New Shooter Hand Gun Recommendations

Loki_Stormbringer

Loki_Stormbringer

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Hi Everyone,

I am so excited my RPAL just arrived today and I am excited to make my first hand gun purchase. My question of all you experienced gun owners out there, is would you recommend starting off with something like a browning buckmark or a Ruger 22/45 or something like a Walther PPX 9mm.

My main concerns are costs and experience. That being said is there a big difference in recoil between a 22lr and a 9mm? Also the cost difference in ammunition is quite big and it looks like I will get a lot more practice with 22lr due to cost, but I could be wrong on this point I have just done preliminary research.

I am also thinking about getting a rifle in the near future and was thinking of getting one that shoots 22lr, so perhaps this is a good enough reason to get a 22lr hand gun.


Please give me any of your thought or suggestions and feel free to rip apart anything that I have wrong as I am still new.



Thank you so much for your time.
 
Can't go wrong with the 22/45 inexpensive to shoot ,( there is now a speed kit to help with disassemble ) get you started on something with light recoil that won't be getting you into flinching & other bad habits . As for rifle Ruger 10/22 great little dependable gun . I have a second year production , still going strong after all these years & 10000's of rounds
 
Any decent 22 cal is fun, just get the one you like the look of, and play

Unfortunately I got bored with it real soon and ended up with a 1911 45, 686+ 357 and another 45 then a glock 9mm, (I find the 45's aren't as snappy as the 9's)

I reload for all and find it reasonably priced

Welcome to the handgun club and enjoy

Mark
 
Congratulations and welcome to Gunnutz, In the long run the price of most firearms is cheap compared to ammunition.
What do you want to do with your guns?
Learn to shoot well or blast away for fun? Or maybe a bit of both?

A double action .22lr revolver would really help train your trigger finger and slow down you rate of fire a bit which will save you some money and help focus on accuracy. Alfa Project revolvers would be your best budget option there.

The price of all ammo is going up including .22lr so if your budget is really low consider a quality air rifle,or pistol to learn marksmanship.
What's your budget?
 
.22 in handgun is a great choice if you want to shoot, learn the basics (sight picture, trigger control) and want the cheapest ammunition possible. However, stepping up to the 9mm will teach you those things plus recoil management in a calibre that most would consider the bottom end of the "real gun" calibres. .22 is fun and cheap in handguns but as other posters have alluded, it gets old fast and the desire to move up into the larger calibres comes on quickly. .22 in a rifle however is a great base point. There is almost always something to shoot, ammunition is cheap, and so are the rifles. A good Ruger 10/22 is a great first rifle and offers more aftermarket options than any other firearm on the market, so the fun goes on for years. I started with a stainless 10/22 in the late 80's and it shoots just as well today, but sports a few bits I have added over the years (sights, stock, bipod). If you do go .22 in handgun, a Buckmark is a good buy. GSG makes some nice 1911 style rimfires as well. If you elect the 9mm, buy one that fits your hand, not according to brand or style. You'll shoot better right away and improve from there rather than fighting the gun for an accurate shooting grip for 6 months.
 
Go to Urban Tactical in Brantford or Target Sports Canada in Gormely and try some of their pistols to see what you would like. A .22 is easy to shoot as there is very little recoil but being rim fire cartridges you will get misfires. I'd recommend going with a 9mm if you think you're only going to purchase 1 pistol. I find 9mm's to be pretty easy to shoot too and it's not that expensive. Now if you want to just hold some different pistols, you can try Bulls Eye in London as they have a good selection.

Remember a good pistol will cost you, so make sure that you know what calibre you want to shoot and whether or not you're going to limit yourself to just 1 pistol.

For me, I went with a Sig Sauer P320 in a full size with a medium grip, I liked the weight and feel of the pistol in my hand. No double trigger, or external safety. Just felt natural to me.

I found a 45 calibre round just a little too much to handle enjoyably. Hope that helps.
 
Thank you everyone, it looks like most of you agree on starting out with a 22lr unless it will be my only gun. I am 100% sure this will not be my only gun. Now that I have put the time and effort into getting my license. I intend to make this a long term hobby and intend to collect a few guns. As for pellet guns I already have a few and have been shooting them since I was very young. I do think it makes sense to go to somewhere like urban tactical to try out a few.

I think that I will continue to research and try to get out to urban tactical before I decide.

Can someone explain what the takedown problems are on the ruger 22/45?

Thanks again.
 
The problem with the Ruger take down procedure is that it rarely needs to be done..... :)
People forget the simple technique required to make sure a strut is in the right place so that the gun will function properly.
Luckily once a year you can watch a 5 minute or less google video, and in fact that is what you should do if you want to learn how hard it really isn't...
[youtube]4fIYIWK0boo[/youtube]
 
Loki_Stormbringer said:
Hi Everyone,

I am so excited my RPAL just arrived today and I am excited to make my first hand gun purchase. My question of all you experienced gun owners out there, is would you recommend starting off with something like a browning buckmark or a Ruger 22/45 or something like a Walther PPX 9mm.

My main concerns are costs and experience. That being said is there a big difference in recoil between a 22lr and a 9mm? Also the cost difference in ammunition is quite big and it looks like I will get a lot more practice with 22lr due to cost, but I could be wrong on this point I have just done preliminary research.

I am also thinking about getting a rifle in the near future and was thinking of getting one that shoots 22lr, so perhaps this is a good enough reason to get a 22lr hand gun.


Please give me any of your thought or suggestions and feel free to rip apart anything that I have wrong as I am still new.



Thank you so much for your time.
Click to expand...

That just sounds like you need three! 22lr handgun/rifle + 9mm. It's only a matter of time....
 
Here's what I would do in your position:

1) Get something in 9mm that has a 22lr kit for it, there are several options. If you are totally new to HG you might want to wait before going with a glock but they do have a nice 22lr kit... There is also a 22lr kit for several of the 1911's and I think for some of the P22X types as well as others. Gives you the option to start out with 22 and shoot away on the cheap and then switch over to the higher cal later with the same trigger, grip, sights etc

2) If you want to do some cheap "recoil training" get a T-33. You can get them for about $200 and the ammo is about 1/2 the price of 9mm and twice the price of 22lr so a nice mid-point ammo. It's also FUN to shoot and believe me, you will get used to recoil shooting that stuff, you will also learn all about cleaning because the cheap ammo is corrosive.

I wish there was a cheap slide+magazine option for a 22lr conversion for a T-33 or similar tokarev pistol, wouldn't that be awesome?
 
If you like the look of a 1911 but want to start out with a .22 (which is a great idea) I really like the GSG9-22. Fun to shoot, accurate enough and has been pretty reliable for me so far. I also agree with previous posters regarding the Ruger 10/22 rifle. The most fun you will have for the price and I've shot lot of ammo through mine in the past 7 years with no issues.

When you are ready to move to centre fire pistols it's hard to go wrong with a 9mm Glock. They eat any ammo, rarely break and last forever with minimal maintenance. It really depends what you like to do with your guns... I like to shoot them but I don't really care to tinker with them or spend a lot of time cleaning them. My brother likes to take everything apart, polish parts, change out components and make everything really shiny so he buys and builds .45 1911s that are also a blast to shoot but a lot more finicky than a Glock.

Pistols are about what gets YOU excited. The idea of shooting a .50 revolver seems crazy to me but I know guys who love them. Try everything and don't be afraid to buy used from the sponsor sites. You will quickly determine what you like and that will change over time. Have fun...

Jeff
 
WinterHawk said:
Go to Urban Tactical in Brantford or Target Sports Canada in Gormely and try some of their pistols to see what you would like.
Click to expand...

^^ This.^^

I can't stress enough to spend some money and see what fits you, what you like and get some hands-on manipulation of the firearm. I bought a very good deal that turned out bad for my first handgun because I didn't realize I couldn't shoot a light synthetic handgun well. Once I realized what kind of trigger pull, weight, action, length of pull, grip size and so forth I liked I bought what works flawlessly for me every time... although I need to get to the range more.
 
Loki_Stormbringer said:
That being said is there a big difference in recoil between a 22lr and a 9mm?
Click to expand...

Quick answer, YES! A very startling difference at first. With proper two hand grip placement and shooting experience you learn how to lessen the difference. Having matching calibre pistols and rifles leads to lots of shooting fun. You might want to start with a .22lr pistol/rifle then progress to a 9mm pistol/rifle. Agree with all the posters that point you to rental ranges to try and a shoot a few first.
 
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