Hi! Should I get a Colt 1991a1 or GLOCK as first gun?

[mur]

I'll take a different view of things.

Get the 1911 first, tell the wife it's for HD.
30 days later tell her it's too expensive to shoot and you need a 9mm

My wife was afraid of dogs and guns.
Put your foot down, I did.
I now I have 2 big dogs and multiple guns......
She loves the dogs and enjoys going shooting with me...woohoo

[Greenspartan117]

I am going to echo what some other members are have suggested. I bought an XD as my first handgun and love it. But then I probably should have looked around more and I have now fallen in love with Sig Sauer handguns, They are very comfortable and accurate to say the least. No active safety, just a heavy double action first pull and a smooth single action on following shots. I have a P220 (.45acp), P225 (9mm), and a P226 (9mm) and I love them all, I will probably buy a P220 SAO and a P226 X-five in the future (in about 3-4 years because of school...) Give them a shot, their recoil is mild in that it is a alloy gun with a nice comfortable grip (IMO). Good luck and have a safe and happy time shooting what ever gun(s) you buy. :-)

[Fjold]

Just a little hint when the little woman is not pleased to have a firearm in the house. Take her seriously. Address it now so it's not a bone of contention for the rest of your marriage.

Buy a safe now and let her know that you're doing so to keep the guns safe and prevent any accidents. If you want to have the handgun available get a small pistol lock box and mount it in the closet so it's not out in the open. The same thing with the safe, mount it out of sight. If she is the least bit apprehensive about guns she doesn't want to be reminded about them everyday by seeing the safe out in the open and having her friends see it in the house.
The other thing is don't sit there in the living room playing with the gun and telling her how "cool" it is, treat it seriously when she's around until she gets used to it being in the house. Play Rambo when she's not home.

[RP1911]

Why not a Browning Hi-Power in 9 mm. Classic design and it fits a range of hand sizes.

[leelaw]

Forget both. Get a Kimber Custom or a Springfield Armory 1911 instead

[DesertRunner]

My first pistol was a Glock 17.Had it for about 7 years now.Still love it to death with no malfunctions of any kind with well over 5000 rounds through it.

I would absolutely recommend this as youre first handgun.Cant go wrong and there will be no buyers remorse because you will want a variety of hanguns in the future anyways.It gets addicting!

[neomentat]

never ever buy an ugly piece of BLOCK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! there are so many better choices

[RECCE556]

+1. Glocks work for me. I have a few 1911s but haven't been able to get really comfortable with them. The beaver tail grip coupled with the power of the .45acp hurts the palm of my hand pretty good.

Does your 1911 have Slim Grips and/or a "humped" mainspring housing ("A1" style)? If so, that might be your problem.

[RECCE556]

1911 vs. Glock is a never ending battle. There are advantages and disadvantages to both platforms. I started off with Glocks and ended up with 1911’s. If I had to do it again, I would have picked a 1911 from the start. Better ergonomics, manual safety (“cocked and locked”), better trigger, etc.

Either way, you NEED to get proper training. If you’re in SoCal, take a ITTS course. THAT is more important than which pistol to buy. Also, practice a lot and often. It won’t be a happy day if you have a negligent discharge and kill the family dog or worse...

If you do decide to get a Glock, I would skip 9mm and get at least a .40S&W. Price wise, a 500 rounds of 9mm vs. 500 rounds of .40S&W isn't that far apart. The .40S&W hits harder and makes a larger hole. It does have a little bit more "snap" to the recoil but unless you have weak wrists/arms, it shouldn't be problem. I can easily do fast double tap with my .40's and hit center mass no problem.

Also, I would take a Steyr M40A1 over a simlar Glock any day of the week. It has all the pluses of the Glock but with improved ergonomics. If you plan on using it for home defense, I would also HIGHLY recommend that you invest in Tritium night sights no matter which gun you get and some sort of bright white LED light (either mounted on the gun or a stand alone flash light like a NovaTac or Surefire)

[20!2]

I found this:

http://www.gunsamerica.com/976683217/Guns/Pistols/Colt-Automatic-Pistols/Colt_Model_1991A1.htm

Old rollmark, matte finish. Pretty decent deal NIB! Last night at the range I handled the SW1911, looks amazing. I have to say, there is nothing quite like a nice blued 1911, classy!

I think the questions comes down to yet another never ending comparison of 9mm vs. .45. Because I think the 1911 is naturally a .45 pistol. A 9mm 1911 just isn't what it should be, my opinion. With that in mind, the G17 is more realistic.

But that ORM 1991 haunts my dreams...

[E. Fudd]

Fwiw, if you really are probably only getting one gun, I'd go w/ the Glock. I'd also check out the G19. If you are limited to postban mags, you may as well consider something a bit more compact, yet still controllable. This being your first handgun, I'd avoid the sub-compacts (e.g. G26/27, etc.), harder to control, smaller grip, etc. The .40s do have a bit more recoil and snap.

As to reliability, I've owned 'a number' of both Glocks and 1911's and, on average, a Glock will be more trouble-free out-of-the-box than a production 1911.

Neither are 100% lemon/Murphy proof, but I've only had a couple of glitches in the numerous Glocks I've owned through the years (all quickly fixed under warranty), while I've had significantly more problems, out-of-the-box, w/ production 1911's of various makes (e.g. Colt, SA, Kimber, etc.), some easily correctable, some not.

The 1911's are just harder to put together right and can be 'finicky' as a result, if not fitted right. Most work fine, but a significant number seem to need to be tuned by a gunsmith or go back for warranty work for 100% reliability.

They are great guns, one of my favorites, once they are proven 100% reliable. They are a bit more high maintenance than the Glocks.

Also, 9mm is a lot cheaper to shoot than .45...

+1 on training. Best investment you can make.

[bigthaiboy]

I bought a 1911 for my first handgun. Beautiful as they are, and the .45 ACP is an awesome round, I would vote you buying a 9mm Glock as your first. I found a .45 takes a while to get used to shooting, and it just felt like it was a big "learning curve" to shoot one accurately.

At least with a 9mm you will at least be getting more rounds downrange during every range visit, as a). cheaper ammo, and b). more comfortable to shoot which = more range time = better shooting.

Once your wife gets used to having a handgun in the house, you could always get yourself the 1911 as a future birthday gift to yourself. Just give her time to get used to your new hobby.

My wife was uncomfortable with guns in the house at first, now she doesn't give them a second look. I took her to the indoor range one weekend, and we rented her a bunch of handguns to try, now she has expressed an interest in getting her own .22 revolver. I was shocked at the turnaround.

Before you buy a Glock, give the Springfield XD9 a look too.

[guns_and_labs]

Another thought: whatever you get, get a .22LR topend for practice. I know 1911's have good kits, and I would suspect someone's figured out a Glock version.

There's nothing better than a few thousand rounds of rimfire for learning. Cheaper, too.

[mblat]

If this is the first and possibly only hand gun then I would make damn sure you like what you get.
Glocks are fine, but a lot of people (me included) don't like neither trigger or grip angle.
1911 is fine, but 45ACP is fairly expensive and good one will cost close to $800+.
Id you don't like Glock - Make sure you try XD - same idea with excellent ergonomics, if iffy finish.

And of cause, my all time favorite "first hand gun" is cz75B. Best value for the money hands down.

Or big + on suggestion to look for something that has .22 adapter kit. 1911 have them, and cz75 has it. I am not sure about Glocks.....

[philthy209]

my first gun was a glock 22. can't go wrong with a glock.