Brick Armory (NJ)

[Coops]

I am in the market for a handgun and wanted to try out a few different models for comfort, caliber, and make so I went to the Brick Armory in Freehold NJ (recommended by Tequila Sunrise) to shoot a rental.
The staff was friendly and helpful. I selected a Glock 23 to try out.

Rental was $10, 50 count box of .40 S&W $17.99, range time $18. I commented that $18 was a good price for 40 cal handgun ammo if you could even find it. The guy told me the price would be going up next week. They had a good supply of ammo and some customers were coming in just to buy a box or two.

They had a separate display for rental guns. Pretty much one gun in each caliber from 22 through 45 and a few revolvers. The only .40 S&W they had were the Glock 27 which was way too small for my hand even with the magazine extender and the Glock 23 which I picked to shoot.

The gun stovepiped three times in the first 20 rounds. I figured this was due to my limp-wristing so I firmed up my grip and had no further trouble. However, the gun shot low and left. I can put 50 .22 caliber holes in a target the size of a softball at 7 yards so it was not my aim. I mentioned this to the staff and one of them loaded up the gun and went back into the range and fired ten rounds. He came back with the pronouncement that the gun did indeed fire low and left. They broke it down and looked for defects and said it might need a cleaning but otherwise looked ok. There were some old timers hanging out in the shop and they said it was probably from a heavy trigger pull. I think the gun was in the rental rack for a reason.

Anyway an overall pleasant experience and I will go back to try out a 45 or a 9 mm before I make my final decision But at this point I am leaning towards a 9 mm for a more comfortable fit and less recoil. The grips on the larger calibers seem too wide for my hand. I would like to shoot a Beretta PX4 but that is not one of their rental guns. (also it is an illegal weapon in NJ because of the 17 round magazine unless they make a short stack mag)