imo,first you look at caliber and then you look at fire control features and finally you look at guns.

what caliber is best for you?which one can you manage the recoil perfectly ok and deliver accuracy and speed?which caliber offers the platforms your looking for?which one can you practice enough with,with out going broke?...imo,you should consider the 9mm,.40s&w and 45acp.mainly because they are effective,offer good and plentiful choices and seem to be here to stay...don't get cought up on power numbers or knock down theories or myths about comparisons.

how do you want your pistol to function?what trigger type do you prefer?what safety features do you prefer?where do you want those features to be?when thinking about these you should think about which one YOU can use with speed,accuracy and safety.luckily for you,you are not already set in your ways so don't necessarily believe what works for others is what works best for you.it's YOUR gun.

then you look at the guns.luckily,there are many reliable choices out there at different prices.however,imho,if your looking for "out of the box"reliability,you should stick with the major manufactures and i don't mean those that specialize in making nice versions of "classic" pistols.imho,these are the ones you should stick to,in no particular order---beretta,walther,browning,ruger,sig,glock,h&k,e.a.a . witness,cz,taurus,springfeild(xd only),s&w.i'll probably get flamed for this and there might be one or two i'm forgetting.

by the way,you mentioned taurus.imo,the best pistol that they have ever produced is the pt92/99 series but i'm not saying the others aren't good.also,the match up between beretta/taurus 92 series and the cz 75/85 is a clssic one(in terms of the match up)....both of them are good but there are some differences.take your time and study carefully.


good luck hunting.i hope this helps instead of confusing you even further.

Get the CZ for all around better quality and it will last a life time. If it's your first pistol I would recommend a 9mm. I know several people who own them and they have nothing but good things to say about them. I have shot them and they are one very smooth pistol. Good luck.

I like the turaus. They have a lifetime warranty no questions asked. There cheaper in price but still built pretty good. A freind of mine has a pistol from them and loves it. He says after firing a round the gun goes back to the fire pistion to help get on target faster, great for self defense imo.

I have two Taurus handguns 24/7 pro .45acp and my back up carry Taurus Pt111 mill pro 9mm I love both of them i own HK glock and Sig, those three speak for them selfs but the Taurus has never haver had a FTF or FTE and they are pretty accurate i was very surprised. For the money + the lifetime warranty you can't go wrong. Just my 2 cents.

I guess the big issue is I'm not sure if I want a revolver or a semi. I think both are very useful in their own ways and will be fun to shoot when I go to the range. But unfortunatley the only ranges near me that let you rent are skeet shooting ranges. So it's goign to come back to that. Everyone says try as many as you can but unfortunatley other than going to my local gun shop, trying some dry rounds and checking it out, there isn't much I can do.

I like the guns Taurus is putting out now. I have had a few in the last couple years and still have one. My PT1911. It's got a great fit and is as good a shooter as my Para Ord's that cost me a bit more.

I've had a PT 99 for a long time, always liked it. Based on that, I got a Model 94 - bad right out of the box. Cylinder binds, extractor rides over the rims of the cartridges, actually feel a kind of grinding when squeezing the trigger. I've since sent it back to Taurus, haven't heard anything back yet. So, semi-auto 9 mm - revolver .

I have a pt 24/7 pro. I like the pistol. for the money you can't go wrong. there are better out there but for just starting off into this world you cannot go wrong with a taurus product imo. but off course there are the horror stories out the. I have 300+ rounds thru mine with not a single problem. best of luck with the decision you make.

Originally Posted by undrgrnd

I have a pt 24/7 pro. I like the pistol. for the money you can't go wrong. there are better out there but for just starting off into this world you cannot go wrong with a taurus product imo. but off course there are the horror stories out the. I have 300+ rounds thru mine with not a single problem. best of luck with the decision you make.

Hows that Taurus group at 25 yards? I have been looking at those guns for a while and would like to hear from someone that actually has one. The long slides look pretty nice.

I think I'm going to spend a bit more and get a CZ, either a 97B or a 75B Stainless

My dad has a Taurus. Its a Rossi brand taurus .357 snubby. He uses it as he carry around gun. I've shot it plenty of times and I think it's a good all around gun.

Good choice.

Taurus is probably OK, but they have had more than their fair share of quality control issues, whereas CZ's reputation has been rock-solid, forever.

In my opinion, the CZ is the best value for the money in every category that it competes in.