Bought my 1st handgun today

[neck4752]

Well put half on it and I pick it up on Tues. because I had to meet a freind to go fishing and didnt want to do all the paperwork today.
Anyway it was a toss up between a 9mm and a .40 S&W....
I got the .40 I know little about handguns so what is the kick on this baby gonna be? Any pointers for my first time shooting it. The only calibers I have shot before this in handguns were .22's
Anyway the gun is a Smith and Wesson 40VE and i got it brand new for $289. I think I did good I have been shopping around for sometime now.

Just wanted to get all your opinions on the gun and what to expect from this caliber.

THanks
Jim

[biscuit jake]

Well, safety first, so read the manual and wear earplugs! This will damage your hearing if you don't. I don't know if you have fired rounds that potent before, so just a couple general things. Expect to be startled the first few times you shoot. You will get used to it. Never put your thumb up behind the slide while shooting. Shoot with two hands. After some warm up rounds, Use a 6 oclock hold on your target. Allow your focus to be mainly on the sight plane between your rear and front sight. That means the bull will blur a little. No big deal. What this means is that your sight alignment will stay good, and enhance your accuracy. Enjoy!

[neck4752]

thanks for the response Jake. Only other guns I own are a 12ga shotgun a .50cal muzzleloader and a .22. So this round will be big to me. Is the kick as startling as when you first shoot a 12ga.? How do you reduce hand shock or recoil?

Thanks
Jim

[biscuit jake]

'hope I wasn't too basic as I can tell you have been shooting fer awhile. :-)

Recoil is a pretty subjective thing. In all likelihood you will grow at ease with the .40. Any pistol can possibly be startling at first; in any defense calibre, that is a fair amount of uproar in your hand. If you find it unpleasant to shoot after x rounds, one option is to get custom grips, or, more cheaply, a leather pair of work gloves and cut the finger covers off. That way, the sense of the trigger remains the same. But I doubt that this will be necessary for you.

Nothing kicked harder than my Pop's old recoil operated Remington 12 gauge! The advantage with a pistol is that you just let your hand flow up and back with the shot. Built in recoil reducer!
Bet you will grow to enjoy this handgun.

[akbound]

Hi neck4752,

Sorry my response is so late but in case you haven't been shooting yet. The .40S&W recoil is fairly vigorous but it is far from punishing, (especially in a handgun the size of S&W's Sigma's). You shouldn't find the .40's recoil painful but what you will probably notice is the abrupt recoil impulse makes it a little difficult to make multiple shots on the target rapidly with good accuracy.

As long as you grasp the handgun with a good consistent grip I think you'll find shooting your new S&W to be fun and challenging. Let us know how your first range session goes!

Dave

[SHoNUFF]

replace the trigger and adjust the pull... NEwho enjoy you new pistola