First handgun

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

meatGrinder

Sharpshooter
Special Hen
Joined
Sep 13, 2011
Messages
1,152
Reaction score
1,606
Location
Bethany
I'd like to get my first handgun sometime soon. I have experience with firearms, mostly hunting with shotguns and rimfires. I'm somewhat small statured, about 5'9" 150 lbs. I want a handgun for self-defense, and would like to eventually carry concealed (my work doesn't mind).

Knowing almost nothing about handguns, except the difference between revolvers and pistols, what would you folks recommend I look into? I have a budget of about $500 or less.
Thanks.
 

Jwryan84

Sharpshooter
Special Hen
Joined
Sep 15, 2009
Messages
3,286
Reaction score
681
Location
NW OKC
Go to a range that rents guns and try before you buy. H&H is a good possibility in your area.

This, rent all guns you want to try and/or borrow some friends gunsmith.

It will all depend on what you want, usually a carry gun will differ from a bedside range gun. So get both... Meaning 2 LOL. Don't go cheap you will just end up trading up if you actually shoot it
 

p238shooter

Sharpshooter
Supporting Member
Special Hen Supporter
Joined
Aug 16, 2012
Messages
3,680
Reaction score
2,877
Location
East of Tulsa
Go to a range that rents guns and try before you buy. H&H is a good possibility in your area.

To me, this is absolutely the best advice you can get. Every hand is different, most firearms feel and operate slightly different, how you are going to use it can be different. All of us would like to help with suggestions, but in reality, most of us can not even pick out the right firearm for our wives the first time around.

If you go to a range that will let you touch, feel, and fire multiple firearms, especially during a training class, you will be more informed of what might work best for you and save a lot of money trading/purchasing multiple fire arms in the long run. Many of us have bought or traded for firearms only to fine they did not have the feel or function to suit us.

Not having enough training can be dangerous, too much training can make you ---- proficient?

Good luck to you.
 

Droff

Sharpshooter
Supporting Member
Special Hen Supporter
Joined
Dec 26, 2012
Messages
539
Reaction score
258
Location
Choctaw
Go to a range that rents guns and try before you buy. H&H is a good possibility in your area.

Best answer to your question.
The best one is the one you like.
Saying that, I saw a 9mm M&P Shield at H&H for $350 a week or so ago. Nice price.
 

NightShade

Sharpshooter
Special Hen
Joined
Apr 24, 2013
Messages
4,116
Reaction score
1,812
Location
Guthrie
Definitely need to try as many as you can before you buy. See if another Eat n Shoot is coming up and tag along. Most of the time it's a hey wanna try this one type of thing. Bring along some rifles and try some pistols that others actually carry. You can get a lot out of using the rent guns but they will not generally be reliable or show how reliable they can be because they are rarely cleaned and are sometimes abused while almost never being lubricated. Sometimes knowing a drop of oil on a barrel can be the difference between a bang-jam and a bang-bang-bang:GRIN. The people who carry a particular weapon every day will know some of these idiosyncrasies and be able to explain it when you find one that feels good and shoots good in your hand.

You also need to think about accessories when you find something that works for you. Glocks have tons of them, while some others you will be lucky to find anything more than mags, and a holster that kinda fits.

Hand size will play another role. My hands are almost exactly 7 inches from the tip of my middle finger to the base of my palm. I run the M&P's with the small grip and it feels good to me. A glock feels like I should be swinging it like a 2X4, the grip feels oversized in my hands and I was never able to feel secure while shooting one. (This is not glock bashing just the observations on how it feels to me so lets not go to the glock vs discussion.) On the flip side a single stack shield or a lcp/lc9 may feel too small.

I went out to H&H four or five times trying different pistols just to see how it felt to hold a few different ones and then go home and look up features and reviews before I decided on the ones I wanted to try out. And after I shot a few it was to a toss up between the ruger sr40 and the M&P40, both american made and both with good warranties and a similar feel. After talking to the guy at H&H the 40 is what came home that day. I can't remember what the exact conversation was about but with the number of accessories available for the M&P vs the Ruger I am happy I did because I plain didn't even think to look at that part of things. I now have three M&P's one of which is my wife's technically and they all work great for the both of us.
 

TsFinest

Marksman
Special Hen
Joined
Sep 30, 2015
Messages
67
Reaction score
1
Location
Tulsa
Also depends on physical strength. guys won't have a problem but some females have problems working the action on a semi-automatic and have to go the revolver route.
 

Latest posts

Top Bottom