I LOVE taking newbies to the range - I mean it! There’s nothing quite like getting them through their apprehension/fear/hesitation/excitement and watching their reaction after that first shot! It reminds me a lot of someone getting their drivers license - it’s a new sense of accomplishment!
There are go-to rental guns I start new people out on when I take them to the range as I don’t own a .22 and I like how gentle they are for new shooters.
What gun do you like to have new shooters try? And do you remember what handgun you first shot?
BTW - the first handgun I shot was a 9 mm Glock 19 with the Citizens Academy I was attending. I was terrible with it. I mean, I was bad!!
The police officer I was shooting with offered to let me use his gun, a Sig Sauer P229. I was hooked! The rest is history…I still love my Sigs to this day.
I like the Ruger Mark IV for first time pistol shooters. Then I like to move to a 380 to give them a bigger report without a monster kick. Helps work on the problem of flinching.
My first gun was a Smith model 10. While I have had several other guns I have as big a soft spot for Smiths and Dawn has for Sigs I am sure.
My first gun was a S&W 38 special. I would start a newbie on a revolver. They are very simplistic. Semi-auto’s are great but can be frightening to someone who never shot one, especially a 1911.
If you did have to go with a semi-auto, then any DA only striker fire one would do… like a Glock.
Really? I would think having that slide fly back at you would be scarier than a revolving cylinder. The first Semi-automatic I fired was a 45 cal 1911. When I wasn’t prepared for that 2nd easy trigger pull, I was a little freaked out. lol Of course the Glock 19 is a nice gun to fire. It didn’t exist in 1974.
The first hand gun I shot was a Smith & Wesson stub nose 357 mag. I was around 10 at the time. Damn thing almost jumped out of my hand. After the shock wore off I was given a chance to shoot it again (with 38 special reloads) and fell in love with handguns.
My go to gun for a first time shooter is always a .22lr. I let them work up from there (I have a few between that and a 44 Mag.) until they tell me that’s too much but I liked the XXX. We then go back to XXX and let them shoot until I run out of ammo (only happened once, I bought more to finish out our time) or our range time is up.
The Beretta 92FS was my first love, I still have a spot for that gun in my heart and collection. As far as newbies, it really depends. A 22 revolver is good for building confidence, but if it’s a service caliber they want to try I’ll break them in with the 92, CZ-75 or P226. Big guns for 9s and they usually find recoil very manageable, gain confidence and become comfortable more quickly than with a compact pistol.
If a novice student doesn’t have their own I will start them with my 9 shot Taurus .22wm. We’ll go from that to my XD subcompact .40 S&W, or to a larger revolver depending on the students comfort level, competency and their goals.
it! There’s nothing quite like getting them through their apprehension/fear/hesitation/excitement and watching their reaction after that first shot! It reminds me a lot of someone getting their drivers license - it’s a new sense of accomplishment!
I mean, I was bad!!
