i've never owned a gun, but am now becoming interested, if anything simply for recreational weekend shooting. my old supervisor from a completed project who is retired army and an avid gun enthusiast, suggests that i should start off with a 22. reasons being, he thinks it would be easier to correct the bad habits and fine tune my skills without having to deal with recoil, plus ammo is cheaper. he says if i want to graduate to something bigger, the 22's resale is favorable. a few weeks later, however, our mutual friend, said nah and said that he could sell me his 9-mil glock for a great price, something like $300. my old super said that for the price it would be a great buy and, although he wasn't opposed to jumping straight into the 9 especially at that price, he still preferred for me to consider starting off with the 22 because 9s are more difficult for a beginner to mature proper technique. this past weekend, i was talking to a retired army/retired police officer/friend, about picking up an handgun. he said eff the 22 and the glock and go for some kind of 40 for the stopping power, because when it comes down to it, a gun's main reason for being is for protection and with a caliber the size of a 40, who needs accuracy, but even though i am just into the sport of shooting, i might as well have it for protection.
what do you guys think? i don't discount any of my friends' opinions and see how or why each sees the appropriation differently because of their past and lifestyles. i don't want a big gun for penile-compensation, nor do i want to get a gun simply for protecting myself from armed bandits. if i were to get a big gun it would be for the enjoyment. i want to be into sport shooting, not into the periodic shooting days to remember how to point and pull. so i'm dismissing my ex-police officer friend's advice to go for a 40, for now (the reason my buddy wants to sell is 9mm is because he wants to go to a 40 and for me there must be a reason behind that). that leaves me with choosing between a 22 and a 9. i do like the idea of the secondary benefit being personal protection, but my ultimate goal is the weekend target tests and whole-heartedly believe in learning the proper technique that will lay down a firm foundation for developing the skills.