First Handgun

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Good evening,

So I've finally made the decision the purchase a handgun. I've only recently become interested in shooting sports and have also come across a point in my life where the idea of having something for home protection is important to me - peace of mind is valueable when your family is at stake.

Anyway, I grew up shooting shotguns and grouse hunting with my father but I've never owned a handgun. Over the past year I've shot several of my father-in-law's handguns - an old .22 revolver, a S&W 9MM, a rueger 357 revolver and a Colt 1911. Honestly I've shot maybe 50-60 rounds total and don't really have a great feel or a favorite among the group.

Here is really what I am looking for:

Something that I can carry with my 1-2 times per month when I work for a buddy of mine. I end up in the middle of the southeastern AZ desert by myself and would love some peace of mind whether it be from critters or bad guys.

Something that can live in my nightstand for home protection.

And Something that if fun to take to the range, that I can learn with without breaking the bank on ammo.

My day to day life is fairly busy but I spend 90% of my time either at a local high school or at the University of Arizona, both of which frown upon conceal carry so it's not the big of a deal to me.

What should I be looking for? When people talk about "fit" what do they mean? What should a pistol feel like in your hand?

I plan on taking a intro pistol course at one of the ranges down here to get my feet wet but my excitement has driven me to the forms.

Your help is appreciated!

Thanks,

Ben
 
Ben, it is my pleasure to welcome you to TFL. My first thoughts for you would be a 357. It has enough knock down power for your work with your buddy, and for HD ( home defense). It will also except .38 special rounds for shooting at the range, and won't break your bank. The model and size is up to you. I'm a big guy and I like a good size grip, my choice for a 357 for myself is a Smith & Wesson 686. Good luck.
 
BTW Ben, guns are very addictive, and for some reason, in my house, they multiply like rabbits. Just be sure to do your homework, and buy quality.
 
One thing that I forgot to mention - I'm left handed - any difference this makes when choosing a handgun??
Ben
 
What he said. ^ :D


A .357 would be a great start, for a few reasons.

SIMPLICITY. There aren't as many moving parts, so maintenance, etc. will be much easier for someone just getting into handguns.

STORAGE. You mention that you would want it in/on your nightstand just in case. Some people will argue that it doesn't make a difference, but I think that leaving a magazine loaded for extended periods of time will weaken the spring and cause issues. With a revolver you don't have that problem.

POWER. The .357 Magnum is a hot round, and you can use .38 Special rounds in it to practice so you don't break the bank/wrist. I know first hand (I used to live in Phoenix) that a .357 is a life saver in the Arizona wilderness.


All in all, a Smith and Wesson 686, Ruger GP100, or Taurus Model 66 would be fine.

Also, depending on your budget, I would suggest looking at Smith and Wesson Model 10. There are a ton of police trade in's available where I'm at, and I can find them all day for $230-280. They were police issue, and then when the departments switched weapons, POOF, tons of Model 10 revolvers with no place to call home. :D
 
One thing that I forgot to mention - I'm left handed - any difference this makes when choosing a handgun??
Ben
Click to expand...


The only left handed revolver I know of is Charter Arms' Southpaw, but it's a stub nose 5 shot .38 Special for concealed carry.
 
Your left handedness won't mean much if you get a revolver, unless you get the previously mentioned Charter Arms Southpaw. If you get a semi-auto then the location of the safety (if it has one) might become an issue. I'll jump on the .357 wagon. If you only have one gun for the rest of your life it's hard to beat a good .357 magnum revolver.

Anything from S&W or Ruger is a safe bet. If you stop by your local pawn shop then Colt will make its way into the mix. If you're shopping in the budget aisle, then Charter Arms gets my vote over Taurus or any of the other south-of-the-border guns. They are cheap guns, and there is a lemon here and there. But they're backed by an American company.

Also, "fit" is a lot like love. You'll know it when you feel it.
 
Which Eye Is Dominant?

You mentioned you are left handed, but the bigger question is are you right eye dominant or left eye dominant. If you are right eye dominant, I would suggest looking at using your right hand as your strong (shooting) hand for the following cumulative reasons.

You are right eye dominant.
Most firearms are made for right handed shooters.
Most firearm accessories (holsters, etc) are made for right handed shooters.
You are new to shooting so learning to shoot right handed should not be much if any different than learning to shoot left handed.
 
Agreed with all of the above. You really can't beat a 4", medium frame .357 mag revolver for versatility. Stainless is nice, too.

A Ruger or S&W and you can't go wrong. And by all means, get adjustable sights.
 
My best suggestion is to try and find a range with a big selection of rental guns and shoot as many different types as you can. SOME ranges will let you shoot a bunch of different ones on the same day for one fee ($25 at my range but you have to buy their ammo).

A reputable mid-size 9mm auto works well as a first gun for many people.

The only way to know about fit is to shoot a bunch and pay attention to which ones feel natural, comfortable, easy-to-place-on-target. Notice the differences in triggers... how much pull each one takes... where in the pull the gun actually fires. I also recommend paying a lot of attention to weight.

For a first gun, a middle-of-the road choice... not too small, not too big... seems best.

Shoot a few more... Your own preferences will reveal themselves.

For 9mm autos, the Walther PPQ is a great gun with ambidextrous features.
If you prefer a bit smaller, lighter, thinner... the Walther PPS, and the more economical Kahr CW9 or Ruger LC9 are all nearly the same in size, weight, capacity, and reputation for reliability.
 
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Watch tod jarret video on youtube. He has some good instructions on how to hold a pistol, trigger pull, etc. He mostly uses a 1911 on his videos but instructions apply to other pistols.
 
Thanks everyone, lots of good and helpful information here, I do appreciate it.

I'm going to try and see whether any of the ranges around here allow rentals, seems like the best option to see what I'm in for with a purchase. A friend of mine has a springfield xdm 9mm that I'm also getting to shot this weekend. Hopefully I'll get some good feedback.

Thanks again.
Ben
 
Rent or borrow ..and shoot as many guns as you can. Even if its a range where they don't rent guns ...a lot of guys will let you put some rounds thru a gun - if you show some interest in what they're doing.

In terms of fit - it depends on what fits your hands - so its comfortable / so you can shoot it well. As you shoot a few guns - you'll find feel of triggers really vary a lot ...some are constant pull weight, some change after first shot by going to single action...some have long resets, some don't ...some break at 10 lbs - some at 4 lbs .. some have slack, some have creep ...

night sights, no night sights, revolvers with red ramps on front, some without... revolvers in double action vs single action ( if you cock the hammer )....

Poly frame, alloy frame, carbon steel frame, stainless frames ...smooth grips, heavily checkered grips, wood, plastic, etc...

single stack mags ...( lower capacity ) vs double stack mags ( more capacity) ...but double stack mags mean the gun is wider and heavier..so its a trade off.

caliber - I'd stay with .357 mag in a revolver ( probably 4" ) and you can shoot .38 spl in it for practice as well. A good semi-auto in 9mm is a good option ...ammo is pretty cheap.

I like S&W revolvers - in 4" - a model 66 or 19 are good options ( medium sized frame)- K frame. Very good guns. You should test them against the Ruger options ...see which ones you like the best in terms of triggers - there is a big difference. It isn't right or wrong / its what you like or not.

Springfield XD is a good gun / and I also like the offerings from Sig Sauer...like a 229 ( med sized - double stack) or the 226 ( full sized - double stack) - or even the 239 (single stack)...good guns.
 
http://www.corneredcat.com/Contents/
This web site can answer most of your questions.

For my part I agree with BigJimP. Rent or borrow lots of different guns. If you can find them there are introductory gun classes that let you try out a variety of guns.
Take your time.

A good .22 as a first gun is always a good option. It lets you learn the basics of shooting at low cost. They also give you more time to look for a centerfire handgun.

Fit is just that. Grip the gun point it in a safe direction. Do the sights line up naturally? does your trigger finger reach the trigger comfortably?
The first knuckle of that finger should reach the trigger and the finger pad should rest on the front of the trigger.

There is no rule governing what gun is right for you.
 
I'm a 4" K-frame guy, too. However, you may want to check out a .38 SPL gun first. They are considerably cheaper than the equivalent in .357. Buffalo Bore et al make some pretty hairy .38 ammo these days, too. If you want even more horsepower later on, when you get your feet wet, you can always trade up.
 
So someone mentioned earlier eye dominance. While I am left handed I am right eye dominant. Can anyone speak on their experience with cross dominate features? I'm actually fairly tempted to try and learn to shot right handed as I do play guitar right handed...

Anyway, I'm headed to my local range this weekend to rent and try out as many revolvers and autos that I can.

On a side note, I have a friend who swears by the beretta 9mm but haven’t seen too much on this forum concerning this particular handgun. He's in another state so I can't shoot his but what are the thoughts on this pistol?

Thanks for everyone's help. Amazed at the amount of videos out there on youtube and now I am sooo itching to go shooting this weekend.

Ben
 
The hard part for you is you are jumping into a steep learning curve. On the other hand a lot of fun doing so as long as you are patient and do not get frustrated. Work it through slowly and it will come to you.

Unfortunately the best intentioned people will try to push you to one gun and brand or another and are not in your shoes. While I have my preferences, its not time for that yet.

Barreta can be a good gun, but that choice should be down the line.

First separator has to be revolver vs semi auto.

You also need to learn to shoot your choice accurately, or its wasted or even worse. Thats going to take a bit to achieve. And for your scenario thats longer open shots and you have to try to put yourself under tensions and see how you shoot.

If you want to shoot a lot the 9mm is the lowest cost round, but you can shoot wad-cutters in a 357 and those are not expensive rounds either.

Revolvers are not complicated, but they do have limitations. 357 is a good round for what you need for the desert, not so good for home defense, though you can do lower power loads (that’s my take now, at one time I was perfectly good with a 5 shot 44 special for home defense, but I carried a different gun outside).

Me, I like S&W and Rugger in revovlers. Solid guns, excellent support in unlikely event its needed.

The semi autos fall into two major categories.

Striker fired which is a mid level trigger pull of 6-8 lbs more or less that cocks a firing pin (no hammer) or releases a partially cocked firing pin. I don't care for them but they work for a lot of people.

What the now call DA/SA (Double Action/Single Actions) semi autos are very close to revolvers in firing. They differ that once the first round is fired they self load and you have a much lower trigger pull for the second shot (Single Action) Like a revolver they can be cocked so you start with a good SA trigger pull (depends on what you are facing if you really want to do that, revolver or semi auto in SA is going to fire with 3-4 lbs trigger pull. If I am in that mode the finger is outside the trigger guard unless I am target shooting.

One plus for a SA/DA like the Sig SP2022 (by far their best priced gun and is ubber reliable and worth a consideration if you go that direction) is that it has no safety. The 10 lb DA pull is the safety (plus interlocks that prevent any possible discharge if it falls without the trigger being pulled). The magazine release can be move to the other side. It also has a separate de-cock lever. I have no use for the DA/SA semi autos that have a safety as well (and some you move UP to have it off, maybe safer but opens all sorts of possibilities of it being off or getting to off and having to figure out why it won’t fire when you need it)

Semi auto has to be totally reliable. That leaves HK and Sig, in the SA/DA in my opinion (Barretta too but I am not fond of them), striker you have Smith, Glock, XD in no particular order.

357 Sig round in a semi auto is a very capable round and worth a consideration, though I have gone with 9mm for my HD needs (no longer range stuff like you would see in a dessert though its capable of 50 yard use in an emergency).

So, sorting out what works for you is the first steps, that may take some time and you may wind up with several guns eventually. When I carried a gun in the field I settled in on the 41 Magnum. Now I have shifted to a semi auto with a laser (my eyes do not see that well in the dark and even night sights are hard to acquire though I have them).

My take is that while the average gun fight lasts only 3 rounds, a home invasion is likely to have multiple people and the specific round count may reach 10 or 12. Better to have too much than too little. The Semi auto meets all those requirements I have laid out with no downside for me (I have been shooting them all my life, though I was much heavier into revolvers when I bought my own guns initially)
 
I'm cross dominant, meaning right handed, left eye dominant. I shoot right handed. With handguns, I simply slide the gun over a bit to use my left eye, usually adding a slight tilt. I'm pretty damn accurate. With rifle or shotgun, I simply shoot with both eyes open, optic or not, as all people should. If I'm shooting a ling gun and going for extreme accuracy, and can take my time, I might close my left eye. But for when SHTF, it's both eyes open, all the time.


Also, since you play the guitar right handed, it won't be hard to train right handed for the weapon you choose, and will work great with your eye dominance. Also, the post about most weapons, accessories being made for right hand is spot on, and it would do benefit you greatly to train for right hand. Of course, don't neglect left hand/weak hand shooting when training. And being left handed, you should do that easily enough.

Other then a revolver, which all virtues have been touched on, I too would choose a .357 if I went wheel, if one wanted to go semi auto, it's hard to beat the simplicity of the Glock. Used, they can be had fairly cheap, and like mentioned, the 9mm round isn't expensive at all. And can be honked up to some serious velocities and decent weight.
 
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