I don't understand the "wear on display". If your state requires you to be 23 to own, then you must wait until then. For people here to make suggestions would only be potentially encouraging an illegal act, correct?

"wear on display" means wearing it outside your clothes for everyone to see, missouri law says that at 21 you can own a handgun but it must be visible if you wear it without a cc permit, i'm sorry for the vagueness of my earlier statement.

If you are looking for a Walther style FEG SMC or PMK can be had in 380. It is a close copy of a Walther. One thing you should keep in mind is that 380 ammo tends to run about 40% higher than 9mm ammo. If you can put more money into it you may want to look at the surplus Sig P6 pistols. They are going for 350 or less depending on your area. This is in 9mm and are very well made.

could you explain the differences in the FEG, SMC, and the PMK, i'm still new to handguns and don't know much.

Sounds to me like you need to get some hands on experience with hand guns. Find a range that rents and wile you're there take a firearms class. As with just about everything in life the more you know will help. In this case it can save lives.Your own included.

You say your state has an open carry law. While it is legal to carry open like that you have to remember that people are going to see your weapon and might think yo call police. And you will be the one with a gun so it might get a little tense.

Half way down page.
http://www.makarov.com/others/index.html

i have years of experience with rifles and i have participated in a police shooting compitition, My uncle has showed me some things about pistols, but i am in no way an expert, but a novice. As for specifics like make and models i am deffinatly a novice. as for the open carry, you have a valid point, however i feel that since I have a legal right to open carry, I will. if anyone want to call the police i have no problem with that as i am not doing anything illegal.

Look at a Beretta, Glock, Ruger, etc. 9mm in used condition. Try your local gun shops for used and if that does not work out then try GunBroker.com

9MM is going to be the least costly ammo wise between the two you listed. You may even want to try a .22 pistol for a while until you figure out what you really want. At least you may have something to shoot and gain experience with until you make up your mind.

A number of folks go this route until they make up their minds then they also have something to trade-in if they so choose.

Good luck and I am sure someone else will chime in.

thank you for your input, i checked out some prices for the 380 and the 9mm and i found that the .380 was 2 dollars more than the 9mm ammunition, i was also thinking about a .22 pistol, although most of my experience has been with 9mm .380 and the .250 i could get more "fun shooting" out of the .22 but would it be a good choice for self defence?

Where are you going for ammo?

Walmart is 17.94 to 19.97 a hundred for 9mm and 29.97 a hundred for .380and that is the least expensive I have found for .380.

i went to a pawnshop and i asked the guy he said about 15 for 50 pf the 9mm and 17 for 50 of the 380

Originally Posted by TheFenian

"wear on display" means wearing it outside your clothes for everyone to see, missouri law says that at 21 you can own a handgun but it must be visible if you wear it without a cc permit, i'm sorry for the vagueness of my earlier statement.

What part of Missouri do you live in?

Springfield missouri.

Originally Posted by TheFenian

i also like the walther ppk style but i'm looking at a budget of about 300 dollars

The Bersa T380 is about the only pistol that is somewhat similar to the PPK, and within your price range. It does meet your caliber requirement.

No, the .22 is not a good SD caliber.

PhilR.

well i'm kinda thinkin of going with a 22 caliber to start out with and then moving up, i've looked and found a bersa t22 but i can't find a price, is it more or less expensive than the 380?

I live in Missouri as well, and I have been doing some checking. Now this is just advise nothing more.

Before you go around town wearing a pistol on display you should check with an Attorney that handles these type of cases. I have read all of MO. REV. STAT. and see nothing in there where it is legal to carry a displayed fire arm when you are not on your own property. Also a good friend is an Attorney and he is going to look into this as well for my own knowledge which I will share the out come if you want as well.

Just my .02 on the issue.

i had planned on visiting the police department for advice on the issue, as for the laws, so far i found a website about the ccw permit and it had a frequently asked question link that said it was legal to open carry as long as the town you are in allows it. On another note, i found some pistols for sale that are "jiminiez" brand, has anyone ever heard of/ had experience with this and brand and could they tell me how they are? thanks for all the help!!!!

Originally Posted by TheFenian

...i found some pistols for sale that are "jiminiez" brand, has anyone ever heard of/ had experience with this and brand and could they tell me how they are?...

Quick Answer: Avoid them as you would Bubonic Plague. Save up for a useful, accurate, deadly pistol. Then practice, practice, practice.

Originally Posted by TheFenian

i have years of experience with rifles and i have participated in a police shooting compitition, My uncle has showed me some things about pistols, but i am in no way an expert, but a novice. As for specifics like make and models i am deffinatly a novice. as for the open carry, you have a valid point, however i feel that since I have a legal right to open carry, I will. if anyone want to call the police i have no problem with that as i am not doing anything illegal.

I live in an open carry state also. I will on occasion carry where it is easily seen usually around my little town being I'm really well known and they all are used to seeing guns on about everyone around there. I would never say DON"T open carry, people have done it for years. You might want to pick the places you carry open in was all I was trying to say. Being in a place where someone might be offended or scared because you have a gun and they call the police. You are going to be the guy with a gun and LEO might not be as easy going as one might think with one just trying to exorcise their right to carry.

"jiminiez" brand? what the hell is that??

Back to what would be a good gun. No one will be able to answer that but you. You have to get your hands on as many as you can. Sling some lead down range and see what feels good to you. Lots of people will listen to one guns fans or another. Then get a gun that they don't like as much as they would something else. New shooters many times seem to lean to a 9mm. If your an avid rifle shooter you might be used to rounds that have a good but of ass behind them and want a round with a little..more. Best way to tell what you like is try them. If you have a range that rents guns then you might be able to find the gun that gives you that lovin' feelin' every time you pick it up. Best of luck and I look forward to hearing what you get

your right about when to open carry, i live in a small town called willard but work in springfield, i want to carry more in willard than in springfield as there are to many places that don't allow firearms and i don't wanna risk accidentaly breaking the law. as for the pistols, i have shot some ruger .22's and a 380 lcp(not sure what brand) along with a ruger 9mm and three more 9's. My brother owns a s&w mp9, as for any higher caliber pistol i haven't shot any to my recollection. I went by a pawnshop today and saw a walther p22 for 339$, a taurus 9mm for 365$, and a rock island 1911 for 480$, of course i can't handle any pistols yet so i'm stuck looking and thinking back to the styles i have shot. i'm thinking of maybe going ahead an spending the extra $ for the 1911, but te p22 is clinning to my heart.

sorry i made a mistke in an earlier post the brand is "jimenez" it sells for around 120$ everywhere i have looked.

Wash your hands after touching it.

Jimenez pistols used to be Bryco pistols, and before that they were Jennings pistols. Each of these name changes was the result of a business failure, which should tell you something about the guns.

They are rated by how many boxes of ammo you can fire before the gun breaks normally the firing pins