New guy thinking about first gun purchase

[Bud11]

New to this site and I am thinking of buying my first handgun, and S&W seems like a great brand. I've shot at the range once with a 22 pistol. After looking at their website, the 617-4 seems like it might be a good first gun for me. Will be using it for personal home protection and range practice. I have been told a 22 revover is a good first gun because of the relative ease of operation, less expensive ammo and light recoil.

Would be interested in thoughts from owners and others about this being a good first choice for me. Thanks. Bud

 

[P&R Fan]

Welcome from Iowa.
The 617 is a great training, target or plinking revolver. I would not feel comfortable with a .22 for home defense if other centerfire guns were available. A good .38 Spl or .357 Magnum revolver would be better. You could use .38s in the .357 if magnum power is not needed.
The 617 is a great idea for cheap practice, and for that I highly recommend it.

 

[fyimo]

I have all kinds of guns but a 617 is a great revolver to practice and hone your skills with cheap ammo. It can also be used as a home protection revolver as I wouldn't want to be shot with one and I'd rather have a 22lr revolver then a .380 but that's just me. Is it perfect for that use I'd say no but it will still work. My lady has a damaged arm from a motorcycle accident and a Model 18 22lr is her protection weapon because she can't handle a larger caliber with the two plates in her arm and wrist. Once you hone your skills and have the money you can always buy a larger caliber for personal protection. The first thing you need to learn is handling the gun you buy and practice until you are accurate with it.

 

[PDL]

Welcome to the forum.
As he said a .22 is a great target, plinking, and learning gun. It's fun to shoot and is relatively inexpensive.

As far as home protection, well it's better than a louisville slugger anyway. It's certainly not a first choice home defense caliber.

But again, as a first handgun, you won't be dissapointed with a good .22. You'll also find yourself using it for a long time.
I've had 40+ years of shooting with a number of handguns. I still take my .22 to the range for some fun.

 

[Will Carry]

The 617 is a fine handgun. The fact that you recognize this means you are a man of good judgement. This is a handgun you can pass down to your granddaughter or grandson. My father was a country doctor who used to make housecalls at all hours of the day and night. He carried a 22 revolver in his medical bag.
is a 22LR a good self defense round? No, it's not even close. But ten 22LR rounds ain't bad. You can always buy another pistol for home defense but you will never regret buying the model 617, it's a masterpiece.

 

[Zebra365]

Bud,

You've come to the right place. There will be a lot of opinions thrown at you but they will all agree that the .22 is not a self-defense round.

There are only two ways that bullets stop aggressors (or game animals). One immediate way is by disrupting the nervous system by a head or spine shot and the slower way is by exanguination (bleeding out to a point of incapacity)

On TV, one or two shots to the chest of the bad guy stops them immediately. In real life a handgun shot to the heart will not incapacitate an aggressor for at least 15-30 seconds, maybe shorter if it is a 357 mag, 44 mag, or 45 ACP. Most real-life combat shots are not to the heart. So unless you have an effective head shot or spine shot you will be dealing with an aggressor who has been shot and is now Really Angry. In a confrontation such as that you want to be able to throw a lot of lead in a short period of time, which suggests a reliable semi-auto rather than a revolver. In a home-invasion scenario, I consider my pistol as something that will buy me time to get to my 870 Remington Express shotgun.

I personally think that, unless you are well trained in combat, nothing smaller than the .40 S&W (that's the name of the cartridge, not the gun, you may buy a Sig Sauer pistol that will say .40 S&W on the side) should be considered as a Self Defense (SD) round. And even most our our well-trained combat troops really would rather have a .45 sidearm rather than the 9 mm which they are issued.

Fortunately, S&W has a gun for you. It is the .40 cal SD. Or, if you want the most popular police issue in the US, it is the .40 cal M&P. They also make a 9 mm SD and M&P which many posters will argue is adequate for self-defense. That's a debate with no end. The .45 cal M&P is also a great gun but the price of ammunition may keep you from practicing with it.

If money is tight, the S&W Sigma .40 is a lot of gun for the money and you can often get one for about $300. The SD .40 can be had for about $400 and the M&P for about $500. These are sale prices, add about $50 if not on sale.

My suggestion is that you find a range that will rent several guns to you so you can "test drive" them. With ammunition expect to spend about $100. But I suggest that you take a firearms safety course first. Most ranges offer these and they are well worth the money.

For a fun gun that is cheap to fire, but not cheap to acquire, the 617 is a great gun, it's a classic. But if you shoot someone with it, you're just gonna make 'em mad.

 

[Old cop]

While I agree that a .22 is not the best fight stopper it is a good place to start (consider also the Model 63 in .22). The revolver vs. semi-auto rages on but suffice it to say a revolver will get the job done and is an excellent choice for the new shooter, and especially for home defense.

During my 30 years as a LEO I saw more people done in with small cal. rounds than anything else - remember the first rule in a gunfight is have a gun.

IMHO you would be well served by a S&W .22 lr as a starter. The choice to upgrade later is yours. The worst choice for a new shooter is buying too much gun and not being prepared for the noise and recoil.

Good luck and let us know what you decide.

 

[ContinentalOp]

I'll chime in and suggest you get a nice, used 4" S&W Model 64 in .38 Special. A .22 is good for practice, but I wouldn't want to rely on a .22 for protection. With a .38 Special you can get light-recoiling loads pretty inexpensively (though still more expensive than .22) to build your skills and get a good self-defense load for protection, like the Speer Short-Barrel Gold Dot or FBI loads from any number of manufacturers.

I suggest you buy used because you'll get a better value and won't get the internal lock (on a steel .38, I wouldn't worry if you got one with the lock). I suggest the 64 because the stainless steel finish is a little lower maintenance than the blued Model 10, though either would work well. If you shop around you should be able to find a decent used 64 or 10 for under $400. Look up how to inspect a used revolver; it's good information to have.

There's also the Model 15/67 if you want adjustable sights, or the Models 13/65 fixed sight and 19/66 adjustable sight .357 Magnum revolvers if you want the option of shooting .38 Special to start and then work up to .357 Magnum.

Just my opinion, though.

 

[robctwo]

Get the 617. I just bought one a few months ago. Very nice gun. I did a little work on mine since I'm a tinkerer. The double action is a bit stiff out of the box, but the single action is very nice. You need to shoot 500-1,000 rounds a week anyway when getting started, right? My neighbor liked mine so well he went and bought the 6". He likes it a lot, I prefer the 4" for balance.

Don't worry about the inadequacy of the gun for self defense. It will be much better than what you've got now. The odds of you getting into a gunfight right away are pretty slim. I haven't found anyone who volunteers to take 10 quick .22s to the torso.

Ahrends retro combat grips.

 

[Will Carry]

I agree Bobctwo. Bud11 you obviously have enough money to buy the 617 and I think it's a great choice for a first handgun. After that? Who knows. Gun owners will argue over what pistol YOU should get next. Learn all you can, practice and don't but a Taurus.

 

[Badkarma 1]

Hi Bud11 and welcome to the forum!
I'm going side with ContienentalOp here and +1 on his recommendations!
My own two cents worth: First the 17/617 family of rimfire revolvers are great recreational, training, and hunting guns. But for home duty I would suggest you look at the models 15 and 67. First they're built on the same frame as your 617 so the size will be the same as will the sights and for the most part trigger pull. Only difference will be the weight, as the 617 with it's lugged barrel will be heavier.
Second .38 Special has been used forever as some sort of defenesive weapon, plus it makes a dandy target gun, and small game getter. The recoil will be slightly more as will the noise, but it's the next step in the hangunning world after the .22.
Or you could get a model 19 or 66 and work your way up to the .357 Magnum as well as enjoying the whole spectrum of .38 Specials in the same revolver. Dale

 

[wnr700]

I think you are on the right track.

S+W .22 revolvers are simple, fun, and a great learning tool.

You learn trigger control, accuracy, basic safety.

Very logical first step, and its easy to step up to a .38 Special/.357 Magnum K or L frame.

Two nights ago, my wife shot her first handgun in almost two decades.

Within a half hour she was safely shooting and didn't want to give up my .22 caliber Model 17.

There is plenty of time to grow into Glocks, Sigs, etc...

 

[Gregwilson357]

Hey will carry, why not a Taurus? Lol

 

[Tunachaser]

I have all kinds of guns but a 617 is a great revolver to practice and hone your skills with cheap ammo. It can also be used as a home protection revolver as I wouldn't want to be shot with one and I'd rather have a 22lr revolver then a .380 but that's just me. Is it perfect for that use I'd say no but it will still work. My lady has a damaged arm from a motorcycle accident and a Model 18 22lr is her protection weapon because she can't handle a larger caliber with the two plates in her arm and wrist. Once you hone your skills and have the money you can always buy a larger caliber for personal protection. The first thing you need to learn is handling the gun you buy and practice until you are accurate with it.

Just courios. why would you rather have a 22 than a 380? I'm not prodding you, I have a .380 Barreta that is one of my favorite guns of all time. I bought it in 92 for 350, they now sell for almost 700, so at least it was a good investment. Oh, I bought it for my wife. It is very accurate and very reliable, not expensive to shoot, and it will fit in my back pocket. I also feal it is a good home protection gun.

 

[Tunachaser]

Just one more, my grandfather was shot four times in the chest with a .22, he called the ambulance to come get him, and lived until he was 72. I asked him what happened to the person that shot him, he said nothing, she's in the kitchen go ask her.

 

[Gregwilson357]

................

 

[Will Carry]

I should not say anything bad about Taurus or any gun manufacturer on this forum. I don't know why I had to add that comment. I guess I remember back a few years ago when I bought my first two handguns. A Taurus model 85 and a Smith and Wesson Sigma 9mm.......
I just like to encourage people who are getting their first handgun to get one of good quality. A good quality handgun will retain it's value well if you "grow out of it."

 

[YeshuaIsa53]

If you own a shotgun for home defense, the .22 is a great choice. I would rather have a .22 than not have a gun. I think you would be buying another gun soon with greater self defense capabilities. Welcome to the forum, Bud11.

 

[RIDE-RED 350r]

Hi Bud11 and welcome to the forum!
I'm going side with ContienentalOp here and +1 on his recommendations!
My own two cents worth: First the 17/617 family of rimfire revolvers are great recreational, training, and hunting guns. But for home duty I would suggest you look at the models 15 and 67. First they're built on the same frame as your 617 so the size will be the same as will the sights and for the most part trigger pull. Only difference will be the weight, as the 617 with it's lugged barrel will be heavier.
Second .38 Special has been used forever as some sort of defenesive weapon, plus it makes a dandy target gun, and small game getter. The recoil will be slightly more as will the noise, but it's the next step in the hangunning world after the .22.
Or you could get a model 19 or 66 and work your way up to the .357 Magnum as well as enjoying the whole spectrum of .38 Specials in the same revolver. Dale

Dale: I thought the 67 was a K frame and the 617 was an L frame (same as 686).... Not sure about the 15....

 

[jessegpresley]

Buy a used 686. I don't get much out of shootin' .22, it's kinda like shooting a pellet gun or airsoft.