Need help picking out first handgun!

[BLOWN RAIDER]

I second the beretta 96 its a sweet shooter and is sexy to boot.

Correct me if I'm wrong but the 96 is not on the CA roster as of now...

[SMR510]

OP, check out Reed's indoor range down in San Jose. They have a great selection of stuff for rent from glocks to high end 1911's. I think it was $15 for most of them and $20 for some of the higher end stuff, also they dont mark up there ammo like a lot of ranges do and its a bit nicer than the other indoor ranges I have been to. Me and a friend of mine went and shot 4 different pistols (side by side also to go back and forth and get a good comparison) we were there for an hour and we each shot 100rds and we ended up paying $60 each, I think that is a fair price.

I was in a similar situation a couple months back when I was deciding on my first pistol. I was hooked on an M&P after I shot my friends but decided it would be a good idea to try a bunch out before buying. Good thing I did because I am not the proud owner of a CZ and I am glad I bought it. I definitely recommend checking out a CZ, any of the 75's are great pistols and come in multiple flavors depending on what you like. Most are SA/DA with manual saftey, there are some with decockers but if my memory is correct if they have the decocker they dont have the saftey and most if not all of the decocker models are not on the roster.

Good luck! Oh and possibly consider 9mm, it is quite a bit cheaper than .40 or .45 if you plan on shooting a bunch.

Correct me if I'm wrong but the 96 is not on the CA roster as of now...

Looks like 8 different versions are on the roster to me...

[sammy]

Any clues on how to fix the flinching? My girl flinches. All her hits are inline but 6 o'clock low. The instructor loaded a random snap cap into the mag and gave it to her. It was amazing how obvious the flich was when she thought it was a live round.

I like to do this at the range because I can see how the shooter is holding the gun, where they are looking, stance ect. Assuming you have correct stance, sight picture, trigger press, here is my system the best I can explain it here.

With 2 or more magazines loaded with one live round and the rest dummy rounds each in a random order. Without looking at the magazine load and make ready.

Get a proper sight picture and slowly press the trigger until the hammer drops. Once you hit a snap cap the sights should not move AT ALL. Eject the dummy and repeat. It will take some time for shooters that have more rounds down range to get rid of the flinch. I have found taking a new shooter that has never shot and doing this exercise they have all kept 100% of the rounds in a 5.5" shoot-n-see, freehand at 15 yards. It is like magic and we build from there. The speed will come later.

Start adding more live rounds as the shooter gets more confident. As long as the shooter can keep all the rounds in the black move up to more live rounds.

This can be painful for shooters that get more satisfaction from throwing maximum rounds downrange rather than firing accurate, precise shots and filling the black with holes.

Anyhoo, I am more than happy to share this with anyone that wants help. As a young gun enthusiast I waisted thousands of rounds and sold lots of guns thinking it was the hardware. I wish someone would have shown me the right way but I had to learn this mostly on my own.

Sammy

[JoeinLA]

Dry firing alot at home helps with flinching. At least that's my current experience.

[RRichie09]

I like to do this at the range because I can see how the shooter is holding the gun, where they are looking, stance ect. Assuming you have correct stance, sight picture, trigger press, here is my system the best I can explain it here.

With 2 or more magazines loaded with one live round and the rest dummy rounds each in a random order. Without looking at the magazine load and make ready.

Get a proper sight picture and slowly press the trigger until the hammer drops. Once you hit a snap cap the sights should not move AT ALL. Eject the dummy and repeat. It will take some time for shooters that have more rounds down range to get rid of the flinch. I have found taking a new shooter that has never shot and doing this exercise they have all kept 100% of the rounds in a 5.5" shoot-n-see, freehand at 15 yards. It is like magic and we build from there. The speed will come later.

Start adding more live rounds as the shooter gets more confident. As long as the shooter can keep all the rounds in the black move up to more live rounds.

This can be painful for shooters that get more satisfaction from throwing maximum rounds downrange rather than firing accurate, precise shots and filling the black with holes.

Anyhoo, I am more than happy to share this with anyone that wants help. As a young gun enthusiast I waisted thousands of rounds and sold lots of guns thinking it was the hardware. I wish someone would have shown me the right way but I had to learn this mostly on my own.

Sammy

Thanks Sammy. I think it might work cause everytime she was shooting and the gun "surprised" her she hit the damn bulls eye. So I'm guessing her sight picture is perfect. Just need to get rid of the reaction.

Also, do you think she will flinch less as she gets used to the recoil of the gun?

[sammy]

Thanks Sammy. I think it might work cause every time she was shooting and the gun "surprised" her she hit the damn bulls eye. So I'm guessing her sight picture is perfect. Just need to get rid of the reaction.

Also, do you think she will flinch less as she gets used to the recoil of the gun?

It is hard to say. Shooting a gun, particularly a handgun is a very difficult thing to do accurately. When dry firing at home most people are in front of the TV, in a comfortable setting knowing the gun is empty. When the trigger is pressed and the hammer/striker falls the sights don't move. When they go to the firing line, put into action all that practice, see poor results and wonder why. As amazingly simple as it is, they are flinching. The difference between dry practice and the range is your heart is pounding, the sights get lined up and when most new shooters feel that trigger they pull it wanting to break the shot and get it over with. I would say 99% of shooters don't even know they are flinching. Like you said an instructor had to show you the flinch. Knowing is half the battle and now you know how to fix it.

You see, when a shooter gets over a flinch the shot will feel completely different. This sounds strange but every time I press the trigger I don't know when it is going to fire. Lets say my trigger breaks at 4lbs. I deliberately take the slack out of the trigger and pre load it to 3lbs after I have proper sight alignment. Then in a separate step I start applying more pressure. This takes between 3-5 seconds in slow fire. Then at some point in the 3-5 seconds the shot breaks and since the sights were in perfect alignment the bullet went exactly where it was supposed go.

One more thing, don't use the huge10" shoot-n-see's. If you are aiming for the black of such a huge target you will find the gun moving all over the place. Start with a 5.5" shoot-n-see and work down from there. When shooting a handgun you need to be very precise. Shoot small, miss small if that makes sense.
Sorry for the long answer to your question but it is not an easy question.

Sammy

[shortround1]

Sig P226 all the way!

Since the O.P. wants BOTH a safety and de-cocker, he can go ahead and cross the Sig p226 off of his list.

[RRichie09]

It is hard to say. Shooting a gun, particularly a handgun is a very difficult thing to do accurately. When dry firing at home most people are in front of the TV, in a comfortable setting knowing the gun is empty. When the trigger is pressed and the hammer/striker falls the sights don't move. When they go to the firing line, put into action all that practice, see poor results and wonder why. As amazingly simple as it is, they are flinching. The difference between dry practice and the range is your heart is pounding, the sights get lined up and when most new shooters feel that trigger they pull it wanting to break the shot and get it over with. I would say 99% of shooters don't even know they are flinching. Like you said an instructor had to show you the flinch. Knowing is half the battle and now you know how to fix it.

You see, when a shooter gets over a flinch the shot will feel completely different. This sounds strange but every time I press the trigger I don't know when it is going to fire. Lets say my trigger breaks at 4lbs. I deliberately take the slack out of the trigger and pre load it to 3lbs after I have proper sight alignment. Then in a separate step I start applying more pressure. This takes between 3-5 seconds in slow fire. Then at some point in the 3-5 seconds the shot breaks and since the sights were in perfect alignment the bullet went exactly where it was supposed go.

One more thing, don't use the huge10" shoot-n-see's. If you are aiming for the black of such a huge target you will find the gun moving all over the place. Start with a 5.5" shoot-n-see and work down from there. When shooting a handgun you need to be very precise. Shoot small, miss small if that makes sense.
Sorry for the long answer to your question but it is not an easy question.

Sammy

No, thank you for taking the time to educate me. Hopefully I can take her to the range on Sunday and work on this with her. I also use the slow press to shoot the pistols and I get pretty good results as a beginner. I just want her to learn not to flich and maybe if she sees she can improve with practice it will get her hooked.

[dasher45]

Went with a buddy of mine today to take my hsc (and i passed, yay =D) haha..and we decided to rent an m&p 40, and I tried my friends sig 226 as well. Had a few problems..flinching definitely being one of them until I finally calmed myself down, and then I started grouping nicely and accurately. Also, my buddy showed me this one pic, that seemed to have helped me. Rich, maybe this can help your girlfriend out? check the link http://www.centerfiretraining.com/id15.html . And hopefully I can meet with Sammy soon and learn a bit more from him as well! Happy safe shooting everyone!

Edit: here is a link with corrections for both left and right handed shooters. I was hitting halfway between 5 and 6 o'clock, so I loosened my grip a bit and kept my head up, and hit many shots center mass!...my target started filling up quick so I tried aiming for the right shoulder (aiming left for me) of the target which was clean, and for some reason....only 1 or 2 of 20 shots hit =/...I didn't physically move my body to the left though, I just aimed towards the left. don't know where any of my shots went....seriously thought they all flew past the paper...or I had magic bullets that disappeared after the bang =P.