What do you wish you'd known when buying your first handgun?

[kramer5702]

Don't impulse buy, I did that years ago, still regret it. And don't sell it unless you are sure...cause I still wish I had my Bulldog 44 special!

 

[Bigtanker]

I wish I had spent money on training FIRST before I ever bought my first carry gun.

Reasons later.

 

[jsharmon7]

Some of these may be repeats:

1.) Go to a range which rents handguns and test out several. How it feels in your hand, how the trigger feels, how intuitive the sights are, how it recoils, how it field strips, etc. are all very important. You can go to a gun shop and test triggers and how it feels in your hand, but until you actually shoot some rounds you won't know.

2.) Save up until you can purchase the right gun for you. Don't tell yourself that the one you currently have the funds to purchase is "good enough." After you've been to the range and found the right pistol then save up for it and don't settle for something close to it but not quite. It's easy to fall into the "gotta have it now" trap, but you're going to regret it.

3.) Don't get hung up on "power." A .357 snubby may pack a little punch but if you don't ever practice with it because you hate shooting it and ammo is expensive then you're wasting your time. Sure, you could practice with .38s, but you won't be carrying .38s so why train with them?

4.) Spend the extra for a quality holster, quality ammo, quality magazines, and a quality belt. All of these things lend themselves to ease of carry and reliability. There's no need to spend $1,000 on a Kimber only for it to be bouncing around all day and jamming with cheapo magazines.

 

[paul24]

Wish I would have tried more before I purchased one. I definitely should have gone to the range and rented several before I decided to jump in.

 

[BehindBlueI's]

I disagree with the notion you must always train with full power ammo. It depends on what you're working on.

Otherwise, good feedback. Thanks for everyone's input.

 

[cedartop]

My first handgun was pretty much perfect. I was 18 and it was a S&W 686. We couldn't get carry permits in MI back then and I just wanted a handgun. It worked well for learning to shoot and got to do a little small game hunting with it as well. Now years later when I got the job at the prison and as a result a carry permit, then the fun started.

 

[slowG]

Not to sell it

 

[Sirshredalot]

Buy a full size gun!...4" at least... I started with a j frame and although it never bothered me, my wife hated the recoil in such a small gun...first guns are often "shared" amongst family and friends.

Newbies always think small guns are easier because theyre less intimidating...rookie mistake.

Buy name brand....lots of people have good luck with eaa, sar, hi-point and other cheap imoprts, but it sours the experience having a gun that neither holds value, functions properly, or has customer or aftermarket support.

Buy a quality-ish holster and belt. Rookies hate carrying even a lightweight gun in a sagging holster on a floppy belt.
Dont have to spend a lot of cash to get something decent...bull belts are $40 and a galco starts around the same price....leave the uncle mikes alone.

Forget "accessories"....dont buy a light or laser, or bayonet, or tacticool thing-a-ma-bob....learn to use the iron sights, malfunction drills, and reloads without cluttering your mind with all the other gismo nonsense.

Leave the gimmick ammo on the shelf and practice with somthing reliable and affordable...Im sure the marketing for the 1.5" expanding, double slugged, triple struck, double ended hollow-point is awesome...but odds are that it is complete crap and over priced...gotta pay for that marketing. Buy a few boxes of the hornady custom ammo in a medium weight bullets and make good hits on target.
PMC bronze is cheap and reliable.

$.02
God bless
-Shred

 

[bwframe]

[h=2]What do you wish you'd known when buying your first handgun?[/h]

I wish I'd have known to get training on how to use my potential purchase. Training that would have saved me precious time and money on guns, ammo, accessories and gear.

 

[88E30M50]

Don't impulse buy, I did that years ago, still regret it. And don't sell it unless you are sure...cause I still wish I had my Bulldog 44 special!

That is a really good point. I also agree that it sucks to impulse sell. I've sold guns to get the shiny new one only to later regret it. Unless it's something you've been looking for long term, go back home and sleep on it. If you still want it in the morning and you know what you are getting, go for it. Some of my favorite guns are the ones that I saw and did not want. But, they slowly worked in the back of my mind for a while until, weeks later, I picked them up. This group includes my DW CCO, G23, R1S and G30sf.

 

[Leo]

I disagree with the notion you must always train with full power ammo. It depends on what you're working on.

Otherwise, good feedback. Thanks for everyone's input.

I agree with BBI. Training factors include sight alignment, target alignment, breathing, trigger control and recoil management. Other than recoil management, every other factor can actually be trained with snap caps, ie: dryfire practice. Certainly light ammo is still a benefit. Recoil management is no factor in the first shot, and if you have the other disciplines well grounded, you will still be able to make the followup shot. (unless you just plain drop the handgun after recoil) Conversely, you can have a grip like a vise and if the other 4 factors are weak, you will be solid, but likely a solid miss.

I agree that there is benefit to practicing "what you run", but all (disciplined) practice is beneficial, no matter what caliber. I have seen some really proud men humbled by 10 meter precision air gun targets.

 

[jbombelli]

This applies to more than just guns.

Don't scrimp. If you want something specific don't ever get something else just because it's more affordable. Save your money and get what you really want. If you don't, you'll never be really happy with your decision. Every time you look at it, every single time, you'll remember that it's not what you really wanted and you'll never like it as much because of that.

I learned this with guns and drums.

 

[2A_Tom]

Wish I knew then how many thousands of dollars it would take to get me where I am today. I might have instead taken up paper clip collecting, who knows?!?

REPORTED AS SUBVERSIVE!

 

[OakRiver]

As someone who has only just recently a) bought my first pistol, b) started carrying said pistol here is what I found to be helpful.
1.) Go to the range and rent a few different pistols in a few different calibers.
2.) Find the gun that fits you and that you can shoot well
3.) Shortlist some choices and work out what sacrifices you can comfortably make. Full size v compact v subcompact. Striker v DA/SA v revolver. Safety v no safety. And so many others
4.) Do some research from credible sources - is the gun reliable, have other owners found issues with them, is there anything that the gun is missing that you might have to factor into your budget (trigger, sights, etc.)
5.) Budget. What does the pistol cost? How much is the ammo? How much is a good quality holster? How much are cleaning products?
6.) Storage. Where do you plan on keeping the gun if not on you? This is probably more important for those with younger families
7.) Take a training class. I found this really useful when I was still deciding on a pistol, and the class that I took had my primary choice (M&P9C) available to use during the class. This let me try out the pistol with a qualified instructor to help me decide if it was what I wanted.
8.) When you buy the pistol and if you decide to carry then get a good quality holster. Again after much research I settled on an AlienGear holster.
9.) Take the time to set up your holster so it is comfortable. I had to raise the clip on one side of mine to offset the cant and conceal it better. Also when wearing the holster I pulled the belt a notch tighter than I normally wear it because on my first carry I did not do this and the holster shifted a little.
10.) For semi automatics have at least one spare magazine. Murphy's Law means that it will fail when it is most inconvenient and the extra mag will help get it back into operation.


Before I settled on the M&P9C I shot the XDS9, Sig P938, FNX9, XD45, Shield, H&K VP9, Sig 1911, Glock 19, and the M&P9 full size. So there were a lot of range trips there, and I went with a pistol that fit my hand well and matched my criteria.

 

[oldpink]

Spot on with your observation regarding holsters, BBI.
I'm convinced that many people are carrying around smaller guns than necessary because they didn't elect to invest in a proper top quality holster.

 

[Frosty]

C) That anything in .40 S&W is generally stupid when you consider that 1) all handguns suck, and 2) with modern ammunition 9mm is fine and dandy

This. How true this is. That first outing with my new gun was NOT exactly pleasent. Of course I went out and replaced it with a .45, but the point still stands.

The he only thing I wish I would have known before I bought my first gun was that there is a big difference between a SA/DA trigger and a striker!

 

[The Bubba Effect]

I wish I had spent money on training FIRST before I ever bought my first carry gun.

Reasons later.

This, a thousand times this. I wish I had started training when I bought my first handgun, or earlier.

 

[bobjones223]

Just because it is a "Custom" doesn't necessarily mean it is worth to me what you have in it.

I way over spent on the first gun I purchased myself...bought it from a guy who built it custom...sold it to me for the price of parts. If only I knew then what I know now, I'd have a churchmouse special 1911 for the same price as my "OK" 1911...

Did anyone else hear that?....I think I just heard a pop on the west side?....anyone hear from CM recently?

 

[whiteoak]

I disagree with the notion you must always train with full power ammo. It depends on what you're working on.

Otherwise, good feedback. Thanks for everyone's input.

I completely agree...
Back in the "day" when I started out as a LEO we all used .38's on the range and .357 in the field and given the hit rates of that era, vs todays among LEO's it did not hurt a bit. Now the .22upr vs the .45acp duty load may be a bit of a stretch but trigger time is trigger time. Dealing with the recoil is not the most difficult part of hitting with a handgun until you get to heavy hitters like .44mag and up in my opinion. Its all about front sight concentration, and trigger pull for the most part and you can learn that with anything that goes bang and shoots straight.

 

[Sam Wheeler]

Wish I knew then how many thousands of dollars it would take to get me where I am today. I might have instead taken up paper clip collecting, who knows?!?

^! This year has been especially rough on the ol' wallet and it's only the end of April!