New gun owner

[Whip_McCord]

If you are not going to carry and just want a gun for home, you may want a full-sized pistol rather than the P365. Don't get me wrong, they are great guns. I have one and they shoot great, but why pick a compct gun made for concealed carry when a small gun is not needed and a larger gun may be easier to shoot, hold more ammo, etc.

Glocks are good guns, but I do not care for the ergonomics. I prefer the S&W M&P. As mentioned above, go to the range and rent several guns to see what works best for you and your wife. Consider percieved recoil, ease of slide manipulation, ergonomics, grip size for your hand, and any other characteristic you deem important. Also, you might want to consider a revolver. I am a big fan of revolvers. Once you can shoot a DA revolver well, there's pretty much no such thing as a bad trigger. They also lend themselves to dry-fire practice better than anything out there, and no slide to worry about racking. Just some suggestions that I thought may help. Good luck.

 

[Jbhumpty]

I have arthritis really bad in my right hand. I didn’t think I’d be able to rack many handguns any more. The ones I find that I can I l know she won’t have an issue with. We looked at the shield ez but I found others that I thought weren’t much harder to rack and to me better guns.

I went and looked the other day and I was surprised that the ez wasn’t much easier then some others that I looked at. I was expecting a huge noticeable difference.

 

[marvin02]

Get classes.

This is the most important recommendation that has been made.

Second is after you get the classes, go rent the guns you are interested in buying and shoot them. More than once.

Take into consideration where you will keep the gun for home defense and where you will store it when you are not home.

Did anyone say take some classes?

Welcome to the forum.

 

[kjdoski]

JB - not a ton to add, since most of the best advice has already been given. I'll emphasize a couple of things:

1. The G19 is almost impossible to go wrong with. I HATE mine, everything about it, until I get to the range and it outshoots nearly everything in my inventory (except my Shadow2). For a house gun, the G19 is "just right" balance of size, capacity, shootability. Glocks are dead simple to maintain, and repair parts (not that I've ever broken ANYTHING on a Glock that I wasn't trying to "improve") are inexpensive and generally easy to come by. This is coming from a guy who learned to shoot on a 1911, but has put well in excess of 500K rounds through any number of G19s over the years (and, yes, until this year, the overwhelming majority of that was "free" issued ammo).

2. Not everyone can manipulate the G19 slide right off the bat. With proper training and any reasonable amount of coordination and hand strength, nearly anyone can do it.

3. GLOCKs are NOT tolerant of poor grip. They're very heavily sprung for 9mms, and the platform requires a FIRM resistance to let the slide operate as intended. This is why you'll hear tales of Glock "limp wristing" problems. Again, this can be overcome with the right training and application of technique.

4. GLOCKs need a FIRM grip to shoot to a high level. They're capable of tremendous mechanical accuracy, but, if you don't apply a very firm grip with the support hand, you'll almost certainly shoot low and to the support side. Top-level shooters running GLOCKs refer to a "crush grip" to overcome this issue - might or might not be something you/your wife will be able or willing to put up with.

The great news is, almost all of the potential pitfalls of the GLOCK can be overcome. BUT, if you don't want to or can't (physically) deal with them, there are TONS of other options. I'd start with the S&W M&P 2.0 Compact (basically S&W's G19) or the CZ P10C. There are lots of other options on the market, but those are the two I'd trust my life to if someone Harry Potter wanded all GLOCKs out of existence.

If there's a possibility of carry, you're going to be tempted to go smaller than the G19 size. That's natural. BUT, there's no free lunch. The smaller/lighter the pistol is, the harder it will be to manipulate or shoot well under stress. And, if you have to use your small "carry" pistol under stress, the stress is likely to be enormous. I really try to steer new shooters away from the "small, cute" pistols. Of the current crop, I find the S&W M&P Plus to be the softest shooting, but it's the biggest of the bunch (compared to the P365/X, G43X, etc).

Having gone through all of the above, if you are both really new shooters (or new handgun shooters) then I would BEG you (as a retired LE Firearms Instructor, and current NRA instructor) to (a) get qualified training BEFORE you start shooting, and (b) start on a .22LR pistol. Learning to shoot on a 9mm in an indoor range is a recipe for disaster, and I've spent tons of time untraining bad habits from folks who were "self taught."

Best of luck in your decision!

 

[rugertoter]

My wife wants a gun at home and I’d like to get a couple handguns too. I’m swaying towards the Glock 19 and the p365 or p365x. I really just like how both of these are almost always at the top of best lists. I’ve considered the shield ez too. Is there any other to look into. I want extreme reliability and longevity.

Nothing wrong with either of those choices. The Glock will have no manual safety, whether or not that is an issue with you or your wife, but you can get the SIG with or without a manual safety.

Some people hate manual safeties, and some don't mind them...I am among the second type. I just practice my shooting with the manual safety, and it is second nature now to sweep it off on the draw.