Recommend good first gun.. ~$500 range or less, wanted a revolver.. though now I'm up for anything

[brxndxn]

Originally, I thought I'd buy a .45 Smith and Wesson revolver. But, I'm being told by my gun-loving friends to get a 9mm pistol.

I almost bought this one: Springfield

but.. I decided to ask my gun-loving ATOT buddies..

I was thinking I'd start with a .45 since I only plan to go to the shooting range maybe once every month or two. It's more for home protection. I figure that if I really enjoy the shooting range and plan to go more often, I'll buy another gun that uses cheaper ammo and maybe has less kick.

So.. what should I get? I want pictures and stats please.

Also, please no political crap. I'm too stubborn for my mind to be changed by some random wussy gun-hater on the Internet.

 

[Mutilator]

I was going to get a Springfield XD 40 - but I kept getting drawn back to a HK USP .40 Compact. Unfortunately the HK costs about $300 more.

Have you fired a real gun before? If not then it wouldn't be a bad idea to see if your local range offers training. Probably not a good idea to go buy a .45 before you've shot one when you don't know what to expect.

 

[Heisenberg]

Have you looked at Glock or Sig Sauer? They both make .45ACP pistols.

 

[jfall]

Is this for protection or target practice?

 

[ShotgunSteven]

Originally posted by: Mutilator
I was going to get a Springfield XD 40 - but I kept getting drawn back to a HK USP .40. Unfortunately the HK costs about $300 more.

Have you fired a real gun before? If not then it wouldn't be a bad idea to see if your local range offers training. Probably not a good idea to go buy a .45 before you've shot one when you don't know what to expect.

I own the H&K USP-40 and am thinking of going to an XD. The full sized USP is just a tiny bit too large for my hands, and I hate the creep in the trigger. Could get that adjusted, but since I now plan to sell it I haven't bothered.

Go to a rental range before buying anything, so you can get comfortable with whatever you plan to purchase before you DO purchase.

 

[ShotgunSteven]

Originally posted by: Heisenberg
Have you looked at Glock or Sig Sauer? They both make .45ACP pistols.

I think he means the .45 Long Colt.

 

[shortylickens]

A FIRST gun?

.22 Long Rifle.
Smith & Wesson has a bunch of them in auto and revolver.

Many gun affianados would sat S&W makes much better revolvers than autos.
I've had both and they are nice.

Also had the Beretta Neos in 7.5 and 6 inch barrels. Good gun.

 

[spacejamz]

you are not gonna get a whole lotta luv here about the 9mm cuz alot people here are going to tell you about stopping power and you need to have .40 or .45 blah blah blah...

if you really plan to shoot alot, your best bet is a 9mm because the ammo is signficantly cheaper than a .40 or .45...you should be able to get a box of 50 rounds for around $5 while the others will be closer to $9 or higher per box...

get some hollow point for your home defense needs and you should be fine...

you really need to find a place that will let you fire off some rounds so you can find the gun that feels best to you...

i am not a gun fanatic or or anything, but i really like the feel of my beretta 92...also have a kahr mk9 as well...


pic of guns mentioned above...
good luck...

 

[Soybomb]

I like the suggestion of 9mm honestly. The difference between the major calibers is minute with modern hollow points and 9mm is much cheaper so you'll be inclined to practice more. The biggest hole in the world isn't worth anything if you don't put it where it needs to go.

Past that I say go to the gun store and rent several guns and try them all out. Anything you pay $400+ for is likely to be a quality gun but what one person likes another might not. I have a sig sauer that is no doubt a quality firearm but I honestly just don't like shooting it nearly as much as I do my walther p99.

As usual I recommend anyone interested in reading more about calibers and handgun terminal ballistics start reading with this http://www.firearmstactical.com/hwfe.htm

 

[Heisenberg]

Originally posted by: ShotgunSteven

Originally posted by: Heisenberg
Have you looked at Glock or Sig Sauer? They both make .45ACP pistols.

I think he means the .45 Long Colt.

Are you referring to me, or the OP?

 

[RGN]

The xD guns are very nice. Great price, ergonomics and features (caliber choice, porting, barrel length, sights, etc).

 

[ShotgunSteven]

Originally posted by: Heisenberg

Originally posted by: ShotgunSteven

Originally posted by: Heisenberg
Have you looked at Glock or Sig Sauer? They both make .45ACP pistols.

I think he means the .45 Long Colt.

Are you referring to me, or the OP?

You.

My USP-40.

My 9mm.

 

[Heisenberg]

Originally posted by: ShotgunSteven

Originally posted by: Heisenberg

Originally posted by: ShotgunSteven

Originally posted by: Heisenberg
Have you looked at Glock or Sig Sauer? They both make .45ACP pistols.

I think he means the .45 Long Colt.

Are you referring to me, or the OP?

You.

Then I'm still confused. The ACP is a different round than the Colt, and is used in semi-auto pistols.

 

[ShotgunSteven]

Originally posted by: Heisenberg

Originally posted by: ShotgunSteven

Originally posted by: Heisenberg

Originally posted by: ShotgunSteven

Originally posted by: Heisenberg
Have you looked at Glock or Sig Sauer? They both make .45ACP pistols.

I think he means the .45 Long Colt.

Are you referring to me, or the OP?

You.

Then I'm still confused. The ACP is a different round than the Colt, and is used in semi-auto pistols.

Yes, though it is used in some revolvers via half-moon and full-moon clips. I thought you were suggesting it not realizing the OP was talking about .45 Long Colt, not as an alternative. My bad.

 

[Heisenberg]

Originally posted by: ShotgunSteven
Yes, though it is used in some revolvers via half-moon and full-moon clips. I thought you were suggesting it not realizing the OP was talking about .45 Long Colt, not as an alternative. My bad.

Ahh, I see now. No problem.

 

[Kilgor]

My first gun was a Ruger GP-100 357 mag and of all my guns it's the one I still take to the range every time. What you need to do is go shoot a few to see what feels confortable to you. Glocks are good pistols but I don't like the grip angle on 'em. I have a CZ75 in 9mm thats a nice gun shoots well never had any problems with it. Another on of my favorites is my Spingfeild 1911 45acp it's comfortable to shoot and very accurate for me.

 

[ShotgunSteven]

.357 revolver is nice because you can use the cheaper .38 Special ammunition for target practice.

 

[Conky]

Glock 21 (.45ACP) is sweet with large round and lots of them.

A S&W revolver in .22LR would make a nice, cheap to fire, practice/target gun. As noted above, .357 revolver is good too because you can use either .357magnum or .38special rounds although .22LR is super cheap and actually lethal if you need it to be.

 

[pontifex]

Originally posted by: spacejamz
you are not gonna get a whole lotta luv here about the 9mm cuz alot people here are going to tell you about stopping power and you need to have .40 or .45 blah blah blah...

if you really plan to shoot alot, your best bet is a 9mm because the ammo is signficantly cheaper than a .40 or .45...you should be able to get a box of 50 rounds for around $5 while the others will be closer to $9 or higher per box...

get some hollow point for your home defense needs and you should be fine...

you really need to find a place that will let you fire off some rounds so you can find the gun that feels best to you...

i am not a gun fanatic or or anything, but i really like the feel of my beretta 92...also have a kahr mk9 as well...


pic of guns mentioned above...
good luck...

i'll 2nd this.

 

[JEDI]

Originally posted by: brxndxn
Originally, I thought I'd buy a .45 Smith and Wesson revolver. But, I'm being told by my gun-loving friends to get a 9mm pistol.

I almost bought this one: Springfield

but.. I decided to ask my gun-loving ATOT buddies..

I was thinking I'd start with a .45 since I only plan to go to the shooting range maybe once every month or two. It's more for home protection. I figure that if I really enjoy the shooting range and plan to go more often, I'll buy another gun that uses cheaper ammo and maybe has less kick.

So.. what should I get? I want pictures and stats please.

Also, please no political crap. I'm too stubborn for my mind to be changed by some random wussy gun-hater on the Internet.

1) goto gun range
2) rent various guns to see which u like
3) ...
4) Profit

 

[pontifex]

Originally posted by: JEDI

Originally posted by: brxndxn
Originally, I thought I'd buy a .45 Smith and Wesson revolver. But, I'm being told by my gun-loving friends to get a 9mm pistol.

I almost bought this one: Springfield

but.. I decided to ask my gun-loving ATOT buddies..

I was thinking I'd start with a .45 since I only plan to go to the shooting range maybe once every month or two. It's more for home protection. I figure that if I really enjoy the shooting range and plan to go more often, I'll buy another gun that uses cheaper ammo and maybe has less kick.

So.. what should I get? I want pictures and stats please.

Also, please no political crap. I'm too stubborn for my mind to be changed by some random wussy gun-hater on the Internet.

1) goto gun range
2) rent various guns to see which u like
3) ...
4) Profit

did you ever buy a gun? i remember you made like 10 posts about about guns.

 

[teckmaster]

I'm a Glock man myself, but everybody is switching over to the XD. Either way, its going to cost between 500 - 600 bucks, unless you go pre-owned and save yourself a few. If you go pre-owned though, see if whoever you buy from knows how many rounds have gone through the barrel.

 

[skywhr]

Glock .40

 

[LordNoob]

If you have big hands, try the GLOCK 21. (Full sized .45 ACP, 13+1)

 

[KK]

I'm a revovler fan, so I'd say a .357 would be a good starter gun. Most will allow you to shoot .38's out of them, then you can always move up to .357