First handgun needs to be a 22. Ruger is a good start. You need to shoot and shoot some more... ...snip
I wish someone would have said this to me when I got started!!!
I bought a 9mm for my first pistol...
You have to learn how to walk, then run.
The military gives thousands of people their very first exposure to firearms, and you only start with a 5.56 or 9mm.
No .22s anywhere.
Yet we still seem to have military folks that can occasionally hit a target or two.
You don't have to have training wheels to learn to ride a bike. You just have to be tolerant of some scrapes.
By the way... STAY AWAY FROM TAURUS... you will thank me later
True but the military also gives some serious hands on training and countless hours of instruction even before firing the first round. Unless the OP will have a range instructor spending several hours/days with him, which I doubt, he'll be well served to learn the basics on a .22.
Not at all. Air Force boot camp folks get instruction in the morning and shoot in the afternoon for their initial qualification.
Not at all. Air Force boot camp folks get instruction in the morning and shoot in the afternoon for their initial qualification. Navy folks about the same. Only Army and Marines are somewhat intensive in their basic firearms training. Even then, it's not "countless hours of instruction."
Several in any given class will qualify as "expert" having never shot any firearm in their life before being handed an M16. This, with a whopping one morning's worth of formal instruction.
While I would agree that it does take years of good training to be a great tactical firearms expert, it does NOT take even more than a couple hours to be comfortable with a caliber larger than .22LR.
Almost anyone can handle 9mm recoil, and insisting they start at .22LR is a waste of time and money if they want a 9mm all along.
Buy what you want the first time, then learn to use it right.