Can these handguns last a lifetime??

I was given a 1911 made in 1918 for my 13th birthday I'm 65 now and it is still going strong. The only shooting I was involved in was with an issued Model 15 .38spl One shot put the bad guy down forever its bullet placement over power. that was in the mid eighty's & I still have that gun & shoot it often too.
 
what he said nodule

Regular ol' .38 Special has sent a lot of bad guys to meet their maker in the 100+ years since it's introduction. Stoked with a good +P "FBI" load or modern specialty ammo the .38 is still a viable option.
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nothing wrong with 38's
 
Spend a bit less time on YouTube and a bit more time reading on the forums.
YouTube has a high idiot ratio... "Hey y'all, watch this!"
 
"I hope to puchase BOTH a revolver and semi-auto, and be done."

Famous last words, as others have noted!

My GP100 with rubber finger groove grips is a dream to shoot with magnums, and 38's almost like .22's by comparisons, and makes for great habit learning/unlearning. For the auto, I don't know why you would limit yourself to Beretta offerings, but I won't knock someone that knows what he wants. Don't worry, if you like shooting whatever you get, you'll be back to the gun store, shaking and with sweaty palms...
 
nodule, these are mechanical items. Therefore, they can always be refurbished.

I've shot all of those guns you're looking at.

The Beretta 92 is a great gun, a real classic. It has that classical metal gun feel, and everything operates as smoothly as butter. It was very easy to shoot accurately with this gun; on account of the long barrel and heavy weight keeping recoil down.

The older version of this gun had the safety mounted on the frame. Taurus now owns that tooling, and they sell that gun under their own name as PT92. I used to own a Taurus PT92 and I regret selling it. You can probably safely save some money buying the Taurus and not lose any quality.

The Storm is also a very nice gun. Even a little more ergonomic in the hand than the 92. It is just as well-made, but has a slightly shorter barrel, is lighter, and doesn't feel quite as tight at the 92. The one I shot had a laser mounted, and was really accurate. Fantastic trigger; a little nicer than the 92.

The GP-100 is the one of the revolvers you'll want if you want a gun that will last a lifetime with no service. However, the trigger from the factory is not as nice as that of the Smith, so the lifetime of shooting will not be quite as enjoyable. It isn't a dog or anything, it just isn't quite as smooth or crisp as the Smith. I own the GP-100's little brother, the SP-101 and installed the Wolff Spring kit and polished certain internal components to smooth it up. It is now about 90% as nice as a stock, new S&W trigger.

The GP-100 has the rubber grip that wraps all the way around the grip frame. The Smith puts the back of the frame right in the web of your hand. Therefore, the GP-100 is lots more comfortable to shoot with magnum loads. 38s don't kick enough in either to be an issue.

You seem to know you want to shoot 38s. I think you should just get a 38 caliber Smith & Wesson. They're smaller and lighter. The 686 is too barrel-heavy to me, due to that full underlug. They don't balance the same way as the lighter barreled Smiths. All new S&Ws of which I'm aware can also handle 38+P, which is substantially more powerful than regular old 38 Special. 38 Specials have to not destroy guns that are 100+ years old, so they are a little "light in the loafers"; they almost feel like 22s when shot from a big revolver like you're looking at. If you got a 38 revolver, you could shoot 38s and 38+Ps and not worry about scoring the chambers and making it hard to chamber magnums when you DO want to shoot them. You would also know that 38+P is more than up to the task of self defense.

You should give up the idea right now of only having two guns. If you like guns and you like shooting them (and I suspect you will) these will be the first of many.

I recommend you start out with a 22 auto pistol and one of the two above guns. You'll thank me later. You'll learn to shoot without going broke on ammo. Each time you go to the range, you'll bring the 22. You can let your wife or girlfriend and kids (if you have them) shoot the 22.

I bring my 22 every time I go out, and I always finish with it. Sometimes, I get by only shooting one box of expensive centerfire ammo, and I shoot half the time with the inexpensive 22. 22 is also very easy to shoot accurately, which is very rewarding. Buying a 22 for my first gun was the best advice I ever took.

Think on it. ;)
 
If I were going to build a minimal gun collection, nodule, here's what it'd be:

  • A 22 rifle, probably my Ruger 77/22 in 22LR. Maybe a Marlin 60 (hunting, range use)
  • A 22 pistol, probably my Ruger Mk. II Target model (or equivalent) (range, target competition, maybe hunting, home defense gun for my wife)
  • A 44 Magnum revolver, probably my Ruger Redhawk (hunting, target shooting, range gun)
  • A 9mm or 45 ACP auto, either something like your 92 or something like my 1911.
  • A pump or automatic shotgun, for hunting and clays. Maybe even home defense if you get one that can take a short barrel
  • A centerfire rifle in 243 Winchester (targets, varmints, deer)

If I had to limit it to two guns, they would be my 22 pistol and my 1911 in 45, because I live in suburbs of a big city in a gun-hostile state. (we're not even allowed to hunt with rifles in IL) If I lived further out and could shoot outdoors more often, I'd probably have the 22 rifle instead of the pistol.
 
Look

Smaug,

Thank you....that was a great response and you covered everything in detail.
This gives me something to think about.
 
"I have a friend who is a certified firearms instructor and he tells me he never shots .357, its just too crazy he says. He says for general range fun shooting, the .38 is very comfortable and fun to shot and really no need to ever shot .357 rounds."
While I admit that full power .357 rds aren't suitable for all occasions, firing them in a full sized revolver is great fun. All day in a snubbie, maybe not so much. Is it safe to assume that your friend doesn't have a .44 mag or one of the larger magnums? The fun of owning any magnum handgun is the boom and flash of full power loads. Otherwise, why bother?
 
With proper care your grand kids can use them. I know this is a 22 cal but I just shot 500 rounds thru my new to me S&W K22, manufactured in early 1948. I can drive tacks with it. My 11 year old grand son will get it when I'm done with it. As nice as it shoots he will have to wait a little while.
 
In his book Fast and Fancy Revolver Shooting Ed McGivern has pictures of machine rest groups fired from 1920s vintage S&W K-22s with over 200,000rounds through them, they are one hole groups. Using lead instead of jacketed bullets will make the rifling last longer in a revolver, I have seen some dedicated semiauto shooters recommend frequent changes of springs. As others have noted, proper cleaning and maintenance will make a big difference.
 
nodule said:
Its funny cause MOST of the YOU TUBE clips I had been watching of guys
firing .357, it seems they are in pain, stressed, not fun and relieved when
they are done shooting.
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They're either quite sensitive to recoil or drama queens making a show of themselves, or both. ;) While some people are more sensitive to recoil than others, .357 Magnum out of a full-size revolver shouldn't be painful unless you're doing something wrong (and that does happen, as some people have such an insecure grip that the gun literally beats their hand up with every shot).

Another alternative is that they're shooting extremely lightweight guns, which can be somewhat painful with .357 Magnum unless you've got a strong constitution or are used to it. I find it unpleasant but not unbearable. I wouldn't recommend it to beginners for personal defense, though.

nodule said:
But again, I really want this new hobby to be fun and I really have NO intention
to have this gun set up for self dense purposes. I live in a VERY area and NEVER
felt i needed a handgun for protection.
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Then .357 Magnum is the perfect caliber for you because it's awfully fun to shoot, given a sufficiently heavy revolver and good hearing protection, anyway. And if it kicks too hard, then you could always shoot .38 Special, which is fun, too.

nodule said:
Will the .357 round be a MUCH louder blast than the .38 round?
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From my personal experience (I have good and somewhat sensitive hearing), heck yes! I have to double up on hearing protection (muffs over earplugs) whenever I shoot .357 Magnum (usually in an indoor range, which makes things worse) or somebody else is doing so next to me. I recommend doubling up to everybody anyway, but I could skip the plugs with most other calibers.

nodule said:
I have EXCELLENT hearing and was wondering if this new hobby will have risks
of some hearing issues long term?
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I wonder about that sometimes, because gunshots are loud noises even with good hearing protection. It would be safest to say that yes there is a risk of damaging your hearing over the long term, but then again hardly anything in life is completely without risk. My ears have always been good at telling me when they've had enough (or too much), so I just go with how they feel when I'm shooting. Generally they feel just fine when they're properly protected, so I feel confident in proceeding. On the other hand, if they start to feel uncomfortable in any way, then I'll call it a day.

nodule said:
If I wear the appropriate hearing protection, will this be an issue?
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I don't think it will for the vast majority of people, and it hasn't been so far even for me and my sensitive hearing. I haven't been shooting very long, but it has been fairly intense over the past couple of years (I have a reason for training so hard), and I have not experienced any negative effects over that time. I can't account for every case, though--it has to be a small risk that you're willing to take.

To put things in perspective, some people have shot guns without any protection for years and still seem to hear fine, while others (I would say a good majority of such people) have been significantly impacted in their later years, if not immediately. I figure that with good protection and common-sense precautions, the risk of damaging my hearing in the long term is low--not enough for me to give up my guns! I don't think it'd hurt for you to try it once (with protection!) to give you some idea of what you're comfortable with. I'm only making such a big deal in the first place because certain people, like us, may be at higher risk than average.

One more thing, if you shoot outdoors with protection, then I wouldn't even worry about it. Double up with muffs & plugs, avoid anything that makes your ears feel bad, monitor their condition with each shot, go outside, and fire away! ;)
 
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