Almost ready to buy my first pistol, need some advice.

To the OP, just a couple of questions.

1. Are you bothered by neutered magazines?
2. Are you bothered by guns with "pinocchio barrels" in order to make the 106mm needed to be legal??
 
Bodain said:
That is damn ###y..... love the olive colour. If I go 92FS, I plan a similar colour. :)
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Nice! Although my 92F is all black, it does have VZ grips that provide a similar look. I agree with Gundoggy's comment about the straight dust cover, too.
fPAztmz.jpg
 
Master-G said:
The 9mm version to me looks a little bit nicer with a lighter slide (mine's a .40). I waffled for years on buying one before I picked this up a couple of years ago—I enjoy it even more than I was expecting.
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I know what you mean about the 9, but the 40 has the flush barrel so that is why I went for it. The 40 almost seems optimized for the Canadian market - barrel length at the limit and mags that are barely neutered.
 
Price of ammo /caliber is important but I think in a lot of cases people expect to do way more shooting than they actually do.

If you're able to shoot once every 2-3 months the cost of ammo isn't that huge of a factor.
 
Bile said:
From your intended use, I'd agree with everyone else on a 9mm.

From my experience, I first picked up a 226r plain jane. It's kinda janky, and I kinda wish I'd have gotten a 226 a little more fancy with at least night sights. It doesn't run well. I get tons of stoppages with it. Afterwards I'd found .44, .45, .357 and .22. The 22 gets the most use since the ammo is cheap and I don't worry that much about keeping it in good shape. The .45 never gets used because the ammo is twice the cost of 9, and .357 gets .38 special because it's as cheap as I can find. I picked up a 320 and has been stoppage free for the last 700 rounds, as opposed to the 226 which usually has some nonsense after the first few rounds. I also suggest avoiding steel ammo in pistols calibers. It's extremely tempting but, you'll resent the misfires. Buy ammo on sale days like blackfriday, stock up what you think youll need for the year and be happy.

Also, people say reloading pistol is ok. It's not. It's a time vampire. For the 2 cents per round you save, just stick with buying the stuff in bulk. Unless you're doing the expensive .45 priced ammo.
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Just like shopping wisely, watching sales for ammo; do the same for components, and you can almost drop the price in half for 9mm; less than half for .40 and .45. You can optimize cartridge length for your pistol, and taylor you loads for accuracy and performance. It also is pleasurable, and with a progressive press, it is not that time intensive.
 
Gundoggy said:
An older 92FS with straight dust cover is even ###ier.
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Pics? :)

Gundoggy said:
To the OP, just a couple of questions.

1. Are you bothered by neutered magazines?
2. Are you bothered by guns with "pinocchio barrels" in order to make the 106mm needed to be legal??
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Bothered? Not so much. Do I wish we had full capacity mags in Canada? Sure.

Frankly, I'd prefer to be able to buy whatever pistol I want regardless of size. It's stupid that we have these silly limitations.

Master-G said:
Nice! Although my 92F is all black, it does have VZ grips that provide a similar look. I agree with Gundoggy's comment about the straight dust cover, too.
fPAztmz.jpg
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That is damn ###y too. Looks like micarta grips?

TSherback said:
Just bought my first hand gun and chose the Shadow 2 in 9mm. Shot it for the first time yesterday and went through 100 rounds, back to the range today and 450 rounds :)
I know zip about handguns but I LOVE this one.
I'm on holidays so back tomorrow. Gonna have to buy a progressive now and start loading for handgun :(
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The shadow certainly has a nice profile. I'll have to add that one to the list to get my hands on.

Eddie Dean said:
1 shadow 2
2 p226 legion or extreme
3 Wilson combat brigadier general 92G

All in 9 mm
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I'll check out the Wilson, haven't seen it yet. Thanks for the comments!

GuiltySpark said:
Price of ammo /caliber is important but I think in a lot of cases people expect to do way more shooting than they actually do.

If you're able to shoot once every 2-3 months the cost of ammo isn't that huge of a factor.
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I live less than 10 mins from my range. Easy to pickup and scoot to the range and throw some lead. :)

gdawg said:
I know what you mean about the 9, but the 40 has the flush barrel so that is why I went for it. The 40 almost seems optimized for the Canadian market - barrel length at the limit and mags that are barely neutered.
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I do like a flush barrel. Looks cleaner.

Bile said:
From your intended use, I'd agree with everyone else on a 9mm.

From my experience, I first picked up a 226r plain jane. It's kinda janky, and I kinda wish I'd have gotten a 226 a little more fancy with at least night sights. It doesn't run well. I get tons of stoppages with it. Afterwards I'd found .44, .45, .357 and .22. The 22 gets the most use since the ammo is cheap and I don't worry that much about keeping it in good shape. The .45 never gets used because the ammo is twice the cost of 9, and .357 gets .38 special because it's as cheap as I can find. I picked up a 320 and has been stoppage free for the last 700 rounds, as opposed to the 226 which usually has some nonsense after the first few rounds. I also suggest avoiding steel ammo in pistols calibers. It's extremely tempting but, you'll resent the misfires. Buy ammo on sale days like blackfriday, stock up what you think youll need for the year and be happy.

Also, people say reloading pistol is ok. It's not. It's a time vampire. For the 2 cents per round you save, just stick with buying the stuff in bulk. Unless you're doing the expensive .45 priced ammo.
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I'm not really interested in reloading yet. Not sure if it'll be soemthing I'll pickup tbh.... I'd rather just buy a few thousand rounds at a time in bulk and be done with it.

Meroh said:
Just like shopping wisely, watching sales for ammo; do the same for components, and you can almost drop the price in half for 9mm; less than half for .40 and .45. You can optimize cartridge length for your pistol, and taylor you loads for accuracy and performance. It also is pleasurable, and with a progressive press, it is not that time intensive.
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I have no doubt you can make a better round taylored for a particular firearm by reloading. Not sure I want to invest the time though. It's something I'll have to play by ear.

Thanks for everyone's comments!
 
P99 is sweet. I have big hands and I messed around w backstraps to get a better feel. Still not right but the trigger is great. Not sure I read it in this monster thread but if you can get near a gunshop (worth the trip to US if close enough) might be best to try one on.

2 cents worth while having an Ex at the pub anyways
 
Bodain said:
Pics? :)

<Snip>



I have no doubt you can make a better round taylored for a particular firearm by reloading. Not sure I want to invest the time though. It's something I'll have to play by ear.

Thanks for everyone's comments!
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I try to optimize the performance of every firearm I own; and I can not do that with store-bought.

A good example with my AR-15 that I built... Everyone said Federal American Eagle was great ammo; so I split a case of 1000 rounds with a friend. After the first 100 I was ready to throw the rifle in the creek, but I had some of my old varmint loads for my old Remington 78 kicing around and I tried those; I went from 4" at 100 yards to 0.75" at 100 yards on the first 10 shots.

You will not know the potential of your pistol until you try to optimize it. Factory ammo in my .45 1911; best is 9" 10 shot groups at .25 yards; 3-4 " with my home load 200 gr. SWCs.

Someone once wrote that the only interesting gun is an accurate gun. They were right... but it is not always the gun... It is usually the ammo.
 
Meroh said:
I try to optimize the performance of every firearm I own; and I can not do that with store-bought.

A good example with my AR-15 that I built... Everyone said Federal American Eagle was great ammo; so I split a case of 1000 rounds with a friend. After the first 100 I was ready to throw the rifle in the creek, but I had some of my old varmint loads for my old Remington 78 kicing around and I tried those; I went from 4" at 100 yards to 0.75" at 100 yards on the first 10 shots.

You will not know the potential of your pistol until you try to optimize it. Factory ammo in my .45 1911; best is 9" 10 shot groups at .25 yards; 3-4 " with my home load 200 gr. SWCs.

Someone once wrote that the only interesting gun is an accurate gun. They were right... but it is not always the gun... It is usually the ammo.
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If I get into competition shooting, I'm sure I'll take the plunge but as of right now I just want to go plink so I'm not too concerned with ultra-tight groupings.
 
Some advice from a guy that did listen to advice: buy a Shadow (either variant).

I started with a Canik tp9sa and then a Grand Power K100 decocker. Both great guns and can only say great things about them. When I started I read so many responses stating, "Don't waste your time, just buy a Shadow". I should have listened. I love my Shadow. Amazing gun. It's a keeper for life.
 
mcwalther said:
Some advice from a guy that did listen to advice: buy a Shadow (either variant).

I started with a Canik tp9sa and then a Grand Power K100 decocker. Both great guns and can only say great things about them. When I started I read so many responses stating, "Don't waste your time, just buy a Shadow". I should have listened. I love my Shadow. Amazing gun. It's a keeper for life.
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I just watche d afew videos of the Shadow 2, and man it does look good.... I need to get one in my hands!
 
Shadows are alright but I just got a standard SP-01 on sale for like... half the price of an S2. I didn't need a race gun for range use, and I encourage you to check out that one before you spend $1299 or more on a gun like this.
 
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Kosmonument said:
Shadows are alright but I just got a standard SP-01 on sale for like... half the price of an S2. I didn't need a race gun for range use, and I encourage you to check out that one before you spend $1299 or more on a gun like this.
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Being an owner of two SP-01 Shadows, I understand the idea of a cheaper gun compared to a Shadow 2, but I see zero reason for buying a plain Jane SP-01 vs an SP-01 Shadow. Even resale favours the Shadow much more than the plain SP-01. It’s much easier to sell a more popular model.
 
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