Hey rider, if your new to handguns i think you should start with a 9mm. My first handgun was a ruger 9mm, still got it, shoots great, I taught my wife how to shoot it, and she loves it. I actually bought her a compact Beretta 9mm not too long ago. A 22 maybe good for a little target practice because the rounds are cheaper, but its a 22, not much more powerful than a bb gun. I actually have a 22 cal BB gun that would do almost as much damage. The recoil on those things in slim to none, so if thats what your trying to achieve, my advice would be to start with a 9mm.

But anyway, shooting is shooting, its a blast either way, just dont cheat yourself on a little ol 22. A lot of ranges have there own guns you can either rent or use free, as long as you buy their ammo. Why dont you got test out the differences and see what you like before you spend the money on one.

O, and been to Bob's several times, nice place, they got five lanes on the top floor and a pretty good selection of guns they sell.

P.S. most bad habits against accurate shooting are developed when a person first learns to shoot (and a lot of times they are hard habbits to shake), make sure you know the basics, mainly grip, stance, sight alighnment and most important TRIGGER PULL (one steady and even pull)

good luck and good shooting

 

Thanks! I think I am getting a p22 to learn on and then moving up to a glock 19 or 26 later on. We will see what happens. Anyways, I plan on shooting a little bit, then taking a class on shooting. I do know a couple people who are very proficient with guns that I will go to the range with and learn proper technique.

 

I would respectfully and vehemently disagree with the statements made about the lowly .22LR. It will kill you dead and is a great, GREAT training tool. 9mm's are okay and I will not spark the next Holy War over 9mm vs .40S&W vs .45ACP. Not no way, not no how. Everyone should have a .22 pistol and a .22 rifle for plinking. Everyone. As for the Neos, I have no personal experience. The P22 on the other hand...I have one that I bought from Bob's. It was my first handgun and I don't care for it too much. The trigger pull can be learned like any other rifle but over all it's not that great of a pistol IMO. I run CCI Mini Mags in almost all of my .22's, well actually ALL of them. The P22 has a hard time digesting them though which is odd because they seem to work in every other .22 I've seen. My P22 will run aguila subsonics though. I polished the feed ramp in mine and it's been better about feeding except when it gets really dirty, but part of that is due to one of my magazines. Magazines with a serial number that end with an "A" are newer and "mo bettah". I have one of each that came with mine.

I would recommend a Ruger Mk II or Mk III for a .22LR plinker pistol and trainer. They're less than $400 most places NEW and a little cheaper used. They are hard to wear out and you can tinker with them all you want.

JMHO, whatever you get practice with it as often as possible.

 

Strongly agreed. All the basics of shooting a pistol (or rifle for that matter) can be learned with a .22 or even a quality pellet gun. I learned rifle basics as a kid shooting a pellet gun in the garage with my father, and honed the same skills over the years on everything up to .50 cal military weapons. Other than the sore shoulder with bigger bores it's all the same. Pistols are a little different, but in any defensive use you're point shooting anyway and recoil is only one factor.

I've got a MkII bull barrel and it's a great little gun. I can go shoot for as long as I want and not clean out my wallet using it. Even if you're reloading anything larger gets expensive quick.

Just my opinion but if people spent 1/10 the amount of time they spend on caliber "holy wars" creating stressful more realistic situations for self defense shooting training, they would realize that the caliber won't matter if you can't consistently hit the target under severe stress.


I used to shoot a lot at the A&P off of Lishelle. Years ago the one pawn shop range on Va Beach Blvd near Pembroke used to be owned by A&P also I think. We used to go there back in the '80s when I lived closer to there. Haven't had much time to shoot lately, hoping to find the time and get a couple new toys.

 

Signmaster,

A&P is probably less than a mile from where I work. We should meet up sometime and sling some lead.

 

I think that is completely unnecessary.
If you have a disagreement with someone you should try to talk it out first.

 

I agree with you guys completely, a .22 would be a great "plinker", the guns are inexpensive and the ammo is cheap as dirt. And again i'l agree with you Signmaster, a 22 will kill you easily, as long as you hit a someone in a perfect spot. Actually a 22 is a great assasins gun, when the bullet hits a person the bullet gets mangled up and fragmented so much that it cannot be traced back to the firearm that fired it (heads up for you criminals).

So by all means guys a 22 for target practice i have no problems with, but that gun has little or no knock down power which is what you need for personal protection. What good would pumping a guy full of lead and it not stopping him do.

Like you guys im not going to go on and on into what caliber i believe is the best and why, no need for that. I dont want to start one of those threads either, just elaborating on the point i was trying to make.

You guys have fun with your 22's im sticking with my revolver http://www.taurususa.com/products/pr...egory=Revolver

 

I did try to talk it out, right here on f150online and the bastard ignored me. Them's fighting words! Wait, that would be a lack of fighting words. Either way I'm Rootin' tootin' pizzed now. It's Super Soakers at 5 paces Mr.!



ruffin-it,

Again I'm going to have to disagree. .22LR's don't need a perfect shot to kill someone, all it needs is to nick something vital. It takes a "lucky" shot with anything to stop someone DRT in their tracks with any caliber. Also a .22 will not deform to the point of being beyond recognition even if it hits bone. It can, but it is not common at all that it will. I've fired rounds point blank into the dirt and dug them up. The round base is clearly still visible as is the rifling. I've pulled .22 slugs out of game that were intact. Hell one round looks unfired save some very light rifling marks, but I pulled it from the far side of a squirrel where it was lodged under the skin.

Even if the round is intact and has the rifling, that CSI **** they show on TV is bovine scatology. The "fingerprint" that people yak about is NOT identical to every dang firearm out there and it's not as simple as looking at it through a microscope. Sure you can deduce a few things from looking at a spent round or the brass, but it's not like they pick up a piece of brass and say "this is ruffin-its!".

'scuse me while I get off this soap box, it's getting slippery up here.

BTW Mrs P_D has a S&W .500. None of those piddly .44's and other weak loaded crap for her.

 

You know, as soon as I saw your name at the top of the thread response, I figured something like this was coming.




PONY_DRIVER,

We'll have to hook up and hit A&P one day. It's still cheap to shoot there, and if I bring the Ruger we can shoot for next to nothing.

BTW, where do you work? Just curious but when you mentioned the mile thing it reminded me just how many things are within a mile of A&P. I've got a brother in law at Stihl, and used to do a lot of sign work for a guy off of Seahawk circle which backs up to Lishelle. Then with all that new stuff down that way and off International, I can't even begin to imagine how many different businesses are within a mile of that range.




Ruffin-it,

I wouldn't suggest anyone carry a .22 over a larger caliber weapon for defense, but for shooting skills they are great to have. As for calibers, that debate gets just as crazy as those that claim the six rounds in a revolver isn't enough. I personally don't agree with either debate having a correct answer, as 2 or 3 rounds from any larger caliber weapon will stop most people deserving of being shot. Some might say that argument rules out a revolver against anything more than 2 to 1 odds, but I tend to think in that situation you would have concerns larger than capacity on your mind.

 

Just to update you guys we went with this.
Glock 19 9mm

 

Nice peashooter, now go practice with it!


signmaster,

DDL Omni off of Viking Drive. I have a Brother who used to work security at Stihl.

 

Im up in the chesapeake area. Always looking for more people for 4 wheeling so if you ever need anybody else just hit me up or if you ever get stuck just give me a call cause im always willing to lend a helping hand.

 

Pleased to meet ya! Where are there any wheeling around here?

 

Theres a couple of spots around here but besides a few places almost none of them are legal . We really need a 4 wheel park around here cause iono how many times weve got caught 4 wheeling. Most of the times the cops just tell us to get out whoever's stuck and so we really dont get in that much trouble.

 

Not into that scene. Since joining an offroading website I've seen just how stupid and fawked up it is. It is killing the sport and every idiot redneck with a 4WD truck is giving everyone else a horribly bad wrap.

Please stick to private areas with permission or organized ORV parks.