First handgun?

[Phantom Warrior]

I started off my handgun collection with a Glock 23. A mid-sized, .40S&W Glock. Small enough to conceal easily, but large enough to shoot comfortably. Having a gun without a MANUAL safety also helps drive home the basic four rules, especially keep your finger off the trigger. But that's just me. I agree with everyone else, try stuff until you find something that fits your hand and you like. There is no reason you couldn't start with a .40 (I did), but I have to say that starting with a 9mm is a good idea. Cheap ammo equals more practice time for less money. A .22 to be able to practice way more for less money is also a good idea. $1 for 50 round is a very attractive proposition. And .22s are cheap. You could even get a 9mm and a .22. My $2*10^-2....

P.S. If you decide to go w/ a .40 (or 9mm, I guess) Beretta 92/96 or Browning HiPower would be options that haven't been mentioned. At least, I think they haven't....

 

[Warpspyder]

Ive read here that Berettas are heavy in comparison to other handguns... is that true? I also see a lot of people commenting on lack of stopping power in the 9mm.

Something I have thought about is that I could purchase a 9mm and practice with it. I could qualify on the range with it and use it to get my feet wet. It may be better to get as much range time as possible starting out. If I have a 9mm from what everyone has said it is a cheaper round to buy. Nothing says I cant switch handguns once I am out of the academy.

Thanks for all of the help everyone... now... which 9mm do I buy? Beretta, Glock, Browning... or any other suggestions?

 

[slush1422]

I just made my first handgun purchase and picked it up on two days ago. After a lot of research and trying to balance price, I chose the CZ75 P01. I liked the CZ75 as well, but chose the P01 as I will soon by trying for the old CCW and I felt this would be a better carry.

I'd reccommend throwing the CZ line into your research basket.

Good luck!

 

[Tag]

I'd say you should just get a colt/springfield 1911, you'll just end up wanting one later anyways

 

[Preacherman]

Warpspyder, first of all, welcome to THR!

Next - let's cut to the chase. Forget all the favorite guns everyone's been recommending: we all have them (even me, strangely... ), but our favorites won't help you in your particular situation.

Here's what I'd do in your shoes. Find out what your duty weapon will be. Buy a good example of that weapon, either used or new (used can often be much cheaper, but not always: if the used price is within 80% of the new price, buy new and get the benefit of the manufacturer's warranty).

Then, buy a .22 conversion unit for that pistol. If it's a Glock, I strongly recommend the Advantage Arms unit, particularly their LE kit. This can take replacement sights, so that you can set up the conversion unit with the same sights as your duty weapon. By buying such a unit, you can practice with the same grip, trigger pull, sights, holster, etc. as your duty weapon - but at a fraction of the cost in ammo.

To begin with, buy 5,000 rounds of .22 ammo (which will cost you about $80 at Wal-Mart in bulk packs), and use it all! Learn trigger control, sight alignment, etc. Do this before you go anywhere near the academy.

Once you've got the feel of the gun, and are grouping satisfactorily at up to 25 yards, buy some ball ammo. in your service caliber and practice with that. (It might be worth thinking about buying the 9mm. version of your service pistol, rather than the full-caliber version, simply because, as other posters have commented, 9mm. ammo is very, very cost-effective. For example, if your service weapon is a Glock 22, buy a Glock 17; if a G23, buy a G19; if a Beretta 96, buy a 92; etc. This will save you money!)

If, by the time you get to the academy, you've put 5,000 rounds of .22LR ammo, and - say - a thousand rounds of ball ammo through your weapon, you'll be light-years ahead of the other recruits. However, when you get there, don't act like you know it all. Rather, be a polite, obedient novice, and let the instructors teach you to shoot their way. You'll be able to use all the prior trigger time, but learn good techniques from them. If you don't graduate at the top of your class for marksmanship, I'll be very surprised indeed!

Good luck.

 

[bradvanhorn]

Preacherman - that is an excellent post, and great advice.

 

[Warpspyder]

Wow Preacherman... awsome post.

I think I will do just that.

Is a conversion kit hard to install? Does it require a gunsmith or can I do it myself being completely new to handguns?

So would I have to install the regular glock sights onto the conversion kit? I am a little confused on the whole sight issue.

 

[cratz2]

I agree... preacherman's post got to what I was wanting to say but couldn't.

As for installing the conversion unit... look at it like this... Pistols are comprised of two primary units, the slide and the frame. On most guns, it is supremely easy to seperate these two units. The conversion basically replaces the slide and all it's contents. Plus the magazine but that's obviously easy to remove. The guy at the gunshop should be able to show you how to remove the slide in about two seconds. If not, the manual will.

If you end up with something like a Glock, SIG, Beretta or CZ, it's as easy as pulling the slide back so far and either removing the slide stop or flipping or pushing an actual take down lever. Then you just do the opposite to install the conversion.

 

[Majic]

One note, if after all of your .22lr shooting it seems as if you really can't get good groups then remember that all .22s are finicky about ammo. You would have to buy a box of each type on the market around you and test shoot them. The results can be surprising how your pistol would shoot groups with some rather well and others extremely poor.
This comes after you have learned your basic marksmanship and as you began to hone your skills. All firearms are ammo sensitive with each example prefering something that another would not.

At first just use the supplied sights. Then later change to sights of the same style that would be issued on the duty weapon. Except for exotic sighting systems the method of sighting will be the same. So learning with the supplied sights should be of no concern. Later for familiarity you can change the sights.

 

[Warpspyder]

Is there any particular .22 round I should purchase or are the all pretty much the same?