Monthly Archives: October 2014

General Information, Guide, Shopping

Considering your first firearm: Part I

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What kind of gun should I buy?

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This is one of the more common questions I get, along with “Should I get A or B?”  It’s not the easiest to answer, because it depends a lot on what you’re looking to do with it.  In this post, I’ll try to address this as easily as possible, and point you in the right direction of further researching your decision.

Luckily, I’ve created a handy chart to help!  Follow along to see which type of firearm may be a good fit for you, and follow the green, yellow, and red lines to examples at different relative price ranges with green being the cheapest and red being the most expensive.

First Firearm - New Page

Basically, you first have to ask what purpose you’re looking for your firearm to fill.  The big 4 roles (and most common firearms for such) here being:

  • Home Defense (Shorter Pump Shotguns, Full Size Handguns)
  • Concealed Carry (Compact and Subcompact Handguns)
  • Shooting Sports (All types, regulations specify specifics)
  • Hunting (Rifles, Long Barreled Shotguns, Big Bore Handguns)

 

DSCN1478DSCN1309b644746_10100331270762683_1519565809_nDSCN1503While there’s obviously a bit of a overlap between categories, and there’s a lot of desire in many new buyers to want to get something to fill as many roles as possible, it’s best to decide what you want most and get something that will fill that role as best as possible for what you want to spend.  The problem of having a Jack-of-all-trades, master-of-none is going to become apparent fairly quickly when attempting to practice or put the firearm to use for it’s intended purpose.

For instance, a common mistake is wanting to get a shotgun that can just as easily be used for sport as it can for home defense.  The requirements are very different for these two roles, and even in cases where it can be readily converted (for instance, a Mossberg 500 / Maverick 88 could have the tactical stock / pistol grip swapped out for a traditional field stock, and the 18″ barrel changed out for a 28″ Vented Ribbed barrel with a choke, or vice versa) it’s rarely going to do nearly as well as it would just have a dedicated platform for what you’re trying to get out of it.

There are exceptions, of course, for instance practical shooting sports such as IDPA, which specifically exist to promote the use of, and thus increase in skill with, personal defense weapons.

For additional help in choosing a specific firearm for sport purposes, this was an awesome read by a true professional in the world of shooting sports.

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Ammunition, General Information

Terminal Ballistics and You! *Controversial!*

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That’s right, I’m tackling *that* subject.  It’s all coming out here.  9mm vs. .45ACP, FMJ vs. Hollow Point.  BATTLE ROYALE!  Yes, this is going to be controversial, as this is one of those topics that will always cause an argument and be basically flame bait on any forum, guaranteed.  Also, while this is opinion, it’s backed up by a video of a very renown doctor who has worked in trauma situations where he’s seen many a gun shot wound which I believe ANYBODY who intends on carrying or keeping firearms for protection should watch.

Before I even bother saying anything more on the subject, here is the video.  It’s long, but worth it.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tku8YI68-JA

So, the takeaway here is this- terminal ballistics between handgun calibers and types of bullets is negligible.  What’s more important is hitting somewhere vital, thus the important bit on the shooter’s end is picking a platform and cartridge that reliably lets them get as many accurate hits on the target as they can as quickly as possible.

What does this mean to people who want to carry a handgun for self defense?  Think less about picking the bullet you think will do the most damage in theory, and concentrate on picking what’s comfortable for you to practice with and carry regularly.  It doesn’t matter how high tech or specialized that piece of brass and lead is if you’re not able to get it on target, or not carrying the firearm that delivers them with you because it’s size or weight is uncomfortable.

Additionally, another argument that comes up is of course between FMJ and HP, or other different rounds.  Again, per the doctor here, the important thing really is penetrating and damaging vital structures.  Another argument that frequently comes up is fear of overpenetration causing injury or death beyond your initial target.  As seen in this video, even with FMJ handgun rounds, chances of a center mass hit exiting the target are iffy, but exiting with enough energy to continue doing damage?   I’ve searched for a long time on this, but if someone could provide me a single document case of a round overpenetrating a person and striking and injuring someone beyond them, especially through walls as is often the argument, I’ll personally buy you a drink next time you’re in the greater Houston area for opening my eyes to it.

The last takeaway here?  Get a shotgun for home defense use, and as always, practice, practice, practice.

I welcome comments to this.  Opinions?  Please share!

Edit, for further reading, with some very interesting statistics that backup the above opinion, have a look at the numbers and graphics collected and assembled by Greg Ellifritz over at Buckeye Firearms Association.