About once, sometimes as many as three times, a week, I get a call from someone who has little or no experience with handguns, asking me for advice on what kind of gun to buy. Unfortunately, that question falls into the same category as “What kind of car should I buy?”, and the answer is the same, namely, “I don’t know.”
I drive a small pickup with a 5-speed stick shift. I like it, and it suits my needs pretty well. It gets reasonably good gas mileage, it’s dependable, and on those occasions that I need to haul a moderate-size load of something, it handles it nicely. I even like the fact that standard-transmissions are less likely to be stolen. So, all of you should go out and buy a small pickup just like mine…right? Probably not. Your needs, wants, and tastes might differ from mine, and the type of vehicle that works best for you might be radically different.
For those of you new to shooting, there is about as much variety in handguns as there is in cars. And since people come in all different sizes, shapes, and dispositions, the gun(s) that I like may not suit you at all. But I can give you some general guidelines that will help you shop for your (next) gun.
Most importantly, the gun needs to fit your hand. If you have really short fingers, a Glock 19 (which is a very nice, dependable handgun that I like a lot) might not work for you. If you have really large, meaty hands, you might have trouble getting the right grip on a Bersa Thunder or a Lady Smith.
Second consideration is how well you can shoot the gun. If it has too much recoil, or the trigger is too stiff (or not stiff enough) for you, or the grip isn’t right, then you probably aren’t going to shoot well with it.
Third consideration is how easy and comfortable it is to carry concealed. A Desert Eagle or a Ruger GP100 with a 6-inch barrel might be tough to conceal — or maybe not, if you are a fairly large person who customarily wears baggy clothes.
Next comes stopping power. Typically, the larger the caliber, the more stopping power, but there is more to it than that. For instance, a .380, a .38, a 9mm, and .357 are all really the same caliber, but they vary dramatically in stopping power (and recoil).
But everything is a tradeoff. The hand-cannon you left at home because you can’t comfortably conceal it isn’t going to do you much good, and the “mouse-gun” you have with you is certainly more useful. Likewise, the “mouse-gun” you can shoot accurately is going to be worth more to you than the hand-cannon that hurts your hand every time you fire it, causing you to shoot poorly.
If your primary need for a firearm is to protect your home, then the best choice probably isn’t even a handgun. For most people, the best all-around home-defense firearm is a shotgun.
But back to handguns… Choosing a handgun can be tough, and I was recently at the Bullet Trap (one of the two remaining dedicated gun stores in Plano), and I learned of a program they have that may be the answer. For $150, they will let you shoot 16 different handguns under the supervision of an instructor. $150 is a drop in the bucket, and can give you the knowledge and experience to avoid much more costly mistakes. Oh, and by the way, if you take advantage of that program, please tell them I sent you. They won’t give me anything for that — I just want them to realize that one of their competitors is sending them business, and I get a little kick knowing that it actually irritates them a bit that they are getting that referral from someone who runs a highly-regarded CHL class that costs substantially less than theirs. For a little extra kick, ask them if their CHL course fee includes digital fingerprints (mine does).
If you are not from around Plano, Texas, then you might want to do some phone-shopping to see if you can find a similar deal in your area.
One of these days, when I have 16-20 different handguns to demo, I might compete with them on that, too.
P.S. When you pick out the two or three guns you like best, shop around for the best price. The Bullet Trap has some competition there, too. Two that come to mind are Gun Masters, and Academy Sporting Goods.
Edit: You might also want to check out Dick’s Sporting Goods in Allen, and “Cheaper than Dirt” in Fort Worth. If you get a chance to attend any of the regular guns shows in the DFW area, you can probably get a really good deal at one of those, too.
