Best Beginner 9MM?

[BamBam-31]

Hmm, a gun with no safety and requires a trigger pull to disassemble as a first gun. Maybe not.

G19 was my first gun, way back in the day. Looking back now, knowing all that I do nowadays, I'd still buy that G19 as my first gun.

Kinda small for large hands, however. Try holding a G17 and a G19 at the store/range first--I'll bet the G17 will fit you better.

Beretta 92's and HK USP's have fairly wide grips for 9mm, and the aforementioned S&W M&P has interchangeable backstraps to fit various hand sizes. I also find CZ's to have wide yet comfortable grips--maybe it's the rubber grips.

The Sig 226 has a medium width grip, I'd say, and the Browning Hi-Power has a medium to slim grip (especially for a double stack). Both are fantastic pistols.

Actually, as said, as long as you stick with the bigger name companies (Springfield, Glock, HK, Sig, Beretta, S&W, etc.), chances are high that you'll be getting a great pistol. That's what's so great about the 9mm--there are so many great pistols in that caliber.

Good luck, and be sure to post what you ended up buying, eh?

[trinydex]

i don't know of any guns that are easier to operate than a g17.

just be sure you point the thumbs towrad target since there's no safety to let your thumb ride on.

[6114DAVE]

All that have been listed are good pistols. One that is pretty under rated is the Ruger P-89, it is not as accurate as some of the others listed, but it will eat anything thing that says 9mm. It also has a metal frame so it has a little weight to it and does'nt feel dainty, it is also priced pretty good with new ones it the $400 range.

Yup! The extra weight feels good. Balanced. I bought me a p89 for my first handgun even though i havent been able to pick it up cause of work. I did shoot one today at a range here in Yuma and it was accurate and no malfunctions. Ruger makes good firearms at a lower price but not lower quality.

[rockstar]

Go to a range and try both the Sig and Glock. You cannot go wrong with those two. I have owned both, but personally, I favored my Sig. Eventhough, I shouldn't have favored one kid over the other.

[Sobriquet]

Make sure you try a full size Heckler & Koch USP in 9mm, too. Follow the rental advice. Get to a range that has a lot of rental guns and shoot as many as you can on a few trips before deciding. I personally don't trust Glocks, period.

You can't go wrong with either an HK or a Sig, but you need to see what fits your hand. I like the trigger on Sigs, but I don't care for the grip feel of the P226 or P229.

[KJS]

Holy cow - this thread turned into a monster real quick! I'm going to have to sift through all the good suggestions!

As a follow up on the NRA Basic Pistol Course, it was AWESOME. It was taught by Dan Gragert (Training Coordinator for Sunnyvale Rod and Gun Club) and John Miller (runs Total Commitment Firearms Training) - both NRA Certified Instructors. They did a great job of drilling safety into our skulls and helping us to form good shooting habits through examples/hands-on - even learned Weaver stance.

Walked out of the class with my NRA certificate and my HSC. Now it's time to go rent some 9mms. Just need to find a place in the South Bay that will rent to me by myself (with my HSC?) or find some people to go shooting with (I work with a lot of people who hate guns - and due to my crappy work schedule, they are about the only people I see regularly . Maybe we can have an Silicon Valley Calgun meet up?

[CSACANNONEER]

The most reliable type of repeating handgun is a revolver. So,

http://www.calguns.net/calgunforum/showthread.php?t=122098

It's not cheap but, it's a great starter handgun and experts handgun all rolled into one.

[KJS]

Oh, also - the guns I shot yesterday -

Ruger Mark II .22 - this was the main gun we practiced/learned with. Solid little plinker, I will admit.

Beretta 92 9mm - Shot a few rounds through this (instructor's gun) - nice firearm.

Kimber Arms .45 ACP (tricked out for match shooting) - this was ridiculously nice. A bit of a kick, but that's because I'm new.

[Coffee]

... or find some people to go shooting with....

PM me if you want and we could go to a range.

[aca72]

My vote: GLOCK 19 or 17

[Bongos]

Haven't gone through all 55 posts, my best advice is to go to the range and feel each one, a G19 might feel better than a 1911 9mm, a CZ75 might feel heavier than S&W, when it comes to a personal 9mm, that's it.. it's personal to you

[tom_92673]

Have you thought about a Ruger KP95? Very inexpensive, but good quality. Will shoot anything you put through it ammo wise. Easy to dissasemble and clean and has a decocker feature that is pretty helpful.

[Wcoldnav]

can't go wrong with the glock 17 or 19
also may want to consider a sig p226.

[eccvets]

I agree with the site on everything except the Hi-Point. Hi-points are decent guns for the money, but not something I would get as my first gun. Check out the list, and see what fits you.

-Mb

have you even shot a hipoint? why wouldnt you recommend them as a first gun? Your telling me it's much better to get a 2-3k custom pistol or a 1k+ sig or HK for someone which doesn't even know how to shoot a gun or if they would even like that caliber rather then to start off with a cheap and effective gun which they could resell if they didn't like it? Bottem line is that they go bang like any other 9mm gun and are just as reliable as any glocks out there (they have a much better warrenty as well!). Sure their not gonna have a 1/2 inch grouping at 10 yards but most guns don't do that either. Oh yeah they are limited to 10 round mags but so are every single other handgun in Cali

[Gryff]

Springfield XD9
- GREAT ergonomics (grip angle is same as 1911)
- Easy shooting
- Reliable
- Accurate
- Consistent trigger pull for every shot