First Firearm

TimoC508

TimoC508

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Today I picked up my first firearm, a S&W Bodyguard 380. I wanted an M&P Shield 9mm, but there is a waiting list at Flint Armament. I know I could shop around but I figured I'd give them my business since they're in my neck of the woods.

While there I was able to handle a Kahr PM9 which will definitely be my next purchase. I almost bought it today instead of the BG but the difference in price scared me [smile] They had a pre-ban version with a SUPER light trigger....I believe I was told 3.5lbs. But please don't quote me
 
lol im looking for the sheild 9mm to, flint waiting list wasnt to bad about 4 weeks ago when i went i was told about 13ppl for the 9 and about 7 for the 40...but i held off from buying the bodyguard over the sheild so in the mean time i am looking for something untill the sheild is more availble..but grats on the buy
 
Village sports in Westport had some shields in stock when I was home a couple weeks ago.
Give them a try, Wayne and Mario are good people.
 
you know the adress of that place? i can gps it so i can go and see what they have in there inventory...i just go to flint or CnF guns
 
transamkid86 said:
you know the adress of that place? i can gps it so i can go and see what they have in there inventory...i just go to flint or CnF guns
Click to expand...

it's right on route 6, can't miss it. he's got a website village-sports.com, address should be there. Just picked up an LC9 for my sub-compact carry from flint. Love it. Nice option for ya to check out if you're looking for a sub that's at least a 9mm. Very easy to carry and conceal.
 
I replaced my BG380 with a Kahr PM9 for EDC. The BG380 was super accurate (for me) and had an awesome profile for concealing. The PM9 is slightly bigger, has more capacity, and is easier on the hands when shooting.
 
TimoC508 said:
Today I picked up my first firearm, a S&W Bodyguard 380. I wanted an M&P Shield 9mm, but there is a waiting list at Flint Armament. I know I could shop around but I figured I'd give them my business since they're in my neck of the woods.

While there I was able to handle a Kahr PM9 which will definitely be my next purchase. I almost bought it today instead of the BG but the difference in price scared me [smile] They had a pre-ban version with a SUPER light trigger....I believe I was told 3.5lbs. But please don't quote me
Click to expand...

How do you put that animated gif in with the guy from Star Trek doing a face palm.

Timo,

Your first gun is about the worst first gun you could have conceivably purchased. Sorry to rain on your parade. If you are a new shooter, chances are you have a hard time focusing on the front sight, your trigger pull is snatchy, you are susceptible to developing a flinch or at least anticipating recoil and your grip is all wrong.

Please realize, I'm not criticizing your shooting skills specifically. We've all been there. You have to start somewhere.

But with that said, a small, flippy gun, with a short sight radius, short grip, heavy trigger that uses expensive ammo is not what you want to develop your skills.

Make your next gun a Ruger 22/45. Or some other .22 that excites you. How do you expect to get better? I can tell you its not going to be shooting a bodyguard. Or if you are made of money and don't mind feeding 500 rounds of centerfire through a gun every session get yourself a Glock 17, M&P9, or Ruger SR9. They are all great guns that also should have been purchased before something like a bodyguard.

The software between your ears is much more important than the hardware in your hand.

Then the next step is to learn how to actually shoot defensively, which would require one of the guns I mentioned above. (Which should be purchase number two, after the .22) There are two ways to develop those skills. 1) take a class 2) participate in a local practical shooting event/IDPA match. NEITHER of which you can do with your bodyguard. At least not effectively.

(No, watching the magpul art of handgun video 100 times will not make you good, no joke here. I had a NRA Basic Handgun student who had never fired a gun before arrive at a class who had trained himself to swivel his head left and right after every string.)

Ok rant over.

Don

p.s. good luck. you should really try to find a mentor who can help prevent you from making bad purchases in the future. If you are at all near Mass Rifle, I'd be happy to bring a couple of .22s and 9mms down for you to try.
 
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dcmdon said:
How do you put that animated gif in with the guy from Star Trek doing a face palm.

Timo,

Your first gun is about the worst first gun you could have conceivably purchased. Sorry to rain on your parade. If you are a new shooter, chances are you have a hard time focusing on the front sight, your trigger pull is snatchy, you are susceptible to developing a flinch or at least anticipating recoil and your grip is all wrong.

Please realize, I'm not criticizing your shooting skills specifically. We've all been there. You have to start somewhere.

But with that said, a small, flippy gun, with a short sight radius, short grip, heavy trigger that uses expensive ammo is not what you want to develop your skills.

Make your next gun a Ruger 22/45. Or some other .22 that excites you. How do you expect to get better? I can tell you its not going to be shooting a bodyguard. Or if you are made of money and don't mind feeding 500 rounds of centerfire through a gun every session get yourself a Glock 17, M&P9, or Ruger SR9. They are all great guns that also should have been purchased before something like a bodyguard.

The software between your ears is much more important than the hardware in your hand.

Then the next step is to learn how to actually shoot defensively, which would require one of the guns I mentioned above. (Which should be purchase number two, after the .22) There are two ways to develop those skills. 1) take a class 2) participate in a local practical shooting event/IDPA match. NEITHER of which you can do with your bodyguard. At least not effectively.

(No, watching the magpul art of handgun video 100 times will not make you good, no joke here. I had a NRA Basic Handgun student who had never fired a gun before arrive at a class who had trained himself to swivel his head left and right after every string.)

Ok rant over.

Don

p.s. good luck. you should really try to find a mentor who can help prevent you from making bad purchases in the future. If you are at all near Mass Rifle, I'd be happy to bring a couple of .22s and 9mms down for you to try.
Click to expand...


Don,
Point taken. While I understand everything you stated about the BG, I did want the M&P Shield 9mm. Unfortunately it is really difficult to obtain. I will hopefully getting the SR22 to learn and practice.
I appreciate your offer to shoot your guns. I'm not in that area, but may take you up on your offer one day. I'll PM you if I'm ever able to.

thanks,
Tim
 
TimoC508 said:
Don,
Point taken. While I understand everything you stated about the BG, I did want the M&P Shield 9mm. Unfortunately it is really difficult to obtain. I will hopefully getting the SR22 to learn and practice.
I appreciate your offer to shoot your guns. I'm not in that area, but may take you up on your offer one day. I'll PM you if I'm ever able to.

thanks,
Tim
Click to expand...

Tim,

I think you may be still missing Don's point. The shield wouldn't be a significantly better choice based on his rant (as he describes it).

I'm not a fan of having a formulaic way of choosing a gun - after all if there was one we would not have more than a handful of models:) It all depends on how natural a shooter you are, how much practice you need to put in etc... I'm not a natural and I can tell you that if the shield was my first and only gun it would have been quite frustrating. The Beretta 92 was a nice gun followed by the Sig 229. Both were heavier guns with little recoil. Now I know that what I can do with a M&P Pro I cannot with a Shield but the latter is much easier to conceal etc.

Above all there is no wrong choice as guns seem to always have a decent value. Take care of whatever you buy and you will be able to sell it at a very reasonable price right here (go green if you haven't). So don't sweat what you have purchased and see if you can try out a number of guns. You will get the perfect one which I am pretty sure will be different than what you think it might be today!
 
Nice gun Tim, congrats. It's a great gun for concealed carry. I really enjoy mine for those times I want to carry something really small and light in my pocket. If you are looking for something for the range or target shooting, I am sure the Shield will be more enjoyable. Depending on what you want to do at the range, there are lots of other choices as well. Since it sounds like you are new here and possibly to guns, maybe you can enlighten us to what it is you are looking to do.

I, myself, used a Bersa 380 semi my first time to the range along with a Model 39-2, had no problem hitting the targets. But today, 3 years later, I have grown into all kinds of calibers and guns. I like my 22lr guns, several Rugers Mk III's, a couple of S&W revolvers and several rifles inlcluding a S&W MP15-22... I like em all. I also have several M&P's in 9,40 and 45, again, have shot them all very well out of the box, so I believe we all react differently to "the bang". The only caliber that gave me a problem shooting was the 357 sig barrel I bought for my M&P 40c, it was a real barker out of the box. I had trouble controlling it. A year later, I decided to sell it, but wanted to use up the ammo I had. I shot it perfectly ... decided to keep it.

Either way, good luck going forward, if we can help, let us know!!

Happy Holidays,
 
First of all, Congrats on your first gun!!!! It's a great feeling ain't it?

Second, thanks for becoming a member and supporting the forum.

Finally, every one is going to have a different opinion about your purchase, but the only opinion that matters is yours. Recognize that it will take a lot of practice to become proficient with your BG, but you can get good with it. As I am sure you are aware, the general rule of thumb is that big heavy guns are easier to shoot.

But you know what, it doesn't matter. Mostly because you are probably going to buy more guns in the future. My first two handguns were a Sig 226 and a S&W 686 - 4" barrel. Both are big and heavy and awesome range guns, but tough to carry because of there size. Luckily, they have lots of company now in the safe. I also own a PM9 for summer carry and can tell you it is worth the price.

Enjoy your new hobby and practice practice practice.
 
Thanks all. At the moment I don't plan on CC'ing every day. I would like to become a bit mre familiar before I do. I do understand Don's point. However I didn't want a full gun as I do not have plans for a super large collection right off the bat (but I know it'll end up that way). A full size M&P, 1911 and a wheel gun will come in time.
 
i recommend a .38 revolver, like a nice used smith with a 3 inch barrel or maybe even a 4 inch barrel. affordable to shoot, with +p+ rounds like light 357 loads there is power to be had, and they are beautiful and functional. My first revolver was a 686 plus with a 4" tube, great gun.

Dom
 
I was looking for a shield but the 9mm is hard to find.so i looked at the ruger lc9 it fit well and was pretty much same size as the sheild.but now im going back and forth if i was nt to get the lc9 or the very beautiful models of the sig p238 there 380 pocket pistals very nice looking. Im at a crossroad lol
 
Just an FYI. There is a reason the .40 versions of many small single stack guns are easier to find than the 9mm versions. The .40s are terrible shooting guns.

Timo - The bodyguard is a fine gun. But to add to my point, you aren't very good with it. Yet. (All assuming this is your first gun and you're not ex-military or something like that) You probably aren't much better off with that gun than you are unarmed. Things like holster draw, point shooting, shooting quickly, use of cover, low light shooting (90+% of all defensive shootings happen at night) use of a flashlight, etc. are all things that you've never practiced.

You have purchased a firearm that is a far from ideal platform for developing those skills. So you now have a good defensive pocket gun to carry around, but you don't have the skills to use it well. Maybe its just my way of thinking that i'd rather develop the skills before I buy the hardware.

Good luck. Practice. But don't practice for too long each session. With that little gun, you WILL develop a nasty flinch if you shoot it too much at each session. You can buy a gun like this for about $300.

10107.jpg


You will have it for a long time, and you can use it to develop every skill from marksmanship fundamentals (grip, stance, NPOA, trigger control, sight picture, sight alignment, follow through, etc.). You can also use it to practice defensive skills with ammo that cost about 15% of what .380 ammo costs. Also, because recoil is so mild, you can shoot hundreds of rounds per session without the fear of developing a flinch.

Don
 
Thanks Don, that was a nicely put and to the point response, makes sense.... pretty much..

dcmdon said:
Just an FYI. There is a reason the .40 versions of many small single stack guns are easier to find than the 9mm versions. The .40s are terrible shooting guns.

Timo - The bodyguard is a fine gun. But to add to my point, you aren't very good with it. Yet. (All assuming this is your first gun and you're not ex-military or something like that) You probably aren't much better off with that gun than you are unarmed. Things like holster draw, point shooting, shooting quickly, use of cover, low light shooting (90+% of all defensive shootings happen at night) use of a flashlight, etc. are all things that you've never practiced.

You have purchased a firearm that is a far from ideal platform for developing those skills. So you now have a good defensive pocket gun to carry around, but you don't have the skills to use it well. Maybe its just my way of thinking that i'd rather develop the skills before I buy the hardware.

Good luck. Practice. But don't practice for too long each session. With that little gun, you WILL develop a nasty flinch if you shoot it too much at each session. You can buy a gun like this for about $300.

10107.jpg


You will have it for a long time, and you can use it to develop every skill from marksmanship fundamentals (grip, stance, NPOA, trigger control, sight picture, sight alignment, follow through, etc.). You can also use it to practice defensive skills with ammo that cost about 15% of what .380 ammo costs. Also, because recoil is so mild, you can shoot hundreds of rounds per session without the fear of developing a flinch.

Don
Click to expand...
 
THESAW249 said:
Don knows his shit, and is a straight up man. if he had advice to lend its usually good advice [grin]

Dom

p.s. going out hunting in ny this week with that Howa Don [wink]
Click to expand...

Wait . . I thought you got that gun for your fiance? Hmm

Good luck either way. Thats a great gun in a great caliber. If I wasn't LH, I'd have kept it.
 
When i owned the BG380 I only shot one mag thru it at the range each time I went. ... just to empty it out and verify it still works :). I shot my other guns because they were more enjoyable (SR9c, Beretta 92A1, etc.)
 

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