Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunter's Campfire HELP! I'm buying a handgun.

If there are any commercial ranges in your area, you could drop in, rent a few and try them out, see how you like them.

My free advice, so take it for what it's worth.
Seek a good trainer that teaches NRA basic pistol. When you find the right person to train you, talk to that person. Your trainer may have various handguns that you can try or recommend a range with rental guns. Pass NRA basic pistol with range time even if you have to shoot a borrowed gun (trainer's). Then you will be better able to make the decision on your first handgun.
Handguns are like potato chips. You can't just have one. Get one and you'll have to have another.

Ernie

Advice is what I'm seeking and appreciate every bit offered here. It's well meaning and valuable to me. Opinions, facts, wisdom all carefully read, deeply appreciated.

Thanks
Jim

This is good advice for anyone buying their first handgun.

this or something like it if yah have friends that are handgun nuts....handguns, especially the smallers ones for CC are really variable in what feels good in the hand from one person to the next....personally i like the S&W Shield in 9mm, but im sure there are plenty that dont like how it feels....

Colt .380 Mustang



http://www.sigsauer.com/CatalogProductDetails/p238-nitron.aspx

http://www.sigsauer.com/CatalogProductDetails/p938-blackwood.aspx

I have the no longer produced Colt Government 380 which has a bit longer slide and the Sig Blackwood is on my soon to buy list. YMMV

All are very easy to chamber from the magazine and triggers very nice. I also have a Kel-Tec P3AT .380 for real "hide em out" times. Have Don Hume IWB holsters for the 1911 style pistols.

Give serious consideration to a Glock 19. Try one out and see if you can live with the trigger. If possible get at least a couple hundred rounds through it.

If G19 trigger doesn't work for you, a 1911 Commander is probably more your cup of tea.

I have had the Kahr CW-40, Smith and Wesson 357 mag, Colt 38 special, and now the Kel Tec PF-9 for CC. The main reason I like the PF-9 the best is the ability to conceal it and how light it is. I've never thought it was difficult to handle or had much recoil, but there are many handguns I have not shot. I'm considering the Ruger LCR because it can shoot 38 and 357. In addition, it has a cylinder that is flat [for lack of better word] on one side that makes it a bit easier to conceal than the typical revolver. ...or at least, for me. We got my dad [73 years old] a revolver because he is not a real gun guy and we didn't want him to have to deal with a slide when he is confronted with a bear in the mountains [where he has a cabin]. We took him out recently to shoot so he could practice with his 22 revolver before handling a more powerful revolver. ..I believe it was a 44 magnum. He carries his gun out in the open.

My everyday carry is a Glock 19 carried in a outside the belt pancake holster. It conceals easily with an untucked shirt. It's amazing how handy it is to have a pistol that you are comfortable with on you all the time. Yesterday afternoon I dispatched a porcuplne on my property with it and if I had to run and get a rifle I'm sure I'd have never got the porcupine.

Didn't relase was a popular website in nursing homes. STX gave good advice on the first page

I said 1911 earlier but if you want to go 9mm, John Browning is still your man. A Browning Hi-Power is a damn fine weapon.

That it is...although a bit larger than many.

Rockchucker sure has a sweeet one!

Trying to catch up with ingwe?

Personally, I think you should be asking the grandkids what they prefer to inherit........ grin

Not exactly what you mentioned but take a look at the S&W Airweight .38
Also,If you haven't shot pistols much I don't know that you will like
the triggers unless you get a double action revolver. The auto and single actions just take some practice and getting use to. JMO

I have a Berretta Tomcat, 32 ACP pistol which is accurate and fun (comfortable) to shoot and carry. I also have a somewhat more powerful S&W 432-PD, Airweight, 32 H&R MAG, Snub-Nose Revolver - which also shoots and carries nicely.

The Beretta Tomcat has a tip-up barrel feature which enables the shooter to load or un-load a chambered round without having to manipulate the slide.

A couple older friends (my age) both bought Ruger LCP 380 pistols - and both do not like shooting them. Recoil.

There are a lot of good quality / performance Sub-Compact 9MM Pistols out there that are well suited for your carry needs and desires. Go out and look at several handguns, and shoot them if possible . . . But just by physically holding a handgun in your own hand - may just better tell you which handgun is the right one for YOU - than can a friend, gun salesman, or even Campfire expert -
- IT FEELS RIGHT!

In a 9MM Sub-Compact Pistol, I would choose a Beretta Nano or a Ruger SR-9C.
And that is just a personal preference.

one thing a gun show remains useful for. Typical they have a seller or two that has a large number of pistol models. You can handle each, determine which feels best in your hand, weights the right amount and fits in holsters at your waist and where you find that most comfortable.

You can try out lighter guns as others have noted.

Also you can try out on belt, in waist, in pocket etc.

If this is for in the woods, then having shoulder holster under a vest, etc might be a good holster or a back up under a jacket in cooler weather.

Go to a shop or show, handle many. You will hopefully pick one up and it will feel like a great fit to your hand, it'll just feel right. Then go to a range and see if you can rent that one, or find someone who has one that you can shoot. Get a couple hundred rounds or so and put it through it's paces. With some luck, the one that feels really good in your hands will point well and impact to point of aim naturally for you. Then worry about finding the right holster for your purposes.

I have a Khar PM9, it fits nice in a front pocket. It got some of the most consistent reviews out of all the pocket 9's. Real close to the size of the Ruger pocket nine, but sure felt a lot more solid. The Ruger would have saved me a lot of money, but I just like the way the Kahr felt in hand, felt feel solid.

I have tried all the striker fired 9mm's and settled on the Kahr Mk9 as my personal carry gun. Kahr has by far the best trigger pull of any DA pistol I have shot and I think by this time I have literally owned and shot them all. My favorite for years was an H&K P7 but arthritis in my thumbs has stopped me from using it due to inability to squeeze cock it. I also have a Kahr CW-9 that is my second choice although slightly larger than the MK9 it is lighter due to the frame material.

If you like metal rather than plastic in a slim package, the Ruger SP 101 in 357 is nice. 5 shot revolver, shoot 38's or magnums. I stick with 110's in the magnum to keep shooting fun.