"What kind of Semi-auto handgun should I get?"

[hotrodguy70]

Im looking to buy my first hangun but to many choises i will go as high as $600 but not much more then that. what would be a good gun to start with? i have shot my brother in laws "el rojo's" guns a 9mm and a 45. i prefered the 45 over the 9mm but liked them both. please help me give me some ideas thanks.

p.s. if i wasnt a cheap skate i would just go buy a desert eagle 50 lol but thats later.


Thanks for the help

,Josh aka hotrodguy70

 

[Devonai]

I strongly recommend you get yourself a Beretta 92FS. It is an excellent first pistol, and 15-round magazines are plentiful. Be careful, though, if you get a pistol that never jams up you'll be spoiled for life.

 

[saxton]

Im not an expert but my first handgun I bought was a glock 23. The gun just works under any circumstances . I didn't like glocks for a long time until I shot my second one the 23. I personly think it is expensive to shoot a 45. I can shoot my 40 for half the price with not as much recoil. I hope you have fun and are safe shooting whatever you decide to buy, to tell you the truth it never stops I'm having a hard time figuring out what to buy next.

 

[Josey]

Which action? Single? Double? In single action, the Colt 1911 or Browning Hi-Power are great. In double, there are a BUNCH of choices. Sig and CZ are good choices. 9MM is pretty standard. 45 ACP is just cool! I have both. 40 S&W is OK. I don't own one. I would buy some magazines, bboks and videos to better understand the types of actions and brands.

 

[Phantom Warrior]

Joesy hit the nail on the head. What TYPE of gun are you looking for? This is like giving a recommendation for a first car without knowing if you like stick or manual, big or small, domestic or import, sedan or SUV or truck, etc.

That said, I started off w/ Glock 23. Mid-sized, .40S&W handgun.
Pros: Very light, very reliable
Cons: Ugly, no manual safties

Both the cons are a matter of taste. I like no manual safties in a carry gun and I think Glocks are SEXY. As long as you are familiar enough w/ guns to keep your finger off the trigger Glocks will works just fine. I've been nothing but please with mine.

Any handgun by....*takes a deep breath*...Glock, SIG, Browning, Beretta, Kimber, Springfield, CZ, H&K, Ruger, Smith & Wesson will be a good bet. I'm sure more will chime in.

Bottom line, what are you looking for?

 

[Josey]

"Glocks are SEXY!" Oh! I get it, those KBs are really......

 

[arinvolvo]

for 600...or a little more, any sig will be an excellent first pistol, and will retain its value.

However, i would encourage anyone to buy a 22 pistol as a first....develop your skills, and get used to handling a firearm. I know they arent good for home defense, but i wouldnt use a pistol for home defense anyhow, that is what a shotgun is for.

Ok, so there is my suggestion...a sig...or get a 22 pistol AND a shotgun with that money.

 

[Mr. Mysterious]

A Desert Eagle in .50AE would NOT make a good first gun. I bet that a lot of people buy that beast as their first gun and it then becomes the first gun that they sale.

 

[ksnecktieman]

first handgun? No delimma for me about what to reccomend. A Ruger .22 auto. about 200$ and ammo is 500 rounds (that is a LONG afternoon shooting) under 10$. Shoot it a lot and have fun. Then graduate to a centerfire if/when you want bigger. Fun first, competency second, defensive caliber third.

If you have to have a centerfire, I like the beretta 92 in 9mm also, and ammo can be had for about a hundred bucks a thousand rounds online. The most important thing is to get something you can afford to shoot a lot

 

[MrAcheson]

None of us can tell you what is going to work for you. Some people love berettas. I personally don't know why since I have found guns as good with better triggers for much less. But they shoot them and shoot them well, so who am I to lecture?

My advice is this:

1. Join a range with a good rental policy for members.
2. Use the range rental guns to find out what you like and shoot well.
3. Shooting a gun well is far far more important than caliber because shot placement trumps everything else.
4. Consider a .22lr as your first handgun, it is very cheap to feed and they are very accurate. Plus range .22s tend to suck because they aren't cleaned enough.
5. If .22s are out then then 9mm is the next best thing for bang/buck.
6. Training classes are always a good idea and will save you wasted time and money in the long run.
   [/list=1]

 

[azrael]

buy yourself a good .22...join a good shooting range...practice, practice

THEN buy yourself a springy XD-9

 

[Preacherman]

If you're new to handguns, I have two recommendations for you.

1. Buy a good-quality .22LR pistol (e.g. a Ruger Mk. II or a Browning Buck Mark - forget the Beretta NEOS, as the trigger is horrible) and about 5,000 rounds of ammunition. Use this gun and ammo to get used to sight picture, trigger pull, etc.

2. Rent and/or borrow a number of different handguns in various shapes, sizes and calibers. Find out for yourself what you like, what feels comfortable in your hand, and what you can control best under recoil. Once you've made that choice, buy the one you like. Almost any quality handgun will shoot better than you do. For my own use, I've standardized on SIG's in .45 ACP and Glocks in other calibers: but there are plenty of other good choices. Enjoy gaining experience!

 

[Majic]

Head to the store, look at every model that catches your eye. Hold each one in your hand and see which feels good as soon as it's in your hands. Come back and then we can work with you. The field is too large for people to just sit here guessing.
What feels good to one may feel like crap to another. First and foremost the handgun must fit your hand.

 

[Grunt]

You might want to Czech out a CZ-75. Best 9mm handgun made IMHO. My pre-import CZ is more accurate than my Sig 226 and just as reliable as my Glock 19. Combine those atributes with Browning Hi-Power ergonomics and a DA trigger that will put everything else to shame. Live in cold climates like I do? You can carry the CZ cocked and locked so you can get any glove short of chopper mitts into the trigger. Only design better than the CZ or it's clones is the HK USP that has the Mammoth cave of trigger guards. Can't do that with the majority of SA or DA autos on the market.
Of course being new to handguns, I'm also going to join the chorus here and suggest you start out with a .22 handgun. I don't care if you reload with the cheapest compnents, you can't shoot any cheaper than the old .22 rimfire. Having a .22 allows you to get in a lot of practice time at low cost with little muzzle blast and recoil. There is no professional shooter I know of that doesn't have at least one .22 handgun they use from time to time to get in that same low cost practice. That doesn't mean you should have to purchase a seperate handgun though. CZ-USA makes the .22 caliber Kadet conversion kit for the CZ-75 that works quite well. If it doesn't work (like a lot of Cenier kits) CZ-USA isn't hard to deal with...unlike dealing with Cenier. :banghead:

 

[Ala Dan]

Excellent comments from Mr Acheson; and I will
second his suggestions.

Best Wishes,
Ala Dan, N.R.A. Life Member

 

[BerettaNut92]

My recommendation:

Rent a buncha guns, see if you like the 45, 40, 9, 1911, Glock, Beretta, whatever.

Get the gat and a .22 conversion for it. With the conversion, you have the same trigger and action type though your sights will be different--it's good practice. If you're gonna practice with a .22 might as well be as close to your carry piece as practically possible, y'know?

 

[Badger Arms]

Agreed on the 22lr. You'd be better served buying a 22 pistol (Ruger MkII is the most common) and then renting and shooting various handguns to see which you like the best. It might cost more in the long run, but you could then go to the range with two guns and spend alot less shooting many more rounds.

As for full-power guns? You don't have to pick a caliber first. Either 9mm, 40auto, or 45auto. Do not stray from these three. There is absolutely no reason to buy a 357Sig, 400 Corbon, 10mm, 45GAP, or any other of these fancy calibers. Let gun nuts and keyboard commando's buy those. If you really feel the need for any exotic caliber, make that your 10th gun, fair enough? Any of the following are respectable guns will do. Consider resale value and availability of magazines as the primary reason you shouldn't stray beyond the standards. Just pick the one you like best:

Springfield XD (my personal choice)
CZ-75
Sig (any)
Beretta 92 and 96
Ruger P94, P95, and P97
Glock mid and full sized
HK USP (any) or P2000

I'd stay away from single actions as a first gun. The Hi-Power is a great gun, but if this is your first, you want to learn single and double. You can treat the CZ-75 as a single action, but you can't treat the Hi-Power as a double action. That is, except for cocked-and-locked which I don't recommend anyhow.

 

[J Jones]

CZs can accept the Kadet kit so that your SD gun and your proctice gun are one in the same, using 9mm for SD and .22lr for practice.

 

[El Rojo]

When we went shooting, the Taurus 9mm you liked so much was a close copy of the Berreta 92 that so many people have suggested. I like my Taurus. If it didn't have 13 round magazines and I wasn't such a gun nut, I would consider selling it to you. Sorry, you gotta get your own bro.

Guys just make suggestions of what he can look at. He can cruise the net and look around at what he might like and then go from there. I seriously doubt he is going to want to buy a .22 and then go up from there. This is a first gun for the home gun. He needs something that is going to stop someone. If he needs practice, he can get a holster and go out with his brother-in-law and practice with his regular caliber gun as much as we want.

I respect the idea that it is his gun and he needs to pick what feels good, but give him some options. Right now he thinks the Desert Eagle is the cat's meow. Do you want him plunking down the dough to get a hand cannon first thing?

 

[Andrew Wyatt]

take a look at the springfield mil spec, it's a reliable 1911, which means it's got a better trigger than any DA.

 

[cool45auto]

See,

I strongly recommend you get yourself a Beretta 92FS. It is an excellent first pistol, and 15-round magazines are plentiful. Be careful, though, if you get a pistol that never jams up you'll be spoiled for life.

Devonai knows.

 

[iwjev]

Here are some of my fav 45acp semi-autos:
Glock30,
Sig P220 (I also have the P245),
1911 (I have a Kimber full and compact),
H&K Compact

 

[E=MC^2]

first handgun? No delimma for me about what to reccomend. A Ruger .22 auto. about 200$ and ammo is 500 rounds (that is a LONG afternoon shooting) under 10$. Shoot it a lot and have fun. Then graduate to a centerfire if/when you want bigger. Fun first, competency second, defensive caliber third.

I'm with 'necktie' and others here. My answer would mirror this one.

 

[DIETRYN]

You would llike to only spend $600.00 dollars. I tell you what, save up another $140.00 and get a SIG 229 .40s&w it's one of the badest handgun's made today. you'll be glad you did really.

 

[Majic]

There's a reason a lot of folks recommend a .22lr for new shooters. Something many of the newer shooters today never learned. Good shooting is a learned skill. Anybody can pick up a gun and just pull the trigger. Look at the targets at all the ranges today and you can see who learned and who are just pulling triggers.
You don't just jump in the deep end of the pool when first learning to swim.