GOOD LUCK
under $400 - check the used gun market
cheap ammo - i think in the order of cost is 22lr / 9mm / 380 / 45acp / 32acp
low maintenance - its glock for me or the XD
ease of use - glock or the XD not really sure about the S&W m&P series

9mm is not hard to obtain i it just scosts more. It's still the cheapest defensive ammunition really.

I'd recommend a 9mm Stoger Cougar for under $300. Or, if U don't go to an over priced gun shop, you can get an FNP 9mm for just a tad over $400. A Ruger 9mm is also less than $400.

If youw ant to possibly use it for defense, get at least a 9mm. If you don't care and just want a 22 to shoot - get a Ruger Mark III or a Browning Buckmark. The Borwning is a bit easier to take apart. I researched target 22s for over a year and then rented a Browning Buckmark. I really liked the grip over any of the others. I paid $248 for mine.

Simple, cheap, cheapish to shoot, and good for defense?

Get a used .357Mag revolver, least expensive are often from Taurus.

Shoot 38 Special reloads or cheapy Walmart ammo. Pack a few jacketed hollow point .357Mags in the top drawer for home defense.

Decent used .357 Magnum revolvers can be had for under $400.

Prepair to get addicted, and spend a few thousand a year on new, and better toys!!!

Scour the gun shops and pawn shops for deals, and haggle, haggle, haggle.

Jeff

Since you didn't mention what type of handgun you want, I will say that a .22lr revolver will meet your needs quite well. They are easier to use and more easily cleaned/lubed than an autoloader, and will usually have better triggers as well. Plus, they are much less likely to jam.

I haven't priced a new revolver of any type for quite a while, but spending a bit of time on the Gunbroker site will give you an idea as to what a good .22 revolver will cost.

PhilR.

I second the motion for a .22 revolver. I can't think of a better way for a "noob" to get started down the right path to real shooting skill.

The very excellent S&W .22 revolvers are hard to find under $400 anymore, though occasionally a decent used specimen turns up in that price range. The Taurus .22 revolvers can be had in that range, however. I'd look for a medium-framed revolver rather than one of the smaller "kit gun" types.

This would seem to meet all your requirements:

* Low cost (under $400) - CHECK (assuming Taurus rather than S&W)
* Cheap ammo (ideally .22 LR) - CHECK (about as cheap as it comes)
* Low maintenance (like a Glock) - CHECK (revolvers don't require breakdown for cleaning)
* Ease of use (I'm a noob) - CHECK (nothing is easier to use than a DA revolver with swing-out cylinder)

The Glock (G19) meets most of these, but it uses more expensive ammunition... and from what I've heard, 9x19mm is becoming slightly difficult to obtain due to the Iraq war.

I love my Glocks, but they are basically good for fighting, and sorta-simulated fighting like IDPA matches, and nothing else. They are definitely not pistols for target shooting, except in the IDPA sense. (See www.idpa.com.) Shipwreck is correct, however. 9mm is easy to find, just more expensive than it used to be. Internet/urban legends to the contrary, pistols just aren't that heavily used here in theater.

Note that 'stopping power' is nowhere on my list, and that is deliberate. I realize the .22 cartridge is very underpowered for self defense.

Sensible enough. Since defense is secondary - at best - to you, I think a good .22 is by far the best way to go.

Hmm. Not actually sure I want a revolver. I'm trying to be practical about this, but the part of me that thinks with testosterone doesn't like stopping to pop bullets in every 6 shots. Then again, I've only fired a gun a few times outside of computer games, so if that's what you recommend...

The Taurus website was bad though. I tried to find just .22 revolvers, and could not... they had all these various styles, but did not explain what was significant between them. Very frustrating.

Otherwise, I was looking at a Buckmark... not sure what the variations between the Buckmarks are... unlike the Glocks, which have a very simple variant scheme, I can't figure out the difference between the Buckmark variants, just like Taurus... I'll probably need the gun shop to tell me.

I think I'm up to simple maintenance... it's not that I'm afraid to take a gun apart and put it back together. It is more that I'm too lazy to do it every time I use it, or once a month, or whatever the recommended cleaning schedule is. That is what attracted me toward the Glock in the first place... it's resistance to abuse.

Click on http://www.galleryofguns.com/# you don't have to buy through Gallery of guns but they, if nothing else, provide an easy point to view just about all the guns available. Just click on their gun locater link and tell it what you want to see. I buy all my new guns through one of their dealers.

Welcome to the world of shooting and enjoy the game.

Originally Posted by MyrddinE

Hmm. Not actually sure I want a revolver. I'm trying to be practical about this, but the part of me that thinks with testosterone doesn't like stopping to pop bullets in every 6 shots. Then again, I've only fired a gun a few times outside of computer games, so if that's what you recommend...

The Taurus website was bad though. I tried to find just .22 revolvers, and could not... they had all these various styles, but did not explain what was significant between them. Very frustrating.

Otherwise, I was looking at a Buckmark... not sure what the variations between the Buckmarks are... unlike the Glocks, which have a very simple variant scheme, I can't figure out the difference between the Buckmark variants, just like Taurus... I'll probably need the gun shop to tell me.

I think I'm up to simple maintenance... it's not that I'm afraid to take a gun apart and put it back together. It is more that I'm too lazy to do it every time I use it, or once a month, or whatever the recommended cleaning schedule is. That is what attracted me toward the Glock in the first place... it's resistance to abuse.

Fair enough. Glocks are abuse-resistant because they are fighting pistols. Guns designed for casual or target shooting (like all .22s) aren't built for war, and thus will not take abuse as well as a fighting gun.

I have a Buckmark. It's a good gun - reliable and very accurate. It's a bit of a PIA to disassemble compared to more service-oriented pistols, however. (Though I am actually selling it, since it gets shot so seldom and mainly just sits in the safe.)

It sounds like you really want a Glock. No need to rationalize it - just go buy a 17 or a 19. They're great guns, and will satisfy the testosterone much better than a .22. I clean my Glocks maybe twice a year, whether they need it or not, and they run perfectly fine.