1st pistol

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cheflife15

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Hey all. Working on getting my firearms permit. My brothers a cop so im looking to get a pistol to do some target shooting and for home defense (hopefully never needed). Whats a good first pistol?

Nj laws
 
CZ 75. I have a full size but have read/heard great things about the compact P07.
 
I am not an expert on handguns by any means, but I have put a lot of rounds through this at the range, and it's incredibly accurate and dependable. Good luck! Like chef's knives, this is another rabbit hole :)
 
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Glock, probably a 19 if I were buying my first defensive pistol. Anything with the name Glock on it will be totally reliable. I've been carrying a 43X the last few months. Great concealment weapon.
 
I dove down the rabbit hole now. Lots of people like the cz 75. Any one like the sig320?
Now I'll check out the 1911.

Ultimately what I'm looking for is ease of firing, accuracy and reliability.

Im trying to research All these things but man its a rabbit hole. I like the idea of going to the store to hold them but how will i know how they shoot, recoil, accuracy etc.

Carrying isn't really a possibility for me in nj. It will be mostly for home and the range. Something with stopping power would be nice
 
I own a bunch, it’s the first Rabbithole I ever dove down and never came back up. I’m a 1911 guy, but I enjoy Glocks, Sigs, CZ75s and a whole bunch more. I have a Glock 19 in every vehicle I drive, I shoot them well, they work and they are easy to maintain but I think AKF gave you the same advice I would offer and that’s to try a few out. Pistols aren’t unlike knives, different strokes for different folks. Do you want a Double action, single action, open sights, red dot etc etc all come into play. Go put your hands on them, shoot them and you will find one that speaks to you. I would add to stay away from the low end junk... remember your buying one for self defense, buy some quality.

By the way, I live in Arizona if your wondering why I have one in every vehicle, because I can.
 
nakneker said:
I own a bunch, it’s the first Rabbithole I ever dove down and never came back up. I’m a 1911 guy, but I enjoy Glocks, Sigs, CZ75s and a whole bunch more. I have a Glock 19 in every vehicle I drive, I shoot them well, they work and they are easy to maintain but I think AKF gave you the same advice I would offer and that’s to try a few out. Pistols aren’t unlike knives, different strokes for different folks. Do you want a Double action, single action, open sights, red dot etc etc all come into play. Go put your hands on them, shoot them and you will find one that speaks to you. I would add to stay away from the low end junk... remember your buying one for self defense, buy some quality.

By the way, I live in Arizona if your wondering why I have one in every vehicle, because I can.
Click to expand...
Yeah we certainly can't do that here unfortunately.

Do they let you fire them when you're purchasing?
 
Raleighcook15 said:
Yeah we certainly can't do that here unfortunately.

Do they let you fire them when you're purchasing?
Click to expand...
Several gun stores have indoor ranges and you can do that. Most of them have a great selection and rent them to you, if you buy they apply the rent fee to the purchase. It’s a good way to go, as long as you have a knowledgeable salesman who is sincere in helping you decide and not pushing something on you.
 
You might want to consider handling a good quality .38/.357 revolver with a 4" to 6" barrel while you're groping guns and range testing. They aren't picky about shooting low recoil practice or target ammo, almost never fail to feed, stovepipe jam, eject hot brass which falls down into your shirt collar and gives you interesting burns, will never accidentally drop a magazine... And they point naturally really well for many people. Just sayin', don't hate on me.

The semi auto pistols come from 2 major families lately:

1: "Glock style" with a little drop safety lever on the trigger & no other safety but your brain and trigger finger discipline.

2: Most everything else, with a frame or slide mounted safety, plus possibly a grip safety and/or an exposed hammer.

If you start out "Glock style", these are safe as you yourself are careful and religeous about trigger finger discipline. And there are a few less things to remember and do when you're in a hurry and have a lot of adrenaline in your system (which wrecks your "fine motor skills"). Down side, children/stupid/inexperienced people who get hold of these pistols tend to have negligent discharges a bit more often.

If you start out with a conventional semi auto pistol with thumb operated safety and an exposed hammer, practice drawing and dry firing a LOT to burn into your muscle memory those couple of little extra checks on your pistol's status and the finger motions required to go from "safe & uncocked" to "ready to fire". (You should practice plenty with the Glock styles too, of course- Just buying a gun and putting it in a drawer is a fairly worthless move).

My personal favorite is hard to find and will be more expensive than most entry level pistols, but if they have one to rent, you might like to try an H&K P7 family pistol out:

20190207_130301.jpg


These have an interesting feature, they are not cocked unless you pick them up and hold them firmly. NJ state police carried these for a while, during which time NOT ONE of them was shot with his own pistol. Find an old NJ trooper and ask him how they liked this weapon. Expect to hear him swear at the governor who took them away from the department a good bit...
 
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Held a couple guns today. I felt i liked the sig 320 the most. I didnt see any of the cz 75. I held glocks, a sig, and something called an Arex rex lero 1xp?

I found a range that lets you rent 3 guns at a time to try them. Once i get my license thatll be my first stop.
 
Sig 226 in .40 cal...good compromise between more rounds (9mm) and more horsepower (.45). Get one in your hands and you'll see what I mean; solid weapon.
 
How do you guys feel about used guns? What would i be looking for that I should avoid? Should i just get a new one?
 
What state do you live in? It will probably help if you check your local gun law first.
For example If you are in CA, 10 rounds capacity limitation should be taking into consideration (some guns are not sold in CA, for example Gen4 and Gen5 Glocks I believe).

Have you thought about CCW? If so maybe a smaller pistol can do both home protection and carry protection.

My first pistol and the gun I practice the most is my glock 19
 
nakneker said:
I own a bunch, it’s the first Rabbithole I ever dove down and never came back up. I’m a 1911 guy, but I enjoy Glocks, Sigs, CZ75s and a whole bunch more. I have a Glock 19 in every vehicle I drive, I shoot them well, they work and they are easy to maintain but I think AKF gave you the same advice I would offer and that’s to try a few out. Pistols aren’t unlike knives, different strokes for different folks. Do you want a Double action, single action, open sights, red dot etc etc all come into play. Go put your hands on them, shoot them and you will find one that speaks to you. I would add to stay away from the low end junk... remember your buying one for self defense, buy some quality.

By the way, I live in Arizona if your wondering why I have one in every vehicle, because I can.
Click to expand...

AZ love :Iagree:
 
Gjackson98 said:
What state do you live in? It will probably help if you check your local gun law first.
For example If you are in CA, 10 rounds capacity limitation should be taking into consideration (some guns are not sold in CA, for example Gen4 and Gen5 Glocks I believe).

Have you thought about CCW? If so maybe a smaller pistol can do both home protection and carry protection.

My first pistol and the gun I practice the most is my glock 19
Click to expand...

Im in nj so it is 10 round capacity and close to impossible to get a concealed carry permit.
 
I'd go for something striker fired for your first handgun. You won't have to learn two trigger pulls, like you would with a DA/SA. Glock 17, H&K VP9, Sig P320, S&W M&P2.0 9, Springfield XDm 9 would all fit the bill. Also, I'd suggest a full-size, instead of a compact, since you won't be concealing. Full-size handguns are just plain easier to shoot.

Stopping power is a myth. Modern bullet design has pretty much leveled the playing field among the big 3 handgun calibers (9mm, .40, .45).
 
I will agree with an above post to not forget about a good revolver. Bullet shape or power level don't affect it. Doesn't jam. If there's a failure with a round just squeeze the trigger for the next one. And if it's not dead in five or six shots you're in trouble
 
Helped my sister shop for a first (and only) gun for personal protection. Got her into a 38 revolver for reasons cited above, and it's pretty much idiot proof, pull the trigger and bullets come out the front. If you're comfortable with a larger size, a revolver chambered for .357 will allow you to practice with 38 and then stored with 357.

My own pistol choice is a Glock 21. It will give me time to get to the shotgun(s).
 
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