Looking for 1st Pistol

[libertysnake]

In the interest of posting more gun related threads, I'll post about how I'm going about deciding on my first pistol, like @Prudii !

I went to the range yesterday and fondled some. I ended up renting two that felt good in my hand, the Beretta 92 (A1) and the Sig P226 (E2 grip). I'm leaning toward heavier, full size pistols since I won't be carrying it, and I'm thinking the extra weight will give better stability and recoil control when target shooting.

Here's my synopsis of what I thought of each that I shot and handled.
Shot:
Beretta 92A1 -Wow I was surprised I liked this as much as I did. I originally thought it would be too large for me. I found it to be well balanced and a smooth shooter. Recoil was very smooth. Double action was frickin' heavy! But the single action was very nice. I couldn't really reach the slide release with my primary hand. I was hitting it fine with my support hand, but I'd buy a lever extension if I went with this pistol.

Sig P226 (E2 grip) - nice gun, fits your hand well. The muzzle seemed to flip a little more than the Beretta, probably due to the higher bore axis. It had the smoothest double action I tried. But IIRC, I thought the single action wasn't as crisp as the Beretta. I had a problem shooting this one. I found that the trigger travels really far back before firing, this causes me to start hooking my finger to push it all the way and the pad of my finger gets pinched between the trigger back and frame, ouch. I'm thinking this wouldn't happen with the old style grips.

Ones I only handled:
CZ 75B: I really wanted to like this gun, but it just doesn't fit me great. I was barely reaching the trigger in DA, and I felt like I couldn't get a good support hand grip on the frame, I think because of the curved trigger guard.
Sig P320: the 5" felt unbalanced, but I liked the 4" (carry?) model. Might have to come back to that one.
H&K VP9: was very comfortable. It was the only one with an "on-trigger" safety that felt I would reliably actuate every time.
Walther PPQ and PPX: these were nice and comfortable, and I really liked the PPQ trigger but I didn't like the on-trigger safety. I have slimmer fingers and feel I could fail to actuate it on this and some other pistols. I really want to try the P99 though.
FN FNX: I liked the feel of this one. It seemed very light, but also well balanced. Trigger was nice enough, I can't remember specifics about how the trigger felt.
Glock 19: I liked the balance, it felt like it had a low CoG. But it didn't fill my palm very well. The grip angle didn't seem crazy or anything, but I think it caused the grip to not settle in my hand well. I felt some of the single stack ones, and they felt comfortable.

List of ones I still need to handle:
CZ P01, P07, P09?, SP01?, P10
Sig Pxxx gen 1 grip, P220?, SP2022
HK USP, P30, 45, P2000?,
Walther P99
Beretta PX4, APX, 92c?
Browning Hi Power
IMI Jericho 941
FN FNX again, FNS
S&W M&P, revolvers
Kahr anything
Steyr anything

Ok, what do you guys think? Got any two cents for me? How goes your search @Prudii ?

I have both a S&W M&P Shield in 9MM, and a Glock 43. I prefer the glock 43. Both are reliable, both are great to fire, but the Glock 43 is actually supported by Glock. You can get replacement barrels no problem from them, and at a reasonable price, along with anything else you'd want. Their warranty is solid as well, and you don't have to worry about voiding it by changing sights or dumb things like that. S&W is very strict on their warranties, and you can easily void it / replacement parts are harder to come by.

The Glock43 is also damn small and conceals super easy -- which, if you're looking to carry the pistol, is always a feature you're looking for.

Just my two cents.

 

[UltraT]

I think the best thing is to talk to a professional, seriously. Go through the options, try some and get to understand
why things are this or that way. Some might give you a free introduction as they do as promotion for their
business and look for the courses in your local ranges. IDPA style clinics are great.

We cannot avoid it. I cannot tell you how many times in my life I bought the wrong thing because I had to have it.
With all that said I don't think that it would be a huge mistake if you buy some of the mentioned pistols. I bought
a shield w/o trying it and I love it but before that I bough so many pistols in my life w/o trying them and they
ended in the back of the safe. They felt great at first but didn't make a difference in the long run.

I guess my point is that we worry about the equipment but spending some time and money in professional advice
and training is going to be the best investment one will ever make.

Damn, now I feel guilty. That's probably what I should do now, but it might have to come a little later. Maybe the beginning of this coming winter I can get around to the more serious stuff. Right now I'm jonesing to just jump in to ownership I guess.

 

[UltraT]

I have both a S&W M&P Shield in 9MM, and a Glock 43. I prefer the glock 43. Both are reliable, both are great to fire, but the Glock 43 is actually supported by Glock. You can get replacement barrels no problem from them, and at a reasonable price, along with anything else you'd want. Their warranty is solid as well, and you don't have to worry about voiding it by changing sights or dumb things like that. S&W is very strict on their warranties, and you can easily void it / replacement parts are harder to come by.

The Glock43 is also damn small and conceals super easy -- which, if you're looking to carry the pistol, is always a feature you're looking for.

Just my two cents.

Thanks for the two cents! I appreciate every bit.

 

[meketrefe]

Damn, now I feel guilty. That's probably what I should do now, but it might have to come a little later. Maybe the beginning of this coming winter I can get around to the more serious stuff. Right now I'm jonesing to just jump in to ownership I guess.

And there is nothing wrong with that but I hope at least it gives you some things to think about and perhaps avoid
at least some of the mistakes we have made in the past.
As I get older my motto is: Own less, do more.

After all there is so much we can get buried with. They should be able to close that coffin.

If you are cremated, skip the ammo! lol

 

[tirwin1]

Ultra T you are doing it right. I went through the same process. I had to go out of state to try various pistols because I didn't have my permit. Thankfully I have a brother who lives in the great state of Texas where you can go to a range and rent all kinds of pistols and rifles. I was originally thinking about buying a berreta but wound up prefering the glock 19, which is what I ultimately went with as my first pistol.

 

[Criticalt]

I guess the question is how do you know if it just "feels weird" and you can train into it, or if it's just not a good fit for you? Can't you train into almost anything? I'm located in the Buffalo suburbs, Amherst/Clarence border area.



Maybe I just need to shoot it then?

Im down near Jamestown.
If you get this way I have a full sized Glock and full sized M&P and a couple others.
If you can get here, you can try them.

 

[UltraT]

Im down near Jamestown.
If you get this way I have a full sized Glock and full sized M&P and a couple others.
If you can get here, you can try them.

Ooo, that's tempting. Maybe, I'll let you know. Thanks for the offer.

 

[ken75ranger]

If you do go with the Beretta you can get a lighter trigger spring. It makes a big difference.

 

[Phazer]

Looking for 1st pistol

By your list, you're on your way to your second, third, fourth, and fifth.

Nice start.

 

[Mr. terzmo]

I like the 92F used by the military. I suggest a wheel gun for the first. 357 cal is nice as it can use .38 also. You'll get a lot of confidence in practice as a wheel gun shoots flawlessly with little maintenance. Then get a semi for a companion. Semi is better for capacity only as far as I'm concerned but when they jam...hope it's during practice. My first wheel gun is a colt det special in 38. Then a S&W 686 in 357.....then a S&W 411 in 40...also 2 more berrettas and a Taurus.

 

[Koz]

A couple of things...
I'm not sure you'll find too much muzzle flip in a 9mm. With practice your follow up shots should be quick with a 9 and any "flip" fairly nonexistent.
I have 3 M&Ps and a Shield. The S&Ws seem to fit me very well. I'm seeing ads for the 2nd gen M&P pistols so they should start to hit stores soon.
You might want to check them out. They do say they have tweaked the grip angle. I hope it isn't to be more like the Glocks. They don't fit me well at all,
although they are a fine handgun.
My favorite handgun is an FN FNP9. DA/SA. It is often by my side.
You seem to be taking a very good approach to buying your first pistol. Good luck and enjoy!!!

 

[UltraT]

If you do go with the Beretta you can get a lighter trigger spring. It makes a big difference.

Cool, I didn't know that.

 

[UltraT]

Thanks to everyone for your comments!

 

[foolinwfire]

I own 5 different guns and have tried a dozen others, I shoot my M&P Shield in 45acp the best. Strange if you ask me, but I love it and carry it.

 

[Snappo]

In the interest of posting more gun related threads, I'll post about how I'm going about deciding on my first pistol, like @Prudii !

I went to the range yesterday and fondled some. I ended up renting two that felt good in my hand, the Beretta 92 (A1) and the Sig P226 (E2 grip). I'm leaning toward heavier, full size pistols since I won't be carrying it, and I'm thinking the extra weight will give better stability and recoil control when target shooting.

Here's my synopsis of what I thought of each that I shot and handled.
Shot:
Beretta 92A1 -Wow I was surprised I liked this as much as I did. I originally thought it would be too large for me. I found it to be well balanced and a smooth shooter. Recoil was very smooth. Double action was frickin' heavy! But the single action was very nice. I couldn't really reach the slide release with my primary hand. I was hitting it fine with my support hand, but I'd buy a lever extension if I went with this pistol.

Sig P226 (E2 grip) - nice gun, fits your hand well. The muzzle seemed to flip a little more than the Beretta, probably due to the higher bore axis. It had the smoothest double action I tried. But IIRC, I thought the single action wasn't as crisp as the Beretta. I had a problem shooting this one. I found that the trigger travels really far back before firing, this causes me to start hooking my finger to push it all the way and the pad of my finger gets pinched between the trigger back and frame, ouch. I'm thinking this wouldn't happen with the old style grips.

Ones I only handled:
CZ 75B: I really wanted to like this gun, but it just doesn't fit me great. I was barely reaching the trigger in DA, and I felt like I couldn't get a good support hand grip on the frame, I think because of the curved trigger guard.
Sig P320: the 5" felt unbalanced, but I liked the 4" (carry?) model. Might have to come back to that one.
H&K VP9: was very comfortable. It was the only one with an "on-trigger" safety that felt I would reliably actuate every time.
Walther PPQ and PPX: these were nice and comfortable, and I really liked the PPQ trigger but I didn't like the on-trigger safety. I have slimmer fingers and feel I could fail to actuate it on this and some other pistols. I really want to try the P99 though.
FN FNX: I liked the feel of this one. It seemed very light, but also well balanced. Trigger was nice enough, I can't remember specifics about how the trigger felt.
Glock 19: I liked the balance, it felt like it had a low CoG. But it didn't fill my palm very well. The grip angle didn't seem crazy or anything, but I think it caused the grip to not settle in my hand well. I felt some of the single stack ones, and they felt comfortable.

List of ones I still need to handle:
CZ P01, P07, P09?, SP01?, P10
Sig Pxxx gen 1 grip, P220?, SP2022
HK USP, P30, 45, P2000?,
Walther P99
Beretta PX4, APX, 92c?
Browning Hi Power
IMI Jericho 941
FN FNX again, FNS
S&W M&P, revolvers
Kahr anything
Steyr anything

Ok, what do you guys think? Got any two cents for me? How goes your search @Prudii ?

God - first sidearm. I want to say my first semi-auto was a Colt Officer Edition Series 70 Mk IV. My thinking was that if you want parts, nobody makes more parts for accuracy increase and for function than for that Series 70 and Series 80 designs. My first plastic firearm was a Glock 17. Just cheap and reliable was my thinking on that. First revolver was a S&W Model 29. Now looking back......

Shittiest pocket carry for me was a Walther PPKS from 50 years ago or so. My hand is big (I am 6'6") and when it would cycle it would put razor type cuts on that bone that sticks up from your wrist. Blood everywhere. Sold it immediately. Had bought it for like $100 used, and went almost as fast as it came. Light and fluffy though.

Best overall carry piece - for low capacity it is the 1911 officer edition (7 rounds). For high capacity it is the Springfield XD. None of my Glocks, S&W's, Rugers etc come close to the quality feel of the XD and XDM.

Best revolver. That's a tough call. For cheap cost I go with my Raging Bull. For ability to hold value and actually appreciate - I go with my S&W Model 29 in 44 mag. For best weight and recoil versus stopping power I go with S&W again in 357 mag. For tiny pocket piece I go with the tiny S&W 38 snubbie.

There are some cool things I don't have and want someday - that Auto Mag that Dirty Harry had. An IMI Jericho (to go with my Uzis). A Luger. A Broomhandle. An 1858 Remington in 44 Beals. Or maybe an 1860 Colt Army in 44 Beals.

 

[UltraT]

Update:
Held some more pistols in the store today. I didn't shoot anymore yet, but my list of possibles is narrowing nicely. Here's what I looked at today...

H&K USP: wasn't loving the grip shape.

H&K P30SK: I wanted to try the full size, but I tried the compact. I also wasn't loving this one's grip shape. Should be the same on the full size.

H&K P2000: people sometimes rip on this gun online, but I thought it was very comfortable and had a decent trigger.

Beretta PX4: I liked the grip on this one, trigger seemed nice, very nice overall.

Beretta APX: this thing felt the most like a toy of all the ones I tried. It wasn't very smooth in the slide and felt cheap, no bueno.

Browning Hi-Power: a very nice pistol, the most comfortable I've felt for use in one hand and a sweet trigger. But there's no room for my support hand, a 2 hand grip feels strange. That's a deal breaker considering the price of these things. Too bad.

IMI Jericho 941: I don't know what version of this I tried, but it was a metal frame one. It fit me better than its parent, CZ75, but it still wasn't that comfortable.

FN FNS: I liked this one quite a bit. Lightweight, great balance, nice enough trigger for a striker fired, very comfortable.

FN 509: the new one, they say it's based on the FNS, well I didn't like it at all. The shape and controls felt all wrong, strange considering I liked the FNS.

S&W M&P (gen 1): didn't fit me great and I didn't like the trigger. Felt like it was super-stacking at the end of pull.
S&W M&P 2.0: trigger was much better but still didn't thrill me. The grip fit slightly better, but I found the grip texturing to be excessive, IMO.

Kahr (model ?): grips are too small for me

Ruger SR9: the shape and size seemed decent but it's hard to remember since all I was thinking about was how mushy the trigger felt. It has no indication of when it's going to break. Maybe some like the surprise break, but I don't.

Sig P229 (gen 1 grip): I wanted to try the old style grip to see if it would stop from pinching my finger. Answer: No, it did not.

Sig SP2022: I actually liked this one quite a bit. The different grip stopped the finger pinching and was comfortable. Trigger seemed nice enough.

CZ P09 (or it was it a P07?): this one didn't fit me. I can't remember the details for this one, just that I didn't like it much.

Glock 19 again: picked up the G19 again. It's ok, it's just the grip isn't doing it for me. It feel like it leaves my palm unsupported in some places, and too supported (pushing) in other places.

1911:
Forgot to add I also tried a couple 1911s. I didn't really like that they didn't fill my hand as comfortably as some of the double stacks. I tried a 2011, it was better, but a bit too big.

I'll put this in the first post too.

 

[Podmonkey]

Sounds like the PX4 may be the one for you. This is why its so important to try as many guns as possible. I don't think many of us would suggest the PX4, not because its a poor gun but because its not as iconic as the usual suspects. I understand its a perfectly fine pistol however. If you get one I would be most interested to hear your shooting imoressions of it.

 

[UltraT]

Sounds like the PX4 may be the one for you. This is why its so important to try as many guns as possible. I don't think many of us would suggest the PX4, not because its a poor gun but because its not as iconic as the usual suspects. I understand its a perfectly fine pistol however. If you get one I would be most interested to hear your shooting imoressions of it.

I'll put up my short list in a minute, there's still quite a few on there. I think I need to shoot some of them to narrow it down.

 

[UltraT]

Current Short List:
Beretta 92
Beretta PX4
Sig P320
Sig SP2022
FN FNX
FN FNS
H&K P2000
H&K VP9

 

[Podmonkey]

Current Short List:
Beretta 92
Beretta PX4
Sig P320
Sig SP2022
FN FNX
FN FNS
H&K P2000
H&K VP9

That's a solid list. The SP2022 is another one of those guns that is off the radar but is adored by those that own them.

 

[Jem45472]

I've been too busy to get out lately, but the next one I'm looking at is the ruger american compact. If you beat me to it let us know how it feels, most reviews say it feels great in hand. Also has three different back straps.

 

[UltraT]

That's a solid list. The SP2022 is another one of those guns that is off the radar but is adored by those that own them.

That's what I was thinking too. It's sort of a budget gun for Sig, but the owners seem to really like it.

 

[UltraT]

I've been too busy to get out lately, but the next one I'm looking at is the ruger american compact. If you beat me to it let us know how it feels, most reviews say it feels great in hand. Also has three different back straps.

That one had crossed my mind, but for some reason it hadn't made it to my list. I do want to check it out though, and I'll add it if I do.

 

[Jem45472]

Oh and if you end up choosing the beretta 92 pm me. May have a deal for you, we are in the same area.

 

[UltraT]

Oh and if you end up choosing the beretta 92 pm me. May have a deal for you, we are in the same area.

Thanks, I'll keep that in mind.

 

[Mr. terzmo]

Sounds like the PX4 may be the one for you. This is why its so important to try as many guns as possible. I don't think many of us would suggest the PX4, not because its a poor gun but because its not as iconic as the usual suspects. I understand its a perfectly fine pistol however. If you get one I would be most interested to hear your shooting imoressions of it.

Have one in 40 and it's great

 

[UltraT]

Went back to the stores and did a second round of handling of the short list pistols. Here's the ones I eliminated:

Beretta PX4: upon further review, I find the trigger to be slightly lighter than the 92, but not as crisp. I find the mag release a bit too hard to press.

Sig P320: upon further review, I'm not loving the slide release, also I didn't think the trigger was as great as some people say.

FN FNX: upon further review, I don't like the safety position, I feel it gets in the way when hitting the slide release

H&K VP9: upon further review, I'm not a fan of the paddle mag release on this. I find it hard to hit.

H&K P2000: upon further review, once again I'm not a fan of the paddle mag release, but on this pistol I found it better than the VP9's lever at least.

Also in addition to the second looks, I also held the M&P Shield for the first time.

S&W M&P Shield: there were definitely some redeeming qualities about this gun, but it just didn't fit my hand that well.

I'll update the first post with this stuff.

 

[UltraT]

And then there were 3:
Beretta 92
Sig SP2022
FN FNS

I may just skip the ones I haven't tried yet if I make a final decision soon. I can always come back to them for a 2nd pistol. @Darth , I can't find a P99 anywhere to handle it!

 

[UltraT]

Also forgot to mention I fired a FNX .45 at the range. I figured I'd kill two birds with one stone, try the FNX since it's almost identical to the FNS (except the trigger) and also try the .45 ACP round for the first time.

FN FNX .45: A good shooting gun, I felt like I could recover a sight picture quickly. Muzzle flip seemed normal, maybe similar to the Beretta 92, less than the Sig P226, but the difference was slight. Regarding the .45 caliber, honestly I really couldn't tell that much difference from 9mm. The .45 maybe pushed a tad more, but was a little less snappy. I really thought the difference was negligible.

 

[Justincase]

If you didn't like the paddle release on the VP9, but liked everything else, I think what you want is a PPQ M2. Just like the VP9 but with a better trigger.