Need Advice on Self Defense gun

S

stonewall50

New member
So I am almost 20 and I have a whole year to decide on what my first pistol purchase will be(since I dont drink thats 21 is about lol). I am an experienced shooter(since I was about 10 or so with my father) with magnums and .45 ACP. I am looking for something compact and reliable and either a wheelgun or a semi auto is fine, I have no preference. I have kind of settled on 3 calibers balistically: .38 Special, 9mm, and .40 S&W. I like the performance of the .40 cal, but if the bullets are expensive and the recoil is a little tiring(which is why I havent looked at the .45 ACP despite it being my favorite caliber) after a lot of shots. I want this gun to be a gun I can pass a concealed carry class with too.

So I guess basically I am looking for something that is reliable, cheap, easy to maintain, decent ballistics, and fairly accurate(Im not entering a competition, but if it maintains a decent accuracy I can get good with it). Any Ideas?
 
whats your definition of "cheap"? I can recommend a lot of guns, don't know about the "cheap". Walther P99, Glock 19,23,26,27, springfield XD's...
 
Get a Glock 19 or 26. You don't have to be 21, in order to buy a handgun in a private sale in FL. I carry a G26, but lots of people really like the G19.
 
I just got a G23 .40 cal for my first gun. The recoil takes some getting used to, and when you shoot a Glock you have to really lock your arms and wrists, as there's less weight in the gun to absorb recoil. The .40 being a higher pressure round makes accuracy even harder, harder than the .45 in my opinion. I've never shot a 38 special, but I know you'll have no problem with accuracy for a conceal carry class if you buy a 9mm. Though, once you get used to the .40 caliber round it is a pretty nice round to shoot. If you're worried about expensive ammo, then you don't know what trying to find ANY ammo is like right now. You can find decent full metal jackets in about any caliber, but trying to find good hollowpoints is near impossible for anything but 9mm and 45.

Edit: If you buy a .40 cal Glock, you only need to change 4 things on it to make it shoot 9mm. You can buy the Lone Wolf(lonewolfdist.com) 9mm conversion barrel for Glock .40s, which is precisely made to fit a .40 Glock rather than just trying to drop a 9mm Glock barrel in a .40 Glock. The other three parts are the clip of course, which must be a 9mm clip from a similar model Glock, the spring loaded bearing, and the extractor claw.

It's only necessary to change 2 parts for this conversion, the barrel and the clip, but changing the spring loaded bearing and buying a 9mm Glock extractor claw make 9mm feed much more reliably in a Glock .40.

Glock Conversion Barrel Review: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DLjNXG5MEnk
More Info on Glock .40 to 9mm Conversion: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=895VIc4ZyoU&feature=related
Part 2 of More Info on this Conversion: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pDxF09QAFeU&feature=related

For G23 Conversion to 9mm
Lone Wolf Glock 23 .40 conversion to 9mm Barrel: $99.95: http://lonewolfdist.com/Detail.aspx?PROD=983
G19 15 round 9mm magazine: $26.95: http://lonewolfdist.com/Detail.aspx?PROD=632
Glock 9mm spring loaded bearing: $2.49: http://lonewolfdist.com/Detail.aspx?PROD=382
Glock 9mm Extractor Claw: $17.95: http://lonewolfdist.com/Detail.aspx?PROD=426
 
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For your price range and having it still be a quality gun, I'd recommend Glock, Springfield XD, or S&W M&P, in that order.

FNH, H&K, and Walther are good guns, H&K and FNH being a little better in quality, but they're over-priced in my opinion, especially Walther.

SIG gives really good quality, but they're more overpriced for the quality they offer than FNH H&K and Walther.

Edit: I don't think you could say anything but H&K and SIG are better quality than Glock though.
 
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"reliable, cheap, easy to maintain, decent ballistics, and fairly accurate"

Get a Ruger SR9...it's 100 dollars cheaper than a glock, and your description of being reliable, cheap, easy to maintain, and fairly accurate is a word for word description of Ruger.
 
thanks for the ideas guys. Anyone know any good wheelguns? Like I said I wanna variety of guns to look at. I have been doing some research myself and I like the feel of some S&W revolvers.

I know I dont have to be 21 in Florida for private sale, but I want to give myself some time to look and find out what I like and get used to it and build up some cash to buy all the stuff i will want(ammo holster, clips and speedloaders and such). I have the money now, but I want to be able to try things out.
 
Yup, definitely rent all the guns you can. I went through about a dozen before settling on one. It's a lot less hassle than buying one, shooting it for a few months and selling it.

To bad they don't have timeshare firearms. :p

Oh as for wheelguns, if you want something 357/38 that can be carried but still shootable at the range, look at the 2" SP101. All stainless, extremely sturdy, right around 25oz. Ironically it's the same weight as my Kahr K9 I got after selling my SP.
 
lol. Probably not, and I dont know of any private ranges in tallahassee. There is only 1 range down in the forrest and its a public range and I dont think I want my fingerprints on some of the guns that run through there ;). Also most people out here shoot at their homes sense its mostly boondocks. I might try to go out on the firearms range at the police academy(i know alot of people out there).
 
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