Legionnaire
Contributing Member
Took a newbie to the range just before Christmas. Young man from church knew I was a shooter. He came and asked me what he should purchase as his first self-defense-oriented handgun. So we scheduled a range trip.
My opinion is and has been that an individual who doesn't plan to shoot all that much is probably better off with a good double action revolver than a semi-automatic. So we took 2.25" SP101 and a 4" GP100 along, with ammo ranging from light target loads, to intermediate self-defense loads, to magnum-power hunting loads. Also took along a Glock 23 with a 9mm conversion barrel so he could check out both 9mm and .40S&W. Finally, took along the LCP (.380) pocket pistol.
After putting a lot of rounds down range switching back and forth for the sake of comparison, he concluded that the GP100 was the most versatile and "fun" to shoot, but that he preferred the switch-barrel Glock 23 for his purposes. Fine decision: the Glock 23 is my defensive handgun of choice, too.
And last night, he called me to tell me he had purchased a pristine second-hand G23 with barrels in .40S&W, 9mm, and .357Sig. Looking forward to our next range trip together.
So I'm making the resolution to take another newbie shooting before the end of the first quarter of 2014. I hope to take more than one, but I will consider this resolution accomplished if I only take one. And when I do, I will post a summary of that outing here as well.
I invite you to sign on to this thread if you're prepared to make the same commitment. Then tell us the about the range trip itself--who you took, what you took, and how it went. Ought to make for some good and encouraging reading.
Happy New Year, everyone.
My opinion is and has been that an individual who doesn't plan to shoot all that much is probably better off with a good double action revolver than a semi-automatic. So we took 2.25" SP101 and a 4" GP100 along, with ammo ranging from light target loads, to intermediate self-defense loads, to magnum-power hunting loads. Also took along a Glock 23 with a 9mm conversion barrel so he could check out both 9mm and .40S&W. Finally, took along the LCP (.380) pocket pistol.
After putting a lot of rounds down range switching back and forth for the sake of comparison, he concluded that the GP100 was the most versatile and "fun" to shoot, but that he preferred the switch-barrel Glock 23 for his purposes. Fine decision: the Glock 23 is my defensive handgun of choice, too.
And last night, he called me to tell me he had purchased a pristine second-hand G23 with barrels in .40S&W, 9mm, and .357Sig. Looking forward to our next range trip together.
So I'm making the resolution to take another newbie shooting before the end of the first quarter of 2014. I hope to take more than one, but I will consider this resolution accomplished if I only take one. And when I do, I will post a summary of that outing here as well.
I invite you to sign on to this thread if you're prepared to make the same commitment. Then tell us the about the range trip itself--who you took, what you took, and how it went. Ought to make for some good and encouraging reading.
Happy New Year, everyone.
