Looking for a decent .40 for first handgun?

[JUSTIficatioN]

My first handgun was a Glock 23, awesome gun, like many have said easy to maintain and field strip and the size and capacity are both good. The recoil is a little snappy, but it doesn't take much getting used to. Also a very accurate gun and easy target acquisition with the sights they have.

 

[JUSTIficatioN]

oh and +1 on the XD subcompact as well. I've never been a big fan of sub compacts but the XD with a grip extension on the mag is an awesome gun in my opinion.

 

[Scruffalufigus]

woah. i got a lot of replys. im really liking the sig the more i read about it, but im gona look around my area at gun shops and see which fits me better.

 

[WhyteCheddar]

woah. i got a lot of replys. im really liking the sig the more i read about it, but im gona look around my area at gun shops and see which fits me better.

Good to look at quality & fit.
I love Glocks and have had a few including the G23 some here have suggested. But I have a smaller hand and they don't fit all that great.
A while back I tried a S&W MP .40c with the changeable backstrap and it fit great.
Everyone likes something a little different. There is tons of data out there on quality and reliability. Keep it in mind when you buy and it will be hard to make a bad choice.

 

[mattg521]

My 1st was a CZ P-06. I think its great.
Personally really prefer it's feel to Glock and M&P's.
Only issue is mag avail. easily solved online.
The kadet kit makes it a really fun and cheap to shoot.

 

[j.barnum]

One of the best values and an easy pistol to shoot is a Stoeger Cougar 8040.
If you researched this pistol, you will find it is highly respected. This a all metal gun that with the weight it will help with the recoil. I have a 9mm and just love the way it fits my hand. It has never had FTF or FTE with over 1200 rounds using the cheapest or the only brand of ammo available. If this is going to be your first semi-auto pistol then I am even more excited that you should look at the safety features the Cougar series pistols have. ( Yes, this exactly the same pistol Beretta marketed back in the early 1990's. Beretta bought Stoeger so the could obtain the Turkey handgun contract. Beretta just moved all the CNC machines to Turkey and started backup with lower labor costs.) Go to Stoeger forum and or Beretta's forum. I would talk to Keith's guns in Gresham. I am sure you should be able purchase this pistol for way under $500 and maybe under $400.00, that will leave you room for more ammo and/or a nice holster.

 

[motoman98]

When checking out Sig, don't miss the P250. I have 220,229,239,245, and now carry the 250. Oh, pick one up and find they "point"naturally(Glocks don't for many), are accurate and reliable.

 

[tionico]

One more to add to the pile... no, two.

Don't overlook the Kahrs, I found an all-stainless MK 40 on Gunbroker, cost me $600 all in, shipping and transfer. I love it.... for a small carry gun. I like it far better than the XD series, I never could find any model Glock that fit MY hand.... they also make a standard length barrel, the K 40. If you're not put off by the plastic, their P 40 is the same gun, plastic lower parts. Same quality overall, same size. Very different balance, though. Those run in the mid-$500's new. Their CW series cuts a few corners on machining (only cosmetic touches, the accuracy and metal quality remain), and those well for about $400 new.

Sigs are good, but I didn't find a small one that fit me well, and that I was comfortable with. HUGELY important issue. I will look into a fuil-sized Sig one of these days...

I also really liked the HK's, and have a USP 45 on the way, a much larger full size auto.

Another you should seriously consider, and look into, is the Browing Hi Power... they have been made (though in much smaller numbers than the nines) since the mid 1980's. One of the most "natural" feeling pistols I've ever held. Very high quality, very accurate. I found a used one online, near mint condition (Belgian made, late-1980's) for $500 all in... which was a screaming deal, but I didn't chase it away.

Personally, for an every day carry weapon, I far prefer an all metal one. The Kahrs are stainless. My Browning is their classic and gorgeous deep bluing. Some are parkerised, and the newer modern ones commetimes come in some sort of duracoat... but they are solid metal underneath. A bit heavier, but better balance, FAR LESS felt recoil (more mass to "push back" against the force of the discharge). I've talked to people haveing put thousands of rounds through their Hi Powers, still put five shots in well under an inch at fifty feet.


Best advice, and it looks like you already plan to do this, is handle a LOT of guns. If you get up that way, stop in at Cabelas, in Lacey (near Olympia Washington). They've got a few hundred pistols, new and used, and will spend as much time as you like helping you figure out what fits and feels comfortable for you. While you're that close, there is a range up in Spanaway (about 15 miles from Cabelas), you can pay your range fees, take their one-time safetly check briefing, and have opportunity to handle and live-fire on their indoor range whatever pistols they have available... their list of forties is at least 20 or so different guns. You have to buy THEIR ammo.. but their prices are so good lots of folks buy it there rather than at a gun store. Handle a dozen or more at Cabelas, figure out what feels good, drive another 20 minutes and spend a couple hours actually SHOOTING them.

Trouble is, you can't BUY any handgun in Washington, cause you seem to be an Oregon resident. Thanks, Brady Bunch......... so, once you figure out what to BUY, you;'ll have to either buy online and have it shipped in to a FFL Dealaer, or find one at a gun store, or the Expo gunshow. IN OREGON.


You're a wise man looking to take it slow, figure it out, before making a move. Five hundred ain't that much, but it IS a chunk... best to spend it will the first time.

 

[Scruffalufigus]

One more to add to the pile... no, two.

Don't overlook the Kahrs, I found an all-stainless MK 40 on Gunbroker, cost me $600 all in, shipping and transfer. I love it.... for a small carry gun. I like it far better than the XD series, I never could find any model Glock that fit MY hand.... they also make a standard length barrel, the K 40. If you're not put off by the plastic, their P 40 is the same gun, plastic lower parts. Same quality overall, same size. Very different balance, though. Those run in the mid-$500's new. Their CW series cuts a few corners on machining (only cosmetic touches, the accuracy and metal quality remain), and those well for about $400 new.

Sigs are good, but I didn't find a small one that fit me well, and that I was comfortable with. HUGELY important issue. I will look into a fuil-sized Sig one of these days...

I also really liked the HK's, and have a USP 45 on the way, a much larger full size auto.

Another you should seriously consider, and look into, is the Browing Hi Power... they have been made (though in much smaller numbers than the nines) since the mid 1980's. One of the most "natural" feeling pistols I've ever held. Very high quality, very accurate. I found a used one online, near mint condition (Belgian made, late-1980's) for $500 all in... which was a screaming deal, but I didn't chase it away.

Personally, for an every day carry weapon, I far prefer an all metal one. The Kahrs are stainless. My Browning is their classic and gorgeous deep bluing. Some are parkerised, and the newer modern ones commetimes come in some sort of duracoat... but they are solid metal underneath. A bit heavier, but better balance, FAR LESS felt recoil (more mass to "push back" against the force of the discharge). I've talked to people haveing put thousands of rounds through their Hi Powers, still put five shots in well under an inch at fifty feet.


Best advice, and it looks like you already plan to do this, is handle a LOT of guns. If you get up that way, stop in at Cabelas, in Lacey (near Olympia Washington). They've got a few hundred pistols, new and used, and will spend as much time as you like helping you figure out what fits and feels comfortable for you. While you're that close, there is a range up in Spanaway (about 15 miles from Cabelas), you can pay your range fees, take their one-time safetly check briefing, and have opportunity to handle and live-fire on their indoor range whatever pistols they have available... their list of forties is at least 20 or so different guns. You have to buy THEIR ammo.. but their prices are so good lots of folks buy it there rather than at a gun store. Handle a dozen or more at Cabelas, figure out what feels good, drive another 20 minutes and spend a couple hours actually SHOOTING them.

Trouble is, you can't BUY any handgun in Washington, cause you seem to be an Oregon resident. Thanks, Brady Bunch......... so, once you figure out what to BUY, you;'ll have to either buy online and have it shipped in to a FFL Dealaer, or find one at a gun store, or the Expo gunshow. IN OREGON.


You're a wise man looking to take it slow, figure it out, before making a move. Five hundred ain't that much, but it IS a chunk... best to spend it will the first time.

i have been taking my time, mostly cause my W2 hasnt come in yet >.> . I have been going to different guns store around my area and handling the pistols they have in stock (also found that my next rifle is gona be a SKS). im really liking the springfield XD. its not too big for my hand and i have heard really good things about it. im trying to stay away from a glock cause everyone around me has one and i like metal guns. im not saying they are bad, i just want something different and that i like.

 

[Trick]

i have been taking my time, mostly cause my W2 hasnt come in yet >.> . I have been going to different guns store around my area and handling the pistols they have in stock (also found that my next rifle is gona be a SKS). im really liking the springfield XD. its not too big for my hand and i have heard really good things about it. im trying to stay away from a glock cause everyone around me has one and i like metal guns. im not saying they are bad, i just want something different and that i like.

XD-XDm's are great guns, but would one consider them a metal gun? Mine has it's fair share of non-metal parts.

 

[Scruffalufigus]

XD-XDm's are great guns, but would one consider them a metal gun? Mine has it's fair share of non-metal parts.

i wouldnt say they are a all metal gun, but the ones i looked at had a little bit more metal then the glocks i saw.

 

[CounterOfBeans]

i wouldnt say they are a all metal gun, but the ones i looked at had a little bit more metal then the glocks i saw.

I do like my XDm9 so far, but if you do yearn for more metal, you might check out the CZ75b variants. When I was shopping, it came down to picking between the XD and CZ based on grip fit/ comfort. I bought an HK in .40 years ago based purely on the overwhelming assurances I got that I would not be disappointed with it. Well, I could never quite jedi-mind-trick myself into ignoring how uncomfortable and blocky the grip felt in my hand, so I sold it solely because of that. For me, the CZ's I tried on were very close to the fit I was looking for and I liked the all metal construction, but the XDm won out by a smidge because I could customize the grip size with the extra grip backstrap pieces that came with the XDm package.

 

[rsmccsman]

Since you posted it's ur first handgun, I would say the Glock. Bone head simple, easy to maintain and reliable. Just MHO

plus one Glock 23 is a great simple gun in .40.

 

[Strongrthnall]

I carry an Hk USP.40 fullsize. I have a USP.40 compact I'll sell you for $625, shoots great I blasted a coyote I called in with it this last fall. Got a few mags and the case and all that... If you get a Sig, Hk, Springfield etc. you'll be just fine. Alot of folks like glocks but I had to sink an awful lot of money into mine before I liked it. I have all of the aforementioned pistols in either 9mm or .40, some both, and they're all pretty good guns, its just preferance. Taurus makes pretty good guns too

 

[Clarkston_cz]

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http://www.angelfire.com/amiga/hakan/P-06.html
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I've never heard one bad word about the P-06, except that it is expensive to feed!

KEV

 

[buick455]

I would say that the best buy on a new gun is the XD right now their price has dropped since the XDm's showed up.

I think that the glocks are better in 9mm as they have shown some chamber weakness in the 40 cal. I wish glock would have spent the extra cash to re-tool and build a 40 cal with a thick wall fully supported chamber.

I bought a used p229 in .40 and bought a sig.357 barrel it was worth every penny.

so my vote would be if you find you like the consistacy of a striker fired pistol and like poly frames go for the XD

if you find you like an all metal pistol with a great single action trigger and a safe DA trigger go for a used Sig p229

and if you want neither.. maybe a DA/SA in ploy frame I hear that the CZ p07 comes in 40 now

 

[gnarkill]

i have been taking my time, mostly cause my W2 hasnt come in yet >.> . I have been going to different guns store around my area and handling the pistols they have in stock (also found that my next rifle is gona be a SKS). im really liking the springfield XD. its not too big for my hand and i have heard really good things about it. im trying to stay away from a glock cause everyone around me has one and i like metal guns. im not saying they are bad, i just want something different and that i like.

Honestly I cant believe no one is saying the FNP40. I have the 9mm and it is a fine gun. If you read around the FN pistols are the most under rated guns out there. It has never jammed on me in over a 1000 rounds, its dead on accurate, comes with 3 mags, and has the FN Herstal name, which needs no explaining. I will bet no one you know will have an FNP40 as well. Give them a look, I dont think you will be dissapointed. They can be had all day under $500 on gunbroker.
<broken link removed>

 

[Shamusaiello]

I just picked up an XDm in.40 and am in love. It fits like a glove in your hand and has much better ergonomics than the Glock or regular XD. While it is a poly frame you will never know with 16 rounds of .40 ammo in the grip! I am by no means an expert but the first time I fired it put the first two rounds into the 10 ring at 20 feet. To be honest unless you are a bigger guy like me (6' 250lbs) you might have a hard time as a ccw weapon but I don't have to much of a problem with an IWB holster.

Guns are like cars, you should never buy one without research and numerous test drives. Go down to Wade's, Bullseye or your local range and try out as many guns as you can. In the end YOU are the one who is going to be relying on this pistol so you should make sure YOU trust it with your life. Thus endeth the sermon.

Good luck and happy buying!

 

[Searcher451]

You can go in many different directions, of course; many manufacturers today make excellent handguns in .40 S&W that will suit your needs. My advice would be to gather a handful of the guns that strike your fancy and take them to range to determine what single gun, above all others, best fits your hand and eye. I'd also suggest that you take a good look at the Walther P99; in my view, it's as good as anything on the market at any price, and it's far better than most of them.

 

[Bon Sauvage]

I handled one of the Gen. 4 Glock 22's today from Joe at Crossroad Arms. I would definitly go that route if I were looking for a 40 caliber.