Thread: Seeking beginner's pistol recommendations

Originally Posted by kaptain_zero

I keep wanting to respond to this thread as I used to be a gunsmith and yet the country I live in prohibits any sort of carry.....<sigh>.

The words "Go big or go home" ring rather true in the self defence arena. If you pull a howitzer out of your pocket, you'll get very little pushback. Pull a slingshot out of the same pocket and the story will be entirely different.

Back in the day, we used to rebuild and re-chamber CZ-75 semi autos... probably the nicest semi I can think of, once the work was done. But.... for personal carry.... and I may be dating myself here, because I have not followed the gun scene since I quit smith'ing some 30+ years ago, it would be an S & W model L, 4.5" barrel and chambered for .41 Mag. Yes, it would be custom built, but it would be done in such a way that I would have full confidence in it. Oh wait.... I'm not allowed to carry it.....<sigh>.... never mind.

Regards

Kaptain "Thank god the politicians are willing to throw themselves in front of me, to protect me!" Zero

It's only "ILLEGAL" if you get caught........

This one...

Thanks for the suggestions!

One thing I'm trying to figure out is the trigger action to get.

I talked to the pro shop at the training facility, and they were recommending the Sig P226 or P229 in 9mm (they are a Sig Sauer facility). I asked about striker fired and they mentioned the P320 as well. In class, I had fired the P229, a DA/SA and we did both actions.

I have to admit, with my lack of experience, I found the 10 lb pull hard to do smoothly and accurately. The shots with SA ~4.5 lb pull, were much better.

I went to a local gun store (oldest one in the state, been around since the invention of the wheel). I told them my experience and goals. They showed me about five brands and one or two in each brand. Some with separate safeties, some with trigger safeties, some without. they were recommending mostly the 9mm, a few of the .45s, and not the .40, for a beginner. I tried holding and pulling the trigger on each pistol (briefly).

Just from that I could see that they felt different, and the trigger pulled differently - some longer, some shorter, some easily and then harder at the end of the pull.

Clearly, I need to spend more time with each. The number of guns was a bit overwhelming for a first visit, but I wrote down each one, so that I could investigate them better.

I found a local range, and will go there today to see what they have for rentals, so that I can try different brands than what's used in class.

It should be a fun journey, and I'll surely want to ping you folks on what your thoughts are on the various models I come across.

Also, some quick beginners advice - the best thing you can do is dry firing. Leaning how much finger to place onto the trigger is very important (too much will result in throwing rounds off target). Placing a penny onto the stop of the slide (assuming it is an auto) and being able to dry fire without knocking it off or moving it too much will prove useful. It will also help develop the hand/wrist muscles needed for smooth trigger pull (helping to prevent "trigger slap", i.e. harsh rapid pulling that once again will throw shots). Learning to change magazines (without looking at the weapon, eyes always on target) should also be part of a training regiment. Quick drills like clearing a malfunction (stove pipes, double feeds, bad magazines, and so on) is a good thing. And last, but not least, learn to draw from the holster you carry in many different type of positions (standing, sitting in a car and or resturant seat, even laying on the ground). All these drills help develop muscle memory that will continue to function when your body is having and adrenaline dump. Sorry for the info overload, this stuff has been beaten into me for years. Hope it helps!

Originally Posted by bouschie

Start with a Ruger Mark II with a bull barrel in .22 Cal. Inexpensive to shoot. Extremely accurate. Almost no recoil. Still can use for home defense. Well placed shots center of mass will work. And you don't have to worry about missed shots passing thru several walls like you would with a high power pistol.

This is a very good pistol. I am looking for on now to play with but for a beginner i would suggest a nice pellet pistol . an inexpensive one to help train. as stated before the 22lr ammo some times is hard to come by and then it's expensive where as the pellets aren't. and you can practice with the pellets or BB's (if the pistiol shots both) most anywhere there a sufficient back stop.

Originally Posted by Suticat

This one...

Only for church.

Caliber vs Surroundings

You have to also consider not only what you are shooting at, but where the bullets are going to go if you miss..

Remember you are responsible for each round..

The most important question to ask is do you have a neighbor on the other side of a single wall ??? like an Apartment, Condo, or Town-home might..

For somebody like me where my nearest neighbor is over 1/2 mile away through the woods, and my most likely threat is a pissed off mama moose or a thieving bear a .44 magnum is a logical choice to have on my side
At my old place in CO living in the epitome of Cul-de-sac Suburbia my caliber of choice was a .45 acp with huge saucer cup sized hollow points that would probably not come out of a outer house wall at lethal velocity

They really should go over all this stuff in class too..


Honestly I have always pushed beginners more toward a revolver for a First Weapon, but the current trend is really slanted toward pistols instead

This just popped up on my FB feed from a shooting friend's page

It has some good pointers to ask your Instructor about

Graphics Show 10 Things Not Everyone Thinks About When Shooting a Pistol


ps: in the article they reference BRAS I learned it as BRASS where the first S is Slack - Take up the Trigger slack realign then Squeeze but no big deal

A couple of things that make the Glock my choice are the trigger and the the low bore axis. A typical revolver, and many semi-autos have a high bore axis relative to the shooter's hand. The lower bore axis reduces muzzle flip since the recoil tends to go straight back. When Gaston Glock designed his masterpiece this was one of the things he considered when comparing the competition for the military contract that Glock won.

I had a P229 and sold it because I didn't care for the ergonomics or the higher bore axis. For a time I had a romance with Kahr pistols. I like them alright, but the trigger pull is very long before the break. The Glock trigger is short and crisp and trigger pull weights are easily adjusted by changing out the disconnect.

My favorite semi-auto is the Browning Hi Power. For me nothing points like a Hi Power, and removing the magazine safety on my 9mm left me with a great trigger. It is a double stack holding 13 or 15 rounds depending on the magazine, and being all steel, a thick grip and heavy. The real deal breaker for me for CCW with the Hi-Power is the thumb safety.

I became very proficient with double action shooting with revolvers back in the '70s, and if it ain't DAO I won't carry it. I'm okay with single action and thumb safeties at the range, but not in an omelet hits the fan situation. YMMV Anyway, whatever you do try a Glock before you settle on something else.

I've owned 3 pistols. My first was a S&W model 32....9mm. My father gave it to me. Loved that gun. It had walnut grips and felt very nice in hand.
My next 2 pistols were Glocks. Model 19 and 23. Loved those also. Felt great in hand too. Shot them all on the range. My carry pistol was my Glock 23. 40 cal rounds with Blue Dots for home defence and Black Talons in normal carry situations. This was back in the mid 90s...... All 3 pistols were different and I learned what to expect from each one. The recoil, the weights..... All the variables. I only carried 6 rounds in the clip, unless target shooting. I never saw the need to have more rounds in the clip.

I was real lucky to have older gentleman (most of them strangers) at the outdoor range who showed me proper techniques in shooting. All the way from basic target shooting to some tactical techniques. They also would let me shoot some of their pistols to see what they like to fire. I really appreciated all that I learned. I really miss pistol target shooting. I left my Glock 23 at my Mom's in South Carolina, not legal here in Canada... I sold the other 2, many years ago.