Im new, FIRST GUN ISSUES

[Golflad196]

Welcome form North Carolina, and good luck with your choice. You have received some great advise already. I think one item you left off in making your choice in your first fire arm is why do you want to shoot and what do you want to shoot?

For either paper, plinking, protection, or hunting you first need to learn to pick up your sights and hit what your aiming at. I agree with many on here that a .22 is the best way to start. (it will help you pick up your sight line, and pull the trigger without flinching). Sure you will eventually want to get a larger caliber gun and that is great there is nothing that will keep you from owning more than one (at least not at this time). so there is room to grow. But I will say that when I want to work on my shooting mechanics I take out one of my .22 to do so.

Oddly you have a couple of pistols and a couple of rifles on your list. So its tough to narrow down your list or offer suggestions. One thing to remember is that accuracy isn't always in the hands of the shooter so a good gun is important when learning. Please make sure an experienced shooter confirms that your gun is accurate.

 

[muddocktor]

Tyler, welcome from Louisiana and whatever way you decide to go, have fun and learn the basics of gun safety.

You don't state whether your family already owns any rifles, pistols or shotguns already at the house, so it is hard to give you advice that will help you out. I don't know the laws for Illinois but I expect they are more draconian than the ones we have here in LA. And down here, you have to now be 21 to purchase a pistol. So legally, I think you will be stuck going down the rifle route for now. And that's not bad at all, as you can learn basic gun safety and have loads of fun with a good 22 rifle.

I learned how to handle firearms at a young age, probably 5-6 years old at the range with an old 22 bolt action rifle, then graduated to a 22 Hornet bolt gun to start my hunting career off with and killed my first deer when I was 8-9 years old with a 243 bolt action rifle. I didn't get into pistols until I bought my first one when I turned 18 (yeah, I'm that old and age laws nowadays just suck), which was a nice S&W model 27-2 with a 5" barrel and still own to this day.

To wrap up this rambling post, I would suggest buying a good 22 rifle of your choice and learning the basics, like many others have posted. Ammunition for a 22 is generally cheaper than anything else and in normal times would be available anywhere. After learning your basics and having yourself a darn good time doing so, you can decide if you want to upgrade to a centerfire rifle caliber or save up to buy a good pistol when you turn 21. And when you get to that point, a revolver is a very good starting point to get to pistol shooting at with.

Good luck, have fun and stay safe, Tyler.

Jim G.

 

[eveled]

Any Ruger or S&W .357 revolver. My first handgun was a Ruger .357 Blackhawk single action, it is still my favorite to shoot. Lately I have been interested in mostly N frame S&W double action revolvers, they are expensive but worth it.

Nothing really against the Glock, but it is just a tool. A first gun should be one with some soul.

Also a good pump 12 ga shotgun is a must IMHO. I prefer the Remington 870, but the Mossberg 500 is a good choice, and a used Winchester model 12 is an iconic gun.

The loads available for a shotgun are so varied that one gun can be used for almost everything from small game to home defense. With a good .357, and a good 12 gauge you won't need anything else. Ed