My 21st birthday is coming up in about 2 months and my thoughts have wandered to the fact that I will be able to purchase a handgun and get my concealed weapons permit.
I don’t plan on carrying a gun but I would like to get one. Part of me wants to get something along the lines of a Desert Eagle or 44. Magnum just for the badass look of them. The other half wants to get something more reliable like a Glock or a Beretta.
So people with more gun knowledge than me , what hand gun would you suggest?
A 9mm is a good, all-around weapon. Glocks and Beretta make good ones.
If you want to drop people, go with a .45 ACP, like the old faithful 1911.
I’ve always been fond of .38 special and .357 S&W’s for carry self defense.
Best idea is join your local club and try a few out. Shooters are friendly folk, always willing to brag about their guns and try to convince you theirs is the best, to the point of letting you try it out on the range. I recommend try before you buy.
If you don’t plan on carrying get whatever you want. The CCW permit will allow you to carry it to and from the range loaded, so it’s still a good thing (more like insurance than anything else). A Desert Eagle is an ego weapon. It’s fun to shoot, yes, but it’s incredibly impractical, not to mention expensive. .50 AE ammo isn’t cheap.
If concealment is your concern, I’m partial to my weapon, the Glock Model 27 in .40 S&W. It’s about as big as my hand, has nine in the mag and one in the pipe, and is exceptionally concealable and comfortable. However, Glocks do not have a safety that you can set yourself. They have three safeties (called “Safe Action”), of which the only one you can see is on the trigger. That one is defeated simply by pulling the trigger, so I can honestly say that that weapon is not suitable for everyone without the added precaution of carrying it unchambered.
A SIG-SAUER P239 is where I’m going next when I get the money. It’s small, it’s reliable, and it’s 2 guns in one with the .357 SIG/ .40 S&W conversion barrel. Also, a nice Walther in .380 will do the trick.
Some revolvers are decent too, but don’t get anything smaller than a .38. That way you can use that as your home defense weapon, if that’s one of your considerations.
If you want your first handgun to be a Desert Eagle or a .44 Magnum, then you aren’t mature enough to get a handgun. A handgun is not a toy, and it’s not a device to prove anything with.
A handgun is a tool, with a specific purpose: Killing people. Sure, you can target shoot, but that’s just a way to practice.
Do you have a need to kill people? Most people don’t, but you might be an exception. If you live a dangerous life, you might need a weapon to protect yourself.
If so, then I recommend a more reasonable weapon. Something you can learn to shoot well, that has proven itself reliable. A simple 9mm semi-automatic should be plenty of handgun. A .45 caliber is probably the high end of what you’d want to consider for a first gun. I don’t recommend the .38 caliber – while some would argue the point, I don’t feel it has enough stopping power.
Remember, it’s a tool with the specific purpose of killing people. You want the simplest, easy to use tool that will do the job.
Once you master a reasonable first weapon, then you can think about a prestige weapon of some sort.
Take it easy Danalan There is nothing wrong with wanting to own a big hand gun and the type does not determine maturity level.
A lighter gun with less recoil than a big caliber is easier to shoot, but even a small caliber gun is dangerous and requires the same level of care.
As mentioned, why do you want it? Hunting, target, home defense, CW. I like to try to find guns that have more than one use. For me I look for a hunting gun that is also a good target gun.
Some type of safety class is a good idea for new gun owners/users
Well I kinda gotta agree–if you have no intent to carry, a concealed permit doesn’t make a lot of sense. But if you’re pondering carrying anyway, then…
The problem with buying a 44 mag or a Desert Eagle is that they are large guns, not real concealable or comfortable to carry, for the most part–unless you get a 5-shot 44 snubbie revolver. And ammo is rather expensive, unless you will be reloading yourself. And getting into reloading is expensive in itself, figure $400 or so to start out, assuming you have nothing…
If at all possible, go to a range and test-fire a few of the more-common calibers–9mm and .45 especially, but also 44 and 380.
Ammo-price-wise, 9mm is probably about the cheapest centerfire pistol caliber you can get without reloading yourself.
Gun-price-wise, Hi-Point makes some very inexpensive guns in 380, 9mm and .45. Yes they look ugly and they are heavy, but they cost much less than anything else new and the customer service at Hi-Point is said to be pretty good, should your gun arrive with problems.
Opinions: Glocks I would caution you on–they seem to have a lot of blowups. I could be wrong, but research the matter online before buying. All guns have blowups, but it seems Glocks have more problems with this. …Military types I know like the Browning Hi-Power for 9mm and 1911 for .45, and many people I have heard like the CZ pistols too.
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It makes those trips to the range and such a lot simpler. Holster to hip and out the door, rather than having to mess around with cases and all of that. There’s nothing in getting a license to carry concealed that says you have to carry, but it’s a convenient thing to have when you do want to.
As far as the handgun itself, the same advice I always give is that the OP should hold many of them at the store. Different sizes, different calibers, different brands. If at all possible, try actually shooting different ones. When you’ve settled on the one that feels most comfortable to you, that (if this is a concern of yours) you could carry concealed comfortably and fits into your budget, buy that one. Some people have recommended Glock and Sig and Beretta, and I also find that Ruger makes some good firearms, but those are our pistols, and you need to find yours.
The lower calibers aren’t as recommended for self defense, so I wouldn’t go too low on that if self defense is your goal, but bear in mind that should crunch time ever happen, you need a pistol that’ll feel like an extension of your hand and that you can hit the target with.
Exactly. Here in Pennsylvania if you don’t have your concealed carry permit the weapon and the ammunition must be carried in separate areas of the car (as in the weapon in front and the ammunition in the trunk). One round left carelessly in the weapon is a crime (rather than just stupidity). A magazine in the front seat, not in the weapon, is a crime.
Why take chances with that? For $25 and two references you can get your permit, and I’m telling you it’s much easier to work with.
I’d advise getting a carry-able pistol so that if you should ever feel the need, then you don’t have to go out and get another pistol.
Glock makes a small-frame .45.
Another good choice, IMO, is a 2" barrel .357 with a shielded hammer. Taurus makes a nice one that isn’t too expensive compared to a lot of high-end models you could get into. With a pocket holster, you can just slip into your pants pocket and you’re good to go.
Get yourself a decent quality .22. Either a revolver or automatic is perfectly acceptable. The .22 has low recoil and is inexpensive to shoot, both of which contribute to you being able to shoot often and shoot a lot. Practice = Good. Until you are able to shoot the .22 proficiently, there is no point in banging away with anything heavier and more expensive. You will accomplish nothing except turning money into noise.
After you have mastered the .22, then you can select something more powerful. You’ll want to keep the .22, though, as practice with it will continue to be of value.
If you want an autoloader, Ruger and Browning have very nice lines of .22’s that are excellent for this purpose. If you want a revolver, look into Smith and Wesson and Ruger. DO NOT cheap out and buy one of those junk cast-zinc pieces of crap like a Lorcin, Davis, or Jennings. They are unreliable, innaccurate, and lack durability.
Neither of your options is a good choice for a first handgun IMHO. If you honestly want to learn to shoot safely you’re going to need to get something you can afford to practive with a lot. I don’t mean a 50 round box of ammo now and again I mean thousands of rounds. Get a quality .22 and get professional training as I have advised in other threads.
Airman Doors mentioned both of the ones that I was going to suggest for carry. My father has a Glock 27 for concealed carry and he loves it. Very small and powerful.
But what the rest said is true too. I’m not comfortable shooting it. And since I’m not really comfortable with it I can’t hit shit! Granted we were shooting at 50 yards (I thinK) and using a small pistol target, but the sight length is far shorter than I’m used to. I’ll stick to my S&W .357 mag.
Cite, please. I find it unlikely that Glocks have “a lot of blowups”. In this litigious age, a string of catastrophic failures would put a company out of business faster than a MAC-10 can empty a 32 round magazine.
The only major manufacturer I can remember having serious safety problems in the last couple of decades is Beretta, and that only slide seperation with the M9 (military version of the 92F) due to an alledged overused of +P and/or subsonic ammo.
I’m not a big fan of the Glock, but that has more to do with my personal opinion on the ergonomics and feel (and the fact that they spray casings right down your shirt) than any safety or accuracy concerns.
I have to put in my $.02 for Taurus. I’ve got their PT-92 (knock-off of the new classic Beretta SF-92) and I love it. Even without the ported barrel I had done, the perceived recoil is very easy to handle.
Taurus acquired a bunch of tooling from Beratta along with a manufacturing plant years ago. That’s why they make such nice “copies” of Beretta gear. But since then, Taurus has gone out and made some really fine handguns on their own. Based on what I’ve read, they’re got a lot of respect in the industry.
Whatever the brand name, there are lots of individual pistols we all could recommend. First, figure out what type of ammo you want to use. Then decide if you want the “scary-looking” gun or the more “practical” gun. Full-size frame (M1911, Beretta 92), or compact carry frame (most Glocks and other composite body pistols)?
As for caliber, avoid .45ACP, .44Rem Mag and the like. I’ve fired plenty of .45, and I own a .44 Super Blackhawk, and trust me - that’s a lof of cartridge. Like the others have said, stick with 9mm, .40 or .357 for a revolver. Very manageable recoil and powerful enough to - umm… What was it you wanted to do with this thing?
IMO, a good starter gun would be a .357 snubbie wheelgun with a 2 or 3 inch barrel. For carry and personal protection, you can load it with .357 Glazers. Then for practice you can shoot cheaper .38 rounds through it. A six shooter is a very simple firearm to learn safety and how to shoot.