Freaking Out About Handgun Decision!!!

[DFW1911]

Between the 9mm and the.40 cal I would go with a .40 sig, that will give you the option of allowing a 9mm conversion barrel to be used.

That's good advice: shoot them both and let time decide for you.

I carried a G22 for years but replaced with a Sig P250C in 9mm. I don't feel under-armed at all. I also prefer the recoil of a 9mm to that of a .40, and I'm not recoil averse.

Finally, since 9mm is a military caliber ammo is less expensive - typically - than .40, at least in my experience.

Have fun and be safe!

 

[BCRider]

Also as far as reloading me and a friend and maybe another guy or a dad or two are looking at getting a progressive reloading press. Also the friend is an amateur blacksmith who works at a camp in the summer so we plan on making cast lead bullets to really save on ammo.

One option for lead would be for you and a couple of broke fellow shooters to go around to any indoor ranges and offer your services for cleaning out the bullet traps in exchange for the lead. Bring lots of buckets, strong backs and good dust masks.

One of my local indoor ranges uses chopped rubber as the bullet stop material at the base of the armor steel baffles. This means that whatever you shovel up is primarily lead dust or copper jacket once the rubber is blown away. This resulting "gravel" can go into the melting pot and for the most part you'll get a good yeild of lead. But some of the rubber dust burns off too so you want to do this initial ingot making "smell'ting" well away from civilization or fire departments Some guys that did this at this particular range told me that they were getting about 6 to 7 lbs of lead for every 10 lbs of shoveled up material. Apparently that is a very good yeild for such endeavours. And best of all it's free other than some sweat.

 

[grd.3]

I hope this gets to you before you finally decide. The Sig 226 offers you a number of caliber choices. The Sig P226 can be purchased in a .22, 9mm, .357 and .40. Sig has upgrades called Caliber X-change that allow you to purchase a new slide and barrel that will fit on your original frame. For example, I bought my 226 in .22 a year ago. It came with a coupon for a reduced cost X-change kit. I used that coupon and purchased the 9mm slide and barrel about 8 months ago.

In your case, you could buy the 9mm and when you got a some more cash buy the .40 X-change kit. In essence you'll have 2 guns for the price of 1 1/2 guns.

Also, I shoot IDPA and USPSA. The 9mm (which has been correctly noted as minor) does hurt my score in USPSA. I could hit the targets the exact same way as someone shooting a .40 in the exact same amount of time and my score would be less because non center mass shots score less in a minor pistol.

I hope this helps.

 

[S&Wfan]

Let me play the devil's advocate here and give you another, and refreshing, suggestion . . .

GET A .22 AUTOMATIC! Both Ruger and Browning make excellent ones for very reasonable prices. Best yet, you can buy 550 rounds of .22LR ammo at Wall-Mart and such for well less than $15 bucks. Here are the advantages . . .

1. Cheap and plentiful practice - If you want to compete, and have a chance of really being good, you are going to need to do a LOT of consistent practice AND develop really good shooting technique. A .22 will let you afford to do this.

2. Very, very low recoil and noise - This will GREATLY help you learn not to flinch when you shoot . . . and developing this essential trait is a must. Starting with a full-power centerfire automatic will hinder you in shooting without flinch.

3. A .22LR pistol (mine is a Ruger MkII Target Model) WILL protect you from attack, AND while you are perfecting your technique you'll be able to meet lots of shooters at the range and get to shoot lots of various handguns in both 9mm and 40S&W. Thus, when you are ready for a self-defense auto you'll discover that you'll know which one works best for YOU, your hand size/grip and trigger finger reach.

4. Even the Sig 226 is super cheap in the long run . . . it is the AMMO that costs so danged much. By starting with a .22 auto, if you shoot a lot in order to get good you'll save enough money on ammo that in a few months of active shootings you'll save enough to BUY a centerfire automatic!

5. IF YOU MUST start with a 9mm or a 40S&W, ALSO immediately start saving your spent brass AND get an economical reloading kit such as a Lee Turret. You'll be able to shoot economically rather than launch bullets downrange that are costing you 50cents or more per trigger pull!

Logically though, start with a .22 . . . and spend some money on really fine instruction by a qualified and accomplished handgun shooter.

Hope this helps.

 

[splithoof]

No mater how long I leave .40 cal brass laying on the ground, even after watering, it never grows up to be .45 ACP!

 

[Stover954rr]

9mm and by American! (XD)

 

[skiwi]

9mm and by American! (XD)

The SA XDs are made in Croatia...

 

[red rick]

I agree with NG VI.

 

[Stover954rr]

The SA XDs are made in Croatia...

Really? I thought they were in the us

 

[danfive555]

You could buy a used P226 for about the price of a new XD ($500-550).

I would go with 9mm it is much, much cheaper to shoot.