Looking to buy my first handgun and could use some advice

a reply to: carpooler

Lastly, please do this one test. When and where it's safe, rack the slide, loading a live round, and then rack it again, and again, to extract and eject said rounds, without shooting them. Auto pistols don't really need effective extractors, as long as you shoot them dry. But in a dark house, after a scare, you want to be absolutely sure that your pistol will extract the last loaded round from your chamber, after you have dropped your detachable magazine out the bottom of the grip frame.

Interesting - I've never heard this before, but it makes sense.

I'll try it - thanks!

a reply to: Riffrafter

Thanx for replying; Racking an auto loading weapon requires pulling the slide or breech bolt all the way back, and then LETTING IT GO, on it's own, into battery. The firearms designer has to fit them to work in free fall to close the breech. You shouldn't try to let the slide down easy, it messes up the factory's timing. This is why the old D.A. revolver is still the best. An intruder will hear the slide slamming shut. Slowly, and quietly, releasing it, may cause a stovepipe jam. The slide or breech bolt, puts inertia into the loaded cartridge, so that it "flies" into the chamber.

Don't get an XDM.....tricky till ya have a few years under your belt.........Springfield

Got mine after 51 years using shooting irons in the woods and pastures Idaho mountains Air Force days

a reply to: GBP/JPY

Buy once, buy Glock. New or dealer trade in, GunBroker etc.

There are many such tests as this out there.

www.survival-spot.com...

In probably 100k rounds with a dozen different calibers and sizes I've had one failure, that was with a rental Glock and 10x garbage ammo and it was clearly the ammo.

G19 or g19x if your hands are larger.

a reply to: circuitsports Glocks are damn good guns,several friends of mine own them.For me though,they just don`t feel right in my hands,Nothing feels better than the old 1911 to me,except maybe a Peacemaker, and I can hit what I shoot at with it easily.The point is that what feels good to one person is what they should shoot,as long as its reliable and powerful enough that's the one,or ones, for them.If the Glock feels right,you can`t go wrong with one.

If you're going to shoot yourself with it, don't put it up to your temple and pull the trigger. There's a good chance that you'll just end up blinding yourself and then you'll still be alive and in an even worse situation.

Just got a Glock 19x and holy crap that is a good gun...

a reply to: ridgerunner
Colt and Colt clones of their 1875 Peacemakers are some of the most difficult arms to shoot instinctively. When intro'd the gunnies felt they were more like British Webleys. Their center of gravity or balance point was way above the older 1860's C & B open top revolvers. Even cartridge versions of the 1858 Remington C & B is closer to those open tops. Jesse James went back to Remmies, and I always felt this was why. Really, you want to shoot a bear or a bad guy with a double action trigger pull, anyway. And this means using the S&W saw handle or the Colt's Bisley style, for the single action fanatics.

Eliot Ness and his gangbusters, each used several 38 revolvers so they didn't have to reload them in the middle of a raid. The beer gangsters did the same thing.

originally posted by: Xtrozero
Just got a Glock 19x and holy crap that is a good gun...

Glock did everything right, they made a grip that fits everyone, kept the length short but made it even more accurate, improved the finish, most of them come with night sights and a bunch of mag and ambi slide lock and over sized mag release.

They've even rounded the corners for easier draw, even from concealed - I came into it without any experience owning a highly modified g19 frame and it was so much better. + brown gun love.

All of the complaints about people wanting longer slides and shorter grips...lol its a gun designed military use, not their pet project which is probably less accurate.

originally posted by: circuitsports

Glock did everything right, they made a grip that fits everyone, kept the length short but made it even more accurate, improved the finish, most of them come with night sights and a bunch of mag and ambi slide lock and over sized mag release.

They've even rounded the corners for easier draw, even from concealed - I came into it without any experience owning a highly modified g19 frame and it was so much better. + brown gun love.

All of the complaints about people wanting longer slides and shorter grips...lol its a gun designed military use, not their pet project which is probably less accurate.

Took my two boys and wife to the range. Shot 500 rounds though it...they all love it and my wife was actually nailing the target well. All three love it over my 40 cal, extremely easy gun to shoot well. At 50 feet I had zero problems with a nice tight pattern. I love my Glock 22, ran at least 10,000 rounds though it, cleaned it twice in 13 years, but I need to say that Glock 19x is a sweet gun.

If I could go back in time I would have done things a lot differently. The first handgun I bought was S&W 44 magnum revolver with a 6 inch barrel. It kicked like a mule and was expensive to shoot. It was a ridiculous choice for a newb handgunner to try and learn to shoot with.

Through the years I tried out as many handguns as I could and bought the ones that "felt right" and that I could shoot reasonably well and knew I could master with practice.

I don't think you have to spend a fortune to find a good handgun. There is an almost unlimited supply of quality used guns on the market as well as some reasonably priced excellent new guns. I've have guns in my safe that I'm embarrassed to say what I paid for them, but know which is my favorite? My Ruger SR1911 that I paid $600 for new. It just fits my hand and I'm dead accurate with it. It eats any kind if ammo and I've never had the slightest hiccup with it. I'd trust it with my life over all others.

You just never know which gun is going to be the shtf, zombie apocalypse love of your life until you find it