I am a new Gun Fan! Please educate me!

[GRunner]

Hello again,

It's funny how you don't think there would be that much of a difference between the GP-100, and the L frame as compared to the K frame. But when you put them on you do feel it. The S&W 19 you tried had a 4" barrel which means it should have had a square butt. The round butt and shorter barrel will make it feel much more compact but they are made of steel and you can't get away from the weight. You may also appreciate the weight when shooting .357 loads as if helps with recoil and follow up shots.

I'm no stranger to recoil. I've shot revolvers in 45-70, .460 and .500 S&W. But I don't like the J frames in .357 made of Scandium. With such small grips and weighing 11.4 oz's by the third round I find I have to adjust my grip. This is not something I want to do with a defensive pistol. In .38 they are manageable. I know that it may just be psychological but I always feel a little undergunned with a 5 shot. That 6th shot is a 20% increase and maybe it's just a larger gun with a longer barrel that make me feel more confident. But don't listen to me the only way you will find out is to rent the gun or use a friends and find out for yourself.

I went to the S&W and Ruger websites and couldn't find a revolver I would want to carry or advise to someone. I would be looking at used guns with no key lock on it.

Good hunting.

 

[angelofwar]

Welcome!

I'll keep mine short and sweet, but two guns you should own at some point in your life are:

Remington 870 (in 12ga.)
Remington 700 (in 7.62/.308) (military version is the M24, as well as the M40, which is a 700 "at heart")

These guns set the standards a long time ago, and are still around for a reason.

 

[spc smith]

I have a smith & wesson bodyguard .380. Nice little pocket pistol. But I don't make enough money to collect firearms and even flashlights. That's okay though, I have one of each as do my kids (flashlights lol) and the cherry on top?? wife and kids to share with=) I would like an LWRCI DEA M6A2 piston driven rifle at some point=)

 

[Solscud007]

While I live in NY, getting pistols is a lengthy and troublesome endeavor. And I dont live in NYC. I decided to sell my pistols before I moved from Pittsburgh.

OP, I suggest you look for USPSA/IPSC competitions and shooters. It is a LOT of fun.

Now when you step into the rifle world, you might want to look into a pistol caliber carbine. There are quite a few to choose from. I love my KRISS Vector but the price can make people cringe. Some like the Hipoint 995, Keltec Sub2000 (which can fold) or the Beretta Storm.

Eventually get a AR-15 and a 12 guage shotgun and you can participate in multi-gun competitions. Which is something I am trying to get into now.

 

[kellyug]

Welcome!

I'll keep mine short and sweet, but two guns you should own at some point in your life are:

Remington 870 (in 12ga.)
Remington 700 (in 7.62/.308) (military version is the M24, as well as the M40, which is a 700 "at heart")

These guns set the standards a long time ago, and are still around for a reason.

+1 But if you're into handguns, you can't go wrong with the Ruger Mark III (or II if you can find one). Accurate, reliable, and cheap to shoot:thumbsup:

 

[eh4]

Pistols are fine and good.
Get you a bolt action 22 LR rifle and read up a bit about shooting technique. There's a rhythm between your heart beat and your finger tip. After a little bit, a light, easy, casual feel comes along, squeezing the trigger gently in between the pulses and twitches constantly going through your body.... 22LR has no blast smacking you in the forehead, no recoil teaching you the bad habit of flinch, 22LR bolt action rifle is cheap, and quiet enough to minimize irritating your neighbors, you can shoot enough to get sharp.
Also, spent 22 LR brass makes for good little targets.

The long sight radius of a rifle will allow you to learn accuracy, after sight picture is clear and you internalize how the rifle is sighted, and you have isolated your muscle movements, smoothly squeeze, etc. then you can fret about how rough/smooth, light/heavy your trigger may be. Most rifles are considerably more accurate than the person shooting them, I still shoot the first rifle I ever had, it's a little tiny child's rifle called a "Cricket". Just a good, cheap, no frills rifle with a nice little peep sight.

 

[Bullzeyebill]

Not sure here, but I think we are overwhelming the OP. He is just getting into guns, and needs baby steps.

Bill

 

[Kestrel]

Not sure here, but I think we are overwhelming the OP. He is just getting into guns, and needs baby steps.

I agree.
In addition, the OP inquired specifically about pistols and not rifles. From post #1:

[...] At the moment I am only interested in pistols. I will get into rifles sometime down the road but not right now.

68 posts and counting, and I continue to stand behind my recommendation of the fine Ruger MkII / MkIII 'Target Model' .22LR pistols.

 

[eh4]

Granted, Ruger Mark II or III, or Browning Buck Mark would be great pistols for marksmanship.

Sorry to distract towards a long arm when OP was only interested in pistols. I'm also inclined to try and get kids to eat their vegetables.

Whatever you are shooting you've got to understand the principles of safe handling and shooting and practice them religiously. They all work Together to prevent negligent tragedy.

Sooner or later most shooters are going to have an accidental (negligent) discharge if they do enough shooting, just as most drivers will eventually bump into something due to their own error, but it doesn't need to be tragic, if the principles are followed it can be merely a matter of your own personal chagrin.

Assume it's loaded, even if you just watched it be unloaded. It's loaded unless you can factually confirm that it's not.
Finger stays outside of trigger guard until on target and intending to fire.
Be aware of backstop, what is behind target, what is the possible bullet trajectory.
Never point the firearm at anything or anyone that you are not perfectly willing to Destroy.

A bullet cannot be called back, steered, bargained or pleaded with.

Anyone points a gun at me as a joke might well get seriously rearranged, either way I'm certainly not having any more to do with them, if they are a truly well meaning and lovable idiot then they might get educated and forgiven, once.

Accidents happen, I've swept my firearm's muzzle in a path that intersected a shooting buddy, and it's happened to me too, you should feel like a dumb *** if it happens -military and security professionals probably violate that one routinely, but if the principles are understood and used together they don't ever have to result in tragedy.

"The finger remains outside of the trigger guard until on target and determined to fire", Rinse, repeat, etc.

here is a more mainstream and comprehensive list, some might take it as gospel, others might have issues with certain more relative points:
http://www.police.nsw.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0017/133136/National_Firearms_Safety_Code.pdf

Oh, fun gun aphorisms:

"There are two ways to shoot yourself in the foot, metaphorically and literally. No matter what anyone says, one definitely hurts a lot more than the other."

"A handgun is for shooting your way to your rifle."

"Are you expecting trouble? I see that you have a pistol."
"No Ma'am, if I were expecting trouble I would have brought my rifle."

"Hearing a click when you expected a bang, is the loudest sound in the world. Hearing a bang when you expected a click is the second loudest."

"After shooting yourself in the leg, you suddenly realize that your life has never sucked as much as it does now."

"Better to be judged by 12 than carried by 6."

1 "The rifle is a weapon. Let there be no mistake about that. It is a tool of power, and thus dependent completely upon the moral stature of its user. It is equally useful in securing meat for the table, destroying group enemies on the battlefield, and resisting tyranny. In fact, it is the only means of resisting tyranny, since a citizenry armed with rifles simply cannot be tyrannized." -Cooper

2 "The rifle itself has no moral stature, since it has no will of its own. Naturally, it may be used by evil men for evil purposes, but there are more good men than evil, and while the latter cannot be persuaded to the path of righteousness by propaganda, they can certainly be corrected by good men with rifles." -Cooper
1 & 2 source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jeff_Cooper#Rifle_concepts

"Only accurate rifles are interesting." -Townsend Whelen


"

 

[Kestrel]

[...] I'm also inclined to try and get kids to eat their vegetables.

I agree wholeheartedly - broccolli.

[...] Sooner or later most shooters are going to have an accidental (negligent) discharge if they do enough shooting, just as most drivers will eventually bump into something due to their own error, but it doesn't need to be tragic, if the principles are followed it can be merely a matter of your own personal chagrin.

Again, I concur 100%. I have been shooting extensively for 35 years now, in excess of 50,000 rounds as a guess. I had one AD/ND as a teenager, thank goodness nobody was hurt - a friend of mine was relatively close to me but I had been pointing the gun in a safe direction. I had a close call (no discharge) about ten years ago when I wasn't paying as much attention as I should have been. That particular incident frightens me so much just thinking about it that I haven't yet been able to talk about it. Needless to say that I learned something from each instance.

My personal thinking is that an 'unloaded' or 'safe' gun is far more dangerous than a 'loaded' gun. Safe gun handling pretty much precludes anybody being injured from a 'loaded' gun IMO - the monumental degree of respect for that loaded gun being the key here. However (and this is where most folks get into trouble), not following safe gun handling procedures with an 'unloaded' gun will eventually bite someone, as there is always a small (even miniscule) chance that you are mistaken about the status of the 'unloaded' or 'safe' gun. Observing safe gun handling procedures no matter what the status of the gun actually is is the only way to handle guns safely over a lifetime of use.

IMO, the above paragraph is the genesis of the usual phrase concerning safe gun handling: 'A gun is always loaded.'

Thanks eh4 for the post. Best regards & stay safe,