My first gun

[Ninja42]

Hi there!

As this is the first post on this fair forum, let me start by saying hello. My name is Michael, I’m 1.94 meters tall and weigh 105 kg... and as some of you might have guessed by now, Im European. A great thing to be in many respects, but a rather lousy thing to be if you are interested in things as 'bizarre' as weapons, like I am. I spend my time studying biology at the university of Copenhagen, working part time in a bakery, playing various nerdy games, and hopefully soon at a nearby gun club that I’ve just joined a few days ago I’m not going to make this a long and boring introduction, so I´ll just wrap this up by saying that I developed my rather unusual interest for firearms in the army, where I was trained as an infantryman back in 2002-03. I am (or at least were) fully proficient with the Diemaco C7 5.56mm rifle and the Rheinmetall MG3 LMG, but I’ve had the honor of firing other weapons such as the Browning M2 .50 HMG and the Karl Gustav Mk IV 84mm recoilless rifle. Lucky me. Never the less, I quit the army after my basic training to join the university, but I still miss the thrill of shooting, which is why I am here.

And now to the point of this thread.

Due to the somewhat restrictive gun regulation laws here in Denmark, I am restricted from purchasing any gun with a bore of .40 or larger, effectively narrowing my choice of full powered guns down to 9mm if I want an autoloader, or .357 magnum if I want a revolver.. Because everyone knows that holding a .45 caliber gun in your hands will instantly make you eviler and thus more likely to commit terrible crimes than if you were holding a .357 mag, right? Stupid laws. To further limit availability, firearms are heavily taxed, so any firearm that I purchase will cost me about 3 times more than it would cost any of you yankees, which is why I care about even small differences when comparing prices. I am a poor student after all.

I’ve decided that a 9mm autoloader isn’t what I want at the moment, so I´ll go for a .38/.357mag revolver as my first gun. The cheap .38 ammo will save me a fortune when I’m practicing at the range, and the ability to fire .357 will let me enter any kind of competition... its a win/win.

Now, what I want from my future gun is this:

1) I want my gun to be reliable. As guns are extremely rare here in this country, so is gunsmiths, and the few gunsmiths there is can take pretty much anything they want for their services. Furthermore, sending the gun around the globe to have it repaired/fine tuned by the factory will be expensive as well. Furthermore, gun shops over here carry hunting weapons, not handguns, so I will have to mail order my gun without even seeing it first. So long story short; I need a reliable low maintenance gun.

2) I want a gun with good ballistics for shooting stationary targets at the range, as well as for practical shooting. I tend to like the look of guns with 4" barrels a lot better than the look of 6" barrel guns, but what kind of gun would be better for me?

3) I´ll be using my gun for sport, and as I’m not allowed to carry it with me or store it in my home, it is highly unlikely that I will ever end up in a situation that will require me to use my gun for self defense. However, guns are deadly weapons by their nature and purpose, and that is the very reason why I am fascinated by them. I want a practical weapon with the optimal power/weight/reliability ratio, a weapon that I could depend on with my life. Such things as novelty scopes/targeters, oversized frames that are only ever practical at the shooting range or weapons with weak or overpowered loads are of no interest to me.

4) I’m a poor student, so I need the gun I buy to be... less expensive.

On a side note, I am considering to get a gun with a ported barrel, because it seems endlessly practical in every respect to minimize the muzzle climb. But if it really WAS an endlessly practical thing to have on a gun, I guess every weapon would have it, and they obviously don’t. What are the cons of ported barrels? Of course there will be some loss in muzzle energy, as some of the gasses that would otherwise propel the bullet forward will be blown upwards to keep the gun in place, but how much is that? And is the debris that is blown out of the holes a problem to the shooter? There must be some cons that I’m not seeing.

So... what gun do you think is my best bet? I’ve been drooling a bit over the Taurus Tracker model 627 in stainless steel with a 4" barrel, so I would like to know if any of you guys have any experience with it?

I think that I have rambled on for long enough now. Thank you for reading my post

 

[Gideon]

Welcome to the forum and it's good to meet you! I've been around the world and found out that at heart we're much more alike than governments or media would have us believe! God truly did create all men equal an in His image.

So welcome again. Now about the revolver, you have it thought out well for your needs but I would recommend the Ruger GP100 over the Taurus. The price is somewhat similar but the Ruger is a far superior weapon that is the best example of dependability and ruggedness. It's very accurate and will last you a life time. The Taurus isn't a bad weapon but it doesn't have the track record of the Ruger GP100 by any stretch. I think if you compare pricing and then compare their reputation and feedback you'll see what I mean.

I've been where you're at as far as funds go but considering how difficult and costly it is for you to pursue your interest you can't affort to make the mistake of trying to save a little bit up front that could cost you far more later on. I'd recommend you simply save until the GP100 is obtainable. Now a S&W is even better but the price spread there is very significant unless you go used but in your case I wouldn't go used unless you know the owner personally.

Just my opinion.

God Bless
Gideon

 

[earplug]

Black Powder?

Being A POOR student and the various restrictions you have to deal with, would a good quality black powder percussion pistol be available to you?
If I understand correctly you have to store the pistol at your range.
Ammunition is expensive for the 9MM and .357 and you probably don't/can't reload.
If you can clean and store a black powder pistol and its propellent, it might be a lot of fun at resonable cost.

 

[Ninja42]

Sweet, response

Welcome to the forum and it's good to meet you! I've been around the world and found out that at heart we're much more alike than governments or media would have us believe! God truly did create all men equal an in His image.

For the most part, Europe is just like USA, and there is no one in the media or in the government that would argue against me on that. Not in my end of the Atlantic Ocean at least

So welcome again. Now about the revolver, you have it thought out well for your needs but I would recommend the Ruger GP100 over the Taurus. The price is somewhat similar but the Ruger is a far superior weapon that is the best example of dependability and ruggedness. It's very accurate and will last you a life time. The Taurus isn't a bad weapon but it doesn't have the track record of the Ruger GP100 by any stretch. I think if you compare pricing and then compare their reputation and feedback you'll see what I mean.

I’ve just visited Rugers homepage, and I must say that the GP100 looks like a solid weapon. Also, people on these forums seem to like the Ruger a lot... I will definitely consider it when I make my final decision. The Taurus does however have that ported barrel and a larger drum that can accommodate another round; both of those features are indeed nice.

I've been where you're at as far as funds go but considering how difficult and costly it is for you to pursue your interest you can't afford to make the mistake of trying to save a little bit up front that could cost you far more later on. I'd recommend you simply save until the GP100 is obtainable. Now an S&W is even better but the price spread there is very significant unless you go used but in your case I wouldn't go used unless you know the owner personally.

I completely agree, I should be thinking about the long term cost of my gun rather than how to save a little money on the initial purchase. I must admit that I am clueless as to how expensive it is to keep a revolver properly maintained, how much would you think that the Taurus and the Ruger respectively would cost on a monthly basis if I fired it often, but treated them well? My old Diemaco rifle never needed anything but ammo and cleaning to keep working, but my MG3 needed parts replaced all the time, so I guess that upkeep varies widely from weapon to weapon.

Being A POOR student and the various restrictions you have to deal with, would a good quality black powder percussion pistol be available to you? If I understand correctly you have to store the pistol at your range.
Ammunition is expensive for the 9MM and .357 and you probably don't/can't reload.
If you can clean and store a black powder pistol and its propellant, it might be a lot of fun at reasonable cost.

I am poor in the sense of the word that I fairly often have to eat pasta with ketchup at the end of the month, and that I often can’t afford things that my friends with full time jobs can. Black powder pistols would possibly be available to me, but it requires a special permit that can be tricky to get. Furthermore, I would like to participate in competitions with my firearm, and to do that I need a firearm that can fire at very least 5 shots in short order. I am not that familiar with black powder, but aren’t they sort of limited to a single shot? It may be fun to get as a secondary gun, but right now I need to find myself a true all round weapon.

And yes, until I have been an active member of my gun club for two years, I have to store my weapon(s) at the range. I’m sorry if I get a bit unclear sometimes, it has been a while since I wrote anything in English.

And as I said before, I’m just poor, not dead broke. If ammo cost was the limiting factor, I would go for a .22LR autoloader, but it isn’t. I want a useful and practical weapon, as if I was going to fight for my life with it. If I wanted loud bangs I would buy firecrackers, and if I wanted to make holes in cardboard targets I would get an air rifle. However, neither of those things interests me, all I want is to learn to use a deadly weapon.

Thank you for your advice, guys

 

[Just_a_dude_with_a_gun]

Can't go wrong with a Smith or a Ruger for a gun to give your kids when you kick the bucket. They last a long time.

Taurus are not garbage, but I see a trend of small problems that add up, and get worse over time, and the MFR is
somewhat lax on warranty repair and parts matters.

There is another option though. You could look into a .38Super 1911, and you then have the option of a .22lr conversion slide/bbl...

 

[ArchAngelCD]

Ninja42,
In your original post you said:

1) I want my gun to be reliable. As guns are extremely rare here in this country, so is gunsmiths, and the few gunsmiths there is can take pretty much anything they want for their services. Furthermore, sending the gun around the globe to have it repaired/fine tuned by the factory will be expensive as well. Furthermore, gun shops over here carry hunting weapons, not handguns, so I will have to mail order my gun without even seeing it first. So long story short; I need a reliable low maintenance gun.

If that's all true then you DO NOT want a Taurus. They are known to be less reliable than S&W and Ruger. IMO the Ruger GP100 would be exactly what you are looking for. It’s a very solid gun, it’s built like a tank, it’s very accurate and fun to shoot too.

I also feel you shouldn't buy a gun right now. If you are having trouble feeding yourself well at the end of the month then shooting isn't a hobby you should take up right now. The cost of the weapon isn't the only cost you will incur. There is ammo which you already know will cost you but don't forget cleaning and maintenance supplies. You will have to clean your revolver after every shoot if you want to keep it from breaking or failing in any way. IMO you should concentrate on your studies, graduate, find a good job and then take up this expensive hobby. You will enjoy it more when you have the means to support it. (Sorry, the Dad comes out in me too often)

Good luck in your studies.