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Big Cholla · 10-01-2004, 09:54 PM

I like the "lighter is better" type handguns for "carry a lot" situations, but not for "shoot a lot" situations. One of the most common mistakes beginner shooters make is buying a hard recoiling handgun before all of their accurate shooting techniques are learned and committed to muscle memory. Hard recoiling handguns wipe out your ability to learn proper trigger control, sight alignment, grip and stance. I recommend that you start with a revolver made with a steel frame in .22 long rifle or one in .357/.38 loaded with target "mid-range" .38 specials. With that start, you will be able to master the techniques of shooting accurately before moving on to the harder recoiling cartridges. A good starter handgun is a .357 mag. revolver in steel frame. You can use the mild loaded .38 special cartridge for all of your practice and then when appropriate move onto some great .357 mag loads for self-protection. An alternate plan would be to get an autoloader in 9mm, 40 S&W or .45 acp that has available one of the the aftermarket slide/barrel assemblys that shoots the .22 long rifle cartridge. Then you start with the hangun configured as a .22 long rifle and switch to the original slide/caliber when appropriate in your training. A big factor in shooting accurately is that you must not be afraid of or even anticipate how much the handgun is going to recoil in your grip upon being fired. The more the handgun weighs the less the apparent recoil will be. Of course the problem is in carrying a heavy handgun for lots of hours and in concealing the handgun if you have a CCW permit. Seasoned handgunners often select those ultralight handguns mentioned above to "carry-a-lot, but shoot-a-little". If you as a beginner start your shooting experience with an ultralight handgun, you will probably; a) never learn to shoot accurately and b) learn to hate shooting a handgun.

Shooting a handgun accurately is a eye-hand coodination skill. To keep that skill up to your maximum level of obtained accuracy, one must refresh that skill by practice shooting regularly. I recommend that even experienced shooters practice with the mild "mid-range" target loads for their handgun for 75% of the practice session and then finish up with the full-bore loads.

Always wear ear and eye protection while practice shooting. A hat with a bill is good for sunshade, but really is good at preventing a very hot expended piece of brass from falling between your eyeglass lens and your eye lid.

A last note: Shooters with smaller hands usually gravitate to the "Five Shot" revolver size or Colt Government Model autoloaders. Both work very well. The larger sized "Six Shot" & "Seven Shot" revolvers require a slightly larger hand to control properly. But, S&W has recently started making all of their revolvers with "round butts" only. Therefore there are lots of smaller custom aftermarket grips available for them.

10-01-2004, 09:54 PM	#57 (permalink)
Big Cholla Upright Location: Las Vegas, Nevada	I like the "lighter is better" type handguns for "carry a lot" situations, but not for "shoot a lot" situations. One of the most common mistakes beginner shooters make is buying a hard recoiling handgun before all of their accurate shooting techniques are learned and committed to muscle memory. Hard recoiling handguns wipe out your ability to learn proper trigger control, sight alignment, grip and stance. I recommend that you start with a revolver made with a steel frame in .22 long rifle or one in .357/.38 loaded with target "mid-range" .38 specials. With that start, you will be able to master the techniques of shooting accurately before moving on to the harder recoiling cartridges. A good starter handgun is a .357 mag. revolver in steel frame. You can use the mild loaded .38 special cartridge for all of your practice and then when appropriate move onto some great .357 mag loads for self-protection. An alternate plan would be to get an autoloader in 9mm, 40 S&W or .45 acp that has available one of the the aftermarket slide/barrel assemblys that shoots the .22 long rifle cartridge. Then you start with the hangun configured as a .22 long rifle and switch to the original slide/caliber when appropriate in your training. A big factor in shooting accurately is that you must not be afraid of or even anticipate how much the handgun is going to recoil in your grip upon being fired. The more the handgun weighs the less the apparent recoil will be. Of course the problem is in carrying a heavy handgun for lots of hours and in concealing the handgun if you have a CCW permit. Seasoned handgunners often select those ultralight handguns mentioned above to "carry-a-lot, but shoot-a-little". If you as a beginner start your shooting experience with an ultralight handgun, you will probably; a) never learn to shoot accurately and b) learn to hate shooting a handgun. Shooting a handgun accurately is a eye-hand coodination skill. To keep that skill up to your maximum level of obtained accuracy, one must refresh that skill by practice shooting regularly. I recommend that even experienced shooters practice with the mild "mid-range" target loads for their handgun for 75% of the practice session and then finish up with the full-bore loads. Always wear ear and eye protection while practice shooting. A hat with a bill is good for sunshade, but really is good at preventing a very hot expended piece of brass from falling between your eyeglass lens and your eye lid. A last note: Shooters with smaller hands usually gravitate to the "Five Shot" revolver size or Colt Government Model autoloaders. Both work very well. The larger sized "Six Shot" & "Seven Shot" revolvers require a slightly larger hand to control properly. But, S&W has recently started making all of their revolvers with "round butts" only. Therefore there are lots of smaller custom aftermarket grips available for them. Last edited by Big Cholla; 10-01-2004 at 10:18 PM..