[progdan]

Originally Posted by zaohu

Also, the renting thing should be number 1 on your agenda right now. There's nothing worse you could do for yourself as a shooter than listening to what other people suggest and just buying something. Chances are, you'll pick something out because somebody else was comfortable with it even though there's something else out there that might be better suited to you. Rent a few models and try a few calibers to narrow it down to a type and caliber that work well for you.

Yeah I doubt I'll be purchasing one at all for quite a while yet.

Originally Posted by tgace

Good advice. But if he happens to get a job in LE chances are he is going to be assigned a weapon, like it/comfortable with it, or not. Thats why I purchased a G27 as my off-duty gun. Same make, same caliber, same operation parameters as my duty gun. I would really have preferred a sub-compact 1911, but decided to keep it simple.

Here nobody really 'carries' off duty here in Australia, so I'll probably end up just going with whatever we're assigned, I believe it will be a glock.

Originally Posted by Phrost

You absolutely do not want to develop a flinch or fearful anticipation of the recoil, so .22 is king for learning fundamentals; think of it as light contact sparring.

But if you're interested in learning how to be proficient with your firearm outside of work, then you're ahead of a lot of police officers already. Not bagging on the profession as a whole, but there's definitely a need for more emphasis on marksmanship in certain areas (LA, New York, etc).

Yeah cheers mate, my aim is to excel in all areas, same with physical I don't want to 'just do enough' I want to be the most effective officer I can be.

[Wounded Ronin]

Originally Posted by Vorpal

Kimber 1911, Sig 245, SA XD40.

1911. Better grips, recoil characteristics, magazines much easier to load using only your fingers. I hate loading magazines that hold more than 10 rounds. 8 + 1 rounds using a Chip McCormick mag is good enough for me and very painless to load.

I actually also really like the Ruger P97DC because it's as reliable as hell and very sturdy, and very simple to use because of the decocker + lack of safety. If someone's going to keep a firearm in the house to shoot a home invader that's probably a good design.

If I were to CCW, one reason I'd prefer a 1911 over a Glock is because I like having a manual safety. It's a fact that there are accidental discharges with Glocks so all the passive safeties obviously aren't good enough. If were to carry something around all day I would definitely want a manual safety switch of some kind.

[Ka-Bar]

Originally Posted by Wounded Ronin

1911. Better grips, recoil characteristics, magazines much easier to load using only your fingers. I hate loading magazines that hold more than 10 rounds. 8 + 1 rounds using a Chip McCormick mag is good enough for me and very painless to load.

I actually also really like the Ruger P97DC because it's as reliable as hell and very sturdy, and very simple to use because of the decocker + lack of safety. If someone's going to keep a firearm in the house to shoot a home invader that's probably a good design.

If I were to CCW, one reason I'd prefer a 1911 over a Glock is because I like having a manual safety. It's a fact that there are accidental discharges with Glocks so all the passive safeties obviously aren't good enough. If were to carry something around all day I would definitely want a manual safety switch of some kind.

There's no such thing as an accidental discharge.

[Robstafarian]

Originally Posted by Wounded Ronin

1911. Better grips, recoil characteristics, magazines much easier to load using only your fingers. I hate loading magazines that hold more than 10 rounds. 8 + 1 rounds using a Chip McCormick mag is good enough for me and very painless to load.

I actually also really like the Ruger P97DC because it's as reliable as hell and very sturdy, and very simple to use because of the decocker + lack of safety. If someone's going to keep a firearm in the house to shoot a home invader that's probably a good design.

If I were to CCW, one reason I'd prefer a 1911 over a Glock is because I like having a manual safety. It's a fact that there are accidental discharges with Glocks so all the passive safeties obviously aren't good enough. If were to carry something around all day I would definitely want a manual safety switch of some kind.

Virtually 100% agreement, even down to the magazine brand.

I keep my 1911 in condition three because I'm not great at decocking (still need more practice) and I don't want to keep it cocked and locked for long periods of time. For as much as I'd like a decocking lever, I probably still wouldn't want to depend on it.

[Robstafarian]

Originally Posted by Ka-Bar

There's no such thing as an accidental discharge.

Two words: Plaxico Burress

[tgace]

The only true safety is your index finger. Keep it off the trigger till you are ready to fire.

[BadUglyMagic]

Trigger control. Buy one of those cheap plastic spring loaded dart guns or cheap airsoft pistol and work on keeping your aim as you pull the trigger.

Once you are able to keep the pistol on your target through complete trigger pull, it may be easier for you to fire a pistol that goes bang.

[Ka-Bar]

Originally Posted by Robstafarian

Two words: Plaxico Burress

That would be just plain idiocy.

[Don Gwinn]

1. There are accidental discharges. They are exceedingly rare . . . but if nothing pulls the trigger, and the gun fires anyway, that's an accidental discharge. If you drop the bolt on an SKS and it slamfires, that's an accidental discharge. If the sear breaks on a handgun and it goes off without having the trigger pulled, that's an accidental discharge.

2. Plaxico Burress did not have an accidental discharge. He carried a pistol in an unsafe manner, and when it fell, he tried to catch it. Those are both very bad ideas.

[adouglasmhor]

Originally Posted by Robstafarian

Two words: Plaxico Burress

Originally Posted by wikipedia

On Friday, November 28, 2008, Burress suffered an accidental self-inflicted gunshot wound to the right thigh in the New York City nightclub LQ when his Glock pistol, tucked in the waistband of his black jeans, began sliding down his leg; apparently in reaching for the gun he inadvertently depressed the trigger, causing the gun to fire

Negligent discharge. Very Negilgent.