How to Choose Your First Firearm

Many people who are considering purchasing their first firearm at a loss as to where to begin.  Walking into a store with racks and racks of guns on the wall and cases full of pistols can be intimidating.

Part I of this series can be found here.

Where do you start?

There are three basic types of firearms: pistols, rifles, and shotguns.  Each type has its advantages and disadvantages and each type can potentially be a very good addition to your prepping.

Before we get into the types of firearms you may want to purchase, let’s discuss some gun basics.

Firearm Basics

First, when we want to distinguish one gun from another, we typically reference the caliber of the gun or the size of the bullet it shoots.  The caliber is the diameter of the bullet in either inches or millimeters.  If it is in inches, it is written with a decimal followed by a number.  A gun that is .40, or forty caliber, shoots a bullet that is 4/10ths of an inch in diameter.  A 9mm, or 9 millimeter gun, shoots a bullet that is nine millimeters in diameter.

As a general rule, the larger the caliber, the more punch the bullet packs.  An easy way to understand this is to consider this question: would you rather have somebody shoot a paintball at you or throw a baseball at you?  A typical paintball gun will propel a paintball at around 200 miles per hour.  It will smart for sure, but nothing compared to a 60 or 70 mile per hour baseball that thuds into your ribs.  Now consider if that baseball was thrown at the same speed as the paint ball.  A 200 mile per hour baseball would break bones at the very least and would quite likely prove to be fatal.

Recoil  

Another thing to consider is Newton’s third law, “For every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction.”  What does this have to do with guns?  I am glad you asked.  A bullet leaves the barrel under the force of exploding gunpowder.  The larger the bullet and the faster the bullet leaves the gun, the larger the required explosion.  According to Newton, the same energy that is expended to push a bullet out of the gun will also be exerted backwards at the shooter in the form of recoil.

This is an important consideration in choosing a caliber for your soon-to-be purchased firearm.  While you might consider purchasing a .416 Rigby if you were planning on hunting elephants, it isn’t an ideal choice for home defense as it will likely leave you with a concussion after a handful of shots.  In short, bigger is not necessarily better.  Life is often full of compromises and so are guns.  A gun with a tremendous amount of “knock down” power has so much recoil it is very difficult to shoot accurately and certainly isn’t enjoyable to fire.  It just isn’t practical for defending your family.

A Pistol – Benefits and Detriments

When most people think about purchasing a firearm, the first image they conjure up is a pistol.  One of the key benefits of a pistol is it is small and easy to carry.  If your emergency plans include packing up and leaving your home for a more secure location, the portability of a pistol could be a big plus.  Another benefit of a pistol is that it is easy to conceal.  Keep in mind, however, in many areas it is illegal to carry a concealed pistol without a permit.

Now for the downsides:  A pistol is the hardest firearm to shoot accurately.  It is also the hardest to handle safely.  The fact that it is held in the palm of the hand means that it is very easy to accidentally point it in an unsafe direction.  A simple flick of the wrist can move the barrel 90 degrees or more, quickly moving the barrel off target and into an unintended direction.

Revolvers 

If you lived during the 80’s, you are probably familiar with Dirty Harry’s iconic .44 magnum revolver.  A revolver can be a good choice for a pistol, although I would highly recommend against the .44 magnum for a beginner. The recoil is very harsh.  So what does a revolver have going for it?  The biggest advantage to a revolver is that if it fails to fire, all you have to do is pull the trigger again.

The way a revolver functions is very simple.  It has a cylinder with holes running through it from front to back along the outer circumference.  Each time the trigger is pulled, the cylinder rotates and a different hole lines up with the barrel.  The cylinder typically holds six bullets, one in each hole.  If one of the bullets failed to fire, pulling the trigger again lines up a new bullet with the barrel and you’re ready to fire again, so a misfire is a very simple issue to deal with.  The downside to a revolver is they typically hold 6 bullets while most semiautomatic pistols hold 2 to 3 times as many bullets.  Two good beginner calibers for revolvers are .38 special and .44 special.  The recoil from both is manageable and they both have a respectable amount of downrange energy.

Which Firearm is Better? 

Personally, when it comes to pistols, I prefer the semi-automatic as opposed to the revolver.  The only downside to the semi-automatic is dealing with a misfire or jam.  These are rare occurrences with a quality firearm and quality ammunition.  Fixing one of these rare malfunctions is more complicated than a revolver, but a person can learn to do it fairly easily should he be faced with a malfunction.

There are many calibers available, but the two that are most common are 9mm and .40.  The 9mm shoots a smaller, lighter bullet and thus has less recoil.  The .40 shoots a larger, heavier bullet and, as Newton predicted, results in a harder recoil.  However, in the minds of many, the increased terminal ballistics are worth the extra recoil.

.45 ACP is another popular caliber.  It is a more powerful cartridge and many people find it has more recoil than they like, so it may not be for you. It really comes down to a matter of preference and which you feel more comfortable with.  All three will do fine for self-defense.

Which Makes (Varieties) Are Good?

Assuming you have decided you want to purchase a pistol, the next question is which make of pistol do you want to purchase?  There are a number of quality manufacturers of pistols which include, Glock, Smith & Wesson, Sig, HK, and Springfield. To be honest, it is sort of like Ford, Chevy, and Dodge.  They all make a reliable product, but different people will swear one is better than the rest.  I am personally partial to Glock. They manufacture an extremely reliable firearm at a reasonable price.

The majority of law enforcement I come across carry Glocks.  That in itself speaks volumes.  Some people don’t like the feel of a Glock in their hands.  If you have very small hands and a Glock doesn’t fit, you may want to consider something else.

The California Highway Patrol requires all of its officers to carry Smith and Wesson M&P pistols in .40. This isn’t because they are necessarily better, they just happened to win the bid.  When I was initially issued my M&P, I fired approximately 1000 rounds through it without cleaning it and it never malfunctioned.  Even with that reliability, I am still partial to Glocks.  I have fired thousands of rounds through the different Glock models I own and have never had one malfunction.

Choosing the Gun that Is Right for You

Go to a gun store with a range, handle the different makes and models, and see what feels good to you.  See if they will let you shoot the one you like in different calibers to figure out which caliber you are comfortable with.  Unless you plan on carrying your pistol concealed, I would recommend a full-sized model as it has holds more bullets (unless you live in California where you are limited to 10).  In addition to the extra bullet capacity, the extra weight will help offset the recoil.

Practicing With Your Handgun

In closing, if you choose to purchase a pistol, one of the best ways to practice is through dry fire, or aiming and pulling the trigger with a “snap cap” or a fake bullet with a spring in the end of the bullet to protect the firing pin from damage.

Practice Without Bullets

I highly recommend purchasing a laser bullet made by Laserlyte.  It fits in the chamber of your gun like a real bullet.  With each pull of the trigger, the firing pin activates a laser that momentarily illuminates, showing where you would have hit had you fired with a real bullet.  This little device allows you to practice in the comfort of your home without purchasing ammunition.  The purchase price varies from $65 to $99 depending on where and when you buy it, but when you consider the price of live ammunition, this is very cheap practice.  It doesn’t replace practicing with real bullets, but it can do things live fire can’t such as perfecting trigger control without developing a flinch and it is great for developing the muscle memory to get your gun out of the holster and on target quickly and without thinking about it.

There are a lot of imitation laser bullets, but I recommend purchasing the genuine article by Laserlyte.  They are better quality than others I have used and if you have a problem, they stand by their product, no questions asked.  If you have a .40 get the Laserlyte LT-40.  If you have a 9mm get the LT-9.  It is an investment that will pay great dividends in your shooting ability.

Next Monday: Rifles and Shotguns.

Together lets Love, Learn, Practice, and Overcome

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The Author

Caleb Cleek is the husband of one wife, the father of four children, a ten-year law enforcement veteran in the once-great state of California, and author of the apocalyptic Infected book series, which is for sale on Amazon in paperback and Kindle ebook.  Did I mention he really likes guns?