Your Handgun Interests

[BillCA]

What's your interest in handgun shooting? Are you mostly interested in personal/home defense, hunting, target/competition shooting, cowboy/reenactments, police/military service guns, collecting or something else?

The poll is multiple choice but it works best if you select only your main interest(s).

I'm interested in people's primary interest in handguns overall. I'm primarily interested in defensive use, as I suspect most are, but collecting has become another big interest recently. What about you?

 

[Silvanus]

Mostly target shooting for me. There are a lot of guns I would like to buy just to have them (collecting), but right now I can barely buy those I "need"

 

[625]

The main reason I started buying handguns is for SD, but I voted for the first four reasons on the list because they all are applicable now.

 

[XavierBreath]

I began as a self defense issue years ago.

Once I became established and married, with a wife that collects plates, I began to accumulate firearms. I went through the usual progressions new collectors go through, until I settled on old Colts and S&W handguns as my favorites. I especially enjoy old guns that were converted for concealed carry. In fact, on the S&W forum, by tagline is "Accumulator of the ones the collectors eschew." I enjoy the history of it all, and the history of firearms just began at the factory. The real history occured after the guns left the factory.

FWIW, my wife collects C&R guns along with her china now.......

 

[RevoRick]

I fall in the more than one of the above catagory. Although I checked the target shooting I also would have like to check home defense, hunting, and collecting.

 

[WESHOOT2]

personal vs professional; then vs now

My beginning was for personal defense, but now all I care about is competing (A33102).

That said, all my competition guns are carry guns.

And on a professional level, virtually all my work concerns non-target considerations.
But that's ammo

So I 'voted' "Target", but I have a gun in my bathrobe pocket right now..........


I have many guns.

 

[PATH]

All of the above was not listed but that is where I would have placed my vote!

 

[Moloch]

Target shooting & Plinking Homdefense and collecting. pRetty much use for my guns.

 

[Archie]

Bill, my apologies...

... but I do about all that stuff except for hunting. And that's only because I'm trapped in the Los Angeles basin area and really can't get anywhere to hunt. Hopefully when I get out of PDSR California.

I carry a gun for a living. I guess that has to be primary.

Personal Defense and Target shooting are next. I'm pretty serious about my safety, but I shoot a lot more Bullseye than I've ever defended myself.

I collect, too. Pretty eclectic, but I collect.

I didn't vote in the poll. Checking off everything but one wouldn't mean much, statistically.

 

[Ala Dan]

I voted for personal and HD defense use, although target shooting/
plinking comes in 2nd~!

 

[BillCA]

When I started thinking about this poll, my presumption was that self-defense would come out #1. A handgun is primarily a defensive tool after all.

Some folks chose "other" and I think it might be interesting to see what "other" means to them.

Archie, I'm in Silicon valley and I know how hard it is to get away to do any hunting. Just finding a wooded area that's not full of tree huggers is a chore.

WeShoot, I sometimes think I'm paranoid with a gun in the desk... but then, I seldom wear a bathrobe either.

XavierBreath - now I know who to talk to about the history of snubbies! I started off with service type guns and now snubbies and autos are the game.

This poll will run for a while so I hope to see some larger differences show up in some of other categories. And I always enjoy hearing someone talk about what they enjoy doing with their handguns.

 

[j1132s]

Mainly for range shooting and preparing for competition. Although I'm finding competition is harder than I first thought 8 months ago when I started to shoot again.

 

[phrkshw]

defense and home defense is priority one but i do enjoy the range quite a bit

 

[44 AMP]

priority?

I don't really have one. I do everything on your list except LEO. Collect them cause I like them, use them for plinking, hunting, defense, etc. and some are aquired because they are historical pieces, which are used for plinking, defense, etc...

Guess I don't fit properly in the categories, unless it is "other".

 

[Harry Callahan]

I'm a guy that has guns for home defense, target shooting, and collecting. I don't hunt. Never have and never will. I just can't bring myself to shoot an animal. I have no problem with those that do hunt, however. Just not for me. Only animal I am sure I could shoot is one on 2 legs coming through my door or window as an uninvited guest intent on causing me and my family harm. Then it's lights out, dirtbag!

 

[Jeff #111]

Depends on the time of year. Right now my interest in collecting (S&W revolvers) and historical focus (police firearms) have converged. Last year it was all about target handguns. It just depends. So I checked all the boxes.

 

[BillCA]

Attaboy Jeff! That's being decisive!

The only problem I have with collecting gun is that there are always more that I'd like to buy than a money supply! I don't know what I'd do if S&W started offering blued revolvers again... start eating rice & beans mebbe.

j1132s, I'd be interested in hearing more about your competition shooting. PM me if you like.

 

[DoItRight]

This may sound strange but ...

... I started shooting a couple of years ago just because "A grown man ought to be comfortable with firearms."

I grew up in a household where there were no guns and it never really even came up. (In a "gun unfriendly" state, I might add.) Moved to Minnesota where there is a thriving gun culture and decided that now was the time. Got an instructor, took the basic firearms course, and have been enjoying the hobby ever since. I get to the range a couple of times a month and it's a very satisfying thing to do and do well.

I've never CC'd and don't think I'll ever will but it's nice to be well versed/practiced enough to be comfortable with handguns. I've never needed a gun and I pray I never will, but it's nice to own some and be at ease with them "just in case."

 

[npcolin]

I just like them and everything about them. But activity wise, I guess I lean towards competition type.