rimfire as my first handgun?

Question
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Followup To
Question -
Dear Kyle,
I have experience in trapshooting for more than 10 years, but know nothing about handguns, because I just moved from Taiwan to the States; in Taiwan, no handgun is allowed for any civilian.

Since I have moved to California, I like to own a handgun.

1. the websites said: I have to prove my residence in California for more than 3 months with utility bills, but although we have paid lease for the house for more than 1 year, we paid all utility( electricity, water, gas..etc.)under my wife's name. Should I change the name to be my name for paying our utility for at least 3 months than I can buy a handgun? or the lease of a house is enough?
2. What handgun do you recommend for a novice?
How do you commment on rimfire handgun? How about Glock, Ruger and H&K?

Any instruction from you will be highly appreciated!

Thank you very much!

with Respect,
Hunter




Answer -
Hunter,

The utility bills thing is just a means for the state to verify you're a resident. If you've a signed and dated lease agreement going back over a year, that should more than suffice.

.22 LR Rimfire pistols are great for beginners for several reasons. First, they're extremely inexpensive to keep fed, far less expensive than any centerfire cartridge or the new .17HMR and .17M2 rimfires. Secondly, the recoil of a .22 LR is almost nothing and finally, arms that fire such cartridges with great accuracy can be quite reasonably priced.

If you decide you'd like a .22 LR pistol, the decision comes down to revolver or semi-auto. I personally own a Smith & Wesson K-22 Masterpiece (6-shot revolver built on S&W's K-frame) that I couldn't be more happy with. I can't out-shoot it; if a round from this pistol goes into the 8 or 9-ring instead of the x-ring, I KNOW I put it there, NOT the gun.

Ruger makes an excellent semi-auto .22 LR pistol, the Mark II. The gripframe approximates that of the old Luger pistol (though a version that feels more like a 1911 is available), the trigger is light and crisp, accuracy is excellent as is mecahnical and reliability.

If money is no object, Smith & Wesson's model 41 is, arguably, the finest American-made .22 LR semi-auto there is. It's pricy, but delivers competition-level accuracy.

Since you said you've experience with firearms, you may not need to learn pistolry on a .22, but there isn't a handgunner alive, no matter how experienced they are, who can't benefit from having a rimfire pistol. So, even if such an arm isn't your first handgun purchase, it's certainly an investment you'll want to make down the road. Drilling the basics of pistol shooting with a .22 that costs a penny-and-a-half per shot will make you a better shooter when you pick up that .45 ACP that costs 25-cents a shot.

If, however, you'd like a more protection-oriented pistol out of the gate, there's a few brands I prefer over others. While you're experienced around long arms, being new to handguns I'd recommend a revolver, personally. They're more simple to operate, more mechanically reliable, and more inherently accurate than are automatic pistols. Fully half the handguns I own are revolvers and the gun I carry for personal protection is a revolver.

I'm a Smith & Wesson fan myself. I believe in getting what you pay for and for the $100 or so more the average Smith costs versus the average Ruger and the $150 or more that a Smith costs than a Taurus or Rossi is money well spent. The combination of forged frames and S&W's excellent internal lockwork is worth the price. The way I always saw it was: If you're willing to spend $400 on a gun, why not spend an extra quarter of that and get a REALLY nice one?

A good wheel gun for a beginner would be S&W's model 66. It's a 6-shot .357 Magnum built on the same frame as the aforementioned K-22 Masterpiece. The nice thing about revolvers chambered for Magnum cartridges is one can safely fire the corresponding "Special" cartridge. So, in any revolver chambered for .357 Magnum, .38 Special cartridges can be used. Likewise, any .44 Magnum can fire .44 Specials, any .32 Magnum can fire .32 Longs or .32 Shorts and so on.

The .357 Magnum to me, is still about the finest handgun cartridge going. It offers more than enough stopping power for self-defense purposes, can take medium game at short range and is not a painfully-recoiling cartridge with heavier bullets. The .38 Special, while considerably less powerful, makes an excellent practice round at about 18-cents per shot.

As for the brands you mentioned:

Glock pistols are state-of-the-art fighting pistols and this fact must be understood by anyone thinking of buying one. I hear some cops complain about the fact Glocks don't have a safety catch. To me, that's like buying a Lamborghini and then complaining it doesn't have a cup-holder. The Glock is what it is and what it is is a fighting pistol; meaning, there is nothing on it that doesn't serve that purpose and nothing left off of it that would. That's why it has no safety, a light trigger, fat magazine, simple lines, sturdy construction and a somewhat utilitarian appearance. It's all business. There's more than a few police officers walking around with ugly scars on the outside of their right leg because they didn't repsect the Glock for what it is.

Ruger's Mark II pistol I described earlier is their best handgun. Their centerfire automatic pistols are prone to malfunction and shoddy workmanship, at least in my experience. The lockwork on their double-action revolvers is sub-par, though their single-action guns, the Blackhawk, Vaquero, and Single-six are excellent guns fashioned after the guns of the Old West (especially the Vaquero).

Heckler & Kock pack their guns with innovation. Their USP series is truly remarkable. They can either emulate the old 1911 with its cocked-and-locked, safety "on" mode of carry, or can be carried on-safe with the hammer down on a live round and a double-action pull required to fire. No other pistol I'm aware of can be treated thus, they're usually either a double action or a single action and feature either a safety/decock, decock (for double-action-only guns) or a safety, not the safety-decock/safety arrangement on H&K guns. Of course, these arms tend to command a very high price compared to similar arms. There's nothing wrong at all with H&K guns, but their price tag does scare away a lot of shooters.

To sum up: if you're interested in handgun shooting, get a .22, even if it's not your first gun. For beginners I've always suggested a revolver, but having firearm experience, you're not really a "beginner." If you're interested in a semi-auto centerfire pistol, I'd take a hard look at Beretta, S&W, Sig Sauer and H&K, keeping in mind Sigs and H&Ks can be quite expensive. Glocks are great guns, but just be aware of what you're getting into. In terms of caliber, the 9mm is a good defensive cartridge that's relatively cheap to shoot, compared to the .40 S&W, .45 ACP or .45 GAP.

If you're thinking more along the lines of a revolver, the S&W 66 I mentioned earlier is a good choice. If you've bigger hands and don't mind a bit of extra weight, there's the model 686, also a .357 Magnum, but built on a larger frame.

Hopefully I've been of some help. If you've any other questions, please feel free to ask a follow up.

Kyle

Dear Kyle,
Thanks a lot! I am so grateful for your warmhearted and valuable instruction, you are not just knowledgeable, you are so thoughtful and so kind. My first lesson regarding handgun is from you, I wonˇt forget you in my life!
I think I will go to .22 revolver as my first handgun, as I already learnt from you, itˇs a handgun of the ¨MUST〃.  I think Smith & Wesson K-22 revolver will be my first handgun, I wonˇt buy my second handgun until I can manipulate my first one well enough to be my intuition, do you agree with this? For self-defense and for the safety, I do think I should spend a lot of time in one gun until I can use it very well even under any stress. Any stress includes for fighting back, any stress also includes already got one shot in my chest. Do you agree with me? Or you suggest I can/should try one revolver and one semi-auto pistol the same time( one month later of my first gun, I can buy one more gun in California.)?

One question today regarding the revolver is : is it more difficult to hold it steady during stress than a pistol? I ask this because the handle/frame of a pistol looks easier to grip with 2 hands or one hand rather than a revolver?

I know special agents/some law enforcement officers/some military training need to shoot well with one hand, how do you comment on 2 hands shooting vs. one hand shooting? Do you think I have to learn 2 hands shooting first, until I master it, than I can try one hand shooting? Or do you agree I start practicing with just one hand? I have a little background in martial art, according to my experience in training/learning, sometimes itˇs a good idea to learn the more difficult thing as early as possible if there is no harm; then it wonˇt be difficult to do the easier way? Does this ¨thought〃 applicable to handgun shooting?

One more question is one of gun dealers told me: if I want to purchase a gun in California, although the utility bills is the same as rental/lease agreement, but car registration is also as good as the utility bills or lease agreement, they just need 2 poofs of residency in addition to legal residency ( Green Card and driving license/ ID of California). After I checked the website of the Department of Justice, it does not mention car registration. At the website of DOJ, they just say utility bills or lease agreementetc. I ask this from you is I trust you, I donˇt want to take the risk of losing my Green Card( permit of alien resident)- I donˇt want to enjoy the fun of shooting but lose my legal residency because I purchase a gun via the wrong way/by the wrong document.

Thanks again!

Hunter  

Answer
Hunter,

Thanks for your kind reply, I'm glad I was of help and I'll try to be as helpful as possible this time. I am largely unfamiliar with California's restrictive gun laws. A good explanation of them is available at the National Rifle Association's Institute for Legislative Action website: http://www.nraila.com/GunLaws/StateLaws.aspx?ST=CA.

From what I got from that site, it appears as though you may need to take a Department of Justice approved firearms safety course before buying a gun. The site says that law only applies to guns that 揷an be concealed upon the person.?I'm not sure what that means exactly. After all, if you're the size of Shaquille O'Neill and own a full-length coat, you could conceivably conceal an M-60E3 General Purpose Machine Gun. So, you may just want to take the class, they are generally useful courses (I've taught more than a few myself). Beyond that, a dated copy of your lease agreement should suffice for proof of residency. You could also ask your landlord for a photocopy of the older utility bills for your apartment, even if the bills aren't in your name, they should be for your address.

Now, as for whether or not you should stay with just one gun at first; not a bad idea. The K-22 Masterpiece is a terrific first handgun and I'm not just saying that because I own one, mine has gotten a lot of comments at the range, often from guys who regret having sold one in their 揻oolish?youth; I kindly inform them mine's not for sale.

I don't know if the revolver is more difficult than using an automatic, it's just different. With a revolver you want to hold it as high up on the grip as you can, whereas doing so with many automatics is a good way to either get pinched by the slide or bitten by the hammer spur. Revolvers also tend to be more front-heavy, whereas the weight of an automatic is usually spread more evenly and in the grip, particularly with a full magazine. This can make holding a long-barreled revolver steady a bit tricky at first; all the same, I'd still suggest the six-inch barrel K-22 over the shorter barreled ones.

For beginners, the best shooting position to study first is the benchrest position, where you rest the butt of the revolver on a solid bench and the barrel on a bag while seated in a chair behind it. Use sandbags to bring the handgun close to eye level as you hunch over a little, but not too far; when you start firing two-handed standing, you don't want to be conditioned to hunch over on your pistol. In the benchrest position, you can focus on your sight-picture, trigger-control and breath-control while the bench and sandbags steadies the pistol for you.

Being familiar with firearms, you already know about the above concepts, so you should have little trouble applying them to the pistol; it's the same concept, just executed a bit differently.

Start with a target 21-feet away.

The experts suggest you concentrate on the front sight of the pistol with your dominant eye, the target itself should be slightly fuzzy. It works for me. If you're unsure which eye is your dominant eye, there's a simple exercise: Hold your hands straight out in front of you and make a gap by crossing your thumbs and fingers slightly. Pick a distant object, a light switch panel across the room works good. With both eyes open and your hands out in front of you, place the object in the gap formed by your hands. Bring your hands toward your face, closing the gap with your thumbs and fingers as your hands near your face, all the while keeping the object in that gap. Your hands will naturally come to favor one eye and your hands will end up directly in front of it; that's your dominant eye.

When aiming, I take the front sight and place it just below the center of the target, while bringing the front sight post down into the rear sight notch, lining up the tops in a continuous row. How exactly you build the sight picture is relatively unimportant and a matter of personal preference, all that matters is getting the three sights lined up properly as you begin building pressure on the trigger.

When squeezing the trigger, I generally take a full breath, let half out and then begin aligning my sights. Once I'm close to the sight-picture I like, I begin building pressure on the trigger (start with the hammer cocked, leaving you with just a short, very tight single-action trigger). I imagine pulling the trigger straight back into the back of the pistol's frame, avoiding putting any lateral pressure on the trigger. I place just the pad of the first joint of my trigger-finger on the trigger and press firmly in the center of the trigger. Avoid squeezing on either edge of the trigger as doing so will force the muzzle slightly to the side, throwing your shots wide of the center. Keep building pressure on the trigger until the pistol fires. It should be a surprise every time it goes off.    

After the shot, maintain the same shooting posture as when you entered it, keeping the muzzle as level as possible, given the recoil; the experts call this 揻ollow through.?It's especially important with lower-velocity cartridges, such as heavy .45 ACP loads, as a flinch just as the shot's being fired can actually move the barrel before the bullet exits, throwing the shot off target.   

Once you're consistently shooting shots into a cluster four inches wide, try out the two-handed standing position. While 揂mericans for Gun Safety?is a group dedicated to banning most types of firearms, I'll give them credit for posting a pretty good set of descriptions of shooting stances on their website (http://w3.agsfoundation.com/safety/tips.html), click 搒hooting stances?for information on shooting stances. The sections on the isocoles triangle and Weaver positions are the most useful. The 揃ullseye?position section is a description of the typical one-handed shooting stance, though I'd wait until I'd obtained good marksmanship in the two-handed stance before moving on to that. Which two-handed position you choose is of little consequence. I started out using the Weaver, but have switched to the isoscoles in the last year or so. I don't know why, exactly, it just feels better at present.

A final one-handed stance to try is a defensive shooting stance. The bullseye stance, for obvious reasons, is impractical to use in any sort of life-or-death struggle as standing perfectly erect and carefully addressing your target is a good way to get killed.

The defensive one-handed stance is intended to keep the body profile low and the free hand out of the way of the muzzle. In a fight, we instinctively raise our hands toward our attacker, which works out good in unarmed combat. When a pistol you intend to fire occupies one of those hands, however, the other hand is in danger of getting shot. So, in the defensive one-handed stance, the non-shooting hand is balled into a fist and pressed against the chest while the shooting hand is thrust out in front of the face and the body is canted forward at the hip more aggressively than you'd normally be; so as to reduce the size of a target you present.

Operationally, Smith & Wesson double-action revolvers, such as the K-22 are relatively simple. On the left hand side of the frame there's a small thumb latch. Pushing it forward releases the cylinder and it can then be pushed out of the frame to the left side. Insert cartridges into each charge hole, swing the cylinder shut and rotate it until it locks into place.

To fire, you can either simply pull the trigger or first cock the hammer. Pulling the trigger without cocking the hammer fires the gun in double action mode, so called because the trigger performs two actions: both raising and dropping the hammer. This action also rotates the cylinder one charge hole counter clockwise. As such, the weight of the trigger is fairly heavy, but, being a Smith & Wesson is butter-smooth and consistent throughout.

Cocking the hammer first and then pulling the trigger fires the gun in single action mode, as the trigger only drops the hammer. As such, the weight of the trigger is greatly reduced and there's virtually no movement, sort of like a well-made shotgun.

To unload, simply open the cylinder as before, tip the gun muzzle up and press down on the rod that protrudes directly from the center of the cylinder. This, the ejector rod, is attached to the star ejector, which lifts the six (or ten, if you get one of the snazzy, newer K-22s) empty cases out of the cylinder, sometimes they fall right out, sometimes you've got to give them a little tug, especially after the gun is dirty from firing.

Being fairly simple, it won't take you long to learn to manipulate the firearm, even under stress, and repeated shooting practice will build muscle memory, which is what you'll fall back on naturally in a stressful situation. God forbid you need it, the .22 LR cartridge from a six-inch barrel will work as a self-defense cartridge at indoor, home-invasion distances, particularly when loaded with CCI Stinger cartridges.

Well, hopefully I've answered your questions, if you've any more, feel free to ask.

Kyle