# General Thoughts for Beginners and the Perplexed:



## Steve M1911A1 (Feb 6, 2008)

_I've been shooting pistols (and rifles) for a long, long time. Here's some of the fruits of my experience, specifically aimed at the beginner and the unsure. If questions arise in your mind, feel free to ask them, of me or of anybody here._
• In my long years of experience, I have found that it is easier to learn to shoot well with a full-size, full-weight, .45 ACP semi-auto pistol than with anything else. The best of these is probably the M1911-type Government Model in its many guises and clones. In a full-size pistol, the .45 has the gentlest recoil, so it is the easiest to control, and a single-action (SA) trigger is also the easiest to learn to use well. However, a full-size, full-weight pistol is the very hardest gun to carry concealed. That gives you two options: First is Clint Smith's observation that a carry gun need not be comfortable, but it does need to be comforting. The second is that you may eventually need two different guns, a "learning pistol," and a carrying pistol. (See the next item.)
• Any pistol smaller than full-size is difficult to shoot well. The smaller it is, the more difficult it becomes, to be effective with it. This rule is true, independent of the perceived power of a pistol's cartridge. A small .380 semi-auto is as difficult to shoot well as a tiny .357 Magnum revolver.
• Avoid traditional double-action (TDA) semi-autos. It's difficult enough to learn trigger control in the first place, so don't complicate the issue with a gun that presents you with double-action (DA) trigger action for your first shot, and single-action (SA) for all subsequent shots. Some people prefer double-action-only (DAO) for concealed carry because it does away with the need for a safety lever, while others prefer SA and a safety. Make your choice from those two, and stick with it.
• A long barrel is not difficult to conceal. In an inside-the-waistband (IWB) holster, it just dives that much deeper into your pants. The hard part to conceal is the grip or handle. Further, revolvers are more difficult to conceal well than are semi-autos of similar size. The cylinder is the culprit; and also revolver reloads either bulge or are slow to use.
• The thicker grip of a large-capacity semi-auto pistol may be a bad fit to your hand. However, there is no tradeoff or compromise in the matter: The primary consideration is that the pistol must fit your hand, and magazine capacity pales in comparative importance. It's easier to learn to shoot accurately and reload quickly, than it is to overcome a bad fit with your hand. And, thick grips are hard to conceal.
• Do not buy an expensive pistol, only to carry it in a cheap holster on a flimsy belt. Expect to spend at least $150.00 on the holster-and-belt combination, and $250.00 is even closer to the most appropriate reality. Don't forget to buy a reload carrier of some kind, and to practice its use.
• It is easier to learn defensive shooting and defensive tactics, both of which are equally important, from an experienced and adept teacher, than it is to try to learn these skills on your own. Good training is worth every cent that it costs.
• And, finally, set your mind to putting in lots and lots of practice time, both dry-firing and live. Skill and speed with a pistol comes only after a whole lot of slow, smooth practice. Do not go fast. Be smooth instead, and speed will come to you in time.


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## TedDeBearFrmHell (Jul 1, 2011)

i tend to agree with everything you said... i always am amazed at those who would buy a $1200 gun and then start a thread for the cheapest ammo or the best holster under $25....

btw.... my very first time shooting ANYTHING i was 8 years old and i shot my uncles highway patrolman.... followed immediately by the marlin lever action .30-30..... i had WATCHED them being shot for years.... my dad and uncles and older cousins all shot the full sized guns, i couldnt wait for the day i could too..... and after, then i graduated to the .22s.... i was a skinny lil kid and the marlin kicked my azz, but i was hooked..... 

same year i got my minibike..... 2 lifelong passions in one banner year


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## recoilguy (Apr 30, 2009)

I agree with most of your experiance also. I have always and will always say a good gun deserves a good holster. Please buy a good holster and a good belt! I also agree with your final 2 points. I can not tell you how it grates against my grain when people buy a gun, say it is uncomfortable to shoot but thats ok because it is a S/D carry weapon not a range gun. So they shoot 20 rounds per year through it to be sure it still goes bang every time they pull the trigger as opposed to can they hit what they are aiming at. It also never ceases to amaze me when someone says they pity anyone trying to ......what ever...... because they can hit a 10 ring at 7 yards 6 of 7 shots at the range. Learn to draw,shot correctly and under some stress. Learn your gun, do not get stuck on what kind your buddy has or what brand the guy who won the what ever shot, shoot what fits and what you can manipulate with reflex as opposed to thought. Do not buy just because it is cheap. Cheap is that way for a reason. Buy the best you can afford at the time. Be safe and be responsible. I have seen guys at the range shoot 2 down range and then point the weapon at their feet or chin as they evealuated their last group. It makes me crazy. Always carry never tell!!!!

RCG


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## bg18566 (Apr 24, 2015)

Steve M1911A1 said:


> _I've been shooting pistols (and rifles) for a long, long time. Here's some of the fruits of my experience, specifically aimed at the beginner and the unsure. If questions arise in your mind, feel free to ask them, of me or of anybody here._
> • In my long years of experience, I have found that it is easier to learn to shoot well with a full-size, full-weight, .45 ACP semi-auto pistol than with anything else. The best of these is probably the M1911-type Government Model in its many guises and clones. In a full-size pistol, the .45 has the gentlest recoil, .


This kind of advice is exactly why new shooters try it once and give up. Why would you put a .45 in a new shooters hands ? Especially an experts gun like the 1911. Start them on a .22. Let them learn the fundamentals. Start them on a .45 and all they learn is how to flinch.


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## TurboHonda (Aug 4, 2012)

bg18566 said:


> This kind of advice is exactly why new shooters try it once and give up. Why would you put a .45 in a new shooters hands ? Especially an experts gun like the 1911. Start them on a .22. Let them learn the fundamentals. Start them on a .45 and all they learn is how to flinch.


Steve's thread from 2011 was probably written in the context of the discussions going on at the time, i.e. center fire pistols. Obviously it was not all inclusive. It didn't include ear protection, which I believe is the major cause of flinching.


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## VAMarine (Dec 25, 2008)

A good number of people have started with the 1911. Calling it an "Experts gun" in terms of general usage is a bit of a stretch. There is no one best gun to start one off on. As in everything it really depends on certain variables. If the 1911 in .45 is what you have its what you have. The recoil on a 5" 1911 isn't that bad there are certainly worse options out there. 

A .22 comes with its own issues as and was unpractical during "The great panic" 

There is no one answer.


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## Steve M1911A1 (Feb 6, 2008)

bg18566 said:


> This kind of advice is exactly why new shooters try it once and give up. *Why would you put a .45 in a new shooters hands ?* Especially an experts gun like the 1911. Start them on a .22. Let them learn the fundamentals. Start them on a .45 and all they learn is how to flinch. [emphasis added]


Why? Because it has worked, time and time again.
Any child over the age of 10 can be taught to very successfully and competently handle a M1911 in .45 ACP. All it requires is a decent amount of handling and dry-fire preparation, before any shooting begins. Been there, done that.

My under-five-foot wife, 65 years old at the time, 95 pounds fully dressed and soaking wet, learned to shoot a pistol quite competently, beginning with a M1911 in .45 ACP.
The only reason for not carrying a full-size .45 now is that it's so big on her that the gun conceals the woman, rather than the other way 'round.

Now that I'm arthritic, she shoots more competently than I do.


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