If you are thinking about buying a handgun, You'll quickly notice that there are lots of options to choose from. Not only are there different types of hand guns, revolvers and semi-auto for instance, but there are numerous calibers to choose from. Today, I am going to discuss how I choose a handgun for me. I am going to leave the debate of which type of handgun to get for another day. We will focus on semi-automatic handguns with a use for conceal carry for this discussion.
- You need to ask yourself: what is the purpose of the handgun I am looking to buy? Is it going to be carried on your person every day? Is it going to be used for home protection? Will it be used solely for target shooting? Once this is determined it will help you decide what type of gun to start looking at.
- Since we are discussing conceal carry firearms today, I recommend that you check out a smaller caliber handgun. A 9mm single stack (this refers to the way the bullets stack in the magazine, a double stack is wider and makes the handle a little wider and sacrifices size for more ammo whereas a single stack is thinner and sacrifices ammo capacity for size of the firearm.) pistol would be my personal preference.
- My personal Favorites include the following because they are all relatively small firearms that are easily concealed and have a variety of holster options available.
- I recommend going to your local gun range or gun store so that you can try out or handle several different guns to see how they feel in your hand. In Tulsa, we have several places that you can purchase firearms and several gun ranges you can try them out at. I personally like to go to Atwoods or Academy to handle the firearms.
- When handling the firearms, what you are looking for is how they fit your hand. You want a gun that you can hold comfortably and securely. For example, I have large hands so the Smith and Wesson M&P Shield 9mm I mentioned above does not work well for me as the handle is short with the standard magazine. However, it does come with an extended magazine which adds about an inch to the length of the handle and then it fits my hand comfortably and I can hold it well.
- My personal favorite out of the three I listed is the Ruger American 9mm compact. This gun comes with adjustable grips to allow it to be thicker or thinner to adjust for the person using it. It is also well balanced and feels very comfortable in my hand.
- When handling the firearms, what you are looking for is how they fit your hand. You want a gun that you can hold comfortably and securely. For example, I have large hands so the Smith and Wesson M&P Shield 9mm I mentioned above does not work well for me as the handle is short with the standard magazine. However, it does come with an extended magazine which adds about an inch to the length of the handle and then it fits my hand comfortably and I can hold it well.
- Once you have found a gun that feels good in your hand you want to shoot it and see how it handles for you. Everyone has different expectations when using a firearm. I am lucky enough to have a gun range in Tulsa that allows me to rent various guns and try them before I buy them. After putting about 25-50 rounds down range, you will know if that gun is the right fit for you.
- At last, you have picked a gun, and you know its the right fit for you. From here the last step is to purchase the gun. This part can be tricky because not every place sells it for the same price. I recommend calling several different gun stores and find the best price for you. You might also check out some of the online gun stores as well since you can sometimes find a much better deal on the internet also. Keep in mind you will have to have it shipped to a FFL dealer that can do your background check and they usually charge a little for this as well.
Check out some of my other posts on the topic guns and keeping children safe around guns.
- How to avoid costly legal fee's if you draw your gun
- Carrying your gun in your car safely and concealed
- The most romantic way to spend valentines day: Shooting at the range!
- Safely Storing Handguns with Children in the Home
- Teaching Your Kids to Shoot at the Range
- Responsible Gun Ownership and Parenting
This post received a 5.0% upvote from @randowhale thanks to @siragrays! For more information, click here!
Good thoughts, thanks!
I really wish I could one that fits me because most are really heavy for my taste, target and protection shooting, sadly where I leave there isnt any school to go to :( or see, of course you can risk it all just go to a store but sometimes you feel force to buy things you dont like that much since you havent try them before.
If weight is an issue, I'd say look at a smaller caliber like a .380, they are pretty small and dont weigh much and are very easy to conceal. A revolver would be another option, of course a snub nose revolver is going to kick a bit more.
Glock 26 is my favorite. Usually though I carry a Taurus PT709 Slim just because it has an actually safety and I've got 3 kids, makes me feel a little better. Great post bro!
i can understand that. Just make sure that when you practice drawing that you incorporate turning the safety off with your draw. Would never want to be in the situation where you draw and the safety is on. The extra time it takes to turn it off could be the difference between life and death.
I too have 3 children in the home and find discussing gun safety is very important. Feel free to check out some of my other articles regarding just that: children and gun safety.
Yeah I totally agree! It has to be muscle memory! I am a former police officer and I have drawn on many people. I have seen rookie officers panic and not even find the gun when their hand goes down. PRACTICE!
Don't just practice at the range when you are all comfortable, look for courses that challenge you.
I try to practice drawing any time I'm alone and can safely do so. Also try to be mindful of my surroundings and try to think about worst case scenarios when I'm out and about and what I would do in those scenarios. Always better to be prepared and not have to react than the other way around.
Ha, that's totally me. We used to live in Houston and I was also staying alert, chose seating in public based on how well I could see etc. We moved to the country last year and I have relaxed allot. Still carry every day and when I'm driving I've got two pistols and a long gun.
I've always sat somewhere that doesn't put my back to the door so I can always see who is coming/going and usually near an exit. Just something I picked up from my dad. He was a sheriff deputy for a long time.
Once upon a time, We in Australia were free to protect ourselves against harm from those who would wish us harm. That is no longer the case anymore, as Our Government took away those rights a while ago.
And it's not a case of just having it out of fear of anything, but just having it as a right of freedom, a freedom that no longer exists anymore, and that was taken away as a freedom, arbitrarily by an imposed law by the Government of the day.
I bought my first firearm off the shelf from Kmart as a sixteen year old, LEGALLY. Never killed anything except feral cats and pigs except for a few native Magpie Geese which we ate at family BBQ's over the years.
I then became a criminal when I forgot to hand in my semi automatic 22 long rifle, as I was interstate and had left it in another state in a cupboard at the time for a few years.
When I grew up as a youngster though, having a rifle was a right of passage, learning how to shoot a rifle was just a part of life, killing an animal to eat and learning how to dress it was a normal part of life.
Why and when did all this change here in Australia ? When did it become all too dangerous and all too harmful for a teenager to learn how to shoot and kill their own food, as was the custom for hundreds of years before ?
When did owning a weapon become a dangerous practice and a need to be registered and controlled by the government of the day and why ? When the majority of gun holders in Australia are law abiding citizens ?
It is truly a shame that these laws were put into place and firearms were taken from law abiding citizens. I pray this never happens in the US. If it does, I guess I'll become an outlaw.
Do you have T.P. for my bunghole? I would hate for my bungholio to get polio.
Mike thanks for the blog on guns. Followed upvoted and resteemed
Good post, hope it helps prospective buyers to make the right decision.
That is the plan!
Zastava M57 is my fav since i remember kinda.
its big, slim, highly reliable, deadly precise, and powerful.
its called simply TT, and nickname is
auntfrom your list of favs, i would take Ruger anytime, rest of these i never tried.
I own both the ruger and the M&P Shield and favor the ruger. I typically keep the M&P Shield in my desk drawer at the office with my cash.
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I have rather 'small' hands so me + desert eagle is like a small child riding on an adult bike haha.
I'm sure having small hands makes shooting larger handguns a tad more difficult. There are plenty of slim or compact models out there that might fit the bill.