.45 ACP not good for a first handgun?

nelly said:
Personally, I'd rather buy a brick of 500 rounds of .22 and get in a few hours of shooting, than spend $30 on 50 rounds of .45 and be done in ten minutes.
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I love these guys who come to the range and go through several boxes of new .45 ACPs in an hour. Seriously, I wish once fired 9mm brass was as easy to come by on our range as .45!

If the OP wants to shoot .45, I say go for it and have a great time. And reload them, and snag brass from other .45 shooters. Learn how to cast too from free ww, and you can reload .45 ACP for a couple cents a round. And it's all fun!
 
Haven't read six pages of repeats, but for those who question why some would suggest starting with a .22, it really is simple. For some of us, the s...t.s and giggles of shooting is delivering a projectile on the desired location of the desired target. Some of us like to get to the s...ts and giggles quickly, with minimum fuss and deviation - for which read frustration.

It is simply easier to learn the nuances of accurate shooting when you have absolutely minimum blast, recoil and cost. While dry practice is useful, live fire validates that dry practice. Live fire with a .22 is much less expensive, and therefore much more likely to happen.

Even with a locker full of center fire handguns, practice with an accuarate .22 points out any flaws in technique much more readily than will shooting a center fire.

Regardless of the game you eventually play with your gun - be it IPSC, plinking, silhouette, IDPA, - none of these are fun if you ain't getting hits. You only win any of these games getting good hits. Old Bill Jordan of the U S Border Patrol said "You can't miss fast enough to win a gunfight." You can't win much of anything with misses.

Yup, you can learn to shoot starting with a .45. DND starts 'em with 9's. Cadets use a .22 though, and if you see an ex-Cadet on the rifle range, he can normally hit his target with most any rifle you give him. More than I can say for most of the folks at the range.
 
Its not a mistake to buy the one you're itching for. If you settle for something else to get started with, you will always wish you had the 1911. As someone else suggested, get a .22 conversion for it. I'd advise against a dedicated .22, you will still want a .45.

Buy the best you can, fighting with junk can be a real turn off.
 
colt45cz75 said:
Sure, but now you're comparing an F1 car to a Mustang. A normal 22 firing bulk ammo is not as accurate as a centrefire.
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I beg to differ... just about any good quality 22lr pistol will outshoot most centerfire handgun.

The further you move the target, the more obvious the difference will be. Heck, a $300 ruger mk2 or a $150 margolin will outshoot just about anything this side of a dedicated bullseye gun.

Sure, they might not be as much fun and they don't make as much noise... but that's another story ;)

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To the OP, if you want a 45acp and can afford to shoot it to you hearth's content, by all mean, get one.
 
My Colt conversion unit is just as much fun as using the .45 top end. It has replaced all the dedicated .22 pistols I've owned, with the exception of my S&W 17. (I'm not just saying that to plug the conversion I've got for sale on the ee). Mated to a decent receiver with a good trigger, its a hoot. Slightly dumbed-down in the recoil department, but other than that, its just like shooting the "real thing."
 
For the buy 22 first crowd why would you not recommend a feinwerkbau 65 instead? It shoots one hole groups at ten meters, can shoot it pretty much anywhere, and match ammo is $10 for 500 rounds. You can sell it for what you bought it for 20,000 shots later or, $400 in ammo, and will have fired a handgun more times than most 45 owners will in their life time, oh and hardly any maintenance required. If you are recommending the 22 for developing good shooting technics etc, the fwb Is a much better choice. The op wants a 45 and should buy a 45. I went the other way large calibres first and now shoot almost exclusively air, no comparison in accuracy at all, and no sweaty ear muffs required, far more pleasant, and haven't forgot how to shoot the big guys when it's time to do so.
 
I got bamboozled into doing the whole starting with a .22 advice and after putting about 50 rounds through it, it has just been sitting in my gun safe wishing it had a more loving owner.

I am still kicking myself in the ass on that decision...
 
Speaking from my experience and only mine. When I started shooting some 21 years ago I bought a 9mm first and soon after I bought a 22 LR revolver. I was 18 and at that stage of my shooting 22 was extremely boring. As years go by it was like 15 or so before I started to appreciate 22 more and tend to shoot it more than other calibers.

So buy whatever tickles your fancy. Most of us do not ascribe to the buy one gun only for life crowd, so you probably will end up with a 22 at some point, however it does not need to be now.

Better to start with something that you think you will like then with something that others think is better
 
If you like the .45 ACP round then buy a .45 ACP handgun. By this time you've been made aware of the biggest negative in owning one and that is ammo cost. FWIW, my first handgun was a S&W 686 .357 Magnum which I still own today. Most people I know have an attachment to their first handgun and still own them.

As for a .22lr being "boring"....well, I'll admit it doesn't have the big flash, noise or recoil a centrefire cartridge may have but, for me, it's hardly boring. There are lots of things one can do that can make shooting any handgun "entertaining" or "boring".......

For me, rifle shooting is "boring"......just remember, your money, your gun and your choice. IMHO, if you have made the decision to buy a handgun and I mean any handgun then you've already made a very good choice. :) YMMV.......
 
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When I get my hammerli fixed, I suspect a formal match will hardly be boring from my perspective as a strictly bullseye shooter.
And I must say right now, my hat is tipped to the pistol action shooters in thier chosen sport. For myself, the army background (and the physical toll my body took over the years) took all the desire for action shooting away from me.

But I try to never talk disrespectfully, about anyone elses personal shooting iron/sport.

Cheers!
 
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