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The Colt 1911 is just a great pistol all around. I've shot quite a few Kimber's and really enjoyed them, but they were all a bit finicky, jamming and what not. I've also really liked shooting Walther's, but don't know much about them. Never cared to much for Glocks, just feel flimsy to me. 45 ACP is hands down my favorite caliber to shoot, plus good stopping power if it ever came down to it.
I have no idea how being a resident of CA will affect your ability to purchase something. I just know it's something you want to research since there may be federal limitations involved when it comes to handguns. Or it could be a state thing local to MD, I forget.
As for actual selection, I'll throw in that at some point, as either your first or second pistol, you're probably going to want to get a .22 LR gun so you can practice/plink without breaking the bank on ammo. .22 ammo is dirt cheap and what you save shooting it can pay for the gun in a year. 9 mm is probably the cheapest centerfire caliber you'll find. .40 S&W and .45 ACP cost about the same, which is to say about 1.5 to 2 times as much as the 9 mm (and 4-6 times as much as .22).
The best thing to do is to try out anything you're considering from a friend or a range that rents stuff out. Handguns are very subjective. Especially smaller ones or polymer framed ones since they have more recoil so every nook and cranny makes itself known.
Glocks are popular for a reason. Field stripping to clean/maintain is a breeze, you only wind up with 4 big parts. They also get a lot of hate for a reason. They're just not ergonomic for many people. They're bigger than they need to be, with the full sized .45 ACP models feeling like they were engineered for gorillas (the new SF models are supposedly better about this). The rough finish combined with more felt recoil from the lighter polymer frame makes me feel like I've been holding a cheese grater after a while. Despite this, mine has been very reliable and shoots well.
For caliber, the 9 mm and .40 S&W share the same size frame but one obviously has more kick than the other. The .40s also apparently wear out the gun faster, though we're still talking a ridiculous number of rounds. As I mentioned before, the .45s are much wider and boxier.
Sigs are good guns and popular as well. I personally don't like them, but I know plenty of people that do. Most of their stuff is double action/single action so you deal with two different trigger pulls. They also tend to have a bulge on the grip around where I prefer to put my right thumb so it's just an all around uncomfortable deal for me. But they are good guns so if you like them, you won't go wrong.
1911s are very, very popular. As in probably the most prolific design in pistols (partially due to not being solely the domain of a single manufacturer). The triggers are unique even after about 100 years and people love the short pull, reset, and how it goes straight back instead of pivoting. They are also more complex with more parts to deal with during field stripping. Nothing horribly complex mind you, more a matter of remember to keep pressure on a big spring as you let it decompress slowly. Competition shooters love them and they're still used by some police departments and military units that get more leeway in equipment selection, so yes, they can compete with more modern designs. There are a lot more variations to deal with though due to the wide range of manufacturers and application. Some companies and models go for more of a competition/target gun, others for more of a defensive firearm. Many will require a bit of a break in period to become reliable. Tolerances are tighter for many models compared to military pistols which results in better accuracy but some stuff just not being optimally seated initially. If you go this route, you'll want to do your homework. There are a lot of offerings at various price ranges and the big makers have some of their own idiosyncrasies in design to satisfy things like CA's drop test.
Other things to consider looking at are Smith & Wesson M&Ps (their latest semiautomatic line), CZ-75s (well regarded if not well known), Beretta 92s and Storms, and well, really just about any big maker. No one really makes a bad handgun above the 300/400 price range.
Although I don't own a gun, I have become addicted to the Springfield Armory XD-45 that a range near me rents - I'd recommend you at least try one before making a decision. It shoots .45 ACP (hence the name) so the ammo is going to be pricey over time, but I really love the feel of the gun. I greatly prefer the ergonomics to a Glock, though of course not everyone agrees.
Can't speak for the complexity of stripping it, but I'm sure you can find that somewhere online.
You can get a 1911 for much less than 850. I think something like a Springfield Armory Mil-Spec is the best value for a new 1911. But used 1911s should be very very easy to find.
Yes but because of their proliferation and especially if you're buying a former service weapon, you face a broad array of possible problems in your purchase. A lot of service pistols are not as well maintained as they ought to be, a lot of them have seen really rough handling (think about all of the newbies a gun could be passed through), and a lot of them are really, really old. If you're looking for a hobby gun to tinker with and upgrade over time, hell yes. A used Springfield Armory M-1911 can be a beautiful weapon. It's not a good bet for your first/only pistol as you're starting out, though.
I vote for a new, reliable 9mm. You'll want to shoot it a whole lot, so save some ammo money. You'll want something that's forgiving on your arms and ears. You'll want something reliable. But eventually, a 1911 is probably on the menu.
Pheezer on
IT'S GOT ME REACHING IN MY POCKET IT'S GOT ME FORKING OVER CASH
CUZ THERE'S SOMETHING IN THE MIDDLE AND IT'S GIVING ME A RASH
Not much to figure out. http://www.surplusrifle.com/shooting2005/howtogetyourcurionrelicffl03/index.asp has a very good writeup of how to get and fill out the paperwork for a C&R FFL 03. Just need that, the $30 fee, and to google your city/county/state police chief/sheriff, whichever is most local. Whole process takes about a month or month and a half. Anyone with any interest at all in historical firearms and of age should look into it.
The OP may want to look into it as well since some of the 9 x 18 mm Makarov pistols are really neat. A CZ-82 is a very quality pistol available for about $200-$250.
WulfDisciple of TzeentchThe Void... (New Jersey)Registered Userregular
edited September 2008
I would make a list of all the guns you're interested in (which you seem to have) and then go to a range and rent them, fire a bunch of shots with each and decide which feels right from there. I wouldn't pick a gun 'sight unseen' as it were.
If you're looking for a concealed carry, the Ruger SR9 looks really nice, although they had to do a recall on some serial numbers. If the gun was dropped, it had a tendency to go off, even if the safety was on.
You can always tell if you purchase a model that was recalled, it comes with an extra magazine.
Not much to figure out. http://www.surplusrifle.com/shooting2005/howtogetyourcurionrelicffl03/index.asp has a very good writeup of how to get and fill out the paperwork for a C&R FFL 03. Just need that, the $30 fee, and to google your city/county/state police chief/sheriff, whichever is most local. Whole process takes about a month or month and a half. Anyone with any interest at all in historical firearms and of age should look into it.
The OP may want to look into it as well since some of the 9 x 18 mm Makarov pistols are really neat. A CZ-82 is a very quality pistol available for about $200-$250.
Yeah I just haven't decided if I want to get the FFL or just have a local shop order it for me.
Has anyone suggested a SigArms P226 chambered for .357 SIG yet? It's basically two guns for the price of one--you can easily convert it to work with a .40 caliber round if you'd like.
edit: oh. It's right there in the OP. Sorry. Whenever anyone says they're looking for a handgun, I immediately interject that they should seriously consider a P226.
I don't like glocks. Knowing how to shoot one's important because they're so fucking prolific, but you have to get over it in a weird way to fire it accurately (or do you have to get under them and shoot down at your target? It's been so fucking long since I've been willing to shoot a Glock). Whereas the first time I held a P226 it had European sights (instead of the 3-dot sights you find on most American handguns) and I'd never used that sort of sighting before, so I just ignored it, pointed downrange without really taking the time to aim, and fired. Every round hit centerpost, tight grouping.
That's really what you should be looking for--for yourself, I mean. Go try out a bunch of weapons and find the one that fits you best, the one you have to think about least when firing it. It may be a Sig. It may be an H&K. It might be a Beretta. It probably won't be one of those bullshit tuperware Glocks that are made for anyone but also not made for anyone in particular, but they're relatively cheap, so give it a try (if it works for you, congrats, you just got into shooting a lot cheaper than I did....)
Since this thread is already here, what would be a good .22 handgun to buy for a someone new to the gun world. I have been down to the range a few times and LOVE the Springfield armory 1911 but want to get a .22 first to get my technique down and learn more before investing. I have a 500$ budget give or take.
Since this thread is already here, what would be a good .22 handgun to buy for a someone new to the gun world. I have been down to the range a few times and LOVE the Springfield armory 1911 but want to get a .22 first to get my technique down and learn more before investing. I have a 500$ budget give or take.
Ruger Mark IIIs (also Mark IIs if you can still find one) and Browning Buckmarks are the standards. Both are accurate, reliable, and heavily customizable with many aftermarket parts available. The Mark III can be a bit of a pain to reassemble though, you'll want to have the manual in front of you for that and actually ready every single sentence. It comes down to personal preference between the two, some people just prefer the layout of one over the other.
Other choices include the Beretta Neo, which isn't bad by all accounts but the aesthetics remind people of a sci-fi prop gun, the Sig Mosquito, which can be finicky with ammo, and the Walther P22, which also can develop issues.
Ruger and Browning dominate this market for a reason. A number of people I know have had no issues with their P22s and Mosquitos, but enough people do to make it a less attractive option than the first three listed.
There are also .22 revolvers, but those are more expensive.
For a 1911, you also have the option of getting a .22 LR conversion kit that lets you swap out the barrel and slide to fire .22s. These usually run about $200-$300 and since the serial number on a 1911 is on the frame, you can order these yourself online and have them shipped to your door. Most people still prefer a dedicated .22 pistol though.
My recommendation would be to test drive a Springfield XD 9mm. It is one of the finest guns on the market. You don't want a .45. It's not at all practical for range shooting and overkill for 98 percent of home invasion type scenarios that are realistic. It is very new gun owner friendly, has some very good safety features, and shoots very well.
As has already been said, go to a range and rent guns. Seriously. Don't just buy one that looks cool or someone recommends until you feel it in your hands. Most ranges have a good selection of pistols. Rent one, fire 100 rounds or so, and then try another. There's so much customization you can do with handguns that you can make a gun fit you, but its probably best to just find one at first that you like right outta the box and get used to it before you start getting into barrel length, grip extensions, etc.
Red Leg on
0
firewaterwordSatchitanandaPais Vasco to San FranciscoRegistered Userregular
Since this thread is already here, what would be a good .22 handgun to buy for a someone new to the gun world. I have been down to the range a few times and LOVE the Springfield armory 1911 but want to get a .22 first to get my technique down and learn more before investing. I have a 500$ budget give or take.
Ruger Mark IIIs (also Mark IIs if you can still find one) and Browning Buckmarks are the standards. Both are accurate, reliable, and heavily customizable with many aftermarket parts available. The Mark III can be a bit of a pain to reassemble though, you'll want to have the manual in front of you for that and actually ready every single sentence. It comes down to personal preference between the two, some people just prefer the layout of one over the other.
While I don't own either, I've rented both, and really enjoyed each. I preferred the Mk. II, but I don't think I could say why, except that it "felt" better. I eventually plan on getting one of the two for range fun - are Mk. II's significantly harder to source?
While I don't own either, I've rented both, and really enjoyed each. I preferred the Mk. II, but I don't think I could say why, except that it "felt" better. I eventually plan on getting one of the two for range fun - are Mk. II's significantly harder to source?
Ruger stopped making Mk. IIs around 2006 and switched over to the Mk. III. You can still find them used sometimes, but new ones are rare.
Since this thread is already here, what would be a good .22 handgun to buy for a someone new to the gun world. I have been down to the range a few times and LOVE the Springfield armory 1911 but want to get a .22 first to get my technique down and learn more before investing. I have a 500$ budget give or take.
Ruger Mark IIIs (also Mark IIs if you can still find one) and Browning Buckmarks are the standards. Both are accurate, reliable, and heavily customizable with many aftermarket parts available. The Mark III can be a bit of a pain to reassemble though, you'll want to have the manual in front of you for that and actually ready every single sentence. It comes down to personal preference between the two, some people just prefer the layout of one over the other.
While I don't own either, I've rented both, and really enjoyed each. I preferred the Mk. II, but I don't think I could say why, except that it "felt" better. I eventually plan on getting one of the two for range fun - are Mk. II's significantly harder to source?
There's a couple different Mk III packages, as well, one of them might feel more like the II you liked.
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I heard you liek
This was my first pistol and I love it. Stable, cheap ammo, and a great target pistol. Only about 250 bucks at Sportsman's warehouse too.
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As for actual selection, I'll throw in that at some point, as either your first or second pistol, you're probably going to want to get a .22 LR gun so you can practice/plink without breaking the bank on ammo. .22 ammo is dirt cheap and what you save shooting it can pay for the gun in a year. 9 mm is probably the cheapest centerfire caliber you'll find. .40 S&W and .45 ACP cost about the same, which is to say about 1.5 to 2 times as much as the 9 mm (and 4-6 times as much as .22).
The best thing to do is to try out anything you're considering from a friend or a range that rents stuff out. Handguns are very subjective. Especially smaller ones or polymer framed ones since they have more recoil so every nook and cranny makes itself known.
Glocks are popular for a reason. Field stripping to clean/maintain is a breeze, you only wind up with 4 big parts. They also get a lot of hate for a reason. They're just not ergonomic for many people. They're bigger than they need to be, with the full sized .45 ACP models feeling like they were engineered for gorillas (the new SF models are supposedly better about this). The rough finish combined with more felt recoil from the lighter polymer frame makes me feel like I've been holding a cheese grater after a while. Despite this, mine has been very reliable and shoots well.
For caliber, the 9 mm and .40 S&W share the same size frame but one obviously has more kick than the other. The .40s also apparently wear out the gun faster, though we're still talking a ridiculous number of rounds. As I mentioned before, the .45s are much wider and boxier.
Sigs are good guns and popular as well. I personally don't like them, but I know plenty of people that do. Most of their stuff is double action/single action so you deal with two different trigger pulls. They also tend to have a bulge on the grip around where I prefer to put my right thumb so it's just an all around uncomfortable deal for me. But they are good guns so if you like them, you won't go wrong.
1911s are very, very popular. As in probably the most prolific design in pistols (partially due to not being solely the domain of a single manufacturer). The triggers are unique even after about 100 years and people love the short pull, reset, and how it goes straight back instead of pivoting. They are also more complex with more parts to deal with during field stripping. Nothing horribly complex mind you, more a matter of remember to keep pressure on a big spring as you let it decompress slowly. Competition shooters love them and they're still used by some police departments and military units that get more leeway in equipment selection, so yes, they can compete with more modern designs. There are a lot more variations to deal with though due to the wide range of manufacturers and application. Some companies and models go for more of a competition/target gun, others for more of a defensive firearm. Many will require a bit of a break in period to become reliable. Tolerances are tighter for many models compared to military pistols which results in better accuracy but some stuff just not being optimally seated initially. If you go this route, you'll want to do your homework. There are a lot of offerings at various price ranges and the big makers have some of their own idiosyncrasies in design to satisfy things like CA's drop test.
Other things to consider looking at are Smith & Wesson M&Ps (their latest semiautomatic line), CZ-75s (well regarded if not well known), Beretta 92s and Storms, and well, really just about any big maker. No one really makes a bad handgun above the 300/400 price range.
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Only if it matches my pocket watch. Good day!
Can't speak for the complexity of stripping it, but I'm sure you can find that somewhere online.
CUZ THERE'S SOMETHING IN THE MIDDLE AND IT'S GIVING ME A RASH
x2
You said this will be a range gun... go 9mm for your own sake. If you're bored every once in a while and you're hankering for a big gun, rent .45.
I vote for a new, reliable 9mm. You'll want to shoot it a whole lot, so save some ammo money. You'll want something that's forgiving on your arms and ears. You'll want something reliable. But eventually, a 1911 is probably on the menu.
CUZ THERE'S SOMETHING IN THE MIDDLE AND IT'S GIVING ME A RASH
Also, (I know you said you weren't into revolvers unless it was something awesome) in a week when I turn 21 I'll be figuring out a way to get: http://www.aimsurplus.com/acatalog/Russian_1895_7.62_Nagant_Revolver.html.
Not much to figure out. http://www.surplusrifle.com/shooting2005/howtogetyourcurionrelicffl03/index.asp has a very good writeup of how to get and fill out the paperwork for a C&R FFL 03. Just need that, the $30 fee, and to google your city/county/state police chief/sheriff, whichever is most local. Whole process takes about a month or month and a half. Anyone with any interest at all in historical firearms and of age should look into it.
The OP may want to look into it as well since some of the 9 x 18 mm Makarov pistols are really neat. A CZ-82 is a very quality pistol available for about $200-$250.
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3DS: 3454-0268-5595 Battle.net: SteelAngel#1772
You can always tell if you purchase a model that was recalled, it comes with an extra magazine.
http://www.ruger.com/SR9/
Yeah I just haven't decided if I want to get the FFL or just have a local shop order it for me.
edit: oh. It's right there in the OP. Sorry. Whenever anyone says they're looking for a handgun, I immediately interject that they should seriously consider a P226.
I don't like glocks. Knowing how to shoot one's important because they're so fucking prolific, but you have to get over it in a weird way to fire it accurately (or do you have to get under them and shoot down at your target? It's been so fucking long since I've been willing to shoot a Glock). Whereas the first time I held a P226 it had European sights (instead of the 3-dot sights you find on most American handguns) and I'd never used that sort of sighting before, so I just ignored it, pointed downrange without really taking the time to aim, and fired. Every round hit centerpost, tight grouping.
That's really what you should be looking for--for yourself, I mean. Go try out a bunch of weapons and find the one that fits you best, the one you have to think about least when firing it. It may be a Sig. It may be an H&K. It might be a Beretta. It probably won't be one of those bullshit tuperware Glocks that are made for anyone but also not made for anyone in particular, but they're relatively cheap, so give it a try (if it works for you, congrats, you just got into shooting a lot cheaper than I did....)
x3
I shoot, and when plinking targets, I go with a 9mm, or a .22. You can go through 50 9mm rounds in about 30 minutes, if you shoot really slow.
Ruger Mark IIIs (also Mark IIs if you can still find one) and Browning Buckmarks are the standards. Both are accurate, reliable, and heavily customizable with many aftermarket parts available. The Mark III can be a bit of a pain to reassemble though, you'll want to have the manual in front of you for that and actually ready every single sentence. It comes down to personal preference between the two, some people just prefer the layout of one over the other.
Other choices include the Beretta Neo, which isn't bad by all accounts but the aesthetics remind people of a sci-fi prop gun, the Sig Mosquito, which can be finicky with ammo, and the Walther P22, which also can develop issues.
Ruger and Browning dominate this market for a reason. A number of people I know have had no issues with their P22s and Mosquitos, but enough people do to make it a less attractive option than the first three listed.
There are also .22 revolvers, but those are more expensive.
For a 1911, you also have the option of getting a .22 LR conversion kit that lets you swap out the barrel and slide to fire .22s. These usually run about $200-$300 and since the serial number on a 1911 is on the frame, you can order these yourself online and have them shipped to your door. Most people still prefer a dedicated .22 pistol though.
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As has already been said, go to a range and rent guns. Seriously. Don't just buy one that looks cool or someone recommends until you feel it in your hands. Most ranges have a good selection of pistols. Rent one, fire 100 rounds or so, and then try another. There's so much customization you can do with handguns that you can make a gun fit you, but its probably best to just find one at first that you like right outta the box and get used to it before you start getting into barrel length, grip extensions, etc.
While I don't own either, I've rented both, and really enjoyed each. I preferred the Mk. II, but I don't think I could say why, except that it "felt" better. I eventually plan on getting one of the two for range fun - are Mk. II's significantly harder to source?
Ruger stopped making Mk. IIs around 2006 and switched over to the Mk. III. You can still find them used sometimes, but new ones are rare.
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There's a couple different Mk III packages, as well, one of them might feel more like the II you liked.
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