[woad_yurt]

Brought a newbie to the range....

I have a friend who I've taken to the range twice. She had never shot anything before. The first time, she started hitting a can with a Marlin 60 but was useless with any of the handguns.

The second time, however, she took a real shine to my Model 10. There was an old motorcycle helmet on a post about 50 feet away and, with her first shot, she hit that helmet. In a little while, she was regularly hitting it with 5 out of every 6 rounds, which isn't too shabby for a noob at fifty feet.

If anyone out there is wondering about a good "first handgun," give a K-frame S&W a try. There are dozens of different .38 SPL loadings available and I've yet to feel anything as natural in the hand as a good, ol' Smith. And, now I can get three virgin newbies to vouch for that.

[Iggy]

Couldn't agree more. I've started a lot of shooters out with these two, including my wife, son, his wife and my grandson.

http://i130.photobucket.com/albums/p246/Iggy25/Kframes.jpg?t=1248056936

Model 17 & Model 14.

[Oro]

The S&W k-frame is what I have used to introduce new shooters to centerfire handguns for almost 20 years. This is a great point to make. The K-22s, or light .38 loads in 10s, 15s, 14s, 67s, etc. Everybody needs one or two of these!

[BCRider]

With the manageable recoil of .38's and the almost magical trigger of a Model 10 I can't imagine a gun that is more suited to new shooters other than the first introductory shots from a .22.

And it's a gun that maintains that glowing first memory. I got my own Model 10 recently and it's a sweetie. I intend to do much harm to the steel plates at my club's monthy speed steel shoot events.

[JAV8000]

I need different grips on a K (Pachmayr's gripper pros or T grips) but otherwise are some of the easiest shooting guns out there. Sometimes I wish I cut my teeth on K DA triggers rather than Js, would have taken less time to get decent with DA revolvers.

[ArmedBear]

My wife tried my old Model 10 for the first time a few days ago. She REALLY liked it.

It had Pachmayrs on it, but I replaced them with S&W service grips. She likes the gun with those original grips on it (it's a square butt, pinned gun, with a tapered 4" barrel).

[PzGren]

I am not exactly considering myself a beginner but when I have to go to a centerfire competition my old M14 serves me very well.

I learnt shooting with a club owned Colt Officers Match and one of the advantages of revolvers is, that a fired cartridge can be mixed easily among the live rounds and thus flinching will be detected.

[almostfree]

When my wife decided to get her CHL, I gave her a Glock 17. She got to where she was pretty good with it, but I could tell it just wasn't for her. After she qualified with the Glock, we tried to find her something she liked more for carry.

Her favorite was my (formerly) S&W Model 66-2. She took about five shots in single action and then shot the rest of a box of 50 in double action and she tore out the bullseye at ten yards. I was amazed! So, I lost one of my favorite Smiths, but that's ok because I have a 19-2 stashed away.

[wnycollector]

So, I lost one of my favorite Smiths, but that's ok

I feel your pain! My wife carries my snubbie Ruger Security Six more than I do of late:( I'm in the hunt for a 4" S&W model 12 (K frame airweight) round butt for her. I'm SURE she will love the light weight and longer sight radius!

[Stainz]

My wife 'acquired' my 2" 10, actually, a 10-11 made 1/03. It is her 'car gun' - her CCW being a .32 ACP Seecamp. The only thing better than a 10 for a house gun, to me, is it's SS sibling - a 64.

Stainz

[Pistol Toter]

There ain't nothen wrong with a K frame, beginner or old hand!!

[Low Budget Shooter]

Dear W.Y.,

I couldn't agree more. I am thankful to have an old K-22 and 14 that are great shooters for my wife and girls as well as for me. If you reload .38 special, you can produce underpowered rounds that make a k-frame revolver very enjoyable for newbies. If not, most factory wadcutters are pretty mild, too.

LBS

[bflobill_69]

Its very hard to beat a K Frame for ease of shooting...

[JHK94]

Definitely. A model 10 was the first handgun I bought, and it was great to learn on for many reasons.

[lsufan1971]

+1 on the model 10. I have a model 18 that is nice for women beginners.

[sheephearder]

Started with a K 22 (made in 48 with a bead sight) at age 12 carried it while in dad's sheep camps. People would freak out with a 12 year old kid and a hand gun today. Finally found an other at a gun show, but it didn't make me age 12 again Ha Ha. While I like Colts and Rugers the K frame S&Ws have a lot of fine memories for me, and they shoot good too. Bill