Greeting from Illinois

[Rat686]

Hey all! My name is Brad, I live in southern Illinois as of right now, I'm 21 and am attending SIU in Carbondale (oddly enough ) I recently made my first gun purchase, an S&W 686 .357 4" barrel. I've been wanting a handgun for a long time and a little while before my 21st b-day, I sent in my firearms owners id card into the state.

I choose a wheel gun as my first because I was convinced by a friend that it would be a good choice. That, and on my own accord, I love revolvers. My second choice was going to be a Glock and while there's nothing wrong with one, I figured I'd get some practice with something easy to operate, clean, etc... Before I purchased the 686 I got incentive and went to my local shooting range, rented a Ruger GP-100 .357 and put about 600 rounds though it, half .38 spl and half .38+p. I have never fired magnum ammo as of yet. I found I really liked the feel of the wheel gun and grew very comfortable with it, I've also shot Glocks and my friend's Beretta 92. So, I'm very satisfied with my purchase. I'm going to devirginize my 686 hopefully on Sunday, depending on how much money I have, and am going to do the same ammo choice, few boxes of .38 and a few of +p, gradually moving up to the very expensive .357 magnum load

And yes, Illinois doesn't have a CCW, and I doubt we ever will, but I'm in full support of one (very recently it got voted in the house but everyone seemed to have lost track of it after that). Damn you mayor Daily!

[DefensiveCarry.com]

[Bumper]

Welcome to the forum, Rat686. Keep pushing for CCW in Illinois and maybe one day your legislators will come to their senses.

[P95Carry]

Welcome rat -

The 686 is a fine revolver - and having teethed on revo's way back still have a soft spot for them - a very good way to start and gain general competence.

[Scott]

Rat686 I have to commend you on your choice of a handgun. Of course great minds think alike. My first handgun was a S&W 686 4". I have put around 7000 rounds through it, a lot of that magnum. It is an awesome revolver and it hooked me on revolvers for life.

Welcome to the forum. Fight the good fight in Illinois, or I suppose you could relocate at some point in the future.

Best,
-Scott-

[rstickle]

Welcome to the forum. And, as one stuck in Maryland I feel your pain.

[Bruces45]

Welcome, congrats on the 686, I think everyone should own a good 4" 357 rev. It is the most universal handgun there is (except for the 1911, but I will spare you that for now)

[Bud White]

Welcome

[ilfishin]

Welcome Rat686, it sounds like you have a good head on your shoulders. You made very mature and calculated decisions there, and I feel you will make a great addition to the gun lover community. Enjoy the forum.

[CLASS3NH]

welcome to the Forum

[QKShooter]

You sure are doing everything right! :unitedsta
So glad that you joined our little web fraternity.
Feel free to join right in.
You found yourself a whole bunch of really decent like minded people.

[srfl]

Hi there!

[Rat686]

Thanks very much everybody. I look forward to everything here!

[DirksterG30]

Welcome to the Forum.

[dpesec]

Hey Rat, Welcome. A wheelgun was my first purchase too. a little mousegun, .22lr, Still have it, great little plinker.

Have fun and I hope you get either a CCW or move to a State where people understand it's your job to protect yourself and your family.

[maclean3]

Welcome to the Forum Rat. It's hard to beat a good 4" .357 and IMHO S&W makes some of the best revolvers on the market ... completely biased as I sit here wearing my S&W 642 and ponder how I'm going to conceal my 66. ;)
Jack