I’m helping my wife’s cousin purchase a handgun for self/home protection. They have decided that a Glock would be a good choice and want to buy in the near future.
Normally I would recommend a 17 or 19. But with the market now a days we wouldn’t be able to get much ammo. I have a little bit of 9mm that I would give him but I dot have much as I do t own a 9mm.
My second thought would be to get a 23 or 22. I have 40 ammo stockpiled and would easily be able to give them enough to learn and train with. My problem with that is that the cousin and her husband are not gun people and I think they would do better with a 9mm. When the market settles down I think the cheaper 9mm ammo and less recoil might get them to practice more.
I would have them stick to the 9mm. Just pick up ammo when you can find it. I usually check a few sites daily, hasn’t failed me yet. I think it’ll pay off in the long run when this climate dies down.
Ammo in general is hard to find and expensive right now, but .40 and .45 seems to be a little easier to find. Under normal circumstances, 9mm would be the best choice; however, the circumstances are far from normal. Before they buy anything, can they rent/shoot a Glock 22/23 and 21/30? And can you go to the range with them? I ask this because I think you need to get a feel for whether .40 or .45 is even a feasible choice for them. If so, then it depends on what they and you think. If they can’t handle either one, then 9mm is the only choice unless they’re willing to go the revolver route, so to say .38/.357.
Depending on the price in your area, I would wait on the purchase of both a G19 or G17 and 9mm ammo, but buy some hi cap mags now where you can find them, and then wait the for prices for Glocks and ammo to come down - which they will.
One could make a case for or against any of the three main handgun calibers. I don’t think it matters. I say just get whatever you can get. I think new shooters might be less intimidated by 9mm, but when my tiny mother started shooting, she favored the .45 and shot it better too. I shot .40 for over ten years and loved it, but recently switched back to 9mm.
As others have mentioned, go to a range and rent a 9 and a .40. Whichever pistol they can shoot better and can handle the recoil is the one they need to get. What good is a pistol if the user is afraid to shoot it?
Having said that, I strongly recommend the G23. I’ve had both the 23 and the 19 and will be sticking with the 23 for good. It carries well, shoots well and I hardly notice the recoil. If they don’t plan on carrying then either the 22 or the 17 should fit the bill. Glock makes a good product in my experience.
To be honest I was looking for a glock 19. 9mm in a glock would have been my first choice.
But since I’m not planning on running a light on my pistol, or adding too much, a glock 23 fit the bill. It was only a bonus .40 was still somewhat available. Besides the better ballistics of the .40 helped cement my decision.
40 cal 3rd gen Glock have had problems when running a light in the past. My 23 has no issues but its a real problem for some guys.
Oh and the 40 has a different and stronger recoil impulse which flexes the frame a bit more. The rail mounted lights stiffen the frame causing the recoil impulse to behave differently.
Stick to 9mm. Unless he plans to shoot a ton, there’s plenty of ammo for practice and defensive use.
This is a temporary thing. Even if it was permanent, it would eventfully affect all ammo. In which case 9mm would still end up cheaper.
100 rounds of defensive ammo should be fine. Fill a couple mags then dump the rest to assure reliable function. Even with the way things are now, there’s no reason he couldn’t shoot a couple hundred rounds a week.
I can walk into my local shop and buy some 9mm right now, just to as much as normal.
