First time "using" my CCW Permit :(

[KingPest19 0]

Hey guys,

I've been thinking about getting a handgun and later, a conceal permit. After doing some research I've narrowed it down to: Glock or Sig P229 .40 S&W, but I haven't ruled anything completely out. Do you have some suggestions on what I should look at as a firearm newbie?

Thanks.

Take a look at Kimber. Their Compact and Pro Carry have 4 inch barrels and their Ultra Carry are 3 inch barrel. If you look around you can typically find them for cheaper than Glock or Sig.

[RadioGaGa 162]

Spree,

Coming from a person who has never fired, or even held a real weapon...and, not to question your original decision...but if you were carrying....what's to say they weren't also?

[Monty22 833]

I concur with shooting as many different models as you can. Also , you'll need to figure out if you are looking for strictly a CCW piece that you'll shoot at the range, or a Range gun you'll occasionally carry. My first carry pistol was a HK USP .40 "compact". I was very comfortable shooting it and liked the versatility in configurations. It's a large weapon though, and not the best for shorts and Ts shirt weather. Soon after I picked up a .380 Kel tec P3AT. Great for summer carry, it will fit easily in a pocket. Kel Tec came out with a PF-9 single stack 9mm that I would have purchased instead, but it came out right after I bought the .380. The smaller and lighter it is the more likely you'll be to actually carry it. A firearm does you no good locked in a safe at home.

I would take a look the new compact Springfield XD, CZ also has a new carry gun, and Kahr is also a good choice , along with those already mentioned.

[Rustpot 1]

Unless you feel you "need" to carry, get a gun and get on the range. I can see if you live where muggings, shootings, etc are common, but if you're in some small town, why carry?

I live in a pretty safe college town for the time being, and carrying daily would get to be a hassle since college classrooms and labs are federal no-carry zones. For now I bought a full size Sig P220 in 9mm that I'll probably put a couple thousand rounds through before I graduate. Range time will likely let you shoot a myriad of other pistols (Springfield 1911 and S&W M&P .40C were both loaned to me on my first range trip), as well as get you a lot more comfortable handling a pistol.

For me, I would rather let my car get stolen than try to draw my CCW and make a mistake along the way. I'm just not very used to shooting pistols, I've mainly only shot diopter-sighted or scoped rifles, or shotguns with a bead.

I'd also be wary of making my first pistol purchase my go-to CCW right off the bat. I know how to clean a gun, but at the same time I'm really not that familiar with auto pistols. I would hate to draw my carry only to have the guide rod bind in the slide after I didn't properly seat the guide and spring after a cleaning. I'm not saying that will happen, but to buy a gun to just plop on my waist every day without serious hours getting to know her isn't something I'd like to do.

Food for thought, is all.

And now, pics of last week's purchase!

Yes, she's used. A European police-issued Sig P220 in single stack 9mm. 9+1 capacity, full size, no safety, DA/SA with decocker. $330 out the door. It's not fully up to date as today's Sigs, but for a third the price I don't mind, she'll have companions to share the range time soon enough :D

[Monty22 833]

Spree,

Coming from a person who has never fired, or even held a real weapon...and, not to question your original decision...but if you were carrying....what's to say they weren't also?

There is no tellling if they were or were not. The whole point of CCW is to level the playing field. Criminals tend to look for the easy target. . Most people tend to thinktheir family's lives are more valuable than some POS mugger/rapist/home invader. Those that carry typicaly want the best tool at their disposal to protect thier family and selves from great bodily harm. If you are not prepared to take someone's life if need to defend that arises, by all means, don't carry. I view it as my job to make sure nothing happens to my wife and son. It's not up to the police to be with you 24/7.

[GekigangarIII 0]

Unless you feel you "need" to carry, get a gun and get on the range. I can see if you live where muggings, shootings, etc are common, but if you're in some small town, why carry?

You generally don't carry because you "need" to. If you honestly feel you need to carry then you probably shouldn't leave the house. CCW is for personal protection and security and that's not something you can predict.

Having said that, absolutely do not go 'gung ho' into shooting if you are not well versed in firearms. The absolute most important thing about owning a firearm is being well educated and respectful of firearm safety and being comfortable with your choice of firearm. Rushing into things and skipping all of the training and learning to actually fire, care for and respect your weapon as well as the safety of others is just plain criminal.

Chippa I can understand fearing being caught in a crossfire. But the person with the CCW should have your safety as just a high a priority as their own. Believe me, the criminal does not have that in mind, not even close.

Have fun throwing some brass at the range Rust! :D

[Rustpot 1]

Unless you feel you "need" to carry, get a gun and get on the range. I can see if you live where muggings, shootings, etc are common, but if you're in some small town, why carry?

You generally don't carry because you "need" to. If you honestly feel you need to carry then you probably shouldn't leave the house. CCW is for personal protection and security and that's not something you can predict.

Having said that, absolutely do not go 'gung ho' into shooting if you are not well versed in firearms. The absolute most important thing about owning a firearm is being well educated and respectful of firearm safety and being comfortable with your choice of firearm. Rushing into things and skipping all of the training and learning to actually fire, care for and respect your weapon as well as the safety of others is just plain criminal.

Have fun throwing some brass at the range Rust! :D

Oh yeah, full agreement. I was trying to say that unless he's moving to New Orleans or downtown Detroit where one would very much like to be carrying, then don't just do it to get your rocks off or try to feel more like a man. Same sentiments on getting lots of range time and familiarity before thinking about carrying.

Ge the gun that feels best, even if you don't think it would be a good carry weapon down the road. If you can get a compact that you like, then by all means. I'd rather learn pistol skills using a full size, small caliber that is very accurate, easy to clean and maintain, and won't make me cry if something catastrophic happens to it. Thus my reasoning for getting the gun I did. I may end up wanting to carry in a few years, and I'm sure I'll have no problem dropping coin on a new toy in the process. Gotta get one in every caliber, right?

Gekigangar, I'll be sure to get as much range time as I can. Shot 100 rounds Tuesday, hopefully another 50 tonight. New wood grips are on the way to replace these older plastic ones, as well as 300 rounds of various ammunition from an online sale. Is it bad I'm already planning my next purchase? I think the M&P in either .40 or .357 may be on the way this summer if I keep with this all semester.

[Drewhunz 3]

Yes, she's used. A European police-issued Sig P220 in single stack 9mm. 9+1 capacity, full size, no safety, DA/SA with decocker. $330 out the door. It's not fully up to date as today's Sigs, but for a third the price I don't mind, she'll have companions to share the range time soon enough :D

As a CCW carrier myself, it is EXTREMELY irresponsible to not have a safety on your firearm. The best insurance you can have is to take it to a qualified gunsmith and have a safety retrofit installed ASAP.

[mrusse01 0]

As many of you probably know, I've written a few somewhat anti-gun posts around here....but anyways last week I was in Scottsdale with a buddy and since we're a couple of Canadians we figured 'when in Rome' and decided to take a trip down to the Scottsdale Gun Club to fire and handgun just to see what it was like (neither of us had seen a real handgun besides on a cop before).

My first impression when walking in the store was something along the lines of 'holy shit'. Apparently this is one of the bigger and nicer gun stores in the area (if not the country), but I couldn't believe the selection of weapons they had in one place. I mean, grenade launchers? Really?

So anyways, we explained that we'd never shot before, didn't know anything about guns, etc...and the person told us we needed to watch an 8 minute safety video and then wait around and they'd call us. I kind of assumed someone would like show us what to do, or come on the range with us, but nope. They called our name and just said, 'you guys are on lane 19'. We asked how do we get a gun, and the guy was surprised we hadn't done that...so after a hilarious conversation where he kept asking us what kind of gun we wanted, what calibre, what brand, to which we kept saying 'umm...I don't know?', we finally got set up with a .40 cal Glock 22, 100 rounds and a few paper targets. At this point we still had no idea what to do, nobody had shown us even how to hold a gun much less load it. The guy apparently realized we probably had no idea what was going on, so he gave us maybe a 30 second lesson on how the safety's worked on the gun and how to load the clip, and off we went to the range.

Once we got out there it took us a few minutes to make sure we were loading the gun right, figure out how to get the target out there (we put it at 25 feet), before we starting firing. All in all I was pretty surprised at how difficult it was to properly aim, after a while we could hit the body of the target pretty consistently (not impressive I know!), but head shots were almost impossible for either of us. It was kind of a revelation for my buddy and I to realize that if we ever needed to actually use a handgun in a real situation with a moving target, we'd pretty much be useless.

So I guess I did gain a fair measure of respect for handguns, and I can certainly see the benefits to owning one and having a somewhat reasonble level of ability with, especially in the USA where hanguns and far more common than around here. Cool experience though, and it only cost us about $40 each and we had a great time to the point we even thought about going back to try something else before we ran out of time on the time.

[Rustpot 1]

Yes, she's used. A European police-issued Sig P220 in single stack 9mm. 9+1 capacity, full size, no safety, DA/SA with decocker. $330 out the door. It's not fully up to date as today's Sigs, but for a third the price I don't mind, she'll have companions to share the range time soon enough :D

As a CCW carrier myself, it is EXTREMELY irresponsible to not have a safety on your firearm. The best insurance you can have is to take it to a qualified gunsmith and have a safety retrofit installed ASAP.

Only time it's going to have ammo in it is when I'm on the firing line at a range. I would have bought something else with a few less miles on it (mine was made in '77) and a safety for sure if I intended to carry. Most likely an M&P compact with thumb safety.

[GekigangarIII 0]

Shot 100 rounds Tuesday, hopefully another 50 tonight. New wood grips are on the way to replace these older plastic ones, as well as 300 rounds of various ammunition from an online sale. Is it bad I'm already planning my next purchase? I think the M&P in either .40 or .357 may be on the way this summer if I keep with this all semester.

Haha, that's pretty much the normal reaction (planning your next purchase)... kinda like sticks ;P Doesn't help much with how insanely expensive ammo is now. We used to go through 2000+ rounds on the weekends during a range trip, needless to say we don't go through it that fast anymore ;)

mrusse01,

You probably should have started on something a little easier to shoot and operate. A .22 MkII or something would have been a much better learning experience. It's not really the range's job to "teach" you how to shoot unless you're taking a class or something out there, which I'm honestly surprised they didn't make you take a course or get you some time with a range instructor since you told them you had never shot before. A little disturbing...

Most people that have never fired or seen a gun before have incredibly irrational responses to them. As if the firearm has some sort of murderous demon inside it awaiting to possess all those that gaze upon it. Of course this is mainly because they have absolutely no knowledge about guns and have never considered that target shooting is incredibly fun for a lot of people. So big props to you for trying it out.

[mrusse01 0]

I'll admit, I never really considered that it is just simple fun to shoot on a range, but it certainly is. It's almost like golf or bowling or something, I can totally see how you could sort of get addicted to just trying to get more and more accurate.

The .40 cal ammo is kind of like middle of the pack in terms of power, correct? I wanted to start on something easier as well but when the guy was talking to us my friend said he had been trap shooting about a month ago in Bahamas (his first time doing that) so the guy behind the desk said 'oh ok, so you can handle a little recoil then', and brought out the Glock.

I still think handguns are obviously very dangerous, and are probably better left prohibited...but I can see how in a place like the USA where the cat is already out of the bag so to speak, there is a good argument to be made for owning/carrying a weapon to protect yourself.

[CapsFan 5]

Unless you feel you "need" to carry, get a gun and get on the range. I can see if you live where muggings, shootings, etc are common, but if you're in some small town, why carry?

You generally don't carry because you "need" to. If you honestly feel you need to carry then you probably shouldn't leave the house. CCW is for personal protection and security and that's not something you can predict.

Having said that, absolutely do not go 'gung ho' into shooting if you are not well versed in firearms. The absolute most important thing about owning a firearm is being well educated and respectful of firearm safety and being comfortable with your choice of firearm. Rushing into things and skipping all of the training and learning to actually fire, care for and respect your weapon as well as the safety of others is just plain criminal.

Chippa I can understand fearing being caught in a crossfire. But the person with the CCW should have your safety as just a high a priority as their own. Believe me, the criminal does not have that in mind, not even close.

Have fun throwing some brass at the range Rust! :D

I'm not planning on getting the conceal permit until much later. I'm going to the range for the first time this weekend. My friend has a Glock 19 that we are going to shoot. I'll make sure I know everything I need to know way berfore I get the carry.

[Allsmokenopancake 0]

So if someone threatens you with a stick saying you can shoot them in the face with a shotgun?

In florida it's encouraged :lol:

[Spreedizzle 1]

Spree,

Coming from a person who has never fired, or even held a real weapon...and, not to question your original decision...but if you were carrying....what's to say they weren't also?

Spree,

Coming from a person who has never fired, or even held a real weapon...and, not to question your original decision...but if you were carrying....what's to say they weren't also?

There is no tellling if they were or were not. The whole point of CCW is to level the playing field. Criminals tend to look for the easy target. . Most people tend to thinktheir family's lives are more valuable than some POS mugger/rapist/home invader. Those that carry typicaly want the best tool at their disposal to protect thier family and selves from great bodily harm. If you are not prepared to take someone's life if need to defend that arises, by all means, don't carry. I view it as my job to make sure nothing happens to my wife and son. It's not up to the police to be with you 24/7.

Pretty much said the exact way that I would of said it. Building a touch on it though I have worked my ass off during my life (as most people have) to acquire the things that I have in my life. That being said, I refuse to lay down and let someone take anything of mine away from me. In the instance in this original post, about $200 worth of groceries that would have to last me potentially 2 more weeks at my place with no power due to hurricane Gustav, AND/OR my brand new 2008 Toyota Tundra. Call me bull headed, arrogant, or whatever you will......but I will not lay down for anyone and simply stand by as someone attempts to unlawfully possess anything that is mine.

Also.....as another poster stated (mrusse I believe) it is incredibly difficult to properly fire a handgun without proper training and A LOT of practice. The odds were with me had a conflict ensued. As he stated at 25ft, hitting paper is no easy task for someone that is not trained.....myself, I am on paper at 30 yards.....which was the distance I was from the men standing next to my truck when the initial conflict ensued. Times like that, with proper training, situational awareness, and using your known advantages to your advantage.....my odds were heavily in my favor.

[LkptTiger 1]

......but I will not lay down for anyone and simply stand by as someone attempts to unlawfully possess anything that is mine.

And people say that fighting has no place in hockey...

[JR Boucicaut 3802]

THAT'S MY BIKE, PUNK!

[highorder 0]

As many of you probably know, I've written a few somewhat anti-gun posts around here....but anyways last week I was in Scottsdale with a buddy and since we're a couple of Canadians we figured 'when in Rome' and decided to take a trip down to the Scottsdale Gun Club to fire and handgun just to see what it was like (neither of us had seen a real handgun besides on a cop before)....

...So I guess I did gain a fair measure of respect for handguns, and I can certainly see the benefits to owning one and having a somewhat reasonble level of ability with, especially in the USA where hanguns and far more common than around here. Cool experience though, and it only cost us about $40 each and we had a great time to the point we even thought about going back to try something else before we ran out of time on the time.

I'll admit, I never really considered that it is just simple fun to shoot on a range, but it certainly is. It's almost like golf or bowling or something, I can totally see how you could sort of get addicted to just trying to get more and more accurate.

The .40 cal ammo is kind of like middle of the pack in terms of power, correct? I wanted to start on something easier as well but when the guy was talking to us my friend said he had been trap shooting about a month ago in Bahamas (his first time doing that) so the guy behind the desk said 'oh ok, so you can handle a little recoil then', and brought out the Glock.

I still think handguns are obviously very dangerous, and are probably better left prohibited...but I can see how in a place like the USA where the cat is already out of the bag so to speak, there is a good argument to be made for owning/carrying a weapon to protect yourself.

Thank you for your honesty and insight. It is very refreshing from a firearm novice.

there is a good argument to be made for owning/carrying a weapon to protect yourself

The above statement will always be true. My love of life is my reason.

[CapsFan 5]

I shot my friend's Glock 19 yesterday and did pretty well. It felt good, but I'm going to try some other manufacturers and calibers. The guy at the shop swears by his Springfield XD which felt nice also. So many choices... It's like hockey gear all over again.

[DoublinUp 0]

I just got my permit 6 months ago! I wanna go look at the ruger LCR it actually became available today!

[DoublinUp 0]

I just got my permit 6 months ago! I wanna go look at the ruger LCR it actually became available today!

[Spreedizzle 1]

I shot my friend's Glock 19 yesterday and did pretty well. It felt good, but I'm going to try some other manufacturers and calibers. The guy at the shop swears by his Springfield XD which felt nice also. So many choices... It's like hockey gear all over again.

About 3,000 rounds through my XD .40 now.....and still shoots true and tight. You simply can't go wrong with that weapon.

[prenny207 1]

THAT'S MY BIKE, PUNK!

He's gonna go cry in the car!

[CapsFan 5]

I went to the range today and put 50 rounds through a XD Tactical. It was my first time shooting a .40 cal weapon. I think I'll end up with the XDM 9mm... We'll see.

[Rustpot 1]

I went to the range today and put 50 rounds through a XD Tactical. It was my first time shooting a .40 cal weapon. I think I'll end up with the XDM 9mm... We'll see.

It's all about what gun you're using. Striker fire tend to have the recoil plane lower, but a different .40 may shoot a lot better for you. I think a 1911 shoots smoother in .45 than my 9mm, but that's me.