I have seen and read threads with “best” or “favorite.” I have not seen a thread with “most frequently carried handgun.”

I do not speak specifically of the one that you have owned and carried on ocassion, or have owned for a protracted period in storage. I speak of the one that, for whatever reason, you have carried as matter of regulation, requirement, or simply preference. Some such as LEOs have carried a handgun that was issued to them and carried throughout their career; however, the firearm was owned by the governing body that employed them. For others such as myself, they were the only models available to me for decades.

For me, there have been three: the .45 1911, 9mm High-Power (P35), and the S&W.38 “Snubbie.”

I began carrying a Korean War-era 1911 in my youth as I hiked with family and/or friends. Very shortly after, I fancied the P-35’s capacity and svelte curves. Later, a blued Model 36. This was in the days when such draconian laws as today’s did not exist.

I went into the garage today with the S&W Model 640 Centennial .357 in my trouser pocket. Today, I (legally) carried a highly customized 1911. Tonight, the Wayne Novak customized Browning High-Power is on my nightstand. Although these are not the exact serial numbers that I carried when I was a boy, except for the snubbie, they are the same model numbers.

I once-carried and still own a variety of handguns made by such manufacturers as Beretta, Glock, Sig-Arms, Smith & Wesson, Colt, Charter Arms, Ruger, Kahr, Springfield Armory, Para-Ordance, Walther, Kel-Tec, Dan Wesson, AMT, Seecamp, Taurus, Dornhaus & Dixon, Magnum Research, and Kimber amongst several others.

I have not purchased a handgun since 1998. I have more than I can use and simply do not have a need to acquire another particularly since those three models have been those that I have repeatedly returned.

What handgun(s) have been on your person for the longest cumulative period?