Have any of you bought a gun without shooting it first?

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Almost every gun I have ever owned was purchased before firing it or even an example of it.
In 56 years (I've lost count of how many hundreds of guns purchased), I have only bought two guns for which I had the chance to test shoot examples of first; a Kel-Tec P3AT pistol and a .20 Career PCP air rifle.
Jack
 
Most of the guns I've owned were bought without shooting first.

I;ve owned all the firearms you've listed. All are quality pistols, but the only ones I still own are the XDsc and the PPS.
 
I purchased a CZ 2075 RAMI 9mm without prior test firing. I purchased this gun for CCW based on research, ergonomics, & size. I have NO regrets.
Don't rule this gun out. This gun was $50 less than what I paid for my stainless XD40.
RESEARCH - RESEARCH - RESEARCH.
 
Only 1 - beretta 92. All the rest - I handled most of them. 2 CZs I bought without even handling and I love them. But I'm not real picky when it comes to guns - unfortunately I like them all!
 
Only accurate firearms interest me, but how do you fire a NIB gun before the purchase? I got rid of lots of guns that I purchased without firing.
I have kept a few too.
 
I have rarely fired the actual guns that I've bought first, but I've sometimes fired the kind of gun I'm buying so I know what to look for.

RE: your choice of pistols, from your original list I've only got firing experience with the XD and G26. My ex had a XD subcompact 9mm, and I have a G26. The G26 is already a brick, the XD is a little worse, IMO. I've had a G19 and G23 as well, and I find that I can conceal the G26 only a little better than the either of those. On the plus side, the G26 isn't any harder for me to hold onto during firing than the G19 was.

The PPS I've handled and do not like it. No idea what it's like to fire it, but the magazine release seems so foreign to everything else I have.

Good luck with your choice.

jm
 
I've just barely come to the age where I can purchase Handguns. I try to research a lot about a firearm before I got ahead and purchase one. I own 3 and I didn't shoot any of them before I purchased them. My first handgun was a glock 26, and i'm very comfortable with it. I had a good idea what it would feel like after experimenting with both a glock 19 and 27 beforehand. I was really tempted by the Walther PPS, but in the end I'm glad I stuck with the Glock 26, its amazingly accurate and eats anything I can find to feed it.
 
Only once have I test fired and that was a G17 I bought from a friend.
If it feels good in my hand I go home and research it. Unless it's a good deal, then all bets are off.
 
The PPS I've handled and do not like it. No idea what it's like to fire it, but the magazine release seems so foreign to everything else I have.
Click to expand...
You get used to it rapidly, actually. It is sort of oddball, but the advantage is no button to accidentally push while drawing or riding in the holster. It helps to have a P22 to practice with - same concept for the mag release, including the tendency to fire the mag away. Both are well beyond "drop-free".

As far as being foreign to other methods, we already have both heel and button releases on handguns, so we are used to sizing up the release method at a glance.
 
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I've shot only one single gun before buying it, a S&W model 28. Every other one was bought without shooting it first. A couple I never would have bought if I had.
 
I'm guilty too. The only one I shot before buying was my first, a 686. Not sure of the fact that i had fired a 10/22 and MK1 when I was a kid counts toward my MK2 and 10/22. But I bought my glock purely on reputation and the fact that it felt ok in my hands. Even worse I bought my Gold Cup without ever even HELD a 1911 before. I don't regret it though.
 
I have rarely, if ever, shot a gun before buying it. I have shot other guns like it, or different models within the brand, or variations of the sme model, but off the top of my head I really can't think of a handgun that I've shot before I have bought it.
 
I always dryfire them & rack the slide a few times before I buy. The types of handguns I tend to buy are the types I've shot at the ranges many times, and the only surprises at this point are the way the triggers break.
 
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I have a friend who had an SP-101 and after I shot it I had to have one. I had a GP-100 and he had to have one after firing mine.

My brother shot my Colt Anaconda .44 mag and he bought one.

I shot a Kimber PRO CDP II .45 and had to have one.

Bought two Ruger Mark II's after shooting a friends.

Bought a Kel-tec .380 after shooting one that an off duty PD officer had in the stall next to me a the range.


Moral to the story...don't fire a gun you don't intend to buy. :)
 
I bought both my Ruger 22/45 and my Kimber Custom II before I fired them. I don't regret the decision one bit. I did handle them extensively before buying though.
 
Bought a lot of mine NIB over the net, so I didn't fire them either. Didn't have any rental ranges at those times....never had any issues, like my G26
 
I have purchased may guns over the years and

I have never fired any of them prior to purchasing. You have some really good firearms on your candidate list. I own a PPS 9mm and an XD9sc both are great guns. The PPS is much easier to carry and conceal than the XD. Godd luck with your purchase.
 
A number of them. I've never shot my Reid's "My Friend" .22 knuckleduster and never will, though I was most happy to buy it more than 40 years ago. I also recently bought a Ruger 10/22 and haven't had a chance yet to take it out the range. It's not that I haven't shot Ruger rifles and carbines before; I grew up with the .44 mag Deerstalker and wanted a nice match for it, which is how I ended up with the 10/22. (It's a good reminder; I'll try to get it out this weekend.)

Now that I think some on it, there's been more than a few through the years that have made their way to the gun safe without getting an initial test run, including some nice P.38s, a NIB P88C, a NIB P5C ... gee, the list is a long one, in fact. :)
 
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