Today, I ran across a question in the comments of a blog;

"What kind of gun should I buy?"

In the last six years of working behind the counter at a gunstore and shooting range, and regularly at certain blogs I haunt, I have heard this same question asked more times that I can even attempt to count. (certainly more than I have fingers and toes to count it on!) So I am going to try to get all of this arranged in a logical fashion, and, maybe next time, I can just type in a URL, rather than trying to remember it all again!

Legal disclaimer: These are my, (I like to think, informed), opinions. I might say something rude about your alltimefavoritegunofalltime, get over it. See the first sentence.
I am not a lawyer, if I suggest that you consult with a lawyer concerning laws of your particular state, you might want to think about doing just that, M'kay? I am just a guy that likes the subject and knows a bit about it. Nothing in this post should be considered to have been carved into stone tablets on Mount Sinai by a finger of fire. If something I say here seems a little odd to you, ask about it. I'm not perfect, and neither is anyone else walking around this world right now. (Not even She Who Deigned To Marry Me, since, after all, she doesn't like The Princess Bride...^shaking my head in bewilderment^)


1: Decide what you want it for.
Are you looking for something to shoot for the fun of it?
Are you looking for a hunting weapon?
Are you looking for a self-defense weapon?
If so, is it going to stay in your home?
Are you planning to maybe have it in your car with you?
Are you planning to carry it?
Will you be carrying it concealed or openly?
Are you looking for a TSHTF, or TEOTWAWKI gun?
Or are you looking for an investment?
What sort of budget do you have for this acquisition and it's care and feeding?
How often are you going to be practicing with it?
How much budget do you have down the road for ammunition?
How much physical strength and grip strength (not the same thing at all, all!) do you have? How much experience do you have with firearms?
All of these questions will change the answer, I will try to remember do deal with all of them as I toss out some recommendations at the end.

2: Once you have answered the budget question, (how much can you afford?), and the purpose question, (what the heck do you want to do with it?), hie thee hence to a range which rents guns. Look at what is for sale in the counter, see what is in the price range you are working in, then see what they have in the Rent-a-Rides that is in your price range and reasonably close to what you are looking at buying. (It is vanishingly rare that what is in the counter will exactly correspond to what is in the rentals. But it has been known to happen. Usually, you will have to settle for "close enough") Rent those pistols which are in your price range. Pay attention to how they feel in your hand, are there sharp corners that are poking into you? Can you get a good, secure grip on it? Does it feel comfortable to you? If so, do the rental, get a box of ammo and a target or two, and get out to the range. (Don't forget the hearing and eye protection! (The range will generally have it for rent, but it never hurts to have your own (you can always use it when you are mowing the yard and running the string trimmer around. What's that? You don't wear any protection when mowing and trimming? Oh, well, you probably won't be reading much longer, then...)))

Now, you are on the range with your rental. Do something for me before you load it. Run a target downrange. Get your grip. Look at the target and focus your eyes on your aiming point. Now, here's the part that is going to sound strange. Close your eyes, and point the weapon at the target. Now open your eyes and look at the sights, and how they are lined up. If the sights are aligned with each other, and the spot you were looking at on the target, you will probably be accurate. If they are not, well, try adjusting your grip, then repeat the exercise. If you are still way off, perhaps you need either a different set of grips on the weapon, or a different weapon.

Now, load it and shoot it. See how it feels to you. See if you are hitting the target. See if you are hitting it where you want to hit it. If you are jumping out of your skin each and every time it goes off, well, maybe you need a bit more hearing protection. Like, plugs and muffs. Maybe you have too much gun for your level of experience. You will have to make that decision, I can't do it for you. Maybe it's just too busy in there, and you are nervous because of the noise of the other shooters around you. Again, I'm not there. Try shooting it one handed. Try a few rounds with your off hand. Do you like it? Can you hit with it? Good. Now go try a couple of others, just to make sure that you are not settling for second best. Keep notes. (You might have to make more than one trip to decide, you see. And telling the guy behind the counter that "it was that little silver one with the black grips that I really liked" might not be much help. Particularly when there are twenty different pistols on the wall that fit that description...) When all the testing is through, lay down your money and start doing your paperwork. Congratulations, you are now a Gun Owner!

Is there another option besides going the range and renting? Of course there is! If you have friends that own firearms, you might be able to talk them into a trip to the range to let you try their stuff. Most shooters will be willing to let a friend try out their toy(s). Offer to pay for the range time and ammunition. It's the right thing to do. Even if they tell you not to worry about it, the gesture will still be appreciated.

Do a little research on your own, too. Take a look around on the 'Net. Buy a few magazines that cater to the firearms crowd. Read and understand them. (just remember, the gun mags will tend to focus more on the extreme top end of the market. They like to do reviews on $1000+ pistols. That's all good, but if you don't have that sort of budget, you might not learn as much about what you need. And they will also focus on the latest and greatest. If what you need and want isn't in that category, well, look elsewhere.) Ask questions of the counter people at the range. That's what they're there for, after all. Just try to keep it real, if the customers are lined up three deep at the counter because every station on the range is changing out in a five minute period, wander around the store and look at things for a few minutes, let the crowd die down. There are very few folks behind the counter that don't like talking guns. But we prefer to answer complex questions when we have time to breathe, 'kay? (Check the notes at the bottom, because there are a few things to watch for in the answers you get. I'll get to some examples later, and you have to watch for these from EVERYone, not just counter help.)

3: Get as much gun as you can handle. Oftentimes I will see responses such as "Get a .357 snub nosed revolver." I have been tempted to reach across the counter with a Gerber multi-tool and Spyderco in my hands to rip the tongue out of some idiot that comes in with an extremely petite wife saying "She's never shot before, so I think she needs a .357 snubby 'cause she's got such tiny hands." See that thing above about "as you can handle"? Well, this is where a little common sense and an understanding of the laws of physics comes into play.

Yes, a snub-nosed revolver is small. They are that way for a reason. So that they are easy to conceal. Not so that they are going to be easier for small hands (with no experience at shooting!), to use. Now, if you have the experience previously, or the willingness to gain it now, and the steadiness of nerve and the strength of hand to gain it, there are very few weapons, in my opinion that are as effective as a small .357 magnum.

If not, well, it's not a really good idea. And it's a poor place to start learning.

(You see, it's all a matter of physics. For every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction. In the firearms world, this is manifested as recoil. This is the tendency of a firearm to move backwards as it is fired. Remember that "equal and opposite reaction" thing? Well, you have a small object being pushed out of the barrel at a high rate of speed. When this happens, the firearm, be it rifle, shotgun, pistol, or revolver is pushed backwards. Obviously, the firearm weighs far more than the bullet. (There are exceptions, but we're not talking recoilless artillery here!) So the more the pistol weighs, the less felt recoil you will have to deal with.)

Okay, you've made your choice, bought your new pride and joy, brought it home.

Now, for this next part, I am going to assume that you bought your new baby for the purpose of personal protection, probably concealed carry.


And I assume you bought all of the necessary accessories to go with it. You know, hearing and eye protection for range work, range bag to carry your ammo and cleaning kit (you DID buy a cleaning kit, right?), protective gear, holster(s) (yes, that's a plural. As you go along, you will understand why. Trust me on this one, your average gun owner probably has about three for every handgun in the safe...), and all that other stuff that winds up in range bags the world over. You don''t have to do it all at once. And, contrary to popular belief, you don't have to buy a specialized bag for it. That old laptop bag or briefcase in the corner of the closet will do the job quite well. But you will eventually have one. Start looking now.

What kind of holster? Well, that's up to you. But do some more research. Talk to the same people that you talked to about your gun. Talk to your Concealed Carry Instructor. Talk to the people at the range. Tell them your situation. Don't be afraid to ask if you can try a particular holster rig on. Most ranges in my experience will not have a problem with this if you just ask them first. And you may find, after all is said and done, that you have bought something you can't work with. Now, you know where that comment about multiple holsters came from. (As an aside, do NOT attempt to carry without a holster. It's a quick way to find yourself with unexplained injuries caused by keys through the trigger guard, etc. Also, just dropping a gun in a pocket or purse will pretty much guarantee that, should you need it, it will be turned the wrong way, snagging on something, or full of pocket lint. Get a holster and USE IT.)

Now that have your new baby, what do you do?

Three words of advice. Practice. Practice. Practice.

Go to the range. Shoot at targets. Shoot at as many targets as you can, as often as you can. It will make you a better shooter. Trust me on this.

Go home, clean your weapon. Get all the excess oil off of it. Then put on your holster.

Ensure that your gun is unloaded. Double check. Get all the live ammo out of the room.

Check it again.

Quadruple check.

Check one more time.

Maybe even again. Now, you practice. Practice your draw. At first, do it with just your holster and a t-shirt. Don't worry about a cover garment, (what you wear over your pistol to conceal the fact that you are wearing it. You will have learned about this stuff during your research phase.), just your weapon and your holster. Do it slow. Watch what you are doing at all times. If it helps, watch yourself in a large mirror. Have a friend watch you. If you have a video camera, take videos and review them. What you are looking for is mistakes. Putting your finger on the trigger before your sights are aligned with your target. Pointing it at your own body. Pointing it at things you don't want to point it at, like the someone that might be standing next to you.

This is serious business. Make sure that the friend watching you is actually watching what you are doing, and isn't just there to make sarcastic remarks while not paying attention. If you are watching yourself practice in a mirror, watch your weapon, and what it is doing, not the expression on your face, or your buddy beside you. And go slow. And if you make mistakes, accept the fact that you did, decide how to keep it from happening again, and move on. Try to catch any mistakes that you might make as early as possible in the game.

Why do I say to go slow? Well, it's like this. What you are doing is called "muscle memory exercises". It's like typing on a keyboard. When you first started learning to type, you had to think about every move you made. So, (if you took a typing class like I did back in the dark ages), you typed the same key patterns over and over again. Then you started adding keys to the mix. Before you knew what was happening, you were touch typing. And you didn't have to think about what you were doing anymore. This is the same thing. You are building a set of actions that you do not have to think about to make them happen. You just think to yourself "Draw!", and the gun is in your hand.

This is the reason to spend so much time on slow movement, and perfecting the motions. Because mistakes you make now will still be there later. And you will have to unlearn what you have, and learn a whole new set of actions. It's not an easy thing to do, so avoid it if you can.

Now, those snap caps and dummy rounds? Those are to practice loading and reloading with. And it's the same thing. Go slow, think about what you are doing. Take your time. Do it right.

Practice your malfunction drills. Get a book or two on self defense with a handgun. There are drills in there. Follow them. No, I don't make recommendations. I've read a lot of them, and taken things from all. Read and study all that you can find.

And practice.

Now, a few end notes. Sometimes, you will find a gun that you think you would really like if it just had a different grip on it. Aftermarket grips are available for just about everything out there. Just be willing to look around and see what you can find. I personally am not a big fan of finger grooved grips, but that's because my fingers are too big around to fit into the little grooves on them. But that's just me, and I am notoriously difficult to please.

Now, about those recommendations from people. Beware of any recommendation that sounds too much like a soundbite. One of the classics (I had a customer tell me this one once while I was discussing options with a woman he had brought into the range), "A Glock doesn't fit some people's hands because it's too big around. That's why it doesn't fit yours." This while I was explaining the concept of renting and trying a number of different handguns before buying one. I have to wear a XXXL glove in order to have fingers on the glove long enough for me to get my entire finger into them. I have an eleven key reach on a piano. I do not have small hands by any measure. But this inDUHvidual had read in a magazine that Glocks were only a poor fit for shooters with small hands. His mind was made up, and he didn't want to be confused with the facts about ergonomics.

So take everything you read and hear with a grain of salt. Even this long and boring essay. I don't claim to be an expert. I'm just a guy that's spent a lot of years shooting everything he could wrap his grubby mitts around, and teaching others to do the same.

In the end, it all comes down to what works for you, and you are safe with.

Now, as threatened, a few recommendations from my grubby mitts.

If you are looking for just something to shoot and have fun with, and improve your skills with, get a good quality .22LR. A Ruger MkII or MkIII is a very fine start. Yes, there are other good .22 pistols out there, but I haven't seen one yet that has the total reliability of the Ruger without other features I consider undesirable. Some have springs that go sproinging across the room on disassembly. Some require tools to disassemble. Sorry, I don't particularly care to be digging out an allen wrench to take my pistol apart to get a little mud out of it.

For a hunting gun? Well, for rabbits and small game, look above. For big game, you probably know what you want already.

For self defense in the home? Well, it's hard to beat a shotgun, 12ga or 20ga. After all, the shotgun has a definite authority when it comes to goblin discouragement. (As an aside. I hear quite often that "you don't have to aim a shotgun, just point it at 'em. You'll still hit". WRONG! The standard figure for a cylinder bore shotgun is that the pattern will expand approximately one inch radially per yard traveled. In other words, at fifteen feet, the pattern will be approximately ten inches across. In my experience, this is optimistic, particularly with buckshot loads. Five or six inches is generally what I have observed. You still have to aim, particularly at house ranges.)

For personal defense, carried, well, I think I covered that in the rest of this. Just remember that if you are in an open carry area, (yes, they do exist in this country, I live in one), the equipment will differ, as you no longer have to concern yourself with hiding it from casual passersby.

If you are interested in TSHTF or TEOTWAWKI, (think the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, The Rodney King Riots, or any other similar situation), then I would be more likely to recommend a rifle, depending on budget, anything from an SKS, AK clone, M1 Carbine, or AR-15 up to a Springfield M1A. That all depends on your budget and preferences. Just make sure that it's reliable, in a decently powerful caliber that you can get and keep ammo for. And that you don't need a toolbox to care for it. Reliability is the key.

How much are you going to practice with it? This is a key thing for self defense purposes. If you are going to be shooting "every once in a while", I would recommend starting with a revolver. They are much simpler to deal with in the event of a malfunction. In an autoloader, if it fails to fire, you have exercises normally referred to as the "Tap, Rack, Bang". And you might have simply neglected to take the safety off. Or you might have turned it on during the "Rack" phase above. (see below) With a revolver, as long as it is loaded, if it fails to fire, you simply try firing it again. A new round moves into place, and it will probably go off when the hammer falls.

How much experience do you have? If you were in the military, you probably spent a lot of time with the M-16 platform in one of it's many versions, and possibly the Beretta 92. Now, personally I am not fond of the Beretta 92 from a reliability standpoint. We had a student in an advanced pistol shooting class tie up three of them in one night. Nothing that was not repairable, but still... That said, they are wonderful feeling guns, accurate, all of that. (Save that I don't like the safety either, too easy to put it on safe during a clearance drill...) And, if you have experience, you probably already know what you want, if you don't have it already.

If you are looking for an investment? Whatever your wallet can afford. Nearly every quality firearm ever made was worth two to three times or more twenty years after it was made than when it was new. But that assumes that whatever you invest in doesn't get banned from either possession or further transfer. (See: California, New York City, Washington DC, Chicago.)

Budget. Just from a standpoint of reliability, spend as much as you can. If you can only afford an extremely inexpensive firearm, buy the best and newest that you can afford, shoot it enough to know what it is going to do, then upgrade as soon as you can. Or see what you can find in the used market that is of good quality that you can still afford. When you go looking, take someone with you that knows how to tell if a firearm is in shootable condition. It may be ugly, or have a bad finish on it, but if it was a quality firearm to start with, and is mechanically in good shape, then it's better than something brand new that was made of cheap pot-metal that may or may not live through one hundred rounds of ammo. Recently, there were a number of Smith and Wesson Model 10 revolvers in .38 special for sale at very reasonable prices. I didn't see a single one of them that I would be afraid to own. They may not have been the prettiest thing on the table, but the mechanical condition was good. Go to a gun show and look around, see what you can see. But take someone with you, okay?

And, just a quick note on ammunition. People ask all the time what we recommend for self defense ammo. What we steer them towards is the same brand and bullet type carried by the local county sheriff and police department for duty use. Why do we do this? Simple, really. Let law enforcement do the research, and, should you find yourself involved in a shooting, and are asked "Why did you use this kind of dangerous hollowpoint ammunition?", it's very comforting to be able to say, "Because that's what the cops carry!".

But check with an attorney. Some states restrict the civilian use of expanding (hollowpoint) ammunition. Make sure you won't have this problem before it happens.

That's enough for a first post in a newly reopened blog, I think.

Happy shooting, and you take care.