Choose a semi-auto pistol for me

In My Humble Opinion
21

I can understand your liking of it, though. They do come apart nice and easy.

I stand corrected. I think it’s that it’s just a lot lighter weight-wise than the slide on the Ruger I’ve got and I have tended to feel like Glocks are off balance to me.

I know what you mean. Glock grips are almost too … squared off or something for me. It just feels wrong. And quite honestly, if the pistol doesn’t feel like an extension of your hand, it’s not the right pistol for you. That’s how I feel about it.

We are in agreement there. I would never recommend someone buy their first pistol without having actually felt it in their hands. It would be great if the OP could go to a range that rents pistols and actually fire a bunch of different kinds to find out what’s right in his hands.

22

Here’s an option: don’t get one yet.

First call several gun shops and ask about the NRA personal protection or basic pistol course. It will cost you just at a hundred bucks or so, but you will almost certainly have the chance to try out several different kinds of guns as part of the course and at the end of it you will no longer know very little about guns. If you feel the need to have a weapon about which you need to know nothing I recommend a baseball bat, it’s somewhat less likely to be a problem when the person you want to protect yourself from takes it away from you.

Knowing what you want before you buy it can save you some money also.

If you are going to have fun at the range and for initial training I really think a .22 is a good handgun to start with; they are cheap to buy, cheap to use, fun to shoot, and accurate enough that even a Real Beginner can feel like Dirty Harry. But for self defense, well, they are referred to as piss-me-offs for a reason. So if you get one you might get it with the objective of moving up in caliber once you have trained with it and also have shot enough other guns that you know what you like.

Since you will probably ignore this advice, I can only say that I quite liked my Glock 23 and never even thought about buying another gun after I got it. I can’t stand the Ruger grips either.

23

Ruger P95 seems like a good bet, you can always buy a slip-on rubber grip. But handling as many as possible before deciding is also good advice. Many ranges have rental guns available, maybe you can test a few out.

24

OOOOH! Any tried the Ruger P345 yet? Looks like they’re getting away from the old 2x4 grip.

Billed as “the safest handgun on the market today” I give you the Mauser M2. Cool little gun, traded it and a Ruger .32H&R for a motorcycle…

Might be time to go shopping again!

25

I’d reccomend the Ruger P series too if it fits your hand. Triggers are pretty good in single action even if there is a lot of take up. Good value for the money.

26

Was ammo hard to find for the .32H&R?

27

Only slightly more difficult than, say - 7.62x38R or .303, but not quite as bad as .455 Webley.
You may notice that I didn’t say anything about missing that one. Fitted the hand, but never did get a chance to shoot it.

28

Thinking about this a bit further, I don’t know if I’d ever recommend an auto pistol for someone’s first handgun. Really there’s nothing wrong with a nice revolver, of which there are literally hundreds of good makes and models. They’re easier to maintain, easier to tell if they’re loaded or not and with a DA gun they can be dumped off at a target at almost the same speed.

You can’t jam a wheelgun no matter how fumbling in the dark you might be. As long as it’s loaded, a revolver goes “boom” every single time you need it to. I’m going to say nab yourself a good sixgun and start there. My father has a Smith .38 Police that’s nice to shoot, cheap to fire, and quality through and through and it would make an excellent first handgun. Just give that some thought.

29

I’d second this advice, but in my professional experience most people are either “Revolver” or “Semi-Auto” people. Sure, you can use the others, but you’ll always find yourself leaning towards one or the other.

I’m a Revolver person, FWIW…

30

I’m going along with the revolver recommendation. My first pistol was a .357 revolver and I still shoot it occasionally even though I have plenty of autos to take to the range.

Especially as a first gun for a novice shooter, a revolver has many advantages. They are generally cheaper, easier to clean and simpler to operate. No stovepipe jams to worry about or field stripping to clean it. As long as you keep it clean, you will have no problems with it. If you get a .38 or .357, you can practice with wadcutters until you have accuracy down. The most expensive, well made, perfectly balanced pistol in the world will mean absolutely nothing if you miss what you are shooting at. Revolvers take longer to reload but it’s very unlikely you will be getting into extended gun battles in your house with an intruder. An added benefit is that you don’t have to go to gunbroker or wait for a gun show, just go to your local pawnshop and find one.

Side note based on other posts. I have a Ruger P345 and love it. I’ve yet to have a problem with a single Ruger I’ve owned.

Second side note if you have not owned a gun before. My father taught me three rules of handling a gun early on which have stayed with me.

  1. A gun is always loaded
  2. Never point a gun at anything you don’t intend to shoot.
  3. Never shoot anything you don’t intend to kill.

Very simple and very safe.

31

The $300 limit is useless. You’ll find, at best, used versions of good brands, or new crap.

The artificial restriction to US manufacturers is also … stupid. And hard to enforce. A number of european firms license US subsidiaries, or have local plants.

Having said that:

“Weird” rounds can be good. The .40SW was once a “weird” round, now it’s the market leader for LEO. Browning/FN have some good choices:

The Hi Power (usually in 9mm)
The FN Five-Seven, in 5.7mm

Another good “weird” round is the .357Sig, which is gaining acceptance.

A good, high-power “weird” round is the 10mm, which is supported by Glock.

The M1911-style pistols are good:

Colt
Smith and Wesson
Kimber
Springfield Arms

and the like all produce fine versions.

Modern alternatives to M1911 include the Sig Sauer P220 and the Heckler and Koch USP series. Glock also supports both .45ACP and another “weird” round, the .45GAP.

The Glocks are excellent low-maintenance, high-abuse weapons, The Glock G22 in .40SW is now the standard issue sidearm for the FBI, as well as a common choice for the standard sidearm for many other LEOs. It is safe and effective, but requires training. Just keep your freaking finger off the trigger: that’s what the trigger guard is for.

Beretta has a nice series of pistols, but they’re better suited for larger hands (M-92/m-9), and there are .40SW variants (M-96), as well as smaller pistols.

If you can’t or won’t pop the money for a Beretta, Taurus has cheaper versions of many of the Beretta designs, at least the 1892-designs.

Sig-Sauer produces expensive but excellent pistols … the P-226 (9mm) and the P-220 (.45ACP) spring immediately to mind.

Smith and Wesson have some of the US LEO market with their semi-autos, usually in 9mm.

32

I’ve heard this same argument for many a year, and compelling as it is, if the OP looks to a semi as a target gun that can be used for defense rather than a defense gun that can be used for targets, should be ok, providing they practice enough to be comfortable with it (that is, a freakin’ lot right at first - like 100+ rds a week and strip it down and clean it every 50 so you’ll know the workings).

Still, GP100 is in the right price range and is a hell of a nice gun. You just can NOT go wrong with a DA revolver. Unless you have style, or taste… :wink: I think they’re all as ugly as a bag of elbows, but I do sleep with an SP101

Doesn’t matter what you get, you need to practicepracticepractice. Might as well do it with something you like. First gun should be something you’ll shoot, not .44 mag or .45 Colt. Wheel gun chambered for .357 shoots .38 special just dandy. 9mm is a pure-D joy to shoot. Defense guns are, as a rule, NOT fun to shoot. Not really arguing either way, just sayin’ don’t gitcherself all hung up on one thought afore you give t’others a go.

Single action revolver… Vaquero or Bisley Not really practical, but a buncha fun!

The Long Road, thanks for the heads-up. I sold off my P89 because it didn’t feel right to me (don’t mean a thing Cardinal, until you try it yourself), but that P389 looks interesting!

33

Sorry, removed all the other text so as to not clutter up the thread. I’m going off topic here.

In my opinion, used is the best way to go. Unless someone has heavily abused a weapon, it will work fine after a good cleaning. I’m a cheap fuck now(wife and kids to support) so when I go looking for a gun, I usually stop by the pawn shop first. I clean the weapons after each trip to the range and they perform the same as the ones I bought new. They may be used but I still buy quality guns. Then again, I baby my guns so that may have something to do with it. My wife rolls her eyes when she finds me sitting for half an hour using a toothbrush to clean everything.

I’d go with starting at a lower price and using the savings to pay for practice. Now that I think about it, find someone who owns handguns and go shooting with them. You might not like it and will have wasted large amounts of money on it.

Random thought: Not a bad idea for a thread, “You know you have too many guns when…”

34

I don’t agree. Part of the reason that the “larger bore” wepaons seem harsher is that people start with, and get used to the smaller bore weapons. It’s far better to use the real weapons, with perhaps lighter loads. I find that my pre-29 eats .44 Special just fine, and that lighter loads of .45 cheerfully cycle through my USP. Save the lighter loads on real wepaons for practice, with regular but not constant practice with the full strength rounds.

35

It might also be worth mentioning that you want to ensure you can get spare parts for your gun- firing pins break, springs wear out, screws just seem to vanish… and trying to find a new firing pin for something like a Walter P-38 or a CZ-25 isn’t always as easy as calling Numrich Gun Parts and placing an order.

36

I know I mentioned a model 66 in a prior thread and it is a good gun. I learned on wad-cutters and then cleaned the living heck out of the chamber ends when I switched oveto .357 rounds. Personally, I like the .357 round as it really does what its supposed to. Still, there’s only 6 and speed-loaders are bulky.

A friend let me try an older WW2 1911 at the range, and it honestly felt like coming home. When my model 66 finally wears out, my next will probably be a .45…and oddly enough, it was one recomended on this board.

Springfield Arms makes an XD 45 (Google ‘XD 45’) that in the 5 inch handles 15 rounds of .45. It has a safety which is pure genius (in the grip) and a small nub of an indicator that tells you if a round is chambered or if the hammer is cocked. Its less than $600 (which is a bargain given that automatics were selling for $600 in 1985, back when gas was a buck-and-a-quarter-a-gallon).

Of course, if it feels like crap in your hand, its worthless at any price. Just don’t go into a gunshop with a new license and a fist full of dollars until you’ve held and fired a few different types and brands.

37

Seconded. Don’t buy a handgun because it “looks” cool. Buy it for feel. If you shoot several handguns you will feel a difference. Many ranges have rentals you can use for a minimal fee and will sometimes let you swap to a different gun for no charge. I have shot my Beretta 92FS and my Glock 19 back to back 2-3 rounds each. Despite the fact that both are chambered for the exact same round and were using ammo from the same box, the Beretta is consistently more pleasant to shoot and has far less percieved recoil.

If you want to learn .22’s are good not only from a cost standpoint but also they allow you to develop better habits with regard to flinching. Shooting a full power .45 or .357 mag gives some very impressive recoil and muzzle blast. With a .22 you will have far less distracion and anticipation of the shot. This allows you to develop good general shooting skills without having to try and control a hand cannon at the same time.

Also a .22 can make a perfectly acceptable home defense weapon. True that heavy clothing can slow them down but if you are truly in fear of your life being able to hit and control your shooting is going to be just as valuable if not more so than one shot stopping power.

I always find it interesting to see discussions ranging from the danger of small caliber high velocity rounds bouncing around inside the target but elsewhere as worthless and just going to “piss someone off”. As an EMT I saw several people get dead from small caliber handgun hits. They may not go down as quick, but they still go down. Nobody short of a drug crazed nut job is going to willingly endure a hail of bullets no matter what caliber.

38

Are you saying the .38 Special isn’t a real weapon? I don’t consider the 9mm to be a good defense round, but I’ve seen data to contradict my belief. And forcing big-ass rounds on people that aren’t ready for them is a sure-fired way to get them to hate shooting. If the gun hurts, they won’t practice, and if they don’t practice they won’t learn. I’ve seen this a dozen times at the range, some big gruff guy handing his scrawny 13 year old son an ultralight .30-06 and teasing the poor kid mercilessly for not enjoying the recoil. “Be a man! That there’s a real gun, boy.”

The OP didn’t ask the best way to take up the shooting sports, after all. S/He wants to go buy a gun and start shooting; and I’m saying that this is great! We want people to catch the bug, not slink back home with a sore thumb and a half-moon cut above the eyebrow, to shamefully lock their new toy in a box and not pull it out again until there’s a weird noise downstairs.

Of course I was a rifle guy until I picked up my first 1911, but cheap and fun with defense capabilities in an autoloader for someone I’ve never met? That says 9mm to me.

(I can’t believe I’m sticking up for the 9mm… What’s wrong with me? :confused: )

Cardinal - Go find yourself a Makarov! Odd caliber, hard to find parts, but fairly accurate and cheaper than dirt.

39

Several of our experts here have suggested a revolver. For non-experts, they are likely right. Although you may well prefer an Auto, please go try a revolver so at least your are sure before you buy.

40

And I REALLY hate people who get all defensive when someone is just voicing an opinion!! Sorry cerberus, I’m a jerk.