Been some thread drift here....

Tom, have you had any luck with reference materials helping you fill in some gaps in your gun IQ, or do you have any questions you want to toss out? If you need to be edified regarding any certain firearm, you might want to trot over to YooToob and type it in; there are lots of comparison and "How To" videos you can check out. Oftentimes there are nuggets of information in the comments of people who have viewed the posts, but a lot of it is gunstore commando BS, unfortunately.

 

Thanks Mick.

Not much has really happened since I first posted. Tomorrow I have an appointment to be fingerprinted, and I'm pretty sure that whatever I get, it'll be a 9mm based on advice here and elsewhere.

I plan on joining some friends from my club who are firearms enthusiasts, but Thanksgiving and upcoming holidays, combined with their work schedules (I'm retired) makes it tough at the moment to schedule anything.

There's a state of the art indoor range and gun dealer nearby that I want visit, but unfortunately they don't permit first-time unaccompanied shooters to rent or use their facility, so I'll just have to wait until I can set something up with a friend. Then I can sample their handguns, and rent other ones at the range.

Thank you for asking and following up.

 

I view indoor gun ranges the way a Texan regards a bowl of chili with beans in it: "Now that just ain't right!" But I heartily approve of your plan to try out different models when you visit that range. Be a good deal if a couple of your buddies could go along, accompanied by a few of their favorite 9mm's, just to give you a little wider sampling-- plus maybe a little coaching and encouragement. I think you're on the right track.

 

Wow....didn't saw that coming!!!

I've been hearing horror stories about obtaining firearms purchaser I.D.'s and handgun purchase permits. Despite the law that says it should only take 30 days, some municipalities here in NJ are taking as long as 3 months.

After I got fingerprinted, I submitted all my paperwork to my local PD on 12/7. I was told that they make every attempt to issue the I.D. and permit within 6 weeks. No problem....that still seemed reasonable with the upcoming holidays and considering the delays encountered in other towns.

Yesterday I received a letter from the police department advising that my permits were issued. It took just 11 days.

Right after the holidays I'll be taking a 2 hour handgun beginners course at a local range. They provide the handgun, ammo, and ear/eye protection. I'll also be going with a friend to his range where he'll let me try his handguns. I'll be able to rent other guns as well. I'm joining the NRA as well.

Other than having decided on a 9mm, I'm still in the education phase, but it's starting to come together.

Keep those cards and letter coming folks.

To be continued.....

 

Most excellent news, Tom! I just acquired 1000 rounds of 9mm brass to reload, despite the fact that I don't currently own a 9mm, LOL! I think this thread kinda put the jones on me. I've got my eye on one of those little Springfield Armory EMP's, but I kinda got sidetracked this month when I became the proud owner of a Windham SRC. Now I have to scrounge up a bunch of .223 components to feed it. Oh well, there's not much to do in Indiana winter except plow snow and reload ammunition anyway. Please keep this thread operational and chime in with your search results and eventual range experiences-- I for one will be on the lookout!

And good on you for the NRA membership; they aren't perfect by any means, and they spend way too much money trying to scrape more bucks out of our pockets, but we wouldn't even be talking about purchasing firearms today were it not for the singleminded efforts of the NRA. Fact.

 

Thanks Mick.

I'd like to get an AR-15 style rifle as well. And with all the increased government "assault weapon" trash talk and King Obongo's magical pen, I'm concerned that I should get one sooner than later.

I wasn't prepared to buy two weapons at once (plus accessories and ammo) but I'm thinking I might be able to get a better deal if I go that route. I'm figuring that a handgun will be in $600+ range, and I'd like to pay under $800 for a rifle, but that all remains to be seen at the moment.

More research to do.....

 

Tom you should've taken advantage of Black Friday sales. I'm $600 into my AR build and it's complete minus sights or optic. Just trying to decide what route I want to go with that. Also keeping an eye out for a used Eotech or Aimpoint.

 

Wish I could have, Patrick. But aside from not having much knowledge, I wasn't legal to purchase until yesterday.

 

If you build it you don't need to be, only the lower receiver is serialized and is considered a firearm. The rest is just parts.

 

I wasn't aware of that. I've never shot a handgun, and the last time I fired a rifle was yearly M-16 qualification in the USAF back in the 70's. As a total newbie the last thing I'm ready to tackle is building my own rifle.

I did build a Telecaster once. A lot less dangerous.

 

That is exactly why I leapfrogged over to the AR category now... while the getting is good and a nice selection is available. You can acquire a very nice rifle for under $800, if you shop around, but you really need to do your homework to decide what sort of rifle you want to wind up with. But as was mentioned above, once you have your lower assembly, you can take it in any direction you want with no hassle whatsoever by picking up uppers in various lengths, calibers, sight options, etc. There is an amazing range of AR accessories out on the market.

 

I spent an hour here this afternoon....

http://rtsponline.com/

I was just fact finding, kicking tires so to speak. I met with a very friendly salesman, and no question I asked was too dumb or naive. He was very helpful.

I handled (but did not fire) both compact and full frame Berettas and Glocks. Interestingly the compact Beretta was more comfortable that the larger frame, and both Glocks felt equally comfortable.

Next week I've signed up for a 2 hour beginners course one-on-one instruction and it'll include range time with a Glock 9mm, ammo, targets, and ear/eye protection. After that, I can go to the range as often as I like and try out as many different handguns for a $10 each rental fee.

The Glock I handled today seemed more user friendly than the Beretta. I'm anxious to try both as well as other brands. I hope to make a decision by the end of January.

 

AR is a good rifle for cheap shooting. It's hard to get much cheaper without dropping down to a .22LR.

How much a good AR costs is largely dependent on what you're wanting to do with it. Go for the generic AR and you can save a lot of money. Go customizing it with scopes, pistol grips, etc... and it can add up really quick.

You don't even want to know how much I spent on my Zombie Apocalypse defense kit.



Still, it's a heck of a lot cheaper shooting those than it is buying .308 ammo for my M1 Carbine or .30-06 for my M1 Garand. I can buy 1,000 rounds of .223 for less than it costs for 500 rounds of .308.

 

As the owner of 2 Aimpoints (M4 's signed out to me by Homeland Security) I wouldn't spend any money on one! They actually have a parallax problem out to about 50 yards. As far as the Eotech, just ask the FBI about those (they are suing Eotech).

I have a Lucid and a Holosun that I really like....NO Parallax!

 

Zombie Apocalypse??.......Here Zombie,Zombie,Zombie!

 

Thanks for the note. I haven't really looked into anything more than "what's popular." When I'm ready to buy, I'll definitely look a little deeper. You have anything to sell?

 

Never had a problem with my aimpoints... Then again I've only lyrics used micro and M3. Not sure what the parallax issue is you're describing but mine hit true out to 200 hands, assuming I did my holdover correct.

 

My cherry finally got popped today....shot a handgun for the very first time. A friend took me to his range and let me try two of his guns. I fired about 75 rounds, mostly with a Sig compact sized 9mm, but I got to try his Sig .45, and later a range instructor let me fire his Glock 19. I did OK on the first 30 rounds or so, but I increasingly got worse. I was surprised at how tiring it can be without even feeling tired.

I made some minor rookie safety and range etiquette mistakes, nothing serious. I didn't shoot myself or anyone else, so I'm off to a positive start.

The .45 was a bit much. A 9mm is more to my liking so far. The Glock 19 was nice and easy to handle, as was the Sig compact. But it seemed like my hand was a bit cramped. I'm looking forward to firing a Glock 17 and other full sized as well as other compact 9mm weapons.

 

I like to start a newcomer with a .22, preferably a revolver, simply for the sake of keeping noise and recoil to a minimum while learning the mechanics of grip, stance, sighting, and follow-through (staying on target). Matter of fact, I got a new student this evening, although Indiana winter is not normally conducive to comfortable handgun shooting very often. Tom, I'm glad to hear that things are coming together for you.

 

For people looking into ar15 style rifles palmetto state armory is a great source. You can easily put one together for the $500 range and they are good quality.