Teeny tiny shootin' irons

zilo

I took my girlfriend to the range today as part of her birthday celebration and we both had a great time. It was the first time either of us had ever handled a pistol and I think we're going to make it a weekly habit. So now I turn to the collected wisdom of H&A to see what we should be looking for when we decide to make our first firearm purchases. We're interested in .22LR pistols; she wants a revolver, I want an autoloader. These will be strictly range guns, we may try competitive shooting sometime down the road.

I'm looking for suggestions particularly in the revolver family; we shot a S&W .22 today but they're horribly expensive so we're looking elsewhere. Just about the only .22 wheelgun I found online is this one from Taurus. Has anyone had any experience with Taurus in general, or this gun in particular?

For myself I've been looking at the Beretta U22, the Ruger Mark III (and 22/45), or the S&W 22A. I'm leaning towards the Beretta due to the combination of price and parts catalog (I'm kind of a tinkerer and would like to be able to play around with scopes and whatnot). Of course I'll do my best to rent anything before I buy it but I'd like to get a handle on what I should look into first as renting guns is pricey.

I'm also open to the idea of getting a 9mm but like I said earlier these are range guns only and while the Sig 226 we fired today was fun, it wasn't really any more fun than the .22 and I can't really justify the extra expense just for a louder boom. Is there some reason I'd find a 9mm more enjoyable down the road?

I can't believe I waited so long to get into shootin'. What fun!

RocketSauce

zilo wrote: »

Is there some reason I'd find a 9mm more enjoyable down the road?

It can be used for opening your beers, turning off lights, shooting into the air at weddings. I guess some people use them for self defense on rare occasion, too.

If this is a range only gun, and by that I have no clue what you're meaning, because it's not like we just whip out our pistols in our house and practice, then a .22 is a good way to shoot for cheap. I shall warn you though, because your .22 will not satisfy you for long. You will want a bigger, and better gun in no time.

Organichu

RocketSauce wrote: »

If this is a range only gun, and by that I have no clue what you're meaning, because it's not like we just whip out our pistols in our house and practice

Range gun normally means that it's not intended for self defense- that is, there's no intention to carry it and it's not intended for home use because it's often stored unloaded and disassembled in an impractical location for home defense.

Grimm

This is the 9mm i have. So far i've got no complaints.
Beretta m9a1


My friends dad has a nice .22 ruger. I cant recall the name right now but i remember it being rather cheap. It looks alot like this one

zilo

By "range only" I mean I don't need it to shoot gophers or protect me from robbers (obviously), just pew pew at the range.

So you think the .22 will get old? I was worried that might be the case but a decent 9mm costs a lot more, both to buy and to shoot.

Grimm

A few months back i saw a conversion kit made to turn a colt .45 i think into a .22. Not sure what it goes for but might be worth looking into. That way you would be able to start out easy then when your ready, move up to something with a bit more kick to it.

Thanatos

I wouldn't bother with a Mark III Ruger; it's substantially more expensive--and not all that different--from a Mark II Ruger (which is what I own, and highly, highly recommend). Though, my dad has a Mark III Ruger, and he loves it, he's kind of a gun nut, so doesn't really worry about the price.

zilo

Can you buy the Mark II new? I don't see them on the Ruger website, only the Mark III. The price is right around the top end of what I'd be willing to pay so if it's a quality product I'd be okay with it. I suppose I should check at my local gun range this weekend and see if they have one. What makes the Ruger so great, if I may ask? I really know nothing about the market, having shot exactly 2 handguns in my entire life.

I saw a conversion kit to turn a Beretta 90 series into a .22 but the gun is $500+ and the kit is $450+, so I may as well get a .22 now and a 9mm later for that kind of money. It's a cool idea if you really like the Berettas but they're a bit wide for my hands (I held one at the range).

Fats

zilo wrote: »

So you think the .22 will get old? I was worried that might be the case but a decent 9mm costs a lot more, both to buy and to shoot.

Nah. I've been shooting since I was a wee lad and my .22s still see the most use. It's fun.

I'll second the Ruger Mark II or III. The other guns aren't bad, but the Ruger is the .22 autoloader for plinking as far as I'm concerned. As for your lady friend, take a look at the Ruger Single Six. It's a single action revolver, so if you don't want to cock it every time you might want to pass, but personally I enjoy it. The Taurus seems huge for a .22.

I've not had much luck with .22 conversion kits. I had one for my Kimber, but it shot worse than my Mark II.

043

If handguns aren't your only option, look into getting a Ruger 10/22. Tons of customization and the dirt cheap plinking of the .22LR.

Just shop around and don't pay too much for whatever you buy. Ol' Bubba at the local store telling you his price is the best doesn't mean it's true.

EDIT: As for me, I just acquired some nice, big irons. WASR-10 AK47 in 7.62x39mm. Still haven't got to shoot it yet, but I think it'll be a good redheaded stepchild to my AR15.

zilo

Fats wrote: »

I'll second the Ruger Mark II or III. The other guns aren't bad, but the Ruger is the .22 autoloader for plinking as far as I'm concerned. As for your lady friend, take a look at the Ruger Single Six. It's a single action revolver, so if you don't want to cock it every time you might want to pass, but personally I enjoy it. The Taurus seems huge for a .22.

Single action would be fine as she fired the S&W as a single action all afternoon and really liked it. We'll have to see if the range has one. And if she's willing to own something that looks like a cowboy gun. I think it's cool, but I'm not the one buying it.

As for the Rugers the only complaint I can seem to find about them is that they're a pain to crack open and clean- which makes me a bit wary as I want to be able to take good care of it without thinking of cleaning it as a dreadful chore. What exactly makes them so great? Accuracy? Reliability? I do like the safety features. Sell me on one so I have the motivation to get off my butt and get my California driver's license this week (so I can take the HSC cert test) instead of sitting around playing Rock Band all day.

edit: the 10/22 looks like great fun but I'd have to check and see if the range near my apartment would let me use it. Their webpage says they're strictly a handgun range.

Grimm

Thinatos wrote: »

I wouldn't bother with a Mark III Ruger; it's substantially more expensive--and not all that different--from a Mark II Ruger (which is what I own, and highly, highly recommend). Though, my dad has a Mark III Ruger, and he loves it, he's kind of a gun nut, so doesn't really worry about the price.

I dont think its a Mark III. This gun is somewhat old. Im just not sure what the exact name of it is and the pic i posted looks a bit like it.


Are you open to suggestions for something other then a hand gun? I started out with a remington 870 12 gauge shotgun and i love the thing. Not to mention you can play stuff like trap or skeet with it.

EDIT:

wikipedia wrote:

The 870 holds the record for best-selling pump gun in U.S. history

Thanatos

zilo wrote: »

Can you buy the Mark II new? I don't see them on the Ruger website, only the Mark III. The price is right around the top end of what I'd be willing to pay so if it's a quality product I'd be okay with it. I suppose I should check at my local gun range this weekend and see if they have one. What makes the Ruger so great, if I may ask? I really know nothing about the market, having shot exactly 2 handguns in my entire life.

I saw a conversion kit to turn a Beretta 90 series into a .22 but the gun is $500+ and the kit is $450+, so I may as well get a .22 now and a 9mm later for that kind of money. It's a cool idea if you really like the Berettas but they're a bit wide for my hands (I held one at the range).

Yeah, you'll probably have to buy a Mark II used, but really, you're talking about your first gun, here, so you'll save about 50% of the cost. If you've got money to burn, go ahead and buy a Mark III, but if you're fairly price-sensitive, and given that this is your first gun, you may want to save some cash initially, and make sure you'll really use it before dumping $400+ on a gun.

I mean, my Mark II is... lessee... I wanna say over 12 years old, but it may very well be significantly older than that. It was the first handgun I ever shot, still works great.

Steel Angel

zilo wrote: »

So you think the .22 will get old? I was worried that might be the case but a decent 9mm costs a lot more, both to buy and to shoot.

It doesn't so much get old so much as you tend to want to branch out. Target shooting alone has lots of permutations in it, handgun and rifle divide being one of the most visible.

As for the Rugers the only complaint I can seem to find about them is that they're a pain to crack open and clean- which makes me a bit wary as I want to be able to take good care of it without thinking of cleaning it as a dreadful chore. What exactly makes them so great? Accuracy? Reliability? I do like the safety features. Sell me on one so I have the motivation to get off my butt and get my California driver's license this week (so I can take the HSC cert test) instead of sitting around playing Rock Band all day.

The Ruger Mark III is a bit of a pain to reassemble, taking them apart isn't too complicated. The Mark II is easier to take apart and put back together due to some of the safety features they added to the Mark III. If you follow the manual exactly, it's not too hard but glossing over a sentence in a paragraph in the instructions can make you grind to a screeching halt. You can also google web pages that have instructions with photographs of the steps, a resource I've had to use every now and then. If you're comfortable tinkering around with mechanical parts, it's not ridiculously hard but you do have to be able to step back and look stuff up when you're starting to get annoyed.

Now the plus sides of the Mark II/III? First, they're accurate. Second, they're reliable. Ruger is well known for the latter quality in their products. There are many, many aftermarket parts available to modify the thing to your needs. Want a better trigger and sear? That's about $35. Replace the iron sight with a fiber pipe sight? Easily doable (the Hunter comes with that standard). Add a red dot or scope? Easy to do as well. Grips from different materials or with a thumb rest? Lots available. A new barrel? A little bit more complicated due to some paperwork being involved (the part that the ATF considers the heart of a firearm on a Mark III and many other rimfire semi-autos is attached to the barrel) but you can certainly find them. It's a popular model for a reason and that popularity leads to a wealth of options down the line. What starts as a gun for learning the basics can be tooled into a scoped target pistol/varmint fleshreaper down the line.

edit: the 10/22 looks like great fun but I'd have to check and see if the range near my apartment would let me use it. Their webpage says they're strictly a handgun range.

Sometimes that means handgun calibers, which the 10/22 would fall under. Obviously you'll want to ask, but it's something to look into down the line.

Fats

Steel Angel wrote: »

There are many, many aftermarket parts available to modify the thing to your needs.

The coolest ones being the internally suppressed barrels you can get. For when you want to assassinate your cans instead of just plinking them.

Thinatos is right, just find a used Mark II.

Thanatos

Grimm wrote: »

Are you open to suggestions for something other then a hand gun? I started out with a remington 870 12 gauge shotgun and i love the thing. Not to mention you can play stuff like trap or skeet with it.

EDIT:

wikipedia wrote:

The 870 holds the record for best-selling pump gun in U.S. history

Is that the featherweight one? Because that thing kicks like a motherfucking mule. Holy shit.

You have to do a couple aftermarket modifications to it to get it to what I'd call a "usable" state. That, or shoot from the hip.

Grimm

Thinatos wrote: »

Grimm wrote: »

Are you open to suggestions for something other then a hand gun? I started out with a remington 870 12 gauge shotgun and i love the thing. Not to mention you can play stuff like trap or skeet with it.

EDIT:

wikipedia wrote:

The 870 holds the record for best-selling pump gun in U.S. history

Is that the featherweight one? Because that thing kicks like a motherfucking mule. Holy shit.

You have to do a couple aftermarket modifications to it to get it to what I'd call a "usable" state. That, or shoot from the hip.

You have to be talking about shooting 12 gauge slugs. If thats the case then oh yes does it kick. Otherwise, its not that bad at all. I used to be able to shoot it one handed.

EDIT: I have the 870 Express Magnum
http://www.remington.com/products/firearms/shotguns/model_870/model_870_express.asp

Steel Angel

Thinatos wrote: »

Is that the featherweight one? Because that thing kicks like a motherfucking mule. Holy shit.

It has a bit of heft to it. The really light 12 gauges are the over under and side by sides.

You have to do a couple aftermarket modifications to it to get it to what I'd call a "usable" state. That, or shoot from the hip.

A easy and effective one for any shotgun is to get a better recoil pad, just need a large screwdriver and some water for installation. The effect this has should be pretty obvious. Shooting multiple slugs through it will still hurt a bit afterwards of course, but when using birdshot for trap/other clay games, the fatigue from raising and firing the thing multiple times is much more of a concern than recoil. This is coming from a 125 lbs stick of a man too.

Grimm

Steel Angel wrote: »

Thinatos wrote: »

Is that the featherweight one? Because that thing kicks like a motherfucking mule. Holy shit.

It has a bit of heft to it. The really light 12 gauges are the over under and side by sides.

the fatigue from raising and firing the thing multiple times is much more of a concern than recoil.

According to the remington website, the 870 weighs 7 pounds. It gets kinda funny when we play annie oakley at the range. Sometimes it will get down to two people and they both either keep hitting it or both missing making them have to continue on. After about 60 or so shots, it gets to be a tad painful on the shoulder.

zilo

Fats wrote: »

Thinatos is right, just find a used Mark II.

I'll have to see if I can fire one at the local range this weekend but does anyone have an idea on where I might find one in the LA area?

Also, any opinions on Taurus guns, specifically the .22 revolver I linked in the OP? The S&W 617s are great but pricey.

Steel Angel

zilo wrote: »

Also, any opinions on Taurus guns, specifically the .22 revolver I linked in the OP? The S&W 617s are great but pricey.

Taurus guns are one of the sources of debate among firearms enthusiasts. Some people love them, thinking they're a great value. Others tell lots of stories of seeing them jam or otherwise fail to function. The 970 seems no different. A quick look at two firearms forums shows most posters loving it and a few reporting horrible issues with accuracy or the trigger. For a first gun, it may not be the kind of gamble you want to take even if the odds are in your favor.