As an Instructor who does a lot of CWL courses, people frequently ask me, “what is the best gun to get for the new shooter?” There is no one answer to that question, or to put it another way, each person is different. For that reason I prefer that I help somebody get their first gun AFTER they take the CWL class. So often I see people who buy a new gun first, and then discover they do not like it, cannot shoot it, or it does not meet their needs. And so often I see people who were “sold” a gun, which was what the salesperson or instructor wanted them to have. Here are a few of the considerations that will play into the decision.
1. What do you want it for? Is it a house gun? A carry gun? If so, how will you carry it?
2. For multiple users? I prefer each person has their own gun for a variety of reasons. One is hand size. It is important to be able to get a good grasp of the gun, and most importantly, to be able to reach the trigger in such a way that it can be drawn straight back.
3. Strength of trigger finger. Some guns, especially small revolvers, have stiff triggers and some shooters cannot pull the trigger well.
4. Strength to manage the slide on semiautos. I will not sell a gun to somebody if they cannot completely function it, including racking the slide and loading the magazine.
5. Caliber. There is no need to choose a caliber greater than the new shooter can manage in that gun, and no benefit to choosing a gun that is not fun and painless to shoot. Practice is a perpetual necessity.
6. In general, revolvers have greater “felt” recoil, since there is no slide spring to absorb some of the recoil for you.
7. In general, smaller guns are harder to hold and harsher to shoot, as they have less weight to absorb recoil.
8. In general, polymer, aluminum and other lightweight guns are harder to control and harsher on recoil than their full metal equivalents.
9. More can go wrong with semiautos than revolvers, so the shooter must be committed to the cleaning and maintenance required of a semiauto if that is their choice. Or, if that is not you, a revolver is much harder to render inoperable.
10. Cost. People talk about certain brands as if they are the only guns to buy. In reality, there are some excellent quality guns priced affordably which have lifetime warranties.
11. Do not think of your first gun as your all-purpose end-all gun forever. When you buy your second, fifth or twentieth gun, you will have different considerations in mind. And good guns hold value over the years if they are taken care of, and can always be sold or traded.
I’m sure there are others, but that’s a start, and if it all sounds hopelessly complicated know that in most cases, when you pick up the right gun and shoot it, it will instantly feel good to you and you will know that is the one for you. For this reason I bring several guns for the new shooter to try out during their live range training.
Call me for any of your gun, ammo and training needs and questions.