hey southampton is a little to far for me to drive today, packing up things to go back to school and have to get the girl from work...

I bought a Glock 19 (two tone with EOX slide) with night sights on saturday. I think that wil be my new carry piece. I am waiting for a bladetech holdeter to arrive.

LOL, they should set these up along the mexican border and open a "defend your national sovereignty" pay site. We'd solve the economic crisis and the illegal immigration problem in about a week. :lol:

So I think ive decided to go with the S&W Sigma 9mm for my first handgun purchase....I am going to order a set of snap caps to get use to the hard trigger pull and possibly look into getting it smithed depending on how i feel about it...

I just filled out my CCW application and will be going to the court house sometime this week when i get a break from classes...

I will not be carrying the gun right away until i truly feel 100% comfortable and honed in my shooting with the sigma....

Im in the process of looking into concealed holsters and which one will be best suited for me... (im thinking inside the pants holster)

Should i just use some roundball to break in the gun?

I would recommend against getting your carry gun smithed, just my opinion. Look at desantis cozy partner for an IWB holster, I love mine and sold DC2 on it as well..

If the gun is brand new absolutely break it in with ball ammo, some people say guns dont need to be broken in but I have had a number of guns (mostly sigs) that dont feed HPs until a few hundred rounds of ball down the pipe (wow that sounded gay)

and just a FYI if your going to get into the "gun culture" in PA its not a ccw its a LTCF (license to carry firearms) you dont need a LTCF to open carry in most instances unless your in a car or in a city of the first class (philly) but a LTCF makes life a lot easier.

Next time your back in the area you should come shoot with me DC2 and rodder, I cant speak on their behalf but the last mini shoot we had was a blast for me and it was nice to put names and faces to the usernames.

Lastly take a look here: http://www.pafoa.org/law it will give you a rundown of all the laws, etc. I am beginning to hate that site but its a good resource for laws and regulations. etc.

Thanks for all your guys help, I really appreciate it... The reason i mentioned getting it smithed was because of the compartive 12lb trigger pull which a lot of people complain about, however, i probably wont notice much of a difference and most likely not....just a lot of people from what ive read suggested it....

and yes the gun will be brand new since i really cant beat the price from budsgunshop.com im sure come summer i will be moving onto a different gun ha normally when i dive into hobbies i get sucked in hard...

im looking into that holster right now...is it a universal that fits say medium sized guns, etc?

I know you dont need a license to OPEN carry, however, i want to conceal for comfort reasons...

edit: i dont think they make the cozy partner for the sigma looking at their site

Massad Ayoob, who is considered by many to be THE leading authority on firearm law, has said modifying a firearm that you plan on using for self defense is 100% defensible in court as long as you don't go and do something wacky like put a 1.5 lb trigger on it or something.

I wouldn't worry about lightening the trigger on a sigma, they've got what, like a 300 lb trigger pull out of the box? :lol:

Of course, I am not a lawyer, so don't do anything you aren't personally comfortable with.

Personally, I'd rather just wait and save up an extra hundred bucks or so and get yourself something you'll be happy with. Depending on how much your smith charges you might end up breaking even anyway. JMHO, of course. I'm just really not a fan of sigmas and there are so many better choices that have come out recently I don't really understand why you'd choose one over all the other options there are.

Couldn't agree more with this statement.

honestly its the price and overall solid reviews of the gun...

its basically a glock rep, I am 21 college student who has many other expensive hobbies, im not ready to drop 600 plus on a new gun just yet...

Plus everyone says their first gun is not "their" perfect gun anyway.... for the 350 price range this gun falls in for new, case, lock, 3 mags (2 16+1) 1 10rd for 289.00 + 20 dollar transfer fee to the store im getting it shipped too..


If anyone has more suggestions on a new gun in the 350 price range or maybe 400 with similar deals and glock/sigma style of gun I am all ears and open to other suggestions no doubt...

I have not made the move on the gun yet as i am looking to do so within the next month...ive been reading and lurking and researching for a good bit now...

I actually sold my Sigma to a buddy but if I go shooting at Pistol People on State road just about every other week with him. I'm sure he would let you try it out if I asked. I'd also be willing to do the trigger mod for you if that something you'd want. I really could not find a new gun I liked better for the price range.

Just wanted to quote this again. It pretty much describes it perfectly.

Here's the thing. You're carrying a gun for only one reason, and that is to defend your life and/or the lives of your loved ones. It's not a 'first car' or a 'starter apartment'. It's a gun that you plan on relying on at the worst possible moment of your life. Finding your "perfect gun" should be the main focus of buying your first one. Why bargain shop? The price should not matter. If it's expensive, but it's perfect for you and you shoot it well, then it's worth every cent and every minute of time spent saving up for it. If your perfect gun happens to be inexpensive as compared to other quality guns, well then that's a nice little bonus.

Believe me - I understand what it means to have to save up for only one gun and have to make that one choice out of necessity, because you can't just buy and buy until you find the right one. It sucks, but if it's a reality as it was for me, then it's all you have to work with. If you can't afford your perfect gun, just wait a while until you can. Don't cheap out on a gun just because you want it now. You've already said that you don't plan on carrying it right away so why rush into it and buy one just because it's cheap?

Another point that I don't think has been mentioned yet is 'trigger time'. Have you shot a Sigma? What carry-able handguns have you shot? Like I mentioned above, buying a carry gun is serious business. You should really get some range time in with a few different guns before you just buy one blind off the internet. Again, the Sigma might be 'your gun', but if you haven't shot it and also shot a few others for comparison, how will you know?

I only mention some of these things because my dad is the one who told me to slow down and save up for the right gun. When I first got into the idea of carrying, I needed a gun NOW. :roll: I was about to buy a used Ruger SR9 because it was dirt cheap and available and had "lots of ammo in the clip". My dad explained everything to me and slowed me down a bit and just pointed me in the right direction for research. I ended up taking his advice and taking about 5 months to decide on the right one. It took all that time to research until my head hurt, and all that time to hold just about every gun in the Cabela's counter, and all that time to rack up enough actual shooting time to make an educated and intelligent decision about which one was right for me. When I finally bought mine, I walked up to the counter and was signing paperwork within about 30 seconds. I was sure it was my gun. The Sigma might be yours, as it was for 1988 Olds, or it might be a $1000+ Sig or HK, who knows? Just don't rush into it. Go hold a ton of guns and shoot as much as you can until you figure it out.

ETA:

A note on prices...

If you save for a bit and give yourself $500 to spend on a gun and a quality holster, you could have just about any compact gun on the market. Some might be new, others used but in great condition. It really doesn't matter whether you buy new or used (in my opinion anyway). Unless a gun has been dragged behind a truck or has been raped without lube as a rental gun with 10k+ rounds through it, you're really not going to come across many bad used guns.

there are really a lot of handguns in the $350 - $400 that IMO are better choices than a sigma. If you only can name 2 pistols that fit your criteria (glock and sigma) then you haven't really done enough research.

Also, I would 100% buy a used but proven firearm like a glock, XD or M&P over a new sigma if they were the same price.

and DC2's advice about going to a range and shooting every handgun they have available to rent is the best advice you can possibly take. You may shoot a sigma and absolutely hate it. Of course on the other hand you could totally fall in love with it. The thing is you won't know until you shoot it, and if you wait to shoot it until after you buy it, you're taking a risk that you'll just have to take a hit and sell it to get the gun you should have gotten to begin with.

Very good advice guys. I think if I had waited longer to buy my first gun I would have ended up with a Glock in the first place. Also don't forget a revolver very well might be a good gun for you to consider as well.

I see exactly what you are both saying and i think thats the best advice ive heard so far, i did not even think of going to rent some guns...

As far as the guns you mentioned above those were my first choices until i started searching and not finding something in that great of condition or that was not drastically over priced so i read that sigmas were clock reps pretty much and that is what originally drew me to them...

I think i will be going to the range in 2 weeks to try out some guns when i get a break from classes...

I will be continue to post in here guys I hope you can stand my noob-ness

if you'd like I have a LOT of carry-able guns you can try out, off the top of my head (without going into the safe) glock 19,20,36 sig P238, S&W 65 and 686, taurus judge, springfield TRP 1911, Ruger LCP.. I'm sure there are a few more, and I would be willing to bet rodder and DC2 would let you try out their guns.. The best advice given to you so far was to get as much trigger time with as many different gun as possible.

That would be awesome and i would definitely compensate you for doing that...

I will be home from school in 2 weeks if you would want to do something?

Thanks

absolutely, maybe we can get another mini shoot together.. what days are you home? Sundays are usually best to not wait a long time.. I can call them in advance and see if we can have a few lanes next to each other again if there is interest

I'll be coming home from school on Thursday, so maybe sometime during that weekend we can all meet up and shoot...

I will probably be home not this friday, but next, til late sunday night so sunday could work for me, pm your number or something