Newbie soon to join the ranks of firearm owners

strykrpal

strykrpal

Member
Hi all,

Really happy to see a Canadian online firearms enthusiast community!

I caught the 'bug' while down in Texas back in October 2008. When my host asked what I wanted to to while we were down there, I said I'd love to have the opportunity to shoot some guns. Well, not only did I get to go to a range and shoot a couple of handguns, but there was a gun show in town where we were staying, so I got to see and handle a LOT of different guns and talk to a lot of great people who were more than willing to answer questions.

At the range I rented a Glock 17 9mm and Glock 22 .40 cal., and couldn't stop thinking about it since. I immediately started researching what was involved in getting licensed to own/shoot here in Canada and took my CFSC and CRFSC within 2 weeks of getting back home. 3 LONG months, a LOT of reading/travelling later and I'm now a registered member of a gun club, my PAL is a week or two away (hopefully) and I have a deposit down on a Smith & Wesson M&P9.

Really looking forward to shooting my new gun and having some great discussions with members on this forum as well as new friends I make at the club. I'm also open to ANY suggestions someone might have for a newbie getting their first gun with respect to best practices, where to start, ammo or anything really. I'm like a sponge ready to absorb any information I can get. Thanks in advance!
 
well, let me welcome you to the addiction.

Say goodbye to your money.

The best practice in regards to learning a new firearm is, well, practice! Get out on the range as much as you can, and send as much lead downrange as you can afford. The more you shoot, the better you will get. Always concentrate on your trigger control, sight picture, breathing, etc and you'll be be well on the way!
 
Welcome to the forum. Lots of good information here just look around.

You may want to look at getting a .22lr as well as it can cut down on the costs and is good to learn on. My buddy bought a M&P9 as his first gun (along with a Ruger MKIII, .22) and he is really happy with it.

Look at getting into some of the sports such as IPSC & IDPA as shooting at paper gets a little boring after a while.
 
Thanks for the advice guys! I have a feeling I'll be getting a .22 pistol in the not too distant future. I handled the Sig Mosquito at the dealer where I'm buying my 9mm and was really tempted to get him to hold it as well, but at well over $500, I decided I'd hold off since I can buy quite a bit of ammo for that. But I know it'll more than pay for itself down the road, so I'll probably get one sooner than later.

I probably will get into PPC and further down the road IPSC once I'm really confident with my M&P. After completing my gun club student observation nights, I'm happy to say I've got my range 'legs' in that I feel 100% at ease standing around while firearms are going off, even downrange on PPC or IPSC night. I was never really nervous, it's more just getting over that natural instinct to flinch when especially larger calibre guns are fired, or the anticipation of the bang/shock-wave when watching someone preparing to fire.
 
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