Glock as first gun?

As a firearms instructor , by trade and when asked, I always tell my students to buy a Glock Model 19 period...!! New or used, it does not matter. The Glock system is at the bottom of the order of complexity. It is the simplest weapon system to learn on., especially for a beginning student. It is essentially a "point and shoot" weapon. The weapon, in trained hands is extremely accurate, reliable and trouble free. It is simple to dissaemble and maintain. For CCW, it is very light and concealable. Then once the new gunowner has attained his/her "Comfort of Skill at Arms", he can test, shoot and buy a more complex weapons system such as Sig, HK or S&W.... Look, any new gun owner is going to possibly purchase a weapon that he or she may not find to their liking. For any of a dozen reasons. Be it feel, caliber, size or recoil. They can always put it the safe, sell it or retire it and buy a diiferent one. Just like buying a new car, in time you may end up owning several, until you find the one that "scratchs the bulk of your itchs"...!!!

In my opinion the Glock is probably one of the BEST choices you can make for a first gun. My first (and only) pistol was and is a Glock 19. I've shot a gazillion other pistols and am no stranger to them but all in all I think the Glock is the way to go.

It's been dubbed by many of my friends as the "swiss army knife" of the pistol world. I'm not sure why that is but the darn thing is just stupid reliable and super easy to maintain and shoot.

Pros: Reliability is second to none. These darn things just WORK. Each time, every time, without complaint. They're darn near indestructable and awful accurate right out of the box. They're very easy to disassemble and clean. Last but not least, there's no 'garbage' on them. They're all business with no unneeded bells or whistles that can be difficult to learn and ultimately fail when you need them the most.

Cons: Some don't like the style or looks of them. That's because they're morons. That's about it.

The only significant difference between the numerous Glock models is frame size and caliber. Other than that they're all just about identical which is a good thing because mechanically they're about as close to perfect as they can get. (yeah the 380 is different as is the full auto model 18) You can pick your frame size and caliber and there will be a model to suit you. Frames range from small (pocket rocket), medium (a.k.a. Colt commander size), and standard/large, calibers from 380 auto up to 45acp with 9mm, .40cal, and .45acp being the most popular and available.

If your friends intended use is personal defense with some concealed carry I'd recommend the "medium" frame size in either 9mm or .40 S&W. It's small enough to hide and large enough to handle. The baby Glocks are absolutely tiny but not really intelligent for a first timer. The full sized models are a bit large for my taste.

I hope my blabbering has been somewhat helpful to you, let me know if it is. BTW this is my first post on pistolworld, I've been a long time SGW member though (HI REV! )

Getting a .22 as a first pistol is not a bad idea when considering the recoil standpoint but the 9mm caliber is not exactly a wrist breaker.

If one simply cannot handle the mild bounce of a 9mm properly then they ought not own a handgun in the first place.

Rather than shell out 200-300 clams on a .22 for "training" purposes I think this first timer would be a LOT better off spending that money on a sensible gun that he intends to own for the long term and have a knowledgable person instruct him the first few times out. Could be a hunter safety course, a course in pistol shooting, or what most folks do: Get help at the local range!

I've never taught the pistol to others formally but I've instructed dozens of newbies in the art of shotgunning at the local range where I used to live. I cant imagine that the local pistol range would be a whole lot different.

It doesn't take too long to become familiar with a pistol and how it operates if one simply has some valid instruction and is at least halfway intelligent.