Pistol Calibers

***Plasma*** · Posted On: 1/11/2006 9:41pm

So what I a gathering is

Glock 23 - .40 caliber - Good all around, easy to find ammo
Glock 32 - .357 caliber - More Damaging Round, harder to find ammo

**Mr. Mantis** · Posted On: 1/11/2006 9:51pm

.40 cal ammo is probably cheaper too.

If it's your first gun, and you have to pick between a 9mm, .40, or .357.

Go with the .40.

**Don Gwinn** · Posted On: 1/12/2006 12:05am

A good .22 is still the way to start. You will learn more from shooting that .22 than you will from starting out with a fighting caliber. You will also be able to afford a lot of practice.
The cheapest centerfire handgun caliber is 9mm, which for simple Winchester "white box" practice loads is maybe $8-10 per 50 rounds.
In .22 lr, you're talking more like 500-1000 rounds for that price.

The .22 will make you a better shot.

If you insist on a fighting handgun, Glocks are good ones. However, not everyone who is new to shooting is entirely safe with a Glock. They require that you have solid trigger discipline from the moment you pick them up, as they have no external safety switch and WILL go bang when you pull the trigger whether you meant to do so or not.

For my money, if you kinda like the idea of the Glock, at least try some others. Springfield's XD pistol is less well known (no gangsta rappers rant about their XD's) but is similar to the Glock in many ways. Light, indestructible, simple, etc. The XD has some advantages, though:

1. For many people, the XD has a MUCH more comfortable grip.
2. The XD has a grip safety, which means you will generally have to have a firing grip AND pull the trigger to make it fire. Fumble it, accidentally brush the trigger, and you should have at least one more device between you and the bang.
3. Uses SIG sights, so all kinds of sights are available everywhere.
4. Uses its own magazines, but can also use Beretta Model 92/96 mags so you can get magazines just about anywhere for cheap.

This is not to say that the XD is a better gun than the Glock. I like the Glocks. But you really should get out and handle some guns before you get your mind set on something. Very often a person will talk himself into buying a gun he doesn't really like all that much--something that doesn't fit his hand, usually--because he likes the idea of it.

I do not agree that you should be thinking about limiting your range time. There are very few people in the world who get too much range time. For most of us, it's much more difficult to fit in enough range time. You need repetitions to get good. You want to be comfortable with your sight picture and confident that you can acquire it quickly. You want to know that your trigger stroke is consistent and as short and gentle as it can be, which is harder than it sounds when you're talking about something that goes boom. You want your grip to be completely consistent because every time it changes, your point of impact changes, too.

All these things require practice. I'm nowhere close, to be honest.

**Teryan** · Posted On: 1/12/2006 1:58am

Some thing to consider when buying a glock

I do agree with Don Gwinn, .22 is a good starter gun.

**Hawkeye** · Posted On: 1/12/2006 7:03am

I carried around a glock 27 .40 cal for a while. Not the most accurate .40 I owned... that honor goes to the USPc. I was really big on concealment back then and being a sub-compact gun and holding 10 rounds of .40 cal, it was a great gun now that I look back on it.

Traded it in for a HK 91 a coupla years back.

I agree with Gwinn too, that a .22 is great to practice with. If you're a cheap mutherfucker like myself, you can develop all the attributes with a .22 without paying big dollars for the .45 230 hardball

**Hawkeye** · Posted On: 1/12/2006 7:09am

Oh yeah, I almost forgot

Unless you're going to buy one of their wheel guns,

STAY THE **** AWAY FROM SMITH AND WESSON

ROGER?

**Phoenix** · Posted On: 1/12/2006 7:36am

Originally Posted by Hawkeye

Oh yeah, I almost forgot

Unless you're going to buy one of their wheel guns,

STAY THE **** AWAY FROM SMITH AND WESSON

ROGER?

Hooah.

We used to carry their 5946. It was total garbage.

***Plasma*** · Posted On: 1/12/2006 7:50am

As I said in an earlier post I am not a n00b when it come to shooting. I go fairly often with my friend (Who I am since moved away from) shooting and I shot everything from a Ruger P22 (.22 Caliber) to a Glock 9mm to Ak47. However, even though I learned to shoot, I never learned about the different calibers nor how to clean and take care of a pistol. I am going to solve that by taking the NRA handgun course before I buy the pistol.

So I looking like I am going to get the Glock 23 (.40 Cal). If the store has a Glock 32 to shoot and carries the rounds I might still go in that direction.

***Plasma*** · Posted On: 1/12/2006 7:50am

Originally Posted by Hawkeye

Oh yeah, I almost forgot

Unless you're going to buy one of their wheel guns,

STAY THE **** AWAY FROM SMITH AND WESSON

ROGER?

SIR YES SIR!

**Hawkeye** · Posted On: 1/12/2006 7:52am

Fo' sure brotha. They took a perfectly good gun in the walther pp/ppk and turned it to ****. I've got no problems with their wheel guns but eveything else is ****.

Even their cheapest model of the 1911 is nowhere near the quality of a Kimber, Springfield or ParaOrdinance at the same price.