The Tactical Edge – June

What you need to know when buying your first gun

Whew!.... May flew by really fast, but the vacation was great. Now we need to get back down to business. In this month’s segment, we hope to answer some questions that are on your mind or should be on your mind when looking to buy your first gun or another gun. With so many people taking concealed carry classes and wanting to get involved in shooting, we felt it was just the right thing to do to help you make that first purchase.

The number and variety of handguns available at any good gun store will boggle your mind if you’re new at this. Even experienced shooters with multiple guns in their arsenal can get bogged down in a large gun store if they don’t do their homework. To help you make your decision, I’m going to list a number of steps for your consideration. Except for the first step, all of these steps are up for discussion. Each expert has his or her favorite gun and they can tell you 100 reasons why it’s going to be good for you, but you have to realize THEY are not YOU. Your needs will depend on your experience, your build, the size of your hands and most importantly of all, your needs.

#1. What is the purpose of this gun

This is a simple question – why are you buying this handgun? Do you simply want to have some fun shooting at the range? Will you use it for personal defense at home or personal defense in general, and will need to carry it around with you all the time? Answering these questions now and establishing a clear purpose for your gun will help you determine later which type it will be, because its size, caliber and barrel will be a factor. A good range gun is a usually a large firearm; bigger guns tend to have less recoil, greater accuracy and better comfort. A large gun is also good for home defense; a comfortable, accurate, high-capacity firearm is a handy thing to have when things get dangerously gnarly. A good carry gun, well, that’s a matter of debate and personal preference. Most – but not all – buyers prefer a relatively small gun. No single gun is ideal for all of the above uses. Finding a gun that is good for all of the above, you will sacrifice some of the fine points of the gun that you need for each individual use. (Being really good with one gun is better than being OK with a range of firearms.) But generally speaking, a do-it-all gun involves unnecessary compromise.

#2. Revolver or semi automatic

Learn the difference between a revolver and a semi-automatic pistol because it will help you choose. They differ greatly when it comes to the firearm’s size, its cartridge capacity, its reliability, how capable you are of reloading a gun under stress, its grip strength, and the list could go on. 

#3. Don’t think of your first gun as your last one

Many first time shooters and/or buyers make the mistake of getting way too attached to their first gun. However, most experienced gun owners will tell you that you quickly outgrow it, for various reasons. There’s no way anybody can convince you of that, of course, so you just need to take their word for it. Do the best you can to find the gun that fills your needs knowing that experience and use will probably change your mind eventually. We all went through that and some of us still are. A highly skilled veteran shooter will still have difficulty leaving a gun store without some new, better toy. I shouldn’t tell you this, but being a shooter is equivalent to being a potato chip eater. You can’t have just one! Once you get the thrill of shooting, never enter a gun store without proper supervision by a spouse or good friend. It’s just too easy to come out with two or three new toys.

#4. The gun must fit your hand

If the gun is either too big or too small to fit comfortably in your hand, you won’t shoot it well and you probably won’t enjoy shooting it. A petite girl probably isn’t going to be comfortable starting out with a large frame 44 Magnum and conversely a big football player type man will not be comfortable with a handgun you can hide behind your belt buckle. Once you determine the proposed use, then you’ll know whether it’s going to be a large frame range gun or a small concealable carry gun. Unless you normally wear a large trench coat, that ideal range gun is not concealable. Getting back to fitting your hand, the grip should be a good fit both in comfort and the ability to properly control shooting it. Before you purchase a gun, make sure you can use it properly. Some of the higher powered semi-autos are difficult to rack the slide if you don’t have the grip strength in your hands. We found this out recently during a class. We picked up several new guns to use for display and show and tell and one particular gun had such strong recoil springs that half of the class could not properly operate the slide mechanism to load a round.

#5. The gun must be a quality gun

There are many good quality pistols on the market today. Just remember that you will get what you pay for. If you want a cheap gun then only spend $125.00 – $250.00 and you will more than likely have wasted your money on an unreliable firearm. One that will jam every other time you pull the trigger. If that is what you have right now, then get rid of it and get yourself a quality firearm. You can have a great quality firearm for around $500.00 one that is reliable and dependable. The question I have for people who buy junk guns for self protection is: what is your life worth to you? Most people think that a gun is a gun. In other words what’s the difference? The difference, my friend, is quality. If you ever need a gun to save your life, you will want that gun to shoot every time you pull the trigger with no malfunctions. Now let’s be real honest: no one can guarantee that even a quality gun won’t malfunction. However the chance of a quality gun malfunctioning is far less likely to happen. The point is why try to protect your life with a cheap piece of junk. If you can afford a quality pistol, then get a quality pistol. 

Never buy a gun just because it’s cheap. Guns are not an area where you want to skimp. A cheap gun might mean it’s poorly manufactured or that it has some problems the seller won’t tell you about. You should know from the start that guns aren’t cheap. So if you’re in this for the long haul, you should be prepared to spend on them, their ammunition and their accessories. The best solution is to buy from trusted and famous brands.

#6. The gun must have a smooth trigger

This is equally as important as the last two requirements. There are some very good quality guns that have a very rough trigger from the factory. However, a good gunsmith can usually fix this with no problem. Having a smooth trigger is very important. Most of the time when a shooter pulls a shot, it is due to a poor trigger press or trigger control. A smooth trigger on a good pistol will make it easier to have better trigger control, thus, better accuracy. 

#7. What caliber do I need

This requirement will depend on the intended use along with your skill set and physical attributes. This is not cast in stone, but will depend on the person involved. Smaller people are more comfortable shooting less powerful ammunition but I have seen tiny people that were very comfortable with 44 Magnums. You have to decide what your comfort level is along with how much recoil can you absorb and still get the next shot off accurately. A 22 is just as ideal as the 45 if you’re target shooting and it’s a whole lot cheaper to shoot. When the purpose of your gun is self-defense then you need to look at larger calibers but still stay within your comfort zone. Most self-defense instructors will tell you not to buy a gun if the first number on the caliber is less than a 4, that means 40 caliber, 44 caliber or 45 caliber. I myself, feel very comfortable carrying a 9 mm with the right type of ammunition. If you’re not sure, then I highly recommend that you take a class with a good instructor who can go over all of your choices and help you settle on the right one for you.

You need to realize that it takes two things to stop a man or an animal, (1) Shot Placement and (2) Penetration. You can shoot a man with a .22 caliber and have good shot placement and good penetration and stop him, or you can shoot a man with a .45 and have real good penetration, but poor shot placement and still not stop him. You can also have real good shot placement and poor penetration and still not stop him. Even if you have good shot placement and good penetration it may still take 12-15 seconds for an individual to bleed out. They can still do a lot of damage to you during that time or even kill you. A man with a gun shooting at you for 12-15 seconds is a long time. And if he is cutting you with a knife, it will seem like an eternity. You shoot and continue to shoot until the problem is solved and you are no longer in danger of death or serious bodily harm. You shoot until he stops all lethal aggression toward you. It may only take one shot or it may take several. There is no set number of shots to shoot in a gunfight. You shoot and continue to shoot until he stops all lethal aggression toward you.

#8. Practice, practice, and more practice

Once you decide on the right gun for you, go to the range and learn how to operate it properly. Practice will develop your skill level which will definitely be needed in the event of an immediate threat. The hard fast rule is that you will react during an emergency by how you reacted during training. The better your trained, the better your reaction will be in an emergency where time is of the essence. I highly recommend that you find a good instructor and take classes, especially classes designed for the purpose which your gun is intended. Even the most skilled shooters will tell you there is no such thing as too much practice. Even if your intent is only target shooting, the more you practice the better your skill level will become and the more fun you will have. Shooting is a great hobby and you will get the most enjoyment out of it when participating with a group of friends. That’s what we do! Most of all, I can’t tell you how much you’ll gain from finding a good instructor and building a good relationship with them. Making you into a great shooter will benefit both of you. 

Well I hope this has been helpful to you, and if you still have questions, please consider taking some classes BEFORE you make this purchase. A good instructor can really be a big help in deciding what is best for you.

Well that wraps up another month’s issue of the blog.  We hope you’re reading it, enjoying it, and most of all, benefiting from it. If you have comments, please send them to us.  We love to get email.  In the meantime, keep your gun clean and your powder dry and take someone to a shooting range or training class with you. You owe it to them to improve their skills and enjoy our sport.