Purchased First Firearm In 74 Years

L

Long Beard

Inactive
Two weeks ago, having been shooting pistols of mine and various family members over the years, my mother confronted me out of the blue wanting a pistol of her own. I think it's worth mentioning that, at 74, she is above average on her proficiency skills out to twenty-five yards. Eye sight reduced any thing farther. The local gun shop, like many, is struggling to meet demand. She, not one to put things off, settled on an SCCY CPX-2 ( 9mm ) with Crimson Trace 1/2 dot optics. Being that I know little about this manufacture, I must honestly say I'm impressed with both fit and function. My only remaining concern is longevity, in two weeks she's already sent two and a half boxes down range (approx. 125). Anyone familiar with these guys or just general comments?
 
I've had one for a couple of years and it has been flawless. However, as small as it is, it gets our attention when you shoot it.
 
First of all congrats to your Mom! While I do not own one, I have shot one and it shot surprisingly well for such a inexpensive gun. Although I personally did not like the wide grip. New shooters may prefer that. I have seen them many times at my club and owners seem to like them. I also have noticed at my LGS there are always many available. I almost bought one just to fool around with a red dot. But the ammo shortage made me reconsider.

Here is a video where the youtube reviewer says that he shoots better than some guns costing 7 times as much, maybe a exaggeration, but still it shot well. I like the fact that it is DAO. That may be a drawback to a "New" shooter, but does not seem the case with your Mom.
Normally I would not be interested in a aluminum chassis gun in the long term, but for the amount of ammo anyone gets to shoot these days and for a Non Range Rat person that does do heavy shooting, long term should be no issue. I have know people that have owned them for years.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Thn8GEbFF4
 
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SCCY has some serious quality control issues.

If I was going to recommend a first gun to someone it would be a first generation M&P Shield.
 
Moonglum said:
SCCY has some serious quality control issues.

If I was going to recommend a first gun to someone it would be a first generation M&P Shield.
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The S&W was the recommended choice I suggested, she's shot my first gen M&P .40 and liked it except for the size, but the gun shop we stopped at didn't have any EZ's at the moment.
 
I recently handled a Canik 9mm and was really surprised and how well it felt. For the price it is well built, belongs to a friend of mine who is a detective and carries it when off duty. I have no practical experience with the sccy. My wife picked the Walther PPQ because of the ergonomics and it is one heck of a gun with a great trigger out of the box.

Congratulations to your mother. Your mother will know what is best for her.
 
Yup... availability is the key. i've been noticing an increase in options lately, but still not pre-scamdemic. i am sure it's different where you are, i was lucky enough to be able to choose from i think 5 different Shield models lat month, April. the Shop also had probably 25 other handguns of various makes and models. i didn't bother checking out another Gun Shop near me because i had been there a month earlier and their counters were pretty bare. turns out they too had been able to receive quite few new stock, but they didn't have any S&W pistols in stock. i believe we are nearing inventories similar to early 2019. though prices are a bit higher now...
 
Used to own a CPX2

Bought it new, it always went bang and was fairly accurate for its size. What I didn’t like about it was it hurt my hand to shoot. None of my other 9mm handguns hurt my shooting hand like the SCCY.
Ended up trading it for a Ruger MK IV 22/45 since I have several 9 mm handguns.
 
A good option and you get when you pay for....

My only remaining concern is longevity, in two weeks she's already sent two and a half boxes down range (approx. 125). Anyone familiar with these guys or just general comments?
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Staying on point; I owned on for about 6-years and could not tell you how many boxes of shells, I have shot; perhaps ten, without any problems. I have also recommended these to friends and their only problem is they expect it to hit the 10-ring are 50yds. It is what it is and it isn't a target pistol. :rolleyes:

I'm not current on their warranty as I know it has changed. For the money, you can't go wrong and yes, there are equals or better, out there. Also, they are very easy to disassemble and clean. I tear mine down with a bullet...... ;)

Be Safe !!!
 
A friend had one a few years ago. Brand new we went to the range to shoot it.
It locked back and didn't budge. He sat it on the table and I reached for another gun and promptly knocked it off the table onto the concrete.
My buddy looked at me and said it will work prefect now. He tried it and it ran without a hitch. So if the gun fails in any way throw it on the ground. :) :)
 
You didn't mention whether money was an issue. If not, spend a little more money and opt for an S&W Shield 9mm. Great gun, totally reliable and amazingly low recoil. Newest model is the Shield Plus with 13 rd magazine. Original Shield is single stack and limited capacity.
If not available at LGS, you can find them all day long on gunbroker.com.
 
Thinking long term, it would be a good idea to get her a S&W 9mmEZ or a 380EZ. The 380 version, which we have, is the first semi that my wife has been able to fully operate without my assistance.

Way back when, when I called my Mom to see what in the heck she’d want for Christmas, she said she wanted a 22 revolver in stainless. She was about the same age as your Mom.
 
The truth of it, Sccy is the bottom of all current production manufacturers.

What it copies (Kel Tec) has largely disappeared too with Ruger doing better copies.
 
You didn't mention whether money was an issue. If not, spend a little more money and opt for an S&W Shield 9mm.
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You realize he's already bought it, right? In terms of durability, at age 74, it's unlikely that she's going to wear it out. A friend of mine has had an SCCY for a couple of years and he still likes it. Most importantly, he reports the pistol being 100% reliable after approximately 400 rounds or so (using hardball).
 
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