Best handgun for first-timer?

Status
Not open for further replies.
Your price range is a bit low. The good news about guns is, that as long as you provide a little bit of maintenence, they pretty much last forever. The bad news is, the used ones hold a lot of value for the same reason.

Honestly in your situation, I would narrow it down to some traditional, uncomplicated choices. Look at a Glock and a revolver.

I say Glock, because they are very simple, more rugged than any other gun, and I would trust a used one in most circumstances. (Your price range is saying 'used'.) Look at the other new striker-fired guns as well, like the S&W M&P, the Springfield XD, etc. But there is a huge market of used Glocks out there. If you buy a police buyback gun, it has been examined by a department gunsmith, and reconditioned by the factory. If it has night sights, jump on it.

For revolvers, I will steer you towards S&W and Ruger, but your price might move you towards Taurus, Rossi, and Charter Arms. Honestly, for your first learning gun, you could live with one of them.

Small guns are NOT easier to shoot than big guns. They have a shorter sight radius (determined by the distance between the front and rear sight) making them more difficult to aim, and they have less weight, meaning that your hand gets more of the recoil. Don't worry too much about caliber, but know that a .40 is a bit snappier in recoil than a 9mm or a .45. No matter what you get, learning to fire quickly and accurately is part of the learning process. 9mm or higher, with premium SD ammo, is adequate for the job. Don't listen too much to dealers who characterize by saying "This is a ladies' gun," or "This is a beginner's gun.", if you are comfortable with it, get it. If it turns out later that you think you want something else, take a hit, trade it in, and get something different. WE HAVE ALL BOUGHT A GUN WE WERE IN LOVE WITH AND CHANGED OUR MINDS LATER. Don't carry a gun you aren't 100% comfortable with.
 
Since no one has suggested it yet, the market has recently become inundated with SIG P6 pistols. These are West German Police trade-ins. Most have been carried a lot, but shot a little. Plenty of them out there in the $300 range. It's a semi-automatic 9mm SIG 225 built for the purposes of government contracts. Mine runs great; I dare say it's one of the best and easiest-to-find deals going on a handgun right now.

Feed it with a good quality hollow-point and you'll have a gun that's great for defense, and carry if you choose to get a permit.

That means a caliber like 9mm or 12mm?
Click to expand...

I'm not aware of a 12mm cartridge.
 
There isn't a 12mm, there is a 10mm but that probably isn't what you're looking for. The big three for semi-auto pistols are 9mm, .40sw, and .45acp. Of course you can get whatever you want but I would recommend one of these. Welcome to THR.
 
Ruger single 6. Not glamorous but its cheap to shoot, almost bomb proof, easy to maintain and the ammo is cheap, cheap ammo means you can shoot a LOT without breaking the bank. Single action means you have time to take that aimed shot every time instead of just throwing lead down the range in large quantities because its easy to shoot fast. You will get to be a better marksman shooting them one at a time and time on the range will introduce you to other shooters. They will introduce you to their favorites. By the time you get to the point where you can buy a gun for serious you will have a lot better idea of what you want and when you get it you will be a better marksman. Never underestimate the mouse gun.
 
A used Ruger Mk I, II, or III .22lr semi-auto handgun.

A very large percentage of beginning bullseye competitors start with a Ruger. They're also extremely popular as plinking and small game guns.

They're accurate and reliable. They're easy to disassemble, but somewhat tricky to reassemble until you learn how.

The new guns aren't that much. Their not particularly rare, so you should be able to get a good deal on a used one.
 
It's extremely expensive to learn how to shoot a handgun if you buy a .38 or other centerfire. Try to find a good price on a used Ruger .22
 
I wouldn't suggest a .22 given that the OP is asking about a handgun for self-defense. Kel-Tec is great for CC, but not a great piece for people who plan on spending a lot of time learning at the range.
 
Since no one has suggested it yet, the market has recently become inundated with SIG P6 pistols. These are West German Police trade-ins. Most have been carried a lot, but shot a little. Plenty of them out there in the $300 range. It's a semi-automatic 9mm SIG 225 built for the purposes of government contracts. Mine runs great; I dare say it's one of the best and easiest-to-find deals going on a handgun right now.

Feed it with a good quality hollow-point and you'll have a gun that's great for defense, and carry if you choose to get a permit.
Click to expand...

+1. Down here the last P6 I handle was definitely not issued or shot and was selling for $379 a little higher than other locals. Needless to say Sigs are great guns and at less than $400 are simply a steal. May be the only time one can get a SIG for so little money.
 
Stand by recommendation of a 22. Learn to shoot first or the handgun will do little good and a 22 you can shoot accurately beats the living daylights out of a major caliber you can't afford to shoot much so you don't get good first.
 
The problem with raising the price level of the handgun is, "Will you be able to afford shooting it ?"
 
I will give you a easy answer. A newRuger P95 9mm I don't own this but I still recommend it highly. It is around $300 and you can buy with your eyes closed.
 
+1 on the Ruger P95. Great gun, low price, reliable as hell, accurate and lifetime warranty. The only bad part is that it is a good sized pistol, and will therefor be harder to conceal if you get a permit. But the extra size and weight will help soak up recoil.

Another good gun in that price range is the SW Sigma. Its a little smaller than the Ruger but I would say the Ruger is a better choice.
 
Oh Yeah....A good used revolver from Ruger or SW in either .38/.357 would make an excellent first handgun. A SW model 10 can be had easily for a little over 200 bucks.
 
Welcome to THR!

As was said, you drive a hard bargain. You brought up your concerns and one was price. Am I to assume money can be an issue? If this is the case, I recommend a 9mm. Ammunition is cheap. Not as cheap as .22lr but for a defensive round, it is as inexpensive as its going to get.

I am a revolver guy at heart but I think you can get a CZ Rami or Rami P from Gun Broker under $400 in some cases. I have been looking at the Rami (not P) in 9mm for myself just for the reason of ammo cost. I've heard nothing but good things about the 9mm version and if it shoots like the CZ 75B, then it must shoot like a dream.

Best of luck in your search and buy smartly. Hopefully you will find the one that will last.
 
I'm relatively new to handguns myself, but have been a long gun shooter for ages, here's what my experiences with handguns have taught me;

If this is your first handgun, a .22 is pretty much a given, dirt cheap ammo, you can shoot it all day, no recoil to speak of, and it will teach you good habits that will transition to other firearms, revolver or semi? that's a personal choice, the revolver has a simpler "user interface", you don't have to deal with jams, tempermental magazines and the like, but it generally holds less rounds than the equivalent semiautomatic

a .22 isn't the ideal self-defense (SD) gun, but it'd be better than nothing

the next step up in power would be a .38 or .357 revolver (you can shoot .38s out of a .357, but not the other way), or a 9mm semiauto (10mm is the semiauto equivalent of .357 Magnum, however you can not shoot 9's out of a 10mm, .40 S&W is a lower powered, shorter version of the 10MM), as you step up in power, you generally get both more noise, and more recoil, a semiauto's recoil will be slightly less than a revolver, as it uses the recoil energy to chamber the next round

9mm is a perfectly acceptable SD round, as is a .38 Spl, .357 is one of the most powerful handgun rounds available, but it is both a fast moving, and light projectile, and has a nasty tendency to overpenetrate soft targets, tear right through them with sufficient energy to still be dangerous, .357 also has substansial recoil, due to the high pressure, fast round, but it's *LOADS* of fun

My personal favorite is the .45 ACP (Automatic Colt Pistol) it's synonymous with the 1911 style semiauto pistol, it's a large, heavy, slow projectile (most common .45 loads are subsonic and lack the supersonic "crack" common in 9mm/.38/.357), a .45 emits a low, meaty *BOOM* when fired, but surprisingly, has a very manageable recoil, less in fact, than a hot loaded 9mm

9mm/.38/.357/10mm/.40 S&W recoils tend to be sharp and snappy, torquing at the wrist and snapping the barrel, along with a strong pressure wave and sharp, supersonic "crack"

.45 ACP recoil is more of a gentle push backwards, towards the shooter, with a very slight upward lift, the report is a solid, meaty *BOOM*, and there is no supersonic "crack" as the bullet never breaks the sound barrier (with conventional factory loads)

I actually find my Glock 21's (.45 ACP) recoil more comfortable and more manageable than my CZ-75, a gentle backwards push with slight lift with the Glock, as compared to a more wrist-snappy recoil with the CZ, even though the G21 fires a bigger bullet
 
You can find a good .38 revolver in that realm if you shop. Keep an eye out for Ruger and Taurus as you won't paying for name and just the guns merits. Can't really think of any high quality autos that routinely fall in that range.
 
For someone young and new to handgunning, consider a .22 revolver as a first gun with a .38/.357 revolver, closely matching the .22 as a second handgun. Spend most of your time learning on the .22. With the current cost of ammo, using any centerfire will be pretty expensive.

As to what to get, a current production S&W 617 and 686 would be ideal, but expensive. To try to get close to your budget, you will have to spend a lot more time looking at older guns.
 
Gentlemen, if he only has $200 to spend, then he certainly doesn't have the money to buy multiple pistols. Given that this pistol will serve self defense duty, the .22 is out. This one pistol must be able to do a bit of everything, that means cheap to shoot (consider his budget... can he spend $20+ a box on ammo?), effective enough for self defense, and inexpensive to buy.

The answer is obvious to me. He needs a 9mm. A Ruger P89 or P85 is available used for about $250, reliable as all get out, and built like a tank. In addition, 9mm FMJ is the cheapest centerfire pistol ammo there is to shoot. Nobody can truly argue that 9mm HP +P isn't effective enough for self defense.

I would also look into the Sig P6s, although they are running about $325 where I am at. Also you can look for a used Bersa Thunder 9 for around $300.

Personally, I am not a revolver fan. Although I hear tons of people talking about getting used revolvers cheap, I haven't seen them around here. They also suffer from poor capacity and are difficult to shoot well in double-action mode. As for ammo, even .38s are pretty expensive nowdays. Some people swear by revolvers, but in a straight up gunfight I would take a double stack 9mm any day. Not only do I think it's better for combat, but you can actually afford to practice with the darn thing.
 
Another thought... and this is only if you are truly unable to afford anything more than your budget. Look into the Hi Point 9mm. Lots of people hate them because they are ugly and they are cheap, and by definition people consider them saturday night specials.

However, nobody who owns one says they are unreliable. A Hi Point will kill somebody just as dead as a Sig. Again, I would recommend something of better quality, but the Hi Point is an option if you are truly unable to spend more. I would rather see you with a Hi Point than nothing.
 
Thanks for all the great replies!

I'm not really into revolvers...it just doesn't attract me :eek:

I've read the entire topic and I've narrowed it down to either a Glock or a Ruger because they are rugged and popular.

So......
  • What's a good specific Glock model for me? (self defense)
  • And what Ruger model would be recommended? (85, 89, or 95?)

Thanks!
 
DentThat:

If you can't appreciate the beauty of this old nickle J-frame you are missing the "purty gun appreciation" gene...

100_7024.jpg

100_7023.jpg

But, if you insist, either a Glock :barf: or Ruger would serve you well..

Not as well as a 3rd generation S&W mind you :), but the Glock or the Ruger will do the job..

100_9857.jpg

Best Wishes,

Jesse
 
Status
Not open for further replies.

Similar threads

M
  • Locked
Best value handgun?
2 3 4
Replies
79
Views
4K
Dienekes
D
V
  • Locked
Recommendation for first handgun?
2
Replies
39
Views
1K
VNgo
V
S
  • Locked
First Handgun
Replies
12
Views
368
MarcusWendt
M
B
  • Locked
First Handgun - What to get?
2
Replies
44
Views
2K
Blain
B
J
  • Locked
Best value per dollar handguns in the under $300 range?
2 3 4 5 6
Replies
125
Views
16K
Troy308
T
Back
Top