I was thinking the other day, about what tips I would give someone getting into firearms.
1: What do you have already.
Now I don't mean this to mean, what have you already bought? More like. What hand me downs do you already own? (Inheritance, guns from family members, etc)
Ie, Does dad have a Marlin 60 you can borrow? Great. Learn all you can about what you have access to. You have it. Why not learn and practice on it. Yes the desire is to go out and get the biggest craziest tacticool thing immediately. But don't. If the hand me down is a common fire arm that is safe to use. Take it out and learn to shoot it safely. This first one is a caveat though. If the hand me down is some crazy old collectible, or something odd. Consider setting it aside and messing with it later once you get more experience.
If you have family or friends you can trust to help you, all the better. You will want all the good help and advice you can get.
2: Rent some guns at a range with some instructional classes.
Now if your unlucky to have anything that falls under step 1, or your step 1 is something your not ready for (grandpa gave you a Luger). You will be starting here.
Find a range that offers training. Get as much training as you can. Then rent various firearms to see what you like. Renting them is a good low risk thing to see what you might like.
3: Buy some simple things first
Okay you have inventoried what you have (if anything), and you have ether practiced with that.. or rented some things to see what you would like.
I would advise to start simple. A simple handgun or a 22 rifle is a good thing to learn on.. Don't buy some tricked out race gun, or some large caliber thing for your first gun. Also avoid the tiny guns the first time out, particularly the micro 9s, mouse guns, etc. Those small guns are going to be harder to shoot for a novice. You want something medium-ish sized. Doesn't need to be brand new ether. But perhaps a low cost surplus pistol of quality make makes the best first pistol. Maybe something from #1 already fills this gap. if that is the case, just consider that your happy with that and skip this step except for the practice part.
4: I have a lot of experience from my step 3 things, but where should I go from there.
Okay, your now gaining some experience, and you have a few thousand rounds through whatever the hand me down, or the cheap first buy is. Well, as funds allow now you can branch out. I will simply put some firearm types in three groups. Start with group 1, then move on to 2 as you gain more experience.
Group 3, is a.. well you may not even want to get one of these.
Group 1:
556 AR Tactical Carbine, or an Intermediate caliber AK.
Pump Shotgun
Smaller micro pistols.
(All of these are things that require a bit more experience to use, and are best left for when you have gained a bit of experience on the items described in step 3)
Group 2
Full power type auto rifle (Battle rifle)
Auto Shotgun
Common milsurp rifles.
Large caliber pistols.
Accessories.. for things in any group. (Before going crazy buying things to stick on your rifle, wait.. figure out if you really need it before going for it)
(Not that these require more experience, your just going to need to sink more money into these)
Group 3.
Long range scoped bolt guns (Honestly, these are a niche need, simply because its going to be hard to find a place to really put these to use)
Collectibles. (This is a whole ball of wax on its own, the weird old guns, Lugers, etc etc. Some of these old guns are quirky as heck)
NFA goodies other then Silencers. (Legal pain in the arse, plus Machine guns are expensive. Destructive devices are too)
(Guns in this range require a lot of experience, cost a ton, and you may just not want to shoot them, or don't have a place to shoot them, these are definitely last if you even go this far)
1: What do you have already.
Now I don't mean this to mean, what have you already bought? More like. What hand me downs do you already own? (Inheritance, guns from family members, etc)
Ie, Does dad have a Marlin 60 you can borrow? Great. Learn all you can about what you have access to. You have it. Why not learn and practice on it. Yes the desire is to go out and get the biggest craziest tacticool thing immediately. But don't. If the hand me down is a common fire arm that is safe to use. Take it out and learn to shoot it safely. This first one is a caveat though. If the hand me down is some crazy old collectible, or something odd. Consider setting it aside and messing with it later once you get more experience.
If you have family or friends you can trust to help you, all the better. You will want all the good help and advice you can get.
2: Rent some guns at a range with some instructional classes.
Now if your unlucky to have anything that falls under step 1, or your step 1 is something your not ready for (grandpa gave you a Luger). You will be starting here.
Find a range that offers training. Get as much training as you can. Then rent various firearms to see what you like. Renting them is a good low risk thing to see what you might like.
3: Buy some simple things first
Okay you have inventoried what you have (if anything), and you have ether practiced with that.. or rented some things to see what you would like.
I would advise to start simple. A simple handgun or a 22 rifle is a good thing to learn on.. Don't buy some tricked out race gun, or some large caliber thing for your first gun. Also avoid the tiny guns the first time out, particularly the micro 9s, mouse guns, etc. Those small guns are going to be harder to shoot for a novice. You want something medium-ish sized. Doesn't need to be brand new ether. But perhaps a low cost surplus pistol of quality make makes the best first pistol. Maybe something from #1 already fills this gap. if that is the case, just consider that your happy with that and skip this step except for the practice part.
4: I have a lot of experience from my step 3 things, but where should I go from there.
Okay, your now gaining some experience, and you have a few thousand rounds through whatever the hand me down, or the cheap first buy is. Well, as funds allow now you can branch out. I will simply put some firearm types in three groups. Start with group 1, then move on to 2 as you gain more experience.
Group 3, is a.. well you may not even want to get one of these.
Group 1:
556 AR Tactical Carbine, or an Intermediate caliber AK.
Pump Shotgun
Smaller micro pistols.
(All of these are things that require a bit more experience to use, and are best left for when you have gained a bit of experience on the items described in step 3)
Group 2
Full power type auto rifle (Battle rifle)
Auto Shotgun
Common milsurp rifles.
Large caliber pistols.
Accessories.. for things in any group. (Before going crazy buying things to stick on your rifle, wait.. figure out if you really need it before going for it)
(Not that these require more experience, your just going to need to sink more money into these)
Group 3.
Long range scoped bolt guns (Honestly, these are a niche need, simply because its going to be hard to find a place to really put these to use)
Collectibles. (This is a whole ball of wax on its own, the weird old guns, Lugers, etc etc. Some of these old guns are quirky as heck)
NFA goodies other then Silencers. (Legal pain in the arse, plus Machine guns are expensive. Destructive devices are too)
(Guns in this range require a lot of experience, cost a ton, and you may just not want to shoot them, or don't have a place to shoot them, these are definitely last if you even go this far)
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