Angel wrote:Ello Ello all.
Just a quick one. This question may seem stoopid but i would like some advice.
I am sitting my Cat H (Handgun) safety course next month. Obviously i have to wait the seveteen years it takes Qld Pol to issue it to me but that's beside the point. My question is about caliber. .22 vs 9mm. I have done some research and must admit i am yet to fire either caliber (outside of the .22 rifles i own), but what do you guys recommend for a first handgun. I know .22 is a crap load cheaper on ammo etc. and i don't want to break my own nose firing a .45
(lol), but it just seems like the .22 is not as enjoyable as the 9mm BUT, bad habits are more easily corrected when learning on a .22 due to lack of kick etc.
Any Suggestions or advice for a soon to be new pistol shooter would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks in advance and sorry if the question is lame, I just have little experience in the hand gun field.
I'm assuming you mean one or the other because you can't have both?
Being as you can only burn ammo at the range, which is not open every day, there is probably only so much shooting you can do. Are you intending to load your own ammo?
If not then I would say .22LR and a few cases of ammo, and get to the range at every opportunity. I've used the Ruger Mk1 and it's a fun gun. I've also used a Ruger revolver that had an additional WMR cylinder (I don't recall what it was). It was more accurate than the semi-auto, but not quite as much fun for me.
My brother asked me a similar question yesterday, he wanted to try to use one caliber centrefire for different competitions. If you want to go bigger than 9mm/.357/.38 Super then you need to look at Cowboy Action or Metallic Silhouette. As far as I can gather we no longer have Major Power Factor in IPSC, and 10rd mag restrictions. I think .357 Magnum can still be used in IPSC, as well as rifles and revolvers for Western Action and Silhouette. It might even be possible to find a bullet that works equally well in .357 and 9mm but I wouldn't be too concerned about that. You could use .44 Magnum or .45 Long Colt in Cowboy and Silhouette, but not in IPSC. You can also use the .357 and .44 in hunting rifles.
But purely for IPSC my choice would be 9mm in one of the CZ85 clones.