Nooblet in the Ranks

[Guest Enmy]

Hello Fellow Marksmen!

My name is Enmy--I'm new to this forum and to shooting. So I have a lot to learn! =)

I'm a native California girl but I love being in Tennessee more. I'm currently a junior in college, eating ramen noodles every night so I can afford to buy more ammo. Haha.

Right now I'm only used to shooting rifles but I'm starting to warm up to pistols.

My first gun was an AK-74. His name is Kopos. He's wishing I bought him a few more friends...so if you have any advice on a good firearm for a beginner, I'd welcome the advice!

Edited March 24, 2012 by Enmy

[JoeJ615]

welcome to the site!! im biased on gun advice as a self admitted .22 aficionado .. but as a ramen eating college student you cant go wrong with a good .22 pistol to train with.. get plenty of trigger time on the cheap since you can get a 550 pack of bulk ammo at wal-mart for around $20 and it'll punch a hole through the toughest piece of paper as good as any .357 mag

Edited March 24, 2012 by JoeJ615

[TGO David]

Welcome to TGO.

[Lumber_Jack]

Welcome, glad to have you. Dot worry once you graduate and get a real job, it makes shooting a lot more doable.

[jcj]

Welcome!

[Jonnin]

Welcome!

I also recommend a good .22 pistol. You can learn the basics of pistol marksmanship for pennys a shot. Some ideas would be a target pistol to work on accuracy (ruger mark, browning buckmark, s&w 22a are my 3 favorite beginner target models). Or a revolver, ruger single action or whatever you like the look & feel of. Or maybe something more similar to a self defense gun, like the cz kadet. One of those 3 ideas (accuracy, revolver, or defense style practice) is a great starting point.

If you are looking for a bigger bang, 9mm is one of the least expensive ammo types with the most options for a gun, from revolvers to ultra compacts to 1911ish models and more.

Also, rent, borrow, try things before sinking too much money into pistols, figure out what YOU like early on by exposure to many things.

[Guest Enmy]

Thanks for all the welcome and advice!

I'll start looking into some .22 pistols you all mentioned. Turning the magic number 21 soon so I need to practice to pass the carry permit test!

I've heard a bit about Ruger and S&W, but not much on Browning. I'll have to read up on it. And the idea of renting/borrowing is a really good idea, Jonnin. I'll definitely do that.

Does anyone have advice on revolvers? I feel like S&W, Ruger, and Colt have some kind of brand war going on. Trying to educate myself!

[JoeJ615]

dont have a .22 revolver myself but been looking at a Heritage rough rider single action .22 revolver .. it's only $200 new and comes with a cylinder for .22 short/long/long rifle and another cylinder for .22WMR ... i personally think ruger has the semi auto .22 down pat i own a 22/45 and a SR22 and they are both awesome accurate and reliable guns .. i dont care for .22 autos that are picky about ammo what's the point if you cant feed it the cheap bulk ammo right? ... my wife LOVES the SR22 and i gotta admit the 22/45 hasnt been broke out much since we got the SR

[Jonnin]

Hmm. We just got a taurus revolver and while the action was awful, it cleaned up very, very nice with a week at the gunsmiths. Now its better than most. I would buy another one, it seems to be well made and is accurate & comfortable. All my other revolvers are 20+ years old. I learned to shoot pistols with an old 22 S&W, forget the model number, had about a 4 or 5 inch barrel and a double action design. To be honest, one revolver is much like another apart from the feel of the grip and the quality of the action and the material used (avoid non steel guns...!). The actions can be cleaned up to some extent on anything, so that leaves the grip/feel. So pick out a steel gun that you like the feel of and enjoy it.

[Mr. Brooks]

I got my wife one of the heritage revolvers as her first handgun. She really enjoys it and it's a good gun for the money.

[DaveTN]

Thanks for all the welcome and advice!

I'll start looking into some .22 pistols you all mentioned. Turning the magic number 21 soon so I need to practice to pass the carry permit test!

I've heard a bit about Ruger and S&W, but not much on Browning. I'll have to read up on it. And the idea of renting/borrowing is a really good idea, Jonnin. I'll definitely do that.

Does anyone have advice on revolvers? I feel like S&W, Ruger, and Colt have some kind of brand war going on. Trying to educate myself!

That war was settled before you were born. Colt doesn’t make revolvers anymore (other than some Cowboy guns). S&W owns the revolver market with Ruger a close 2^nd. But new ones aren’t cheap and many used ones are priced at new prices.

The most important thing for a new shooter is training and trigger time. Buy a gun you can afford and can afford to shoot it often. Just like all of us, as your economic conditions improve; so will your arsenal.

Oh yeah, I forgot one thing…. Americans still make the best guns in the world, if you can afford it…. Support them.

[DWARREN123]

Howdy Enmy and Welcome to TGO and Tennessee!

[Jonnin]

I've heard a bit about Ruger and S&W, but not much on Browning. I'll have to read up on it. And the idea of renting/borrowing is a really good idea, Jonnin. I'll definitely do that.

Browning is named after the famous gun designer John Browning (1911, A5 shotguns, and much more, wikipedia him). The current company makes high quality shotguns and rifles, and just a few semi-auto pistols. I am not aware of any revolvers at all.