what gun should i buy?

Question

a .22 lr or a 9mm P1

Why would you chose the .22 lr?

Answer 1

Bound's hubby here:

A .22 Long Rifle is always a good selection, if for no other reasons than it is affordable to shoot and can teach you how to shoot well! In addition, if the primary purpose for your owning a pistol is sport & recreation (target, plinking, small game) over self-defense ... a .22 Long Rifle will fill the bill.

I would never buy a .22 as a primary self-defense gun (except in certain unique situations). However, if a .22 is called into play for self-defense ... a .22 semi auto with 10 shots at close range (under 15 feet) should make an attacker think at least twice.

I would suggest a Ruger Mk III with a 5.5" heavy bull barrel and target sights. Very accurate, 9 or 10 shot magazine ... and will last forever if you take care of it!

With respect to the 9mm, it would not be my first choice for a fist handgun, because of the cost of ammunition (limits practice), amount of recoil (deters from developing good marksmanship skills) and lack of target accuracy (most 9mms are built for service accuracy ... not tack drivers)!

Good luck!

Answer 2

To answer that question you need to say why you want a pistol.
If it is for developing skills and the pure joy of shooting there is only one answer. The ruger mkIII.
It is accurate
It is reasonably priced
It is dependable
If you want to trick it out you can
I think the stainless bull barrel is pretty
It is cheap to shoot
You can hunt squirrel and rabbit with it.
You will be less likely to develop a flinch shooting it
If you shoot yourself in the foot you will still have a foot
good resale
You can use it to shoot steel and steel challenge and bulls-eye

Drawbacks:
Crap! it is a b**ch to take apart
not a good self defense round
can't be used for uspsa or idpa (these are just too much fun)

At this point in time a newbie WILL NOT develop good skills with anything other than a 22. You are not going to buy a 9mm and a progressive reloading press. If you buy the 9 you will maybe go shooting once in a while and be lucky if you pay 7 dollars a box for shells.

Practice is a necessary condition for improvement. You will only practice with a 22.

Answer 3

The Walther P-1/P-38 9mm is a nice surplus gun, but I would probably leave that one for the german gun gurus. Get a 22LR automatic and have fun printing groups that average less than two inches. There are a lot of different brands of target loads to choose from and the gun is easy to clean (you don't need the highly toxic chemicals to clean a .22). World class .22LR can be had for under $10/box, but just basic 9mm blasting ammuntion averages out to be @ $8/box. I like "big and little (22LR, 45ACP). I might end up with a ".35" (Jeff Cooper term for 9mm and .38) sometime again for strictly martial purposes.

Answer 4

I am going to ask you first what you want a gun for? Do you want a gun for target shooting or self-defense? Second, do you want a rifle or a handgun because it sound to me like you want to buy a handgun. If you are going to buy the gun for target shooting, you are better off going with a .22 in either a rifle or a handgun because the ammunition is cheap, they don't have any recoil, and it's a good choice for people who are learning how to shoot, or who just want to target shoot for the same reasons I mentioned above. By the way, if you are going to buy a .22 rifle or a handgun, you might want to first try a bolt-action rifle or a revolver handgun because these are the easiest to use for a beginner. I say this because not all semi-automatic pistols are created equal. Semi-Auto pistols are single-action where you have to pull back on the slide to load a round before you fire. There are double action only guns which are probably the easiest to use because they only require a long pull of the trigger after you load the clip in the handle, so they are the safest choice to carry. Then there are the single/double action guns that have a hammer, which you can decide between loading a round in the chamber or just pulling the trigger on the first shot. Finally, there are semi-auto pistols that have a decocking lever, which you have to drop the hammer to the ****** position before you can shoot them. I would say if you are going to buy a 9 milimeter, you might want to go with a double action only semi-auto pistol if you are just starting out because they are the safest ones to carry, not to mention the easiest to use because as I said before, they just require you to put the clip into the handle from the bottom and just a long pull of the trigger. Hope this helps out.

Answer 5

It depends on what you want to do, but for most things, a .22 lr would be a better buy.

Answer 6

What brand? The 22LR is a much cheaper gun for target shooting. However, if plan to also use the gun for protection, then go with a 9mm.

Answer 7

22.
They're piles of fun, really cheap to shoot, have no recoil or noise to speak of (thereby reinforcing good shooting habits), and practical for rabbits and squirrels for the pot. They don't even disturb the neighbors.
I personally don't have any use for a 35 caliber pistol. It's not a useful hunting round, and I have plenty of "forty-somethings" for bigger work.

Answer 8

I'd suggest a 9mm, any pistol. As long as it's legal.

Answer 9

I'd pick the 22LR