First Handgun; Suggestions PLEASE!!!!

whatthebuck

whatthebuck

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I have long gun experience, but zero handgun. I am looking to buy my first handgun, I have done lots of reading and looking, so much my head hurts! Tell me, what is best first time Handgun for under 1K?
I want something I know I am shooting, so no .22, I am leaning towards nickle plated 1911 in.45ACP (may be purely ego based). I have always been fond of revolvers, but maybe that would be better as a second purchase? My wife is trying to push me towards something she can easily shoot, 9mm?
So many choices, Suggestions please!!! :confused:
 
Definately get aa 9mm for your first. The ammo is cheap and the recoil wont scare your wife away. The Rugar SR9 is a nice aaffordable choice (I seem to have become a bit of a shill for these things lately). Cant go wrong with a Glock 17 or a Sig 226. The Xd-m is nice, I have one and love it, can be had for about $850.

Again, go with a 9mm, the ammo is half the cost of .45. As ego boosting as it is lol, its alot more gun to handle, better to learn control with something smaller.

Of course thats just my opinion :)
 
if you want it to be your ONLY and forever handgun, gp100- the smiths will eventually go out of tune, even though they've got a finer trigger - if you go 357/38 get as close to 4 inch as possible, and for ease of maintaince, go stainless- forget the automatics unless someone else is paying for the ammo, or you LIKE picking up brass
stainless is superior to nickel, and the nickel can wear off in time- even though i have yet to do it, and i have a colt series 70 original- that's a LOT of shooting
 
IMO, easiest for women to shoot would be a double action revolver, but the most commonly available revolvers are heavy to hold and to squeeze the trigger in Double Action. Tuned action revolvers can give light primer hits and that can be frustrating, although use of Federal ammo or primers will generally solve this problem.

So if you want to try revolvers, go with a S&W K-Frame like a Model 19 or 66.

Now if your wife can rack the slide on an automatic like the Glock 17, and she likes the trigger feel of a barbeque lighter, then G17s or similar are very nice guns to shoot too.

Maybe a quick trip to your LGS or rental gun range to try different types/models will help you both decide. If you got buddies who shoot different guns, even better so your wife can try live fire.

If these options are not available to you, drive 1.5 hours to the Port Coquitlam range and you can try my toys.
 
My advice... find a Gunnut in your area who will let you try some of his/her toys. Then you will know what you really like. I would also suggest a less expensive ammo type for the first. 9mm is a great starter round for that reason and then get the bigger, pricier to feed guns after.
 
My advice (bought my first handgun last month) Get to a store with a selection and feel them for yourself. I made a small list from online and decided to make the drive to a store and try them out before ordering. It's amazing how they all felt different (weight, shape, balance) the one I bought wasn't even on my list. Stick with any popular brand in 9mm and you can't go wrong. If I went off internet recommendations and just ordered I would of ended up with a pistol that fit my hand very poorly and I didn't like the way it balanced.

A list of what I looked at
Beretta 92
CZ 75b
Glock 17
Springfield XDm
Smith and Wesson M&P
Sig p226

I don't think I would have been unhappy with any of them but decided to go home with the pistol that best fit my hand and felt the most comfortable and natural. I recommend you do the same.

My 2 pennies,

For what it's worth my girlfriend has a Ruger Gp100 in .357 mag and she can fire 38 special and 357 mag and isn't botherd by the recoil one bit. She hates shooting my pistol and finds the 9mm has more recoil. I believe this has a lot to do with the semi auto action and the way the muzzle flips more than the actual cartridge. The weight of the ruger combined with 38 special and she can burn ammo all day. (she has weak hands and can't work the slide or slide release on the pistol) Thus proving how tame of a gun it is to shoot.
 
I've owned Handguns since '93 now and have 9mm, .45, .40 &.380...all in semi-auto,

finally i've ordered my first revolver (in SA) and in 357, so I can also shoot .38 from it when i have friends wanting to come out and try it.. Honestly, not sure why I took so long to finally get a revolver...
If your wife wants to shoot too and shes new to handguns as well, it's great calibre for both of you and you can shoot 357 once in a while for a fun BANG, but cheaper and easier to shoot and learn for both of you..and 38 can be in cowboy loads (very soft to start for your wife) reg. 38, and 38+P for little extra kick without the higher cost of 357...
and as an all steel revolver, it will have little recoil and not intimidating to either of you as you're getting into handgunnin

I like my Glock, but 9mm, especially in partial plastic guns, can be very snappy, thus uncomfortable and intimidating to shoot, for new shooters, men & women.
but if do go with 9mm, better to be all steel gun (more for her sake) in this case I'd recommend a CZ75 variant.....not too pricey at all for quality of gun that it is...
though more heavy to hold (same for revolvers), you'll get used to holding it and definately check out as many as you can at the stores and at local club from others there, so you get a feel of different sizes and calibres, etc..

I love my 45,for sure, but ammo is very costly now and thus most switching to .40 for ipsc and other disciplines...
dont let ego get in the way.... a revolver would be a great 1st gun (even though I didn't go that route) I say it would be...
 
Maybe try making the trip to DVC with your wife and try a bunch different guns until you find one you like. If you can actually find a day that isn't busy (hopefully now that the groupon expired) you can switch around guns and try a few magazines in each. You might find that there are many you like enough to buy and then you go shopping and choose based on look or feel or whatever at that point. It helped me a lot when I bought my first pistol.

I spend far too much time researching things on the internet and as far as pistols go, don't believe everything you read. If you do, all guns are crap and great and unreliable and reliable and too big and too small, inaccurate etc etc etc. Honestly some people should spend more time shooting and less time complaining about or cheerleading for X or Y gun. A few failures out of thousands of serial numbers... on the internet = sky is falling. The Beretta M9/92/etc is a great example of this, there are all kinds of internet rumours that the slide will break off and hit you in the face... its not.

All that being said G17!

just kidding, have fun.
 
i got a sig p220 in .45acp and a .22 conversion kit with it. i wouldnt have got the .22...just not a fan of it but it came as a used package deal with a lot of ammo.
you may like the p226, you can get a .40 and a 9mm kit for it...but then again most pistols can do the caliber excange now.
 
You're in Squamish? Then there is only ONE answer for you. Get your ass down to PoCo and visit DVC.
w ww.indoorshootingcentre.com

They are the commercial rental range we have on the west coast. Bring some cash or credit because it's not going to be a cheap day. But when you leave you'll have gotten to try about a dozen different brand and models of 9mm handguns. In addition they also have about 6 each in .40S&W and .45acp. By the time you're done you should have a pretty good idea which works for you.

My suggestion is to bring a camera to snap pics of the guns as well as a notebook. Otherwise it'll all be a blur before you're even half way done. Take notes and score each one as you're done. Compare it to the best and if the current gun feels better than it becomes King Of The Hill and you then compare each of the rest to that one. In the end you should have two or three that you really like. Re-shoot these to find the winner of the selection process.

Show up on a non weekend day and certainly not on a Friday night since those times are quite busy. Or if it must be a saturday or sunday then be there right at the crack of noon when they open to non members. Bring a few buddies to share gas and make the trip more fun.

I say it's not cheap because it's a $30 drop in fee and then 9mm ammo is $32 a box. These prices cover the use of the guns though. So you can do the math and figure out how much it'll be by the time you shoot around 4 boxes. But with care and switching every couple of magazines you will be able to go through a lot of guns and come away knowing what you like and what fits you. In the end it becomes pretty cheap because you can now buy a handgun knowing that it's right for you and you don't need to sell and buy to search for "The One".

Frankly for your first I'd suggest sticking to 9mm. Actually a .22 is a better plan but it seems that no one wants a .22 so they can develop the best habits right away. So stick to 9mm and maybe try one revolver in .357 with .38Spl just to see if you're a wheelgun sort of guy. Of the 9's I'd suggest you try the following:

GLock 17
CZ Shadow
S&W M&P
STI 1911 Trojan
Walther 99
Sig 226

Those are the main ones for you to try. Of them 3 are plastic striker fired guns, two are DA/SA hammer fired and one is SA hammer. I can't remember at the moment what else they have.. er.. Oh there's also a striker Ruger SR9. If you have small hands that may suit you. Oh, and they've got an HK USP in 9mm. But given the cost of HK I suggest you try to not develop a taste for it... :D
 
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