Good first gun for young starting junior?

[drysideshooter]

I couldn't wait for my son to get home from school, so I headed out to some local gunshops to poke around a little. One gun that I'd read a little about that I liked quite a bit was the XDM. Like the M&P's it comes with the three sizes of grips. The one thing I didn't like about it as well as the Glock 34 was that the rear sight isn't adjustable for elevation like the Glock's. In the production class you can't add adjustable sights to a gun that didn't come with them, can you? I did like the loaded chamber indicator, and the ease of disassembly was pretty easy too.

Nobody had an actual 34, so I ended up looking at 17's. One fellow told me that the new style Gen 4 grips are not available on the 34's yet, only the 17 and one other. Does anybody know if that's true? The new pattern on the Gen 4 17 that I looked at looked like a nice improvement over the Gen 3.

Any thoughts on the XDM?

In Production Division you can add adjustable sights. I'd guess that there are more Production guns out there with fixed sights than adjustable. Pretty much any of the guns mentioned you can drift the rear sight for windage corrections and while it may require a front sight swap (taller or shorter), once you have the elevation where you want it, you don't really need to mess with it even if you make minor changes to your load/ammo. R,

Thanks G-ManBart. I am thinking I will get a XDM in 9mm. For now my son and I can both use it a bit, and if I really like it I will probably get one for myself in 40. I think one of the things that appealed to me about it is the grip angle seemed closer to the 1911 that I'm used to than what the Glocks are.

[jar]

Thanks G-ManBart. I am thinking I will get a XDM in 9mm. For now my son and I can both use it a bit, and if I really like it I will probably get one for myself in 40. I think one of the things that appealed to me about it is the grip angle seemed closer to the 1911 that I'm used to than what the Glocks are.

The M&P has a 1911 style grip angle and interchangeable grips also. It has the advantage of being made in the USA (for those that care about such things) and a rapidly growing aftermarket.

[twodownzero]

I would just get him a 9mm 1911 and start him in Single Stack. I found the single action trigger much easier to learn. I wish my first pistol had been a 1911. They're way easier to shoot than anything else.

The Glock is too wide for smaller hands. The M&P is better if you think he should have a double stack. Ultimately I think that so long as he's safe, a single action gun will be easier to drive.

I start all the people that I teach on polymer/striker fired pistols because they have heavier/longer triggers and no safeties, so they are easier to learn for new shooters. Someone experienced shooting a handgun who can manipulate a single action will probably shoot it better, though. The 1911 is also narrower so I think it fits most hands better.

If you want to start him in production, consider the M&P or the CZ-75. They are the narrowest/smallest double stacks that I can think of. I'm not sure I'd want to try to ready the DA trigger on the CZ with hands any smaller than mine.

I'm a "grown" man who never made it beyond 5'5", so take this for what it's worth. I'm small and God never intended for me to be any bigger, so finding the guns that I can drive effectively has been an important part in learning to shoot for me.

And forget anything that says Sig on it. They're too fat for anyone without huge hands, even a 220.

[Flexmoney]

You have lots of good choices.

One thing to consider, Juniors seems to have a better time at matches if they have as much magazine capacity as possible. And, I don't mean that from a hosing perspective. They are going to miss shots and forget things. Running out of ammo always brings the long face.

So, the double-stack guns in 9mm are great, if they fit the shooter and he/she can do OK with the trigger. sing them up in Limited Minor and you can even add 140mm base pads (~ +5). In the Glock, that means 23 rounds.

The single-stack 1911 is pretty nice too, with the trigger. A bit heavier (but, that gives a soft shooting feel too).

Since you run the PM9, you might consider the full sized Kahr. It's not a novice gun, at 8+1 rounds. Better suited for plinking and Steel Challenge (less capacity specific). The steel full-sized Kahr weighs about the same as I Glock 17, IIRC.

All Juniors ought to be started out on a rimfire .22. A Buckmark makes a fine Steel Challenge and plinking gun. He would get to shoot lots more ammo for the $$ too.

[drysideshooter]

We went to our favorite indoor range this morning since my son didn't have school today. He shot my 1911 .45 and did really well with it, then I had him shoot a Ruger Security Six .357 with some pretty good loads in it and he did really well with that. He already has a Ruger MkIII 22 and he shot that a bit, along with my Single Six with the 22mag cyl in it. He was anxious to shoot my little PM9 Kahr again and I couldn't believe how well he shot with it. He wanted to keep shooting the Kahr, so I let him put quite a few rounds through it. At the end our our shooting session I asked him which gun he enjoyed the most and he said the Kahr without really having to think about it.

We ended up going to a gun shop to see how the XDM felt to him and it seemed like a good fit, so I bought him one.

We have thought about doing to silhouette shooting together as well, but it is the USPSA type events that he really seems to be excited about. He enjoys hunting and is pretty deadly on quail with his 10/22 and has even taken a couple with my 20ga. He has been shooting a 7x57 Mauser a bit and has done really well with that. I am just glad that is enjoying a wide variety of guns and shooting and takes safety extremely seriously. The practical type shooting just really excited him though and I think he will really enjoy it. We are going to watch a local event this coming Sunday.

Thanks for all the thoughts and advice. I think there were probably quite a few choices that could have worked great, so we just tried to make a decision and give it a whirl. This is going to be a higher volume type of shooting that what I am set up to reload for, so I can see there will be a new Dillon in the near future too.

[John Z Sr]

All great advice so far from everyone, but no mention of a revolver. I love my revo's and look at it this way, a new shooter learning to shoot a revo, is like a new driver learning with a stick and clutch, forgotten arts

[drysideshooter]

All great advice so far from everyone, but no mention of a revolver. I love my revo's and look at it this way, a new shooter learning to shoot a revo, is like a new driver learning with a stick and clutch, forgotten arts

My son shot my Security Six 6" .357 today and did really well with it. Maybe I should let him have a go with that? I think that's a bit longer barrel than most are using though, isn't it? It's a great gun, and one I've had since I was about his age.

[John Z Sr]

The 6" barrel will hold down recoil and give better sight radius, but will not clear the holster or track as fast as a 4" or 5" will. The 6" is fine for USPSA and ICORE, but too long (4" max) for IDPA. Best of luck to you and your son, my son just earned a slot at this year's USPSA Nationals in Vegas, I get to tag along and go on the waiting list

[twodownzero]

All great advice so far from everyone, but no mention of a revolver. I love my revo's and look at it this way, a new shooter learning to shoot a revo, is like a new driver learning with a stick and clutch, forgotten arts

I drive a stick shift every day (I have three trucks, ALL sticks).

But I enjoy a good semi-auto pistol.