First pistol need some thoughts

Agnotology

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So right now, I am torn between what I believe are two solid, budget options for a first pistol. I already know whatever I buy, eventually, I am going to want something else, or through this purchase, I am going to end up figuring out what I do/don't like. So I am not thinking long term on this - but more using it as a learning experience to figure out more.

I have shot 2 pistols guns prior, an unknown 9mm which.... might have been a 5906, I remember most of the controls reminded me of Beretta and it was at S&W's gun range. The other being a subcompact glock in .45 that I absolutely hated as I could only get 1.5 fingers on the grip.

Torn between a Stoeger STR-9F and a Canik TP9SF Elite. Both are the size I want and in 9mm. I leaning slightly more towards the Stoeger as I understand it, it's essentially a Glock, and therefore the sky is the limit if I want to start changing things. Canik has a decent aftermarket, but nothing like what is available for glocks in terms of triggers, grips, barrels, slides, pretty much everything but the lower.


and for the "just buy both" people, happily accepting late Christmas presents/early birthday presents. This gun is essentially going to be my 35th birthday present to myself.
 
So right now, I am torn between what I believe are two solid, budget options for a first pistol. I already know whatever I buy, eventually, I am going to want something else, or through this purchase, I am going to end up figuring out what I do/don't like. So I am not thinking long term on this - but more using it as a learning experience to figure out more.

I have shot 2 pistols guns prior, an unknown 9mm which.... might have been a 5906, I remember most of the controls reminded me of Beretta and it was at S&W's gun range. The other being a subcompact glock in .45 that I absolutely hated as I could only get 1.5 fingers on the grip.

Torn between a Stoeger STR-9F and a Canik TP9SF Elite. Both are the size I want and in 9mm. I leaning slightly more towards the Stoeger as I understand it, it's essentially a Glock, and therefore the sky is the limit if I want to start changing things. Canik has a decent aftermarket, but nothing like what is available for glocks in terms of triggers, grips, barrels, slides, pretty much everything but the lower.


and for the "just buy both" people, happily accepting late Christmas presents/early birthday presents. This gun is essentially going to be my 35th birthday present to myself.

Canik is a great shooter and has a lifetime warranty. I say go with the Canik.

Don't worry about customizing it. Take any money you were going to spend on customizing and buy ammo.

Ammo is like gold, you can never have too much.
 
Torn between a Stoeger STR-9F and a Canik TP9SF Elite. Both are the size I want and in 9mm. I leaning slightly more towards the Stoeger as I understand it, it's essentially a Glock, and therefore the sky is the limit if I want to start changing things. Canik has a decent aftermarket, but nothing like what is available for glocks in terms of triggers, grips, barrels, slides, pretty much everything but the lower.
I was in almost the same position a couple of years ago - having bought a Heritage Arms .22 revolver as my very first gun, I wanted to buy a second one that was a little larger, for taking to classes. (The classes haven't happened yet, blame a limited budget, but the "buy a second gun" has.) After asking for advice here, I test-fired several 9mm pistols and handled several more, and finally settled on a Sig P320 X-Carry. Not the cheapest, nor the most common, but it had one great advantage over all the others I had looked at: it felt balanced in my hands.

So my first thought on reading your post is: have you tried shooting either of your two candidate guns? Or even handled or dry-fired them? A gun that isn't balanced in your hand is much less fun to shoot. A few minutes of testing might save you a lot of annoyance down the road.
 
I'll go with canik too. I shoot with a guy who's somewhere in north of 5,000 rounds into his. It shoots well, it hasn't broken. If I weren't so heavily invested in Glock and m&p mags, I'd probably own one already.
 
And now that I know that they are the sort of company that would sell these:

CanikMiamiLEAD2.jpg


Now I really want one. 😄

SIGNATURE SERIES METE SFT MIAMI
 
Torn between a Stoeger STR-9F and a Canik TP9SF Elite. Both are the size I want and in 9mm. I leaning slightly more towards the Stoeger as I understand it, it's essentially a Glock, and therefore the sky is the limit if I want to start changing things. Canik has a decent aftermarket, but nothing like what is available for glocks in terms of triggers, grips, barrels, slides, pretty much everything but the lower.

Why just those two?

Sounds like you want a glock, just buy one.

That said, you haven't shot many pistols. Are you sure you know what you want?

Go buy some cheap clapped out glock for practice, and get some reps in.

If you like it and are good with it, cool-buy the new model and get more reps in.

If not, start hitting the rental counter and/or take personalized lessons.
 
My advice is instead of buying something that’s essentially a Glock, buy a Glock. Spend the extra money. You’re buying a tool that you might need to save your life.

Why just those two?

Sounds like you want a glock, just buy one.

That said, you haven't shot many pistols. Are you sure you know what you want?

Go buy some cheap clapped out glock for practice, and get some reps in.

If you like it and are good with it, cool-buy the new model and get more reps in.

If not, start hitting the rental counter and/or take personalized lessons.

because I am in MA. and buying used.... I don't know enough about pistols to know what to look for to ensure I'm not buying someone's bubba'd or otherwise crowbar-abortion'd slam piece. so till new the gen glocks are available new, those are my realistic options. Even if I could find one from someone I know isn't selling me something that is so clapped out I can hear The Police strumming roxanne in the background, I'm not paying $800+ on principle.

Lastly - for that kind of money I can buy the Stoeger and the Canik and have 1000 rounds of 9mm shipped to my house and still have left over money to go pick up jpm and treat him to watching me miss. If I hate the stoeger, a glock isn't going to be an improvement. I'm just going to be another guy bumping a 'WTS glock for 2x retail' for 3 years. You can literally take the Stoeger upper off, put it on a glock, take the glock upper off, put it on the stoeger, and both will still go bang. So I can eat the $300 mistake, I can't eat the $850 mistake.
 
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Reptile has some mags to go with them.

Those mags have been advertised since I joined IIRC. Or shortly thereafter.
That's one of the reasons you avoid NES classifieds. Plenty of cheap shit out there in real life.

NES classifieds are what is going to get me a new Canik for $80 under MSRP. Sure, the 100 mile drive is a kick in the balls, but the upside is now I won't have to do it myself.
 
I am more than happy to save myself the $600 and put it towards classes and ammo.
A Glock 19 costs $600 retail?
But yeah the Canik is nice
You just don't get the same amount of after sale options like holsters but with the internet you still have plenty available for it
 
A Glock 19 costs $600 retail?
But yeah the Canik is nice
You just don't get the same amount of after sale options like holsters but with the internet you still have plenty available for it
I live in MA. I am not an LEO, so I cannot get a new glock. Which is why glock prices in MA are so silly.

edit: apparently this is not the case, just the deal with the fudd shop I went to.
 
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My only comment is that if I had a Glock, I would keep it stock, maybe change the sights, but probably not even that. Nothing internal. Why f*k with it?

Just being able to customize something to me. grips and sights are the obvious choices for aftermarket.
 
Assuming they are both good guns, which one has good quality and various types of holsters available for you?

The best weapon in the world is of no use to you if you have lousy leather
 
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