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Best Pistols For Newbies


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I've been shooting 3 gun, Steel Challenge and USPSA for about a year now. I have a few friends who are just starting out in action shooting and I have been asked several times "What is a good pistol to start with?"

For someone who has no idea what kind of shooting they want to do, I've been recommending that they shoot anything they can get their hands on and find what they like. But if an M&P40 or a Glock 35 is high on their list, go with that.

I do this because those 2 are the most flexible guns I know of. Both can be competitive in USPSA Limited and L10 shooting 40 major. If you want to shoot Steel, IDPA ESP or 3 gun, toss in a 9mm barrel and have at it. If you reload and want to shoot USPSA Production or IDPA SSP, 40 minor loads work too. All this for a relatively inexpensive gun that lets you get your feet wet and try things out until you have enough experience to buy the gun that fits your favorite game.

All other things being equal, I recommend the M&P because you can buy them with competitive stock sights. Not perfect, but infinitely better for our sports than the Glock stock sights.

Are there any other guns that go back and forth between 9 mm and 40 cal as easily as these 2? For those of you with more experience bringing new people to action shooting, does all of this make sense?

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"Are there any other guns that go back and forth between 9 mm and 40 cal as easily as these 2?"

The Tanfos are very easy to change top ends on. I have a limited elite that has a .38 super top end with compensator (open with c-more), 40 (limited major, L10 major), 9mm (limited minor, L10 minor, 3 gunning, steel challenge with c-more). Good shooters and very accurate without a lot of fussing.

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  • 4 weeks later...

Your Glock 35 recommendation makes a lot of sense. Or a Glock 34 if they don't like .40. Local matches probably wouldn't enforce the "no conversion barrels" rule if you wanted to run a .40->9mm conversion barrel in the 35 to make it a 34, but like you said, downloaded .40s would run fine in production div.

You can shoo the 35 in almost all divisions competitively. (obviously not revolver or SS). But to start off, a G35 in Limited-10 or production is great.

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Don't forget the Springfield XDm. The Glock, M&P and XDs are the 3 dominant beginner's pistols I see. They are durable and have enough aftermarket goodies for them that you can trick them out and keep them if you like them enough.

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I'd have to agree with the above. The "big 3" of shooting sports currently are the Springfield, Smith, and Glock and they have lots of aftermarket support. I would suspect in the years to come.

However, if HK's VP9 is successful and can get aftermarket support in the next few years it would be another viable striker fired pistol to compete with.

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I still consider myself a noob and I shoot a Glock 34. It's easy to operate, clean and work on. It's also fairly inexpensive and has a ton of aftermarket support. If you can find a Gen 4 that's even better, I prefer using the medium beaver tail grip

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I'd have to agree with the above. The "big 3" of shooting sports currently are the Springfield, Smith, and Glock and they have lots of aftermarket support. I would suspect in the years to come.

However, if HK's VP9 is successful and can get aftermarket support in the next few years it would be another viable striker fired pistol to compete with.

I wonder why the Walther PPQ (5 inch, regular push button mag release) is not as popular. Great trigger for a striker gun. Some people say it's a touch "flippy" but I don't have first had experience with that. If the VP9 is vlaible, then the PPQ certainly should be.

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My buddy has a Glock 35 and a 9mm barrel for an easy conversion. It's a fairly inexpensive option and super reliable, while offering great flexibility. I definitely agree that people new to shooting should begin by shooting anything they can get their hands on before buying a gun. My experience has been that most people in this sport are happy to let other people shoot their guns. And mgardner nailed it with the top 3 guns and all would do well for most shooters. I've graduated from a Glock 34 to a Glock 35 and recently purchased an STI Executive. I'm totally hooked on the 1911 platform. My learning curve in this sport has been expensive, mostly because I get impatient, but then again, you can never have too many guns!

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Armydad, I agree and I've also been in the same boat as you. Some of the bigger lessons i've learned while shooting was watching other people, especially the better ones and asking them for feed back. Once you have a good grasp of the fundamentals, it then becomes a mental game.

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I always suggest GLOCKs - if nothing else, they hold their resale well/can always work well as a car gun, etc.

A tuned M&P is a great gun, but I've seen far too much variation in S&W's production to recommend them for a beginner - although my new G20 won't group worth a darn either , so GLOCKs can have issues as well.

My XDm 5.25s are my favorites, ESP w the PRP trigger, and they group well for plastic - but I still had one group much better than another.

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I am an XDm guy but I encourage new shooters to come to one of the local ranges that rent guns and test drive the big 3. For a $15 rental and a couple boxes of ammo they can shoot any gun on the wall then swap it for a different one 5 minutes later. Repeat until you have tried them all if you choose.

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My learning curve in this sport has been expensive, mostly because I get impatient, but then again, you can never have too many guns!

Well said armydad. Mine has become an addiction. My wife said I dont want a gun collection! I asked here how many is a collection? Next purchase bigger safe

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CZ 75 Tac Sport .40. All factory with 1.8# straight trigger, three 17 rd mags - $1100. Only add ons needed, IMO,(optional according to individual preference) :Extra mags - $47 ea., $35 FO front sight, $35 extended thumb safety, $25 stainless full length guide rod, $30 20 rd base plates, slimmer $85 aluminum grips and a $65 wide aluminium magwell.

I only have about 500 rds through it with 0 malfunctions. It has defeated guns costing 3x as much in it's 5.5 minutes of actual match shooting, unmodified. It is a factory IPSC/USPSA L/L10 purpose built gun. The best bang for the buck, IMO.

ps, I'm just a noob though, only been practical shooting about 3 weeks..sorry about the crappy fone pic, but u get the idea.

10479973_683518701723755_574725150185400

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I still consider myself a noob and I shoot a Glock 34. It's easy to operate, clean and work on. It's also fairly inexpensive and has a ton of aftermarket support. If you can find a Gen 4 that's even better, I prefer using the medium beaver tail grip

^^^ agree! I shoot CZ now, but it's more knowledge on the maintenance and tuning, less simple to shoot with DA first pull and manual decocking to start a stage. Glock was super reliable for me, easy to upgrade production stuff without a gunsmith, I'd easily recommend g17 or g34 to a first timer, and you see folks around here who have taken those to Master level.

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I'd have to agree with the above. The "big 3" of shooting sports currently are the Springfield, Smith, and Glock and they have lots of aftermarket support. I would suspect in the years to come.

However, if HK's VP9 is successful and can get aftermarket support in the next few years it would be another viable striker fired pistol to compete with.

I wonder why the Walther PPQ (5 inch, regular push button mag release) is not as popular. Great trigger for a striker gun. Some people say it's a touch "flippy" but I don't have first had experience with that. If the VP9 is vlaible, then the PPQ certainly should be.

I would highly recommend a Walther PPQ as an option for a new shooter. I have the 4 inch I'm using in competition and I have a 5 inch I should have in about a month. Overall, the trigger is better than my old Glock (which was a well modified trigger at 2.5 pounds) and I like the feel better than the Glock (mine had tru-glo sights). I sold the Glock earlier this year and I haven't looked back. Much better choice, IMO.

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CZ 75 Tac Sport .40. All factory with 1.8# straight trigger, three 17 rd mags - $1100. Only add ons needed, IMO,(optional according to individual preference) :Extra mags - $47 ea., $35 FO front sight, $35 extended thumb safety, $25 stainless full length guide rod, $30 20 rd base plates, slimmer $85 aluminum grips and a $65 wide aluminium magwell.

I only have about 500 rds through it with 0 malfunctions. It has defeated guns costing 3x as much in it's 5.5 minutes of actual match shooting, unmodified. It is a factory IPSC/USPSA L/L10 purpose built gun. The best bang for the buck, IMO.

ps, I'm just a noob though, only been practical shooting about 3 weeks..sorry about the crappy fone pic, but u get the idea.

10479973_683518701723755_574725150185400

The CZ Tac Sport is one pistol I would love to have, even though I don't really need one!

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I still consider myself a noob and I shoot a Glock 34. It's easy to operate, clean and work on. It's also fairly inexpensive and has a ton of aftermarket support. If you can find a Gen 4 that's even better, I prefer using the medium beaver tail grip

^^^ agree! I shoot CZ now, but it's more knowledge on the maintenance and tuning, less simple to shoot with DA first pull and manual decocking to start a stage. Glock was super reliable for me, easy to upgrade production stuff without a gunsmith, I'd easily recommend g17 or g34 to a first timer, and you see folks around here who have taken those to Master level.

The TS is SAO so no DA to worry about. Great gun.

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  • 1 year later...

If very budget minded I like to reccomend the polymer eaa witness. You can get the 9mm model for under $300 and when they decide to make the move to an all steel gun they can keep their mags and pouches. Also you can build 21 round mags that fit the USPSA limited 140mm length for under $35 each!

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