Gun recommendation thread. (General Discussion)

[CalTex]

Mods I thought this should be seperated from teh appreciation thread, if its not then please delete and sorry in advance.

Okay guys so discuss away. I shall start.

Okay so the birthday is in may and I will be turning 21 so I am giving myself a gun as my birthday present. I plan on purchasing 3 guns in the next six months. The first one I purchase is going to be in may, probably a regular sized pistol, and then in July I am planning on buying a small one that I can keep on me when I am going out (I wear fitted clothes so its going to have to be small so that no one can see it). The third one is going to be a long barrel shotgun, I want to use it for hunting (duck? Quail? and what else do you hunt with a shot gun)

For the gun in may I plan on spending $500.00, 600 tops. I want something that is good sized because I will be spending a lot of time at the range ( a minimum of once a week but most likely twice all depends on the amount that I have to pay per visit and ammo) Being that it is going to be my first gun I want the ammo to be relatively in expensive because I will be shooting a lot. I would like to add a laser and flashlight to it, (not sure if this is useful or how useful it is for that matter) I need it to have a good safety system and what not, I will be carrying wherever I can. I will also need a holster so if you guys have some recoomendations that would be great.

July gun: needs to be small, I wear fitted pants quite a bit and I dont have too much space in the waist area so this is probably going to be the gun that I carry most often after I get it. The reason I am getting this gun second is because I figure I should have a regular size gun first for all the shooting practice and that jazz. Needs to be economical as well. 300 tops

September shotgun: Well as stated I picked up hunting last year and I want something economical as well. What all can you hunt with a shotgun? I figure a shot gun is cheaper than a rifle so that is why I am going that route, I can go deer hunting and they have guns at the ranch that I can use.

thanks in advance guys.

 

[NorCal]

10/22. Hunt Moose.

 

[CalTex]

NorCal,

I appreciate the response but I have no idea what a 10/22 is, and two I am not sure if they have moose one the ranch where I hunt. I know that they have deer, that is the main thing they hunt on there as they flew some in and had them procreate. Dont get me wrong I would love to hunt moose, but being that I hunt for free, I have to stick to shooting what they have on the ranch. lol

 

[Boognish]

Buy a Glock 19 and use whatever remaining funds for ammo, training, and spare mags. Forget about a second gun for carry, and use your Glock instead. Spend the $300 on more training, ammo, and quality gun leather. Get a Remington 870 for your shotgun needs. Easy to find barrels for either slugs or shot give you hunting flexibility.

 

[caxt]

The first gun depends on a lot of things:
1.\tMagazine capacity
2.\tIntended use (Target, Concealed Carry, Hunting, Plinking, Home defense etc.)
3.\tBy "pistol" I assume you mean non-revolver?

That aside, the Glock 19 recommendation is a good one; it can probably fulfill your first and second gun requirements.

Other generally good options: 1911, FNH FNP, Walther P99, Spring Field XD. Etc.

Any gun you decide you want to buy should be test fired personally. - Most indoor ranges will have a nice selection of Glocks and other common guns you should try out. Get a feel for the grip, heft, and recoil, and then adjust accordingly.

If you want a pocket pistol, I like the Ruger LCP - and it can be had for about $275. Khar is another option. Again, you should test both out first.

Remington870 is the starting point for shotguns. The Benelli Nova is what I use for a cheap beater gun, and it works well. Runs about $350 (the 870 is about $300ish)

I think you'll get more use out of the 20 gage then a 12, unless duck hunting is your primary focus. 12 is overkill for quail and dove. (But I may be biased because I don't hunt much duck.)

 

[DerekS]

Originally Posted by Boognish

Buy a Glock 19 and use whatever remaining funds for ammo, training, and spare mags. Forget about a second gun for carry, and use your Glock instead. Spend the $300 on more training, ammo, and quality gun leather. Get a Remington 870 for your shotgun needs. Easy to find barrels for either slugs or shot give you hunting flexibility.

This. A Glock 19 is probably my favorite pistol ive ever owned. ammo is cheap, gun doesnt require a lot of care, and its a great range gun. I personally wouldnt carry it though...for me its just too big to carry concealed unless i have a coat on.

and we also agree on the shotgun as well. 870s are just great shotguns for the money.

 

[munchausen]

I'm a big fan of my Herstal FNP. You could probably find one used for around 300.

 

[lee_44106]

Based on your post it sounds like you are a complete noob who's watch too much action flick and have a completely unrealistic view of firearms.

spend your first $$$ on a firearm safety course. go to a shooting range, rent some guns and shoot.

Buy later, much much later.

 

[JustinW]

Originally Posted by lee_44106

spend your first $$$ on a firearm safety course. go to a shooting range, rent some guns and shoot.

Buy later, much much later.

This

 

[Crane's]

I'll second the noob thought as well.

IMO your first handgun should not be a center fire. Get yourself a good 22 revolver or semi auto. Ruger makes an excellent 22 semi auto and same goes for S&W and revolvers. A 22 takes the gun out of the equation when learning marksmanship. By that I mean the recoil is minimal so you won't develop things like flinch, recoil anticipation and so on. Ammo is cheap and accurate so that means you can practice a lot. At this stage of the game forget about CCW. Take a basic safety/shooting course for sure. Practice what you learn until you are proficient in your shooting, able to exercise safety rules without thought and you know all the details of your gun.

I have trained many a shooter and that includes complete new comers. The single biggest mistake I have seen is too much gun to early. To undo the bad habits learned early is almost impossible to reverse.

 

[NH_Clark]

Originally Posted by Crane's

.......

IMO your first handgun should not be a center fire. Get yourself a good 22 revolver or semi auto. Ruger makes an excellent 22 semi auto and same goes for S&W and revolvers. A 22 takes the gun out of the equation when learning marksmanship. By that I mean the recoil is minimal so you won't develop things like flinch, recoil anticipation and so on. Ammo is cheap and accurate so that means you can practice a lot. At this stage of the game forget about CCW. Take a basic safety/shooting course for sure. Practice what you learn until you are proficient in your shooting, able to exercise safety rules without thought and you know all the details of your gun.

I have trained many a shooter and that includes complete new comers. The single biggest mistake I have seen is too much gun to early. To undo the bad habits learned early is almost impossible to reverse.

QFT +1

 

[Boognish]

Originally Posted by NH_Clark

QFT +1

I'll second that. I didn't realize he was a first time shooter.

 

[HgaleK]

Crane's has covered the practicality issue, so I'll play devil's advocate on the G19. I don't like it. On paper they're hard to beat, but in my hand they feel all sorts of janky. I can't live with that. Make sure that you put at least a hundred rounds through a rental or borrowed pistol (that's been cleaned and maintained- had a USP jam repeatedly on me because the range hadn't done maintenance on it) of the exact model that you want to purchase before you buy. Feel makes a huge difference.

 

[Crane's]

Originally Posted by HgaleK

Crane's has covered the practicality issue, so I'll play devil's advocate on the G19. I don't like it. On paper they're hard to beat, but in my hand they feel all sorts of janky. I can't live with that. Make sure that you put at least a hundred rounds through a rental or borrowed pistol (that's been cleaned and maintained- had a USP jam repeatedly on me because the range hadn't done maintenance on it) of the exact model that you want to purchase before you buy. Feel makes a huge difference.
Absolutely agree with make sure the gun feels right in the hand. It's hard to explain but you'll know it when it happens. A 1911 flat mainspring is about the perfect auto for me. Everything lines up without fiddling. It's a natural pointer for me. It took me several thousand rounds to get used to my Glock 22. It was a bit off to the right and high. On the revolver side any K frame or Colt Python with small grips are my natural pointers.

 

[Boognish]

Originally Posted by HgaleK

Crane's has covered the practicality issue, so I'll play devil's advocate on the G19. I don't like it. On paper they're hard to beat, but in my hand they feel all sorts of janky. I can't live with that. Make sure that you put at least a hundred rounds through a rental or borrowed pistol (that's been cleaned and maintained- had a USP jam repeatedly on me because the range hadn't done maintenance on it) of the exact model that you want to purchase before you buy. Feel makes a huge difference.

That wouldn't have been at Red's would it? I think they used to clean their inventory quarterly.

And I'll agree, the Glock feels like a real turd. I much prefer the feel of an XDm or an M&P (or anything else really), but I shoot well with the 19, and it has an excellent track record.

And as much as I try, I can't get it NOT to work.