Gun Crew: Recommendations for a cheap practice pistol

[jsxtreme]

I understand wanting to get better and more familiar with a handgun, but I can't justify spending any amount of money on a pistol I'll never use to defend myself. A 22 rifle is one thing and can be used for better distance shooting and small hunting / varmints. A 22 pistol? eeeeehh....

I'd feel better handling handguns by putting 1,000 through a 9mm than 5,000 rounds though a 22 pistol. The closer you can use to what you might actually carry at some point the better. If you must choose a 22, I'd say get the cheapest used one you can find.

:thumbsup:

 

[Birdie2000]

I figured I'd start with a decent gun with cheap ammo, then sell the gun and upgrade to whatever I may decide to carry if I ever do and practice with that. I dunno, I just figure that guns have resale value. Ammo doesn't.

Would I really be doing myself a disservice by learning to aim on a .22, then later selling and upgrading to a proper carry piece and learning to handle the recoil? Ability to aim doesn't change that much from one gun to the next, as long as you're not banging off 1 every second and have to recover from the recoil. Then again, I'm used to firing rifles, not handguns, so if my principles are wrong then correct me.

I'm not even sure I'll ever need/want to carry. I just would rather know I could walk into a CPL class knowing how to use a handgun well rather than being the guy who wants to carry and can't hit the side of a barn should the day come I want to carry. I've shot rifles/shotguns plenty, I feel like I need to learn accuracy with a handgun to round myself out.

 

[91Bird305]

If you plan on selling it later then buy it used. That way you can at least break even on the purchase price.

 

[robvas]

Would I really be doing myself a disservice by learning to aim on a .22, then later selling and upgrading to a proper carry piece and learning to handle the recoil? Ability to aim doesn't change that much from one gun to the next, as long as you're not banging off 1 every second and have to recover from the recoil. Then again, I'm used to firing rifles, not handguns, so if my principles are wrong then correct me.

That's the way to learn. Just like you'd want to start shooting a .22 rifle not a .308 and the same reason you'd start on a 250/500 and not a 600 race bike...