Good idea for a first handgun?

Akaen said:
I'll be getting my RPAL soon! and i was looking at idea for a good handgun around 500-700$ range
no caliber in mind just a good first shooter :)
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When you go buy a bike or a snowboard, or even a kayak, knowledgeable staff will ask how talk and how heavy you are.

So when you go buy a handgun, staff should ask you how big your hands are.

And it is not just "feeling" good in your hand. Knowledgable staff should be able to tell you whether your trigger finger is in the right place and at the right angle with a particular handgun, and whether the trigger guard or tail will be biting you. Your hands should be able to fill the space around the grip- so if the staff can't tell you or you don't have knowledgable friends with a bunch of handguns , the best way is to watch some youtubes and head to a commercial range to rent a bunch of handguns to experience before dumping the money.
 
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Something to take into consideration is the kind of shooting are you doing. I can tell you from experience that starting at 9mm put a large penalty on my accuracy when I took up issf 25m pistol. It would've been far better for me to start with 22. Even better to start with 10m air pistol and lots of dry fire practice. Amazing what you learn dry firing. Even if absolute accuracy isn't your thing a 22 will get you to proficiency much quicker and cheaper. I still warm up with my 22 before I start anything centerfire regardless of the type of shooting for the day. Besides it's not like you'll only have one right?
 
When my father and I got into shooting. We would shoot some 22LR from club guns. But dad never owned a 22LR at all. He just went with 9mm/40S&W. So you don't really need to start with 22LR. As long as you get the basics down packed.
 
greentips said:
When you go buy a bike or a snowboard, or even a kayak, knowledgeable staff will ask how talk and how heavy you are.

So when you go buy a handgun, staff should ask you how big your hands are.

And it is not just "feeling" good in your hand. Knowledgable staff should be able to tell you whether your trigger finger is in the right place and at the right angle with a particular handgun, and whether the trigger guard or tail will be biting you. Your hands should be able to fill the space around the grip- so if the staff can't tell you or you don't have knowledgable friends with a bunch of handguns , the best way is to watch some youtubes and head to a commercial range to rent a bunch of handguns to experience before dumping the money.
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^^^ This

The best help is someone right there giving you advice. Here's a video to help if you can't find someone:


jckstrthmghty said:
Something to take into consideration is the kind of shooting are you doing. I can tell you from experience that starting at 9mm put a large penalty on my accuracy when I took up issf 25m pistol. It would've been far better for me to start with 22. Even better to start with 10m air pistol and lots of dry fire practice. Amazing what you learn dry firing. Even if absolute accuracy isn't your thing a 22 will get you to proficiency much quicker and cheaper. I still warm up with my 22 before I start anything centerfire regardless of the type of shooting for the day. Besides it's not like you'll only have one right?
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^^^ and this is very true.

I work with shooters almost every week of the year, and I've seen so many shooters start with a 9mm and develop a wonderful case of the flinchies. It gets worse when they start claiming the sights are off on the gun, and move the sights to account for the flinch. Now they are just reinforcing their bad habits. Then again, a chunk of those just don't really care. They just want to go out a few times a year and poke holes in paper.
 
take a look at the equipment exchange as well, a gun which might be out of your budget brand new could be a great deal used!
My first one was a used Glock which I would have never bought brand new (no money)
 
I went on a mission to buy military type 9mm semi autos. I like my CZ75 Shadow SP01 the best of the lot and I mean by a lot. It is a great gun. I had a Sig P226 and got rid of it. I have had three Berettas and currently have the brown military one that didn't make the cut. Every one of these guns cost more than the CZ. One negative is the DA/SA on the first shot but you can #### the hammer if you want to.

One gun that gets no love is the Ruger "P" series. These are good guns and might set you back $400. I'm thinking P89 but there are others as well. Made for police service but the Glock came along and that was that.
 
rustynut1 said:
I like my CZ75 Shadow SP01 the best of the lot and I mean by a lot. It is a great gun. ... One negative is the DA/SA on the first shot but you can #### the hammer if you want to.
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Do two things and the DA/SA isn't a problem:

- Change the factory mainspring to 13 lbs
- Dryfire practice

It won't bug you anymore. :cheers:
 
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