Buying my first handgun -- any recomendations?

Unfortunately, I cannot recommend the Taurus guns...they tend to be less durable than the Beretta version. While Taurus does offer a "lifetime warranty" that does you little good if the gun breaks mid way through a two day (600 to 700 round) class. It would be worse if that happened in a defensive situation....

Again, find a quality USED gun; this will keep you within budget.

Dave

 

oh yea..... buy a Shotgun News newspaper and look through it. i see Glocks in there ALL the time for under $400. you will have to get a dealer to order it for you, but thats my point, ya go to a dealer who has a great selection , and ya get one at a great price and you get to see it in the shop. before all these people moved here, you could go to a gun shop here, see the gun, SHOOT THE GUN a few times outside and then buy it. too many people to shoot outside, not enough for someone to have an indoor range. i have yet to add a " fantastic plastic " Glock to my collection, but they are great guns, in 9mm or .45 ( i dont like .40 or .357 SIG , sorry) i must have a compact when i get around to getting one. good luck in your search, and i hope you never ever NEVER have to use it on someone. but at least you have it! michael

 

What do you guys think about the Walther PPK .380 ACP? I am considering buying one of these weapons, but am a little worried about the caliber issue. Do any of you have any experience with the PPK? I think it looks great and would be excellent for carrying, due to its flat shape and compact size. I've heard its a very accurate and reliable weapon, but I'm just concerned about the caliber. Is it big enough to hold it's own in the face of a 6 foot 8" 250 lb. killer?

 

THIS man knows of what he speaks.

 

If you are REALLY going to carry a weapon every single day, the first issue is reliability, second is its shape and size, and third is stopping power. Cause if you buy a gun thats too heavy or too bulky or rubs you the wrong way while carrying all day, you will start leaving the silly thing at home. It's counterproductive to the reason you bought a gun in the first place, to be ready for the worst.

 

If you have the money, get a new Glock.

If not, save untill you can get a used Glock!

For defensive use, they are hands down the best on the market in my opinion.

a G19 or G17 in 9mm also makes a fine first gun, 9mm is relatively cheap to shoot.

You could also get a .22, which are almost free to shoot Beretta's NEOS u22 is a very nice .22 that has proven very reliable and accurate.

 

I disagree. I fired thousands of rounds through my Taurus and never had a single jam or other issue. Mine had the 15 round magazine and I had several extras. Even when firing as fast as possible and rapid reloading, it never jammed. It was accurate, felt great, was rock solid reliable and it was cheap. Your comments are actually the first derogatory work againt Taurus I have ever heard!


Terry

 

Just bought a Glock 23, couldn't resist brand new $399.99. Shoots really nice.

 

I ran a Pawn Shop (which was also a registered gun dealer) for many years to put myself through school. Obviously, I had the opportunity to see, shoot and get feedback on many, many firearms.

My favorite firearms are Glocks - I have a compact 9mm & a ultra-compact .40 Glock that are my two carry pieces. Never a problem, never jams, always durable. I also like HK's & Sigs, but not as much as my Glocks.

In my opinion, don't ever buy a cheap gun. Pay a few dollars more and get something that will work if you ever need it. Hopefully you wont, but if you ever do, you'll either be very, very glad you spent the extra money or very, very sorry you didn't.

 

I enjoy pistol shootinmg, and really like my Ruger Mark II. I had a Taurus, which I got rid of, and a Glock which I got rid of (never even shot it, it was a scary weapon).

I like shooting airguns too, and it's a great hobby, but the problem is price, as you get what you pay for. I bought a used Diana for about 70.00, and it works GREAT. I bought a new crosman for not a whole lot less, and it was junk out of the box.

Frequent a reputable local gun shop, and see what is used but not abused. Guns America on the web is good, as is gunbroker.com

Its a fun hobby, Good luck!

 

I have a "Walther/American" stainless PPK/s in .380.

Frankly, it's garbage. I had to have the feed ramp re-worked to get it down to only jamming every 20 rounds or so. It has a double-action trigger pull like trying to tug down a Sequoia. I can throw it more accurately than I can fire it DA (it's not too bad SA, but that first DA shot is a throw-away ... not good for a city). The empty mags have to be pulled out, they don't just fall when released. Of course, I only bought it because the short 3" barrel would make a bit more challenge on an indoor range than a 5" barrel. (And because the Walther, the Colt, and the CZ75 represent the three main semi-auto design variations.)

If you want to go with a "mousegun", go for the German-made PPK in 7.62mm. The German made guns are the real deal. (But they cost twice as much.) I think the US built Walther/Americans were designed to let CIA desk jockeys dream of being James Bond, without shooting their foot off.

As far as caliber goes, even a .357 isn't much good if you don't hit the target. The Walther is a bit small for the hand. (I had to file down the sharp edges, because the slide would slice my thumb knuckle open.) Get something comfortable in your hand and in your holster.

With a good "FBI rake" kidney holster, even a Colt 1911 isn't that bad to carry, once you get used to it. (A smidge heavy, though.)

While S&W has gone big time into the .40 "Short and Weak", I'd still say the 3919TSW would still be a good short barrel. The 4013 has the fatter round, but a +P controlled expansion 9mm would likely have more stopping power -- provided you're not trying to shoot through a car door. If I had it to do over, I'd have gone for the 3913 instead of the PPK/s.

 

A Kimber M1911 is a nice gun... My friend has 3 of them, all with around 10K rounds through each.

 

Ahhhh...a boy's first handgun...[wave of nostalgia welling up]

I got my first handgun at 18 y.o.; my older brother bought it for me (classic strawman deal) in Anderson SC , a used but like new S&W model 19, 4 inch barrel, $175 out the door. Great gun, still have it. [/nostalgia]

Addendum; I actually took it to college and kept it in the dorm room (can you believe that!). Looking back on that, I'm not sure it was such a good idea, but it certainly seemed the natural thing to do at the time. Took it out on the weekends for plinking, kept it locked in a foot locker at school. I'm sure you would get thrown out of school and probably arrested now for that.

 

One the best carry guns, and my choice is the Glock G36. Single stack, compact 45. Full size power, compact size shape and weight. Great carry piece on your hip or on an ankle. I kept mine with 1 in the pipe and 6 in the stack. I did not like the feel of the extended grip that adds 1. 7 rounds is more than enough, and if needed carry 1 extra mag. I also use +P's.

 

+Ps are still available in most states, but ++Ps (like the Cor-Bon) are "police-only" rounds.

Like controlled expansion rounds, they'll be "bad" bullets until the politicos (and the press they chase) figure out that "one shot stop" means you don't have to shoot the perp multiple times.

(Back when the cops were required to use .38 hardball, it was standard practice to simply empty the revolver into a perp.)

 

Roll your own.

 

Why do you want to shoot +Ps anyway? They hurt your wrist, wear out your barrel quicker, put more strain on the receiver, are less accurate than target loads and cost more.

Granted you need to shoot some to check for good function in your firearm if they are your intended defensive load, but for the most part isn't a nice light handload more fun with which to practice?

With a nice light load and a 230gr SWC (and an 11 lb spring) in my series 70 Gold Cup, I can lay them on top of each other all day long.

 

I used to roll my own +P+ and periodically fed them to a .380 and a .357 that I carried while in school.

They are hard on the gun and will severely shorten its life but I had wanted to be familiar with their recoil and muzzle blast. I figured that if I ever actually need to use the things in self defense, I would need to know how the gun handled while shooting them. There IS a difference in recoil and muzzle blast between defense loads and plinking loads.

BTW, I carried a Taurus .357 in stainless and short of a replacement endshake bushing after around 3000 rounds, It's never really needed much. It was reasonably accurate once I recrowned the barrel.

 

+p+ rounds are "restricted" only by the manufacturers and distributors, there is nothing illegal in their possession or use. You can find them on-line and at many gun shows.

 

Terry,
We have taught thousands of students over the years (private citizen, military and law enforcement); we see all of the various brands of guns, and what CONSISTENTLY works, and what doesn't. I'm sorry if you are offended, in your case, you "got a good one" and that is great. Unfortunately, Taurus guns are not built to the same high standards as many European and American firearms. We have seen a number of parts break on Taurus guns. An example; we have serveral .22 revolvers for teaching our basic handgun classes. The two Taurus revolvers have broken internal mechanisms currently in need of repair, the two S&W revolvers work perfectly. And in comparing the trigger action and smoothness, there is no comparison, the S&W are very smooth and linear, the Taurus are rough and "stack" up toward the let off.