ON SELECTING A HANDGUN
by RFWG Guest Writer Jim Stouffer
Much
has been written on the subject of purchasing your first handgun. This article
will attempt to simplify the jargon and address the topic in order to make your
first handgun purchase a pleasant experience.
There are many things to
consider before you make that first handgun purchase. First, you must ask yourself what the intended use
is to be. If you want a handgun for hunting large game you wouldn’t purchase a
22 cal. revolver. If the intended use is for personal protection and you intend
to carry it, you wouldn’t purchase a 454 Causill or a on the other end of the
spectrum, you wouldn’t be satisfied with a 22 cal. Again, what is the intended use of the
pistol? Single use or multi-use? Will it be for target shooting, competitive
shooting, personal protection, hunting etc?
Let’s assume you want a handgun
for personal protection and you intend to carry it concealed. First, be sure
you are legally permitted to do so in your state. Then there are several things
you need to consider. The question I get
asked most often is, “What caliber should I buy?” The second most asked question is, “What
brand or manufacturer makes the best
handgun?” The answers are quite simple.
Buy the largest caliber that you can shoot comfortably and buy a
reputable name brand handgun. Remember, your life may depend on whether it goes
‘bang’ when it’s supposed to. The next
most often asked question is, “Should I buy new or used?” Well, that depends.
Do you know anything about handguns? Could you tell whether a use gun is in
good serviceable condition or not? If
not, by all means buy new! If you are familiar with handguns and can trust your
life on your judgment then go ahead and look for a good used one.
OK, you’ve decided to buy a new
handgun for personal defense. We will assume you cannot handle a 45 cal. And
have settled on a 9mm. You have a multitude of manufacturers to choose from.
Just to name a few in no particular order there is Smith and Wesson, Glock,
Taurus,
Here is where we get to the
nitty gritty of a handgun purchase. The most important thing to consider is,
does it fit your hand? I’ll guarantee if a handgun doesn’t fit your hand you
won’t like it. It won’t shoot well and you will wonder whether there is
something wrong with it. Proper fit is far more important than how much it
costs! The grip must feel comfortable in your hand and the pad of you index
finger (no deeper than the first joint) MUST be able to pull the trigger
straight back with no reaching, stretching or in the case of a gun that is too
small, no ‘backing out’ of the trigger guard in order to achieve the first pad
position.
The next few items are in no
particular order but must be considered. Do you intend to carry in a belt
holster, inside the waist band, shoulder holster, fanny pack, ladies gun purse?
What barrel length will serve my needs? If you intend to carry inside the waist
band of your trousers a long barreled gun is not for you. Smaller is better. If you intend to carry in
a shoulder holster you can get away with a longer barreled gun.
Do you intend to carry all the
time or infrequently? Handgun weight
then becomes a consideration. 1911 style 45 cal. semi-autos tend to be
heavy. I forgot, we are buying a 9mm. Steel guns are heaviest, polymer frame guns
as well as aluminium frames and titainium framed guns are lightest. The down
side to lighter frame guns is they tend to shoot harder and have more felt
recoil than steel frame guns. I have a S&W model 642 aluminium framed 38
cal. revolver that shoots like a hand cannon compared to my Sig Sauer steel
framed gun.
Should it have fixed or
adjustable sights or maybe night sights? Ah! another good question. Personal
preference rules here. I prefer night sights, the reason being is that most
personal defense encounters occur in low light conditions. If you have never
compared night sights ( they glow) with regular sights you need to do so. As to fixed or adjustable, I opt for fixed on
a personal defense gun for several reasons. Adjustable sights tend to protrude
or stick out more so than fixed and are more apt to hang up on clothing when
drawing the gun. Also, most personal
defense encounters occur at 10 feet or less!
You don’t need bullseye target type accuracy on a personal defense
handgun.
Let’s
regroup so as not to loose our perspective. Let’s say we have decided to
purchase (imaginary) a 9mm. Glock. Glocks fit our hand just fine. It has a
polymer frame so it isn’t too heavy. The
next consideration is this. Glock 9mm’s
come in three frame sizes. To oversimplify it small, medium and large.
The small size (sub-compact) is called the mod. 26, the medium sized frame
(compact) is the mod.19 and the full sized frame (standard) is the mod.17. We
will need to decide which frame size suits our needs. The mod. 26 is suited for
deep concealed carry. The mod. 19 is a good all-around size and very common
among the concealed carry aficionados. The mod. 17 is also good for belt
holster carry if you have a body type that allows you to conceal it. Now to
elaborate a little………………
Types and Sizes: Pros and Cons
Small Frame Pistols
Most little guns are unpleasant to shoot.
Being very light and having small grips, their muzzle flip is very bad. After a
few rounds your hand may begin to hurt. Shoot a match or take a class at
Gunsite with one of these pocket guns? Forget it. If you don't learn to use it,
how much good is it going to do you when the chips are down? In this group, I
would include the small Berettas, Airweight snubnose revolvers, Seecamp .32's
and derringers. There may be a place for these pistols, but they all suffer
from serious inadequacies. The Airweight snubnose .38 Special revolver is a nice
looking gun but it is unpleasant to
fire.
Medium Frame Revolvers
Even though medium frame revolvers have been
around for 165 years, they remain an excellent choice. These pistols are simple
to use and accurate. They can handle hot loads and larger bullets making them
effective personal defense weapons as well as good target shooters. Examples of this class of pistol are the
Ruger GP Series and the S&W Model 66. The ideal revolver would have a
3" to 4" barrel, a six-round cylinder, and a grip that fits your
hand. The biggest drawback of these pistols is the speed of reloading, but with
practice, a revolver can be reloaded as quickly as an autoloader.
Medium Frame Auto Pistols
The overwhelming majority of professional
trainers, operators, law enforcement and military people prefer medium to large
framed autoloading pistols. These pistols have the best combination of speed,
firepower, accuracy, and power. These pistols will generally load 8-10 rounds
in their magazines (or more if you can find the older pre-ban high capacity
magazines), have full-length grips, and 3.5" or longer barrels. These guns
tend to have adequate accuracy, power, and large enough grips to be
comfortable. Examples of this type of pistol would be the Glock 17, 19, 21 and
22, the Smith & Wesson 39xx, 59xx, and 69xx series, the Sig Sauer 22x series, the H&K USP and P7, the
Kimber ProCarry and Compact, the Springfield Champion, Para-Ordnance P12, and
many others.
Large Frame Pistols and Revolvers
Big pistols shoot more accurately, absorb
more recoil, and develop greater muzzle velocity due to their longer barrels. I
would include in this group the Beretta 92, the Colt Government Model M1911
(and clones), The N Frame Smith & Wesson
revolvers, Colt Python, Anaconda and their copies. Characteristically,
these guns have 5" barrels and weigh 36 oz. or more. The biggest drawback
of these pistols is their weight. They get heavy and small framed people may
have difficulty handling them.
Autoloader Action Types
There are four types of actions around which
semi-auto pistols are built. It's important to understand the differences:
Single Action –examples are: M1911 Colt .45 ACP and Browning
Hi-Power 9mm
This is the oldest autoloader design still in
service, designed by John Browning (with the help of the
Army Ordnance Board) during the period between 1905 and 1911. The hammer must
be cocked, generally by racking the slide, for the gun to fire. This design in
.45 ACP, .40 S&W and .38 Super is favored by competitive shooters, FBI
SWAT, FBI Hostage Rescue Team, and many special forces units because it has the
best trigger, outstanding accuracy and is very fast. For the gun to be carried
in a state of readiness, the hammer must be cocked and the manual safety
applied, "cocked and locked" (see "The Conditions of Readiness").
This looks scary and is not recommended for novices or those suffering from
attention deficit disorder.
Double Action/Single Action – examples
are: Beretta
92F (Armed Forces M9), most Smith & Wesson autos, SIG, Walther,
and some Rugers.
This has been the standard design for most
autos for the last 50 years. These pistols are cocked by the first trigger
pull, but subsequent shots are cocked by the action of the slide cycling back.
Consequently, the first trigger pull is long and harder (Double Action) since
it is also cocking the hammer. Subsequent trigger pulls are easy (Single
Action) since the hammer is already cocked. These guns have an external safety
lever which puts the gun on safe and de-cocks the hammer. This is generally
thought to be the safest design since the long, heavy first trigger pull and
the external safety which blocks the firing pin tend to prevent accidental
discharges. The criticism of this design is that it forces the shooter to learn
two different trigger pulls and accuracy often suffers on the first double
action shot. Most accidental discharges with these sorts of pistols are the
result of the shooter forgetting to de-cock the hammer.
Double Action/Single Action with De-Cocker
Only –example is: Ruger and SIG
This is a variant of the DA/SA which is used
by Ruger and SIG. It functions just like a DA/SA except the "safety"
lever is not a safety. It only de-cocks the hammer, but the gun will still fire
when the de-cocker is applied and the trigger is pulled. I personally do not
like this design since the de-cocker looks just like a safety lever but does
not put the gun on safe.
Double Action Only - Glock, Smith &
Wesson Sigma, some Berettas, some Rugers, Kahr, Kel-Tec, and others.
This is the newest action design made popular
by Glock. With these pistols every trigger pull is the same and they have no
external safety or decocking levers. The hammers are not cocked by the cycling
of the slide (except for the Glocks which are pre-cocked by the slide cycle,
and are not true double action). DAO pistols depend on the long double action
trigger pull to prevent accidental discharges. In a sense these are autoloaders
which fire like revolvers. Triggers vary from model to model. Some, like the
Glocks, have very light triggers. Other DAO triggers can be quite heavy and
long, and can be very unpleasant to shoot. The advantage of this action is its
simplicity and the fact that every trigger pull is the same.
Calibers and Power
In descending order of power here are the
most common calibers of pistols, the .45
ACP, the .357 Magnum, the .40 S&W,
the .44 Special and the 9mm., the .38 Special and the .380 ACP lastly the 22
caliber.
The Selection Process
Don't
be in a rush to buy the first gun you see. Give it a lot of thought. Ideally, shoot as many pistols as you can before
you make a decision. Some gun ranges have pistols you can rent to see how they
feel. If you have friends who own pistols, go shooting with them. Most will be
happy to let you shoot their guns and share with you their experiences with
them.
Be
careful about the advice of clerks at gun stores. Some are very knowledgeable but many others are
total idiots. Just because someone works at a gun store doesn't necessarily
mean that he or she is an expert on pistols. They will all offer an opinion,
whether they actually know anything about the matter or not.
I would also maintain a healthy degree of
skepticism toward articles in popular gun magazines. They don’t make money by
trashing the offerings of their advertisers. I have never seen a bad review in
a gun magazine.
Your physical strength and conditioning may
also be a factor, i.e., powerful auto pistols tend to function better for
people with strong arms and hands. How much time do you have to devote to
practice? As a rule of thumb, autos require more training than revolvers, so
don't pick a single-action .45 auto if you're not willing to learn to use it.
As
important as any other single factor is the size and geometry of your hand.
Hand size varies greatly between people and it is very important to handle a gun
and note carefully the comfort of the grip and the position of the controls on
the pistol. If you can't easily manipulate every control on the gun with either
hand, then find a different gun. People with short thumbs may have trouble with
the safety of an M1911. People with short palms may have difficulty with the
thick handles of the double-stack 9mm and .40 pistols. People with meaty hands
may be "bitten" by the slide of a small auto when it cycles.
Ask yourself these questions: Does the gun
feel good in your hand? Is the trigger smooth or is it rough and heavy? Does
the gun have the right balance of power, weight and size. In other words, does
it feel good in your hand?
Price?
It isn’t good
to make a decision on a handgun based on price. No one wants to pay more
than we have to or what is fair, but
price should be the last consideration. You won’t remember a hundred or so
dollars extra you paid for the right pistol, but you will remember the
ill-fitting bargain pistol that doesn’t shoot right or feel good.
Summarization:
…………. What is the intended use of the pistol? Single use or multi-use? Will
it be for target shooting, competitive shooting, personal protection, hunting
etc? Should it have fixed or adjustable sights or maybe night sights? What caliber
and barrel length will serve your needs? What size and weight is comfortable
for you? Length of trigger pull, proper grip size and distance from trigger to
grip is most important, the pistol MUST fit your hand to shoot accurately. Hold
it, feel it, fire it if you can, and recognize that you're going to spend a lot
of time with the pistol. Remember also, that if you are buying for personal
protection, it may be called upon someday to defend your life.
If
you find that you enjoy the shooting sports you may end up buying not only one,
but two or three pistols, each for a
specific purpose. It may be difficult to
decide which pistol to buy, however, here’s hoping you have a most enjoyable
experience.
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