New to forum and handguns

As you are a pretty fresh newbie, I would advise that you pay the little extra and avoid buying online or a used gun, unless you have someone knowledgeable enough to guide you through the purchases.

Used guns are great, but you need enough knowledge to know how to check them out. Online or interstate can be risky, because even new guns can have manufacturing problems, and dealing with this can be a headache for newbies (and everyone else as well).

I would advise to ask your friends and find a good qualified gun shop that will help guide you through the process. Have some friends make suggestions and look up gun clubs in your areas. Shooters are great people and very helpful.
A gun club is always looking for members, and there is always someone who can help you.
 
Welcome, Ctrain.

In the event you only shot that 686 single action, be sure you're willing to become proficient with the double action trigger before buying a DA revolver, especially since you said it'll be for HD use as well. Not everyone's crazy about a double action trigger, and it takes some practice to get good at. Still, it's a very worthwhile endeavor.
 
Regarding online purchases though, I have been looking quite a bit on the forum here for selling handguns, and I was wondering, how does that exactly work, if I were to say, buy a gun from someone in another state? They all say things like either face to face or FFL
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If you order a gun online, it usually has to be shipped to a dealer, from whom you'd then pick it up ("FFL" is short for "Federal Firearms Licensee").

If you buy a gun from someone in your home state, face-to-face, that apparatus is not needed. Be careful here, however, as state laws vary.
 
Ah got it, thank you for helping with that terminology, I figured out that FTF was face to face but the FFL was leaving me scratching my head. I probably will stay away from buying online for a bit, because as you said I am a pretty big newb, and any used gun I look at on the forums here looks like a beauty to me, so I would probably just gung-ho it and buy something I have no idea about really lol. Good thinking on saving me there. I will wait until I become more knowledgeable to buy online and expand my soon-to-be collection in that way. (Weird how I already know that I want a collection, and I haven't even decided on my first purchase. I am already addicted...:rolleyes:)

And thanks for the DA comment. For the 686 however (unless the one I used was an odd one out of the norm) isn't it a SA/DA gun? A few times I wanted to feel John Wayne-esque so I did the hammer pull and all that good stuff, but the rest I just shot DA. Is it normal for a S&W 686 to have a DA on the first pull, then be SA from there on out? I kind of liked that feature, I got used to the heavy first shot then an easy 5 after that.
 
No, a 686 is not self-cocking. My guess is you were thumbing the hammer back during recoil and muzzle flip... otherwise I can't explain how your shots 2-6 felt like SA.
 
Ah, weird. I think perhaps I am getting the other gun I shot that day mixed up with the 686. I think it was the Beretta 92f that I shot that was DA and then SA after. That sounds more right, I think. Thanks for catching me on that one MLeake :o
 
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