1st Handgun Searching... first range visit.

[Guest Burgan]

I was going to put this in the in the General off-topic section but since it is part of me looking into a 1st handgun, I figured it would be best suited here.

So I went out to Outdoor Junction range today for the first time. Very nice range. Very nice staff. Overall great place, which I'll probably go back to.

Since I neither own a gun nor have gear for a range. I rented "the case" and borrowed some gear.

Its nice that everything in the case is $10. Which is great if you are like me and in the market for a first handgun.

They didn't have much as far as a selection of 9mm go, mostly were 40S&W and a few 45acp. Also, most of the guns are compact, which I'm guessing is because they teach a CCW class. I shot three 9mm handguns: a XD compact, a XDm compact (which was the owner's gun), and a Sig P239. All were shot a roughly 25ft from target (just put the target in between the 7yds and 10yds designated marks).

The XD was a nice gun, smooth long trigger pull, nice feel in the hand, but it felt like plastic (I know its polymer so duh itll feel like plastic) and the mags were hard to load (shot 16 rounds). I wasn't really going on grouping but it seemed to vere off to the left a little.

Originally, I was only going to shoot two guns, but the staff said the owner had a XDm if I want to try that. So I did ran almost a mag (16 rounds) of that for comparison to the XD. It gripped better than the XD compact especially with the extended mag but the grouping of rounds weren't much better than the XD. Also, it didn't quite feel as plastic like as the XD.

Then I shot the Sig P239 which was not a polymer based gun and was a single stack. But the capacity loss didn't bother me that much. I ran two mags (8 round mags). The gun was pretty solid (which is what I suspected from a metal gun). Also, I tended to shoot low on the target, but my grouping was alot better. I think I was shooting down more because the compact had no pinky grip which seemed to make it a little awkward.

So for the Polymer-based, they gripped well but shot off.

For the metal-based, it felt solid but shot low.

I'll post up the targets later once I'm able to get pictures of them.

[Guest nysos]

Don't judge too much on how you grouped the first time at the range, especially with guns you are shooting for the first time. Which gun felt best in your hand, which trigger pull did you like the most? What features are good selling points to you?

Unless something is severely wrong mechanically, a handgun is going to do its job at 25ft just fine. Even a pocket pistol can group pretty well. The slightest incorrect movement on your part however, can throw off where you are shooting. Your shooting will get better with whatever gun you choose, over time, and as you get familiar with it - it is not common that you will be inaccurate the first time with a gun you've never shot, you aren't alone. It is usually uncommon for someone to pick up a gun they have never shot and be a bullseye shooter.

If you look around you will hear the saying "Fear the man with 1 gun". That being said because they will be so familiar with it, and can shoot it so well - he is to be feared more than the guy with 50 guns that he cant shoot them worth a damn.

[joejodus]

yeah nysos has some good points any movement or a jerk at the trigger or a flinch can throw you off. and which ever you get practice is key and good trigger control. Good luck on your search

[Guest Burgan]

Nysos does make a good point. That's the same thing my father said about the guns when I told him how it went and showed him the targets. Though I think if I was to get a CCW it would be a Stainless Steel gun like the Sig. I feel the polymers are too much bulk for CCW.

joejodus -- You make a good point about good trigger control. Also, I figure as everything practice makes perfect.

[Guest Burgan]

Though I did come to one conclusion: even on weapons that had the ambi mag release I didn't even you it. I took the the gun in my right hand dropped a mag, loaded the next mag and then switched to my left hand...

...I guess its habit from training with the M9 Beretta.

[Guest BenderBendingRodriguez]

Though I think if I was to get a CCW it would be a Stainless Steel gun like the Sig. I feel the polymers are too much bulk for CCW.

You should get whatever you feel comfortable with. That said, while many of the polymer guns are fairly bulky, they also tend to weigh quite a bit less than their all metal counterparts. And that counts for A LOT when you're carrying it all day. Plus, there are plenty of skinny polymers out there. You may give up a bit in terms of capacity, but I guess that's what spare mags are for.

[Caster]

I think you should go with what felt the best in your hands and what made you happiest. Accuracy can be increased by several different things, from ammo to sights to plain ole hard core practice. As far as the "hard to load" part, I got one word for you..... MAGLULA

[wcsc12]

I was going to put this in the in the General off-topic section but since it is part of me looking into a 1st handgun, I figured it would be best suited here.

So I went out to Outdoor Junction range today for the first time. Very nice range. Very nice staff. Overall great place, which I'll probably go back to.

Since I neither own a gun nor have gear for a range. I rented "the case" and borrowed some gear.

Its nice that everything in the case is $10. Which is great if you are like me and in the market for a first handgun.

They didn't have much as far as a selection of 9mm go, mostly were 40S&W and a few 45acp. Also, most of the guns are compact, which I'm guessing is because they teach a CCW class. I shot three 9mm handguns: a XD compact, a XDm compact (which was the owner's gun), and a Sig P239. All were shot a roughly 25ft from target (just put the target in between the 7yds and 10yds designated marks).

The XD was a nice gun, smooth long trigger pull, nice feel in the hand, but it felt like plastic (I know its polymer so duh itll feel like plastic) and the mags were hard to load (shot 16 rounds). I wasn't really going on grouping but it seemed to vere off to the left a little.

Originally, I was only going to shoot two guns, but the staff said the owner had a XDm if I want to try that. So I did ran almost a mag (16 rounds) of that for comparison to the XD. It gripped better than the XD compact especially with the extended mag but the grouping of rounds weren't much better than the XD. Also, it didn't quite feel as plastic like as the XD.

Then I shot the Sig P239 which was not a polymer based gun and was a single stack. But the capacity loss didn't bother me that much. I ran two mags (8 round mags). The gun was pretty solid (which is what I suspected from a metal gun). Also, I tended to shoot low on the target, but my grouping was alot better. I think I was shooting down more because the compact had no pinky grip which seemed to make it a little awkward.

So for the Polymer-based, they gripped well but shot off.

For the metal-based, it felt solid but shot low.

I'll post up the targets later once I'm able to get pictures of them.

I don't know about Cookeville but you've got the best suggestion that everyone gave me when I was in the market for my first gun. Here we have Coal Creek Armory and $15 let's you play with any gun they have in the case other than their machine guns. I fell in love with the Sig P226 and went and bought one. You should give it and the Glocks a try as well just to keep your horizon broadened. Also, try the S&W M&P series pistols as well.

[Guest Burgan]

I don't know about Cookeville but you've got the best suggestion that everyone gave me when I was in the market for my first gun. Here we have Coal Creek Armory and $15 let's you play with any gun they have in the case other than their machine guns...

Too bad that's about an 1.5 hour drive away... but it may be worth the drive since I just looked up the list of the guns you can test and its quite long.

[wcsc12]

Too bad that's about an 1.5 hour drive away... but it may be worth the drive since I just looked up the list of the guns you can test and its quite long.

Yeah it's nice and long but after you test them, you'd be better off buying your gun online out of state and having it transferred here. Their prices are seriously high and they only offer around 10% discounts during holidays which still isn't that great. Just to give you a bit of a hint. The last time I checked, they had a Sig P2022 for $450 and it can be had online from lots of different stores around the $370 price range.

The only bad thing (going back to reading your earlier post) about getting a metal gun is that they are really expensive compared to their polymer counterparts. Sig's have high price tags on them but they are great guns. Baretta makes some but I've never shot anything other than an M9 so no comment there. H and K's are good guns as well that are metal but they top Sig's in price and I just can't justify it myself.

[Guest Lester Weevils]

Hi Burgan

The basic principle is to aliign the sights precisely on target and then squeeze the trigger without moving the gun. Which is much easier said than done of course. Otherwise everybody would be a good shot. Even me!

Are you primarily looking for a carry gun as the first one?

You mentioned M9. Some folks carry Beretta 92FS/M9. But its kinda big for a lot of folks. I love the 92FS but its a tad big for my carry.

The M9 has a fairly fat grip but it is easy to hang onto and shoot except for people with small hands.

The Kahr plastic guns are about as slim and light as you can find. The Kahrs have pretty smooth (but long) triggers. In 9mm, you can get 4", 3.6", and 3" barrels. You can get almost exactly the same gun in either stainless or plastic. The stainless weigh more and IMO are prettier. The plastic ones are lighter of course and don't drag your pants down so much.

Most folks can get their entire hand on either the 4" or 3.6" barrel grips. With the 3" barrel M models, there isn't room for the pinky on the grip. The Kahr slim grips are almost the antithesis of a Beretta 92 fat grip. Strangely, I find both the 92 fat grip and the slim Kahr grip equally easy to grip and aim.

I carry a P9 which is Kahr's plastic version of the 3.6" barrel. It works pretty good. There is an MK9 in that same size that is less expensive but "virtually identical" in essential features. You could just visit the Kahr web page and look at all the permutations. Even the "big" 4" barrel models ain't all that big compared to a Beretta 92.

I think Kahr stainless guns are much prettier than the plastic. They are not the cheapest guns. They are among the slimmest shootable guns.

Curiosity got the best of me this weekend and I finally got a Stoegar Cougar. Stoegar is owned by Beretta and it is about the same as the earlier Beretta Cougar. It is a fairly fat all-metal gun. It feels slightly lighter than a Beretta 92 and has about the same width and grip of a Beretta 92. The innards look a whole lot like a 92 except the barrel locking mechanism is completely different.

Cougar is shorter than a 92. Would be slightly easier to carry. Kinda in the middle between a full size and a compact. It shoots good and is built great as best I can tell. They typically sell for $399 including four 15 round mags. Maybe there are lots of guns as good or better for $399, but it would also be possible to spend a lot more money and not have a pistol any better.

[Slasher]

I have carried a XDm 40 for the past year or so and it is a really good gun. I love the way it feels, grips really well but after getting hold of a Glock I don't know if I can go back to the XDm. The trigger reset is so much better on the Glock and it seems to shoot better. Of course this is just my opinion and it is worth exactly what you pay for it.

Sent from my PC36100 using Tapatalk

[Guest Burgan]

I might make the trip down to CCA's range Friday, since they have several rental guns that I would like to fire that the ranges around here don't have.

[Jonnin]

For someone totally new to guns, I recommend shooting a very wide variety. You are on the right track, renting different models to try out. Normally I recommend it sort of like this to sample a lot of stuff with just a few guns:

one mid sized revolver, a 357 or 38 special

one DAO gun, a Khar or Kel-tec in 9mm or so, a compact carry gun

one SAO gun, a 1911 style (maybe in 9mm) is the default choice, a large frame gun

one DA gun, a beretta is a good choice, maybe try a medium frame

one glock or clone (XD counts) try another compact or subcompact

By now you have tried every action type, every frame size, some lightweight plastics and some heavy steel, seen a few different types of sights, checked out some different styles of controls (mag release, slide release, etc), tried a fairly generic revolver, etc. If you kept notes, you can now compare what you liked and disliked for each type... this is too big, this lightweight one had too much recoil, these sights were awesome, that trigger pull felt good, this type of safety seems easy to use, this grip felt nice, ... whatever you think about each one. Sticking to 9mm lets you compare like to like, but mixing up the calibers lets you sample different types of ammo, both approaches work but mixing calibers makes it difficult to compare the recoil and shooting feel of the different guns.

Its not perfect but it gives you a starting point on what to look for and what to avoid based off your own likes and dislikes, which can help you to get better feedback here on the site by describing what you like to us.

[wcsc12]

I might make the trip down to CCA's range Friday, since they have several rental guns that I would like to fire that the ranges around here don't have.

I'd join you and let you shoot my Sig but I'll be at work

[blacklxcoupe]

Burgan, when you go to purchase your handgun I wouldn't get it from Outdoor Junction. Their prices are just too high compared to other places. Check out S&R Guns in Algood. The owner Steve is a good guy to deal with. You might also want to try Shooters Depot down in Chattanooga if your down that way sometime. Nice indoor range and they have good prices.

I carry a subcompact XD 40, it's a great gun. But then again it's all about what your comfortable with. Good luck with your search.

[Guest Burgan]

I'm starting to make a list of the ones they have on the list that I'd like to try. I'll probably shoot almost all the Sigs, both CZs, the M&P and a few of the S&W revolvers. Also, I'll probably mix calibers just to see what a .40 and maybe .45 feel like recoil wise vs the 9mm.

I figure do it all this week since I won't have as much free time since I have summer courses and maybe a job starting soon...

[Guest seawolf138]

I might make the trip down to CCA's range Friday, since they have several rental guns that I would like to fire that the ranges around here don't have.

You can save yourself a half hour of driving and hit the range at Frontier Firearms in Kingston, they don't have a list of rental guns available on their website, but their case has just as many in it as CCA, and the people out there are ALOT nice in my experience.

Frontier Firearms

[Guest Burgan]

You can save yourself a half hour of driving and hit the range at Frontier Firearms in Kingston, they don't have a list of rental guns available on their website, but their case has just as many in it as CCA, and the people out there are ALOT nice in my experience.

Frontier Firearms

According to mapquest and google maps the time difference between the two are almost 15 minutes.

[Guest seawolf138]

Yeah, I guess that's probably true, forgot they moved, but it's still a half hour on the round trip.

[Guest Burgan]

Yeah, I guess that's probably true, forgot they moved, but it's still a half hour on the round trip.

Haha

But the joy of Eastern to Central time is I gain an hour... So I could say my return trip is only a 30 minutes instead of 1.5 hour.

[Guest seawolf138]

However, with that logic, your drive here is going to take 2.5 hours.

[Guest Burgan]

Yeah...

One of the main reason I'm going to CCA is that they have two CZ model pistols which are pretty hard to to find in stock around my area let alone at a range.

[Guest seawolf138]

You won't be disappointed in CCA, I never am, good luck with finding something.

[Guest Burgan]

Thanks.

Also, to everyone that says I need to give the glock a chance: I will. Actually, before I was 21 I thought Glocks were the best thing since sliced bread (haha). But now that I been around more handguns I'm not too sure. I many just don't like the take down.