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This is great. Welcome Hou44.

That 4" 19 looks like new!

Thank you Jason! All of them are priceless treasures. I especially like that 5 1/2" Redhawk WITHOUT scallops for the Ruger scope rings. They quit making them like that a long time ago. That's definitely worth trading a bad habit and now you'll live longer so you can shoot more.

I'm sure most, if not all of us have at least one firearm that is extra special to us for one reason or another.
This is mine, a Colt Combat Government in 45acp. I bought it sometime between 1989 and 1990, don't recall exactly. I was in my early 20's, fresh out of college, newly married and working two jobs. One, turning wrenches M-F at a local car dealership and the other working as a Range Officer at my local outdoor range. It was at the range that I met Tim Oxley, also a Range Officer. He is to blame for my obsession with the 1911 pistol. For several years we worked and had many good times together shooting and discussing tactics when there were no customers. One of the regular customers was Teddy Jacobson. It turned out that Teddy lived just about 1 mile from me and was gunsmithing in his home. I don't think he was known back then but I guess he's pretty popular now. All the work on my Combat Government was done by Teddy over a period of about a year. I believe this gun is the first or one of the first that he ever tried to put a roll mark on (see behind cocking serrations on rt side). The blueing was slightly marred during this process. For this mistake he gave me a pretty good discount on the work he'd performed on that visit, which at the time meant more to me than the blueing.
By 1993 I had a nice collection of about 30 handguns built up. Then, IT happened. The big D. Sizable attorney fees caused me to sell ALL of my collection except my Combat Government. I just could not let it go. For the next few years I spent everything I had paying bills. I knew where every free meal in town was and .29 boxes of mac & cheese were a staple.
In 1996 I was lucky enough to land a job at a start-up computer company in CA and they were willing to train me and pay for my move. I quit my job at the dealership and drove to SoCal with all my worldly possessions, including the Colt, in my Ford pickup (which I also still own).
The company did well, I learned all I could and quickly outgrew them. Solidly back on my feet and ready for anything, my Colt, Ford and myself drove back to TX in 2000 where I started my own business. I got engaged in 2002 and in 2004, the greatest woman I've ever known married me. Not long after we got married she started quizzing me about my former gun hobby, IPSC, reloading, working at the range etc. Why had I not gone back to it? Did I not enjoy it anymore? I confessed that I had really missed those things. I got out my Colt, which she knew I had but had never seen nor expressed any interest. Right then she told me that if I wanted to get back into it then I should start by replacing every gun I had ever sold out of necessity. How did I get so lucky?

I will never part with this pistol. It is the single possession that I have managed to hang onto even in the worst of times. Once a month like religion I take it out, shoot it, clean it and put it away. The trigger is the cleanest I've ever felt and every shot reminds me that regardless of how bad life gets, I will get through it and be better off in the end.