my first gun

i'm finally moving into my own place in florida, so i figured now's the time to buy a gun. I'm looking for a handgun at the moment (shotgun to come down the road), but don't know where to start.

for a little backround on myself, I've been shooting at ranges and hunting for years, and know my way around a firearm pretty well, but it's always been with the same people, so all of my experience is on their 3 guns (AR-15, .45 forget the make, and a 12 guage).

the gun's main use will be going to the range every couple weeks. when not at the range, it will be in one of those quick-open fingerprint safes (gunvault) right next to my bed for safety/defense purposes at home. I'm planning on getting a CC permit in the next few months as well. I will rarely actually cary it, but would like to have it for the few times that i will want the option to. that being said, the gun i choose will NOT be based around it's ease of carry, but rather it's ease of use and practicality (i.e. size of the gun isn't really important).

so i'm just looking for some recomendations. so far, i'm leaning towards a magazine vs revolver, and figure i don't need something as big as a .45. other than that, i would love any suggestions yall have. as far as a price range goes, being as it's my first gun and i'm still a college student, being able to get something under $350 would be fantastic. i know you can get a number of handguns for under that, but i'm not looking for a POS either, so if i have to go higher on price, so be it.

i've been browsing around on here http://www.budsgunshop.com/catalog/index.php

yall are always a great help. thanks,
Colin

 

Under $350? i vote Ruger P95.

http://www.ruger.com/products/p90/features.html

 

What we think doesn't matter.... Go shoot as many guns as you can, and buy what feels best.

A lot of gun club type ranges will rent firearms.

 

Glock 21, if you going to spend the money on a gun, might as well go with the best. $500 and you've got the best .45 that will last you a lifetime if treated right.

 

Go to the range and rent/shoot anything you can get your hands on. Find the largest caliber you can shoot acurately that you will want to practice with.
For me it's a 1911 in 45cal. It hits where I point it. They all take training to become proficient, so invest in yourself. Just remember, you get what you pay for in guns and training.
Happy gun hunting

 

for 350 good luck, look at used guns, pawn shops and local mom pop shops. anything glock or springfield will be good. ruger has decent guns as well

 

x2...thats what I did. I went to Scottsdale Gun Club and shot several different 40 cals and ended up getting the Glock 23C

 

apreciate the suggestions so far. my problem right now is that i'm in northern Virginia, where ranges and gun shops are few and far between. so i'm very limited to the "hands on" research i can do. i'm pretty much restricted to what i can find online. I go back to florida late july where there are plenty of firearms shops and a decent number of ranges (i'm sure at least one rents guns). so when i get to florida i'll test out all i can. as for the $350 price range, that just shows my inexperience in actually purchasing a gun. so disregard that number.....i just don't have the means to drop $800 on a gun right now though, but over $350 is fine. i want to make sure i get one of good quality

 

dude i'd just wait until you get back to FL. That way you can make the best decision and you'll get to hold some guns and fire em to see if you like em enough to buy

 

yeah, i'm deffinately not going to buy anything here. i'll get to fl and test out what i can first. i just like knowing all i can about something before i buy, so i figured i'd start research now.

 

350, good luck have fun trying to find something that cheap and that's good quality. Smith & Wesson has a 9mm for around $400, you can never go wrong using a 9mm for your bed side protection. If you don't live by yourself get you some gun locks at the local police station, you can never be too safe with weapons.

 

yeah, the whole point of buying this gun will be for safety, so a good quality safe will be purchased before i even get the gun. and as for the 350, i'm now seeing that that's too low for a good quality gun, so any suggestions, in any (reasonable) pricerange are much apreciated. i value my safety and well being more than a couple hendred extra bucks

 

Man to be Honest, go to your local bass pro shop or a gun smith and just shoot the guns that feels right for you and pick the one that's right for you. Everyone has their opinions and the only way you can know what's right for you is to go shoot it yourself, everyone can put their 2 cents in but by the end of the day its whats right for you.

 

save a little more and pick up a Glock 19

 

Any used gun you're thinking of purchasing should be checked out by a competent gun smith that you trust. They should let you test fire it as well. If not, don't buy it.
500 should get you a decent used gun. 750 for new. Either way, self defense guns should be checked and set-up for reliability by a smith, new or used. last thing you want is a click and no bang.
Also, use good quality ammo for testing and training. Practice with the same load as you're going to carry/defend with. Ie. in a 45cal, I use 230grain fmj for practice and 230grain JHPfor carry(NO reloads). Don't use lower grain for practice. It'll throw you off.
Go to M1911.org for more info on guns. That's where I get most of my info. 1911's and other guns as well. There are MANY gurus there.

 

Bass Pro lets you demo guns?

 

thanks dave, i'll check out the site. great tip on the grain #s too, i wouldn't have thought about that.

 

I don't know about bass pro shops demo policy, but check their return policy. Have a smith check out what you buy, if junk, return
Have fun finding something you enjoy shooting!
All this gun talk is giving me the shootin' itch

 

haha no. and nor do their employee's know anything about guns

 

Springfield armorys XD series is awesome. The XD40 is a really good gun and its pretty cheap. Looking at like $400 or around there. You can also get it in a 9mm version also. Both are very good guns. Take a look at them. I dont know how i feel about glock considering there is no safety on it...