Total pistol newbie, please forgive my ignorance...

I agree with the others who said start with a 22. The Ruger MkIII is a nice choice. Then a Norinco 1911 in 9mm or 45 for the low cost of the gun. Or a S&W or Ruger revolver in 357mag and it'll also take 38spl.

Ruger used to make a single action revolver that came with an extra cylinder. You could shot 357mag, 38 spl, and then 9mm by changing the cylinder. Check Sturm Ruger website to see if they still make one, or the pistol exchange here on good'ol gunnutz for a used one.

Good luck.
 
BP7 said:
plus most revolvers that do 38 will also do the more powerful 357 magnum which is more BOOM and more kick.
Click to expand...

f:P:2:this is how rumours get started, and stupid people that listen to them get hurt.

any revolver that is chambered for .357mag, will safely shoot .38spec.

Try a .357 in a .38spec revolver and you could end up having a bad day.

A .22 pistol or revolver (for a little more bang, there is the blackhawk convertible with .22lr and .22mag cylinders) is the best solution for a newb shooter, unless you are never going to buy another handgun and you MUST have a centrefire.
 
Vote for a .22 Ruger Mk I, II or III from me. Pretty tough to beat 500 rds for 20$. I've seen total newbies; never fired a pistol before; put an old Ruger mark I (w/ the long tapered bull barrell ) in their hands & they were able to make consistant hits no problem.
Substitute the Ruger with the brand of your liking of course, but it's a cool feeling to pick up a pistol and make it do what you want it to.
As opposed to having difficulty getting a decent group with a bigger, cooler gun; which is also more expensive to shoot.
Just my opinion of course
Stay safe
 
insurrecto said:
f:P:2:this is how rumours get started, and stupid people that listen to them get hurt.

any revolver that is chambered for .357mag, will safely shoot .38spec.

Try a .357 in a .38spec revolver and you could end up having a bad day.

A .22 pistol or revolver (for a little more bang, there is the blackhawk convertible with .22lr and .22mag cylinders) is the best solution for a newb shooter, unless you are never going to buy another handgun and you MUST have a centrefire.
Click to expand...

well, i did say MOST, not ALL.

MOST 38s made recently CAN fire 357s.
of course, ALL 357s can fire 38s.


so ya, i could have rephrased it to say that all 357 revolvers can fire the easier cheaper 38 special round.

happy? :dancingbanana:
 
tokguy said:
Vote for a .22 Ruger Mk I, II or III from me. Pretty tough to beat 500 rds for 20$. I've seen total newbies; never fired a pistol before; put an old Ruger mark I (w/ the long tapered bull barrell ) in their hands & they were able to make consistant hits no problem.
Substitute the Ruger with the brand of your liking of course, but it's a cool feeling to pick up a pistol and make it do what you want it to.
As opposed to having difficulty getting a decent group with a bigger, cooler gun; which is also more expensive to shoot.
Just my opinion of course
Stay safe
Click to expand...


Ruger Mark N plus Taurus Raging Bull

a happy mix! cheap-n-easy + anything-but.
 
BP7 said:
well, i did say MOST, not ALL.

MOST 38s made recently CAN fire 357s.
of course, ALL 357s can fire 38s.


so ya, i could have rephrased it to say that all 357 revolvers can fire the easier cheaper 38 special round.

happy? :dancingbanana:
Click to expand...

Yes, because it is now a correct statement...
 
...and make things clear for a "total pistol newbie"!:)

"MOST 38s made recently CAN fire 357s."

i did not know that... :cheers:

But, why would it be called a .38 then???
 
ok, so now we're getting into reading-comprehension :p

my original wording was "most revolvers that do 38 ..." which is quite correct. and i think we started talking about the ammo itself, as in using 38 special as a nice light easy round.

by now it's a moot point cuz i don't think the OP is likely to buy a revolver anyways. or if (s)he does, it coult be some recent production thing that - with 95% certaintity - is made for 357 into which (s)he can happily chamber 38 for the initial shooting experience (like those Pietta things at Marstar)
 
Okay, I've read through this whole thing and, it seems to me, friend ENEFGEE made the most sense.

If I had answered, I would have recommended a Webley Mark IV in the old Army .380-200, handloaded with 2.1 of Bullseye and a 158SWC in a .38S&W casing, seated to the length of a Ball round.

You can put the extra 300 bucks that it DIDN'T cost into a really bang-up loading outfit and be ready to load all your own ammo and have fun while you're doing it. Cost to reload as stated above runs about $2.25 a box if you cast your own outta wheelweight metal and skim off most of the tin, antimony and other stuff before you flux it. Add two bits to that and you can do your .38 Specials with the same slugs, shellholder, measure, press and so forth, just different dies.... which ALSO work for .357 Mag.

And the little Webley is the ideal 'big-bore' handgun for getting women interested in shooting handguns: it doesn't look 'ugly' or macho, it sits nicely in the hand, it is reasonably accurate, it doesn't hurt to fire it.... and it's the Real Thing. It is a real Army gun, designed for Army purposes, used in a real war and you get to bounce tin cans around with it for 2 bucks a box.

Most fun you can have out of bed without going to jail or gaining weight!
 
Last edited:
ok, why does everyone always throw in reloading / handloading into these threads? if the guy is a newbie, i'm guessing he isn't about to drop another few hundred on reloading gear and spending hours learning how to make rounds one at a time. and he didn't mention wanting to get into it at all.

personally, the last thing i'd want to be doing is melting lead and trying to form individual bullets using wheel weights in my kitchen or garage.
 
TheWanderer said:
but, I figure everyone has to start somewhere...so here goes;

For a first pistol I'm eyeing something inexpensive, such as the Norinco 1911 platform & what I'd like to know is if I can swap barrels, clips, etc so that I can use different calibre ammo? .22LR for 'fun', 9mm & .45ACP for target?

Am I on the right track or?
Click to expand...

If you want to build a skill set that you can actually hit what you are aiming at it is easier to learn with a 22LR then a center fire. In my opinion if you gave a novice a 1000 rounds of 45ACP and had them shoot it they would probably not achieve the same level of marksmenship then if you gave them a 1000 Rounds of 22LR and had them shoot. Cost not factor in. With cost of ammo factored in there is no question. Marksmanship of someone shooting 1000rds of 22lr will be greater than the skill level of one shooting only 50 rounds of 45 ACP.
 
I brought up handloading when it hadn't been called for specifically because of what I saw on another thread: 9mmP at 23.95 a box of 50 with FMJ, 28.95 with HPs.

ADD TAXES TO THAT.

Sure, it's nice to go to the store and just buy a few boxes/cases/crates of ammo, but it also costs serious money and a guy just getting into the sport might not have a whoile bunch of money but he DOES have a whole bunch of interest.

I am shooting a 1918 and a 1916 Luger: old-fashioned toggletops with zero plastic or injected-casting parts, designs right out of 1899 when you get right down to it. They can go through 100 bucks' worth of ammo in one range session and not even get too hot.

Everybody might not have 100 bucks an afternoon for play money. They might have wives and kids and car payments and silly little incidentals such as those.... and not be able to afford the luxury of unlimited factory ammo.

In future, knowing that I am a mere poor human being who is surrounded by millionaires, I will keep my silly opinions to myself.

I will also keep shooting my toys for 2 bucks a box.
 
Jasonburnsdundee (marvelous name to a Scot) makes a great deal of sense.

What he suggests works very well.

It's also cheaper.

BTW, BP7, I really wish you had taken the time to read my whole post before you started throwing rocks. I set out all my essential reasons for what I said and I thought it made sense, having gone the route myself.

I'm gone.
 
Last edited:
^ yeah, but there IS the cost of the reloading equipment (nothing is ever free), plus the time needed to learn the stuff, plus the space required to keep the stuff (esp the raw powders with kids around), plus the time needed to actually put the stuff together. one could just pick up the box (of even commercial reloads), and spend some time at the range - and when one gets home, one can devote time to family instead of futzing with lead and powders.

you gotta see it from both sides. some might WANT to reload for specific loads or consistency or even the fun factors, others may not have the time, space, or inclination even if it could save them a few bucks a week. hey, time is money! is time with wife and kids and family worth more or less than a box of ammo?
 
You do have a point, friend.

This is something that has to be looked at from both sides, of course.

I just like to help folks to keep their options open so that our sport doesn't become a money pit. I enjoy shooting my antiques too much to be priced out of the market.

See you at the range, I hope! I'm the guy whose boxes are all re-used, shooting the stuff with the lead slugs.
 
TheWanderer said:
but, I figure everyone has to start somewhere...so here goes;
For a first pistol I'm eyeing something inexpensive, such as the Norinco 1911 platform & what I'd like to know is if I can swap barrels, clips, etc so that I can use different calibre ammo? .22LR for 'fun', 9mm & .45ACP for target?
Am I on the right track or?
Click to expand...

First off, I hear you. You want to shoot on the cheap, right? Sounds like myself.

Caliber conversion kits are nice and novel and I suppose most of them work, but I didn't like my Peter Stahl 22 conversion for 1911s. Haven't tried anything else since that little adventure almost 20 years ago.

IMO, it is better to have dedicated pistols, even inexpensive ones (didn't say cheap). Say a .22 Ruger MKII/III, a Norkie 1911, CZ or Sig Clone 9mm pistol.

I suggest putting money into a mid-grade reloading set-up like a Lee Turret.
Every shooter who intends to practice and be good at pistol craft needs a reloader, unless he is made out of money, or is a totally mechanically challenged, or is afflicted with ADS.

If you buy one pistol and two conversion kits, you basically only have one pistol. For a little more, why not have three?
 
easyrider604: i agree on your first and third sections. i can't figure out the advantage of a $400 conversion kit over a $400 dedicated 22LR handgun. even if the numbers are $300 conversion and $400 dedicated, it's still just one gun at any given time. no backup, no buddy gun. i suppose the only upshot is less paperwork and possibly same grip / trigger feel as the main gun.

smellie: one time at the local range here a guy showed up with an old long revolver, and he was loading his rounds at the range. black powder. impressive BOOM and nice big cloud of smoke - kinda cool! but i think he only had time enough to shoot 20 rounds, what with all the loading and tweaking and everything. i suppose he saved a few bucks and had his rounds done just the way he likes them - all 20 of them! :p
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom