I'm a fairly new shooter, living in N. Caronlina. I took a CCP class (although I don't plan on carrying until I'm a little more comfortable/proficient) and I'm shopping for my first handgun.
I've been to the range a few times but it's getting expensive. There are a lot of guns I'd like to try and the few I've tried I can really see a difference.
Glock 17 - I really liked this but the grip angle seemed slightly weird. My wife liked it a lot, said she liked how easily she could chamber the 1st round
Sig P226 - The trigger was too easy to pull for me, I want it to be harder to pull and the gun felt a little light.
H&K VP9 - I liked this gun but it jammed a bunch of times on my wife. The guy at the range explained (and demonstrated) that it was too light of a grip. But this is the only gun that this happened to her with and in a stressful situation I don't want her holding something that is going to jam if she isn't holding it just right.
Spfld XDM - I really liked this gun, probably my favorite so far. My wife liked it too but she liked the Glock better
So I'm seeing a huge difference shooting these different guns but there is a problem, cost. I want to purchase something so I can stop paying rental fees and range ammo fees, but I want to buy the right gun so I'm trying to follow the advice of firing as many different guns as I can. However, although I'm feeling difference I can't compare side by side. I'm renting a different gun each time but I think I would notice differences more if I could fire a magazine through one gun, then pick another up and fire a magazine through it. I did this once with the XDm and H&K and it made a huge difference. I still want to try an M&P and then I also would like to try a compact and sub compact version of some of these guns to see how they feel, I've never shop .40 or .45, only 9mm, and I haven't even tried a revolver or 1911 type gun (except for a few shots qualifying for my CCP).
Basically, is there a cheaper way of doing this? I know there are gun shows (which I haven't been to yet) but I don't think they let you fire the weapons there. Is there any kind of manufacturer gatherings or a place where you can try a dozen different guns at a single price point? We're pretty new to the area and I haven't really met anyone to go shooting with yet. Maybe if I go to a gun shop and tell the guy I'm really serious about buying a gun from him that day he would let me shoot a bunch of rentals and see what I like before buying something, is that sound possible/reasonable?
I've been to the range a few times but it's getting expensive. There are a lot of guns I'd like to try and the few I've tried I can really see a difference.
Glock 17 - I really liked this but the grip angle seemed slightly weird. My wife liked it a lot, said she liked how easily she could chamber the 1st round
Sig P226 - The trigger was too easy to pull for me, I want it to be harder to pull and the gun felt a little light.
H&K VP9 - I liked this gun but it jammed a bunch of times on my wife. The guy at the range explained (and demonstrated) that it was too light of a grip. But this is the only gun that this happened to her with and in a stressful situation I don't want her holding something that is going to jam if she isn't holding it just right.
Spfld XDM - I really liked this gun, probably my favorite so far. My wife liked it too but she liked the Glock better
So I'm seeing a huge difference shooting these different guns but there is a problem, cost. I want to purchase something so I can stop paying rental fees and range ammo fees, but I want to buy the right gun so I'm trying to follow the advice of firing as many different guns as I can. However, although I'm feeling difference I can't compare side by side. I'm renting a different gun each time but I think I would notice differences more if I could fire a magazine through one gun, then pick another up and fire a magazine through it. I did this once with the XDm and H&K and it made a huge difference. I still want to try an M&P and then I also would like to try a compact and sub compact version of some of these guns to see how they feel, I've never shop .40 or .45, only 9mm, and I haven't even tried a revolver or 1911 type gun (except for a few shots qualifying for my CCP).
Basically, is there a cheaper way of doing this? I know there are gun shows (which I haven't been to yet) but I don't think they let you fire the weapons there. Is there any kind of manufacturer gatherings or a place where you can try a dozen different guns at a single price point? We're pretty new to the area and I haven't really met anyone to go shooting with yet. Maybe if I go to a gun shop and tell the guy I'm really serious about buying a gun from him that day he would let me shoot a bunch of rentals and see what I like before buying something, is that sound possible/reasonable?