First guns
I’m often asked by friends and co-workers ‘What should be my first gun?” a co-worker asked me this yesterday, and I know that he will predominantly use it for hunting, so I told him:
Buy a Mossberg 500 “Kit”. you can get ’em at Walmart for around three hundred bucks, sometimes less. You get a well made Mossberg pump, a vent rib barrel, and a rifled slug barrel. Add a scope and you’re good to go on pretty much all midwestern game. Plus a remarkable and practically unlimited amount of accessories are available for them, you can easily turn it into a riot gun, a turkey gun, or go back to shooting Bambi, by loosening a few screws.
Buy a Ruger 10-22. Like the Mossberg it’s a chameleon, you can change it from a light sporting rifle to a heavy barrelled squirrel sniper, and everyone makes a stock or barrel or extended magazine or some accessory for it. You can also make a 10/22 into a 17hm2 rifle in a few minutes by changing nothing other than the barrel.
Buy a Ruger MKIII. Or if you can a good condition MKII. It’s a simple firearm, as reliable as a brick, and it’s a good place to start shooting. Upgraded trigger kits for them improve them a great deal, and if you can follow instructions, the disassembly reassembly reallly isn’t that hard.
Buy a Glock, like a 17 or a 22. A glock is a big enough gun for everyone to hang on to and for the occasional shooter will go bang every time you pull the trigger. It’s easy to clean and service, and ugly. Also, lots of accessories available. Pick the one that fits your hand best. Stay away from the “Compact” guns for a “first” gun.
This is the minimum gun cabinet, I feel. Shit, a man should be issued this when he turns 21.
20 comments Og | Uncategorized
Glock?
Yeah, they are dead simple to operate and maintain, but Jesus H. Christ. And with no real safety, I don’t think they are a good idea for a first gun.
I mean, really.
Safety is over-rated.
I like those ranges that let you rent guns. Then you can try out a bunch of different models to see what you really like. 1911s are not for beginners.
Winchester used to market a bolt action 22 through Sears and various hardware stores. That is a great first gun. I still have mine from when I was 12. My younger brother once thought he was going to get it as a hand-me-down when I upgraded caliber. I had to explain to him that guns don’t work that way.
My personal opinion is that safeties are only for experienced shooters. Your mileage will vary of course.
Professor, the first pistol I ever shot was a 1911. It fit my hand like it was made for me. I still have it; it was my dad’s.
Other folks’ mileage may vary. But I never knew any different. :)
Nathan: most of the world is not as smart as you.
That’s a pretty good starter battery, and I’m not agreeing just because I have everything other than the Glock…I just bought them in the wrong order.
Bought my Mossberg at Big 5 for $300, and it came with the 28 barrel and an 18.5 inch barrel. Bought my 10/22 just a few years ago, and with a red-dot scope on it it’s a nice, handy gun.
My Ruger MkII was the first gun I bought after getting married, when my wife said ‘if there are guns in the house, I want to know how to use them’. I still have problems following directions, and luckily the gun doesn’t need to be fully stripped down THAT often.
As far as the Glock, I’ll go along with any full-size pistol in either 9mm or .45…I’ve just never really liked the ergonomics on the Glocks…
My very first gun was a Savage .22 rifle I received when I was 2 weeks old. I still have it, with a handwritten note from my great Uncle Bob telling me to use it wisely and good hunting under the buttplate.
My first shotgun was a Winchester Model 12 with a 30″ barrel. Loaded with Magnum shells.
I was 10.
The first time I fired a 1911 it married itself to my hand. I have since fired a Glock, and I have to say I shall pass. I don’t disparage anyone else’s choice, but it feels like a brick with a trigger in my hand.
The first time I fired my S&W .44 magnum, after I stopped cackling maniacally, I wondered why the hell everyone complained about the moderate recoil. I agree with Og that eventually I do need to get some custom grips on her though.
My experiences are not normal :)
People talking about mechanical safety mechanisms always put me in mind of Roberta X leaning over an array of old pistols on the dining room table at Roseholme, saying “The best safety is between your ears.” Not that it was the first time I’d heard it, but the audio-visual memory makes it a great mnemonic.
Thinking gunnies should find this meme almost automatic. It does, after all, stimmt directly with our notion that it’s the behavior, not the instrumentality that matters. That is: “Guns don’t kill; people kill.”
I’d say, following on the “a gun is always loaded — period” dictum, that the safest gun is one whose handler knows it is NOT safe.
M
Was first introduced to the 1911 when I was ten years old (I’m 59 now), and have always liked the balance and feel of it; Glocks don’t feel quite right to my hands.
Great choices, first for me a Remington 870, then a Ruger Mark I(T512) and then a 10/22.
What would be your first center fire rifle? Mine a Ruger M-77 in 30.06.
In hind sight I think a DA revolver is a better first hand gun, but that is just me, Smith and Wesson Model 66 was my choice. Although all the cheap shooting I did with the Mark I probably prepared me for the M-66.
I like the idea of the “kit” gun. Especially here in the Michigan woods. Easily add a short barrel for the all around deer, bird and home defense gun.
yeah, the Remmie is a great shotgun too, and as versatile, but the price point on the Mossie “Kit” is hard to beat.
My first centerfire was a Winchester 94. i bought it right, and love it still.
Coincidentally, the Winchester 94 was my first center fire as well.
Still need to get that tang sight like you have for it….
grau: Look at Jeff’s Outfitters. Really really amazing stuff, they have that tang sight for $64 bucks.
http://www.jeffsoutfitters.com/Default.aspx
Winchester 30 30 lever action and a Ruger 45 wheel gun. all I need. But a 22 or 22 mag is nice in a rife also. If I could only have one rifle for everything, I guess I’d go with a good 223. But then I don’t hunt bear or elk. And I like to get close when I shoot.
+1 on the Mossburg. I would recommend a good revolver – Maybe a .38 Special with a 6″ barrel. The barrel length helps keep recoil down. A revolver just works. Round not fire? Pull the trigger again. Jam? Doesn’t happen. Six rounds of .38 Special is enough to take down a goblin or two, in a dependable handgun that will last for decades.
I’m not some anti-semi auto Luddite railing against them dang modern junk guns, but I will always have a revolver in my collection.
See, I’m torn on the 38 special. I’ve always thought it would be better to get a .357 so you have the option of firing .38 and .357 if you feel you need the added firepower. Then again, if it’s a carry gun, you may want the lighter frame.
It would be nice to have enough scratch to run extensive testing to see exactly which of about 200 firearms I liked the best :)
I feel that a man should be issued the handguns when he turns 18, his father having previously supplied the necessary long guns, to include a rifle suitable for taking big game.
I’m not opposed to a .357 either. My wife just prefers the .38, and we can BOTH use the gun with proficiency. In all things firearms, choose the guns that work for you. Emphasis on the work.
Og,
First gun purchase was this past June . . . Ruger 22/45 (mk-iii variant). Love that little gun.
Second purchase was a surplus Mosin Nagant with all the goodies. Trigger sucks but what the hell . . . it was $100. Another couple range trips and I’ll have spent more on ammo than I spent on the rifle.
Debating 3rd purchase – leaning towards 12ga. Rem 870, maybe mossy 500. Local shop has a used Ithaca 37 for $200 – tempting.
Brad
If a revolver, a .357 is great: you can fire anything from the mildest .38 handloads to magnums suitable for taking deer at a hundred yards(when you’re ready to handle mags, of course).