. I like to enjoy the peace and quiet while in the mountains, so if I can shoot a couple of boxes of .22s at pine cones and whatnot, and not disturb anybody, as well as not let anyone know I am even there, then that is all the better.



Crimson Trace laser grips have led to the demise of many a critter.

Springfield 1911 9mm and Colt Gold Cup 22lr threaded.
Both are fun to shoot, accurate, and great triggers.

1911 in 45 Super.

ruger 10-22 and mk II

glock 19

sa m1a1

nula 7mm-08


hmmm I've got a 29 loaded for the weekend along with a kahr 9mm a win .30-.30, am thinking I need to load up some .22's as we'll have grand daughters with.

Tough to beat either of these. Buckmark with can and a 9.5" Single Six Convertible.

That Buckmark is too much fun.

Mine has to be my Ruger Blackhawk .44 Special with 5.5 inch barrel. 240gr. SWC with any powder in my collection works good.