OK lots of nice reccomendations, but unfortunately, you live in the wonderful state of California... before you do anything you need to look at the drop test list... to see what we are allowed to own here; It will be your best friend.
For a basic handgun, the Hi-Point C9 is on the list. It is not the best handgun, but it is a functioning handgun - ignorant nay-sayers be ****ed. Your other options could include a S&W Sigma SW9VE, a wonderful Ruger P95, or perhaps a Taurus 24/7 in 9mm - all work just fine as first time guns and under $400. A good gun shop will help you out, but give it time to find something comfortable and easy to use, try not to impulse buy.
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I take my coffee how I take my women: bitter and overbearing.
Wow tons of good recommendations here! I only saw one mention to a CZ 82. Yes, chambered in 9 x 18 Makarov, but readily available from J&G, even with a California package if you live in CA. All these links are at J&G Sales, and if you have a C&R, and don't live in CA, then it can ship right to your front door. I think I'll be in the market for a Nagant revolver here soon. HTH!
I was going to recommend some pistols from the milsurp angle. The Tokarev is a good shooter in 7.62 x 25. Some Comm bloc or knock off pistols can be found in 9 x 19. I've got a Chinese Norinco Tokarev knock off in 9 x 19. So the Romanian TTC isn't too pricey: Romanian TTC Tokarev Pistol. Very good condition
And yes, if it is C&R Eligible, it is exempt from the drop test but mustl go through a standard FFL01 for CA (still will need a handgun safety card of course).
The CZ-82 would be a great gun (but mostly they don't send you the magazines; have to purchase factory new 10 rounders) and one of the best feeling guns I have handled (but not shot as of yet).
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I take my coffee how I take my women: bitter and overbearing.
OK lots of nice reccomendations, but unfortunately, you live in the wonderful state of California... before you do anything you need to look at the drop test list... to see what we are allowed to own here; It will be your best friend.
For a basic handgun, the Hi-Point C9 is on the list. It is not the best handgun, but it is a functioning handgun - ignorant nay-sayers be ****ed. Your other options could include a S&W Sigma SW9VE, a wonderful Ruger P95, or perhaps a Taurus 24/7 in 9mm - all work just fine as first time guns and under $400. A good gun shop will help you out, but give it time to find something comfortable and easy to use, try not to impulse buy.
Yes, I shoot a SW Sigma SW9VE and like it a lot. It has become my son's favorite handgun when we go to the range.
__________________ Go ahead, Makarov my day!~~makarov.com
I strongly recommend a .22 revolver as a first gun. Ammunition is generally available and less expensive than centerfire fodder.
Next in line would be a Ruger 22 auto.
There are some police turn in Sig 225s out there at some of the wholesale outlets. You would arrange with you local retailer to order one (and take his fee).
I understand that they are nice single stack 9mm.
The Taurus 92 is also an under rated pistol. My brother has had one for 25 years and it has never so much as hiccuped. It has a steel frame (its parent Beretta has an aluminum frame).
DocAitch
And yes, if it is C&R Eligible, it is exempt from the drop test but mustl go through a standard FFL01 for CA (still will need a handgun safety card of course).
The CZ-82 would be a great gun (but mostly they don't send you the magazines; have to purchase factory new 10 rounders) and one of the best feeling guns I have handled (but not shot as of yet).
They are nice to shoot, and lefty friendly. They have ambi slide safety and mag release controls. A lefty would have to use their finger to release the slide. I do like the ambi mag release. I prefer to use my index finger to push the mag release button opposed to adjusting my normal grip on the pistol to use my thumb.
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Mosin Nagant evangelist on a mission to convert YOU!
vcpilot79, you mentioned some important criteria that needs to be considered before jumping into some of the guns listed; "first handgun", "cheap", "reliable", "have fun with"....
IMHO, based on your needs, I would say stay with a revolver (sometimes referred to as a "wheel-gun"). One hand operation (no need to "chamber" a round first), easy to use (just aim & pull the trigger), much more reliable than an automatic, and you can usually find a used Rossi or Taurus for $200 or less. In .38 special, they're potent as hell, fun to shoot and ammo is readily available.
Nothing against the guns that others have mentioned -- they're all great guns, without a doubt. But for a first gun, this is a no-brainer as far as I'm concerned -- stick with a revolver.
Yes, Hi-Point is the only one in the $100 price range.
My suggestion is a Ruger with a polymer frame. They are about the best in the economy pistols. They are reliable and tough as nails even if they are not especially pretty.
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That which can be asserted without evidence may be dismissed without evidence.
Has anybody heard of the Jiminez pistols? The company is from Las Vegas. And they're cheap. A local dealer has the 9mm for $152 brand new. I'm gonna go look at em today.
Here's a link to their site Jimenez Arms, Inc. They might be worth a look.
Saturday Night Specials!!! *forms a cross with fingers*
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The great object is that every man be armed. Everyone who is able may have a gun.
—Patrick Henry
I own 2 Taurus's (One snub .357 and one .45 Millennium) and a Kel Tec P3AT that I carry a lot. My main preference is still my .40 Subcompact XD but that will put you in the same price rance as a Glock. I believe the XD is 10 times the gun a Glock is but that is off the topic. I feel 100% safe and confident with my Taurus or Kel Tec. The .357 I have is Titanium and will be priced close to Glock or an XD but Taurus makes some great lower cost revolvers. If you like old style guns I bought my CZ 52 for $180 and that is a great gun. It's a little bigger than the others but smaller than a 1911. One I have never shot myself but hear a lot of good things about is a Witness.
Has anybody heard of the Jiminez pistols? The company is from Las Vegas. And they're cheap. A local dealer has the 9mm for $152 brand new. I'm gonna go look at em today.
Here's a link to their site Jimenez Arms, Inc. They might be worth a look.
Jiminez = crap. Buy a used Taurus, Kel Tec or Witness if your budget doesn't allow for a new one. A good used gun beats a brand new piece of crap.
What price do you consider "price friendly"? I mean, if it were me, and my or someone elses life is to depend on this, I would soon as well spend a little more and get something name brand.
Example. Before I spend the money and buy say a Charter Arms, I'll spend the couple hundred more, if that, and get a Ruger SP 101.
If it's a semi-auto you want, there are better choices out there, and for only a couple hundred more then a Hi-Point or Jiminez.
You can get a Springfield XD for under $600. Maybe even more near $550. To me, that's price friendly if my or someone elses life will depend in it.
__________________ "No free man shall ever be debarred the use of arms" - Thomas Jefferson
Last edited by GlockMeister; 10-16-2009 at 08:19 PM.
What price do you consider "price friendly"? I mean, if it were me, and my or someone elses life is to depend on this, I would soon as well spend a little more and get something name brand.
Example. Before I spend the money and buy say a Charter Arms, I'll spend the couple hundred more, if that, and get a Ruger SP 101.
If it's a semi-auto you want, there are better choices out there, and for only a couple hundred more then a Hi-Point or Jiminez.
You can get a Springfield XD for under $600. Maybe even more near $550. To me, that's price friendly if my or someone elses life will depend in it.
+ 1,000,000 Well said. Never shot SP 101 but I have a GP 100 that lives on my night stand to protect my family. Bud's has several XD's in the $400's and they deliver free.
I bought one last year and consider it the best investment in a hand gun.
I think everybody should at least try one.Once you do,you'll know what I'm talking about.
Stay away from any gun that uses Zinc as the major component as its just junk.
A lot of really foolish people cannot understand that cheap and bargain do not mean the same thing as value.
Value means getting the most for your money. A $150 gun that will break before you put $200 worth of ammo through it and you will never get more than $50 trade in for is NOT a value.
But it is ANY gun made with a zinc slide.
In the $300 range you can find decent used Smith and Wesson 9mms and copies of Browning Hi Powers which are great guns. One of my friends was showing me a model 39 the other day that he got for about $300.It looked new.
In that range you can find S&W Sigmas if you want a glock type gun, and you can find Kel Tecs smaller frame 9mm pistols, sometimes for even less, brand new.
I would rather have a good used gun made by a reputable manufacturer that is police or military surpluss than any Zink peice of crap made that people who cannot admit they made a mistake in buying lie through their teeth about on the internet.
I have fired those guns.
I know better.
They jam when you want them to fire and even worse, sometimes they fire when you DON'T want them to.
If the slide is a big chunk of Zink and the firing pin looks like a section of granny's old hair pin and the frame seems made of recycled milk jug, pass it by and let some moronic gangbanger wanna be purchase it. He doesn't deserve any better.
You do.
The reality is if you can afford an accountant, you can afford better guns than me.
I have a USP in .40 caliber I bought when I was a security guard making minimum wage, brother. I put aside $10 every payday and had $520 at the end of the year BEFORE my taxes came in. Back then, it was a $570 gun.
I had coworkers buying zinc junk complaining they couldn't afford a decent gun.
The reason they couldn't was they wasted their money. Most of them spent $25 a week on smokes, $30 a month on the telephone bill and another $30 a month for cable television.
Our ancestors had none of this stuff and they survived just fine.
I bet you spend at least $40 a month on the internet, which you can get free at the library. I bet you spend at least another $40 a month on a cell phone. I bet you spend at least another $40 a month on a regular telephone too.
My advice to you woud be save that $120 a month and go buy whatever top line gun you want at the end of the year.
What would you rather have for that $1,200? A years worth of being annoyed by telemarketers when you are in the crapper, a years worth of stupid reality shows like who wants to marry a gold digger and a years worth of having a phone go off in your pocket and bother you when you are talking face to face, or a nice gun that will last you the rest of your life?
Its your choice.
I'd rather have a nice gun that can be handed down to my heirs. You can spend $1,200 a year on modern conveniences that are not so convenient when you look at it, or you can spend that money on a top of the line Smith or Kimber or Colt or whatever.
As for what you are missing out on....
well....
You can go online at the library for free. You can also rent DVDs and books there free.
Cut off the cable television and ditch the contract cell phone and landline for a Trac Phone. You can get an 800 minute card for $80 that lasts a year if you only use the phone for emergencies.
Its up to you to decide where to spend your money wisely.
I can tell you, I get a lot more enjoyment out of my guns than I could from watching John and Kate, or surfing the net at 2 a.m. for porn, or from having to get out of the shower to answer a wrong number.
I bought one last year and consider it the best investment in a hand gun.
I think everybody should at least try one.Once you do,you'll know what I'm talking about.
I bought one last year and consider it the best investment in a hand gun.
I think everybody should at least try one.Once you do,you'll know what I'm talking about.
If you like the older style guns like the CZ 82 Woody mentioned also look at the CZ 52. I got mine for $190 (I think) and love it. Shoots a 7.2X25 round which will break 1500 fps and sometimes up above 1700 fps if loaded hot. It is roughly the size of a 1911. You can usually find surplus ammo too for 10 to 12 cents a round if you buy bulk.
Sunwheel29, I gotta admit, you tell it like it is! I haven't laughed so hard in weeks! But I have to admit that I agree with your logic and point of view (I have a TracPhone and no cable TV for the same reasons, too!) and prefer to spend my money on quality items that have value to me. I still stick with my previous comments, though, that you can still by a "decent" used revolver without breaking the bank. And by the way, I don't think vcpilot79 ever said he wanted this gun as a carry piece or for personal protection; just that it was his first gun and he wanted it to be "cheap", "reliable", and to "have fun with"....
Used guns have been mentioned. Just like buying a used car. Need to know what to look for or have someone look at it for you. One thing to think about in this regard - Springfield has a lifetime warranty & it goes with the gun. Buy a used Springfield & you get lifetime warranty with it.
