gun addiction - more coming soon

donn12 · Feb 5, 2012

I posted a few weeks back about my new 9mm. Turns out I love shooting and I am now thinking about adding a few more handguns. Maybe I cant think of anymore tractor toys to buy.

I am thinking about a new .357 revolver like a Ruger GP100 or S&W 686 with 4" barrel or so.
I am also thinking about a small or smaller 9mm for a travel gun maybe a Beretta pX4 subcompact if it fits my hand.
Also maybe a Sig 226 .357 semi auto for a full size with more sting (or .40 cal not decided but .357 sig seems better in most categories besides price).

I really like the safety on my Beretta 92fs and I dont know how the safeties work on the other models. The Ruger shows a locking bar and the SIG shows a thumb safety (I think its the 226) but I dont know how they work.
Anyone have any experience with any of these?

Also my wife is surprisingly not opposed to learning how to shoot so I may explore a smaller gun (she is tiny) for her and I am thinking about a smaller revolver for simplicity and ease of use.

If I can I am going to head out to the National Gun show so I can see some of these guns and go from there.

texasjohn · Feb 5, 2012

Check out KelTec pf9, love mine, front pocket carry always:thumbsup:

murphy1244 · Feb 5, 2012

The Sig is a decocker the 40 cal and the 357 can be changed out with just a barrel change. The 357 is a special round called a 357 sig. A 40 cal base with a tappered down 357 bullet. The sigs are not cheap.

TripleR · Feb 5, 2012

We have owned/own Ruger and S&W revolvers and prefer the S&W trigger and prefer its mechanism. It is going to be a personal preference thing as both are excellent revolvers.

I have never shot the PX4, but after owning several different compacts have settled on the Glock 19/23 and 26/27. I LOVE my Sig 228 and 229, but the added weight is a little more than I want to lug around at my age. When I was younger I carried them a lot.

My first Sig was a 226 and while it was great to shoot, I needed something to carry, so I traded it for the 228. You can get in double/single action or the DAK, double action only trigger, so try both. The .357 is a potent round, but the last time I looked, pretty expensive. The Sig uses a hammer drop which is not a safety; works just like my 92 Elite II unlike the earlier 92.

You might want to consider the Sig 250, a very versatile pistol, my son in law just bought one.

I know nothing about the Ruger other than they are really well made and have a good reputation.

My wife also got interested in shooting many years ago and her present favorites are her G19 and S&W 649 Bodyguard.

Look at all of them and find the ones that fit you best, mu sons prefer different guns than I in many cases.

Bigfoot62 · Feb 5, 2012

donn12 said:
I am thinking about a new .357 revolver like a Ruger GP100 or S&W 686 with 4" barrel or so.
I am also thinking about a small or smaller 9mm for a travel gun maybe a Beretta pX4 subcompact if it fits my hand.
Also maybe a Sig 226 .357 semi auto for a full size with more sting (or .40 cal not decided but .357 sig seems better in most categories besides price).

. . . I dont know how the safeties work on the other models.

Also my wife is surprisingly not opposed to learning how to shoot so I may explore a smaller gun (she is tiny) for her and I am thinking about a smaller revolver for simplicity and ease of use. . .

Both of those revolvers are really good guns. No external safety on these. Just the internal "transfer bar" that will only allow the firing pin to strike the cartridge primer when the trigger is pulled. I have the Ruger. :thumbsup:
Like TexasJohn, I have a PF9. Great little pistol, but lots of recoil. No external safety, just a long double-action trigger pull.
Sig makes a fine pistol, but they are not my choice. (just my preference) I would stay away from the .357 Sig caliber simply because of the cost of ammo.

I would suggest that you start your wife out on a .22 rimfire. Any other handgun caliber will have some recoil. Let her learn to shoot a "fun" gun, and get the basics down, before she shoots anything else. Something like this:
Ruger Mark III Competition Rimfire Pistol Models
Easy shooting, cheap ammo, and spooky accurate.

murphy1244 · Feb 5, 2012

I would suggest that you start your wife out on a .22 rimfire. Any other handgun caliber will have some recoil. Let her learn to shoot a "fun" gun, and get the basics down, before she shoots anything else. Something like this
Good choice and a good way to get her shooting and having fun. That Ruger is highly accurate and ammo is cheap. The 357 sig round is twice the price as 40 cal and hard to get.
Good post Bigfoot.

k0ua · Feb 5, 2012

+1 on the Ruger Mark III or and older Mark II if you can find on. Owners tend to hang on to them. Another choice in the .22 field is the Ruger 22/45. Pretty much a Mark II but with a Polymer lower that has the same grip angle of the .45 1911 type pistol. When the wife and I had a better place to shoot we would often on the weekends take 500 rounds each for her 22/45 and my Mark II and shoot them all up, and wish for more. As others have said the lever on the Sig 226 is a decocker. So you have the long/heavy DA pull stroke for the first shot and a much shorter/lighter Single Action shot for each subsequent shot. If you shoot to slide lock, then put in a fresh magazine, release the slide lock, then your first shot will still be SA as the hammer will still be cocked. If you choose to stop shooting, then operate the de-cocker lever all the way down and the hammer will fall harmlessly. Then your first shot will be the Double Action long/heavy stroke again. Hope this helps a little.

James K0UA

RobertN · Feb 5, 2012

The funnest 9mm I have ever shot, is a friends HK94 carbine. It functioned with any ammo(one time he got a case of Egyptian surplus that was the dirtiest shooting stuff I have ever seen...), and was very accurate. It felt like shooting a 22lr; there was hardly any recoil.

I'm not generally a 9mm fan, but that little carbine was tons of fun to shoot.

tech141 · Feb 5, 2012

I'll add a third for the Kelo-Tec PF9. Good little 9mm, and a dream to conceal. NOT a range queen as it's pretty light weight and will kick a bit on you.
I have a Taurus 669 .357 mag w/4" barrel that I carry in a shoulder rig when I'm out on the farm. That's a good, inexpensive wheel-gun that will serve you well.

BTW - Welcome to the world of Firearms Addiction. There is NO 12-step plan to kick this one. The only thing that keeps me from adding a firearm a month is a light wallet

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TripleR · Feb 5, 2012

k0ua said:
+1 on the Ruger Mark III or and older Mark II if you can find on. Owners tend to hang on to them. Another choice in the .22 field is the Ruger 22/45. Pretty much a Mark II but with a Polymer lower that has the same grip angle of the .45 1911 type pistol. When the wife and I had a better place to shoot we would often on the weekends take 500 rounds each for her 22/45 and my Mark II and shoot them all up, and wish for more. As others have said the lever on the Sig 226 is a decocker. So you have the long/heavy DA pull stroke for the first shot and a much shorter/lighter Single Action shot for each subsequent shot. If you shoot to slide lock, then put in a fresh magazine, release the slide lock, then your first shot will still be SA as the hammer will still be cocked. If you choose to stop shooting, then operate the de-cocker lever all the way down and the hammer will fall harmlessly. Then your first shot will be the Double Action long/heavy stroke again. Hope this helps a little.

James K0UA

James, the Sigs are also available in a Double Action Only in the DAK (Double Action Kellerman) with a trigger pull of 6.6 lbs. A lot of these were bought by Homeland Security.