Thread: curious about pistol shooting

Just get into it mate. I gave up rugby ( getting old and getting injured ) to shoot and it’s the first individual sport Ive played and have never looked back. In terms of cost I would call it an expensive sport for sure, Mostly because I travel to compete in IPSC. If I didn’t compete it wouldn’t be that bad at all. I only shoot twice a month at my local club, maybe 100-150 rounds each shoot and do about 3-4 events in a calendar year, events are about 300 rounds ammo, 500 if you miss a lot, plus the entry fee, around $160 for a level 3 ( level 3 if you want to get graded ) plus travel costs, accommodation etc..
Initial Costs are Club fees, Pistol, spare mags, holster, belt, mag pouches and ammo... Once you got those your away laughing, or crying depending how much you spend! You can half your ammo costs by reloading but in reality you just end up shooting more if you reload. But if your just wanting to get into it to become more proficient with your glock for work then it shouldn’t cost too much at all.

In my experience, club members are eager to show visitors what it's all about and pretty much everyone will get you to have a go with their pistol. I wouldn't make any decisions on brand/style before you try a whole lot. Again based on my own experience (yours may vary) club armourers and long time members are happy for newbies to use the club-owned guns for as long as they like, and/or hold a pistol on their ticket if you find a good deal on one before you get your endorsement sorted, I think we've all been there. I would advise against buying something you haven't shot, e.g. Glocks make a lot of sense on paper, but I personally don't like striker fired guns, and heavier pistols have less felt recoil. I can't think of a reason why you'd want a light pistol, other than being more comfy to carry on your person for long periods of time, which you're not doing unless you're Police or NZDF and want to own the same model of pistol you're issued to train with in your own time (which yes, would be a Glock in either case). If, like me, you've done a lot of rifle shooting before starting you're probably going to find double action revolvers and striker fired semi's difficult to learn because of the way the triggers work, hammer fired pistols or revolvers in single action will be closest to what you're used to (I've been spoiled by rifles with nice light crisp triggers for too long!)