When it comes to choosing the right firearm, I think people don’t do enough diligence on the front end. This regularly results in an experience summarized as “it’s not bad” whereas I think it could easily be “wow this feels perfect for me”. A lot of gun owners end up at that feeling, but often after a lot of personal trial and error and boy howdy…a lot of money spent in buying one or multiple guns they later wish they wouldn’t have first. The “perfect for me” feeling builds a lot of excitement, and most importantly, confidence. I believe confidence is the biggest obstacle to someone trying shooting for the first time, having a great first experience therefore shooting again, and then eventually owning a gun.

This is a dense article with a lot of detail especially for those that are novices to guns. About a 40 minute read depending on your pace. If you’re closer to intermediate than true beginner of being around guns but still want some suggestions, feel free to skim a bit quicker. For those that are new, reading this article will provide a lot of detail so you can ideally avoid a “so why do people cheer when the quarterback throws the sports ball for a three pointer?" moment in understanding some basics.

There are a lot of small nuances of how much guns can vary. Not so much in accuracy, but factors that many don’t even think to look for. Below I give more depth to each of those to navigate finding the right handgun for you and what current gun owners wish they knew and considered before their first purchase(s). The gun industry is large with many options. It's like drinking from a fire hose to a novice, and this is a topic that is already overwhelming enough. We’re not talking about toothbrushes, these are tools that, when loaded, send small projectiles thousands of feet per second with five pounds of finger pressure. There’s many reasons people don’t own or get into guns. I don’t need to spell that out, because if you’re here, you’re at least intrigued enough at the thought of ownership based on the title alone. Diving more into those reasons is for another day.

To me, I look at gun ownership and finding the right one, being like country music. Tons love it, but many didn’t grow up listening to it, or with their limited exposure don’t prefer it. In my experience, I have always been able to find and show everyone at least one song they end up liking. Same thing with guns, I believe there’s one out there for everyone.

1. Price

This is the most important part of the conversation to establish the baseline of where you need to look from there. Have $400 to work with? There’s a huge part of the market to ignore. If spending $1,200 right now isn’t a problem (or across 4 months at 0% APR as some online buyers have that option) then that opens up a whole other lane for you. $3,000 like losing some pocket change? My friend, you are in the fun zone.

The standard base models for many popular reliable brands will typically have many offerings between $300-800 pre-tax. To break things down in a more relatable way for new gun owners I like to compare firearms to cars. Everyone has ridden in one, nearly as many own or have owned one.

The $300-800 guns are like the non-luxury sedan market. Brands like Toyota, Ford, Honda, GM, Mazda, etc. They all look pretty similar, have pretty similar amenities, and cost about the same across brands. Reliability can vary, with some having by far the strongest reputations, but all generally work pretty well. Then once you get into the $800-$2,000 handguns, you’re looking at that first luxury like Mercedes, BMW and Lexus. $2,000-$10,000+ stock handguns is when you get into cars in rap songs territory.

There are typically three different sizes of sedan that most vehicle brands sell: compact, mid-size, and full size. For instance, Toyota has their Corolla, Camry and Avalon for each of those categories, in order. Gun companies that sell pistols are usually the same with their micro compact, compact, and full size options. Many have subcompacts which are usually the compact with a shorter grip with less capacity, and shorter barrel so it’s easier to conceal carry. It’s more of a direct comparison rather than micro-compact to compact.

For simplicity, I will lump micro and subcompact together for most of the article, and am also only talking about base models in these car and gun examples. Many gun companies can have a stock pistol that they can trick out adding hundreds more in cost, same with cars. Sticking with Toyota as an example, the lowest trim Corolla is about $23,000, but the highest trim can cost up to $50,000.

PSA Dagger Compact Base model (black) vs the tricked out version (camo) sold by the same company with hundreds of dollars in price difference.

With the $300-$800 guns, slap on an extra $50-$100 when it comes time to actually buy one. That includes tax, and any fees which your state may have or you incur when you buy online. Buying guns online is perfectly normal and legal, but guns can’t be sent to your door, so you have to send them to an FFL.

An FFL is a federal firearms license that enables a company to engage in business pertaining to manufacturing, importation, and interstate/intrastate sales of firearms and ammunition. In simple terms, you can’t buy a gun and have it show up at your doorstep if you don’t have an FFL (I know, I know, I THOUGHT THIS WAS AMERICA). You can however have ammunition sent straight to your door when bought online. For firearms, people generally choose a gun store near them to send it to if they don’t already have a preferred person or store that has an FFL. The store typically has a fee for doing this transfer, because even though you bought it online, you’re essentially buying it from them now, as they conduct the background check and then transfer ownership to you physically. The fees local to me in Austin, TX are $35-50. I am not sure of other states so if you’re curious, most gun stores have it listed on their website or you can call and ask.

For now, that is all for pricing. I will have some general recommendations and models to look into at the end based on a few categories. Before that, I want to cover all other criteria so it will be a little easier to narrow down which ones you want to try and then consider for purchase when the time comes.

2. What You Want to Use The Gun For

Before I dive into the variety of arenas someone may buy a handgun for, I want to lay out the sizes and styles with how they differ from each other, and then explain what they are best suited for.

Back to the three different sedan and pistol category examples. Compact cars are least expensive with the best MPG, but also have the least trunk space + leg and head room, lowest gas tank size and lowest horsepower. Micro compact pistols are most easily concealed (carry on your person without being noticeable), but have the lowest magazine capacity (how many bullets fit in the magazine you insert into the gun) and strongest recoil (how hard the gun “kicks” in your hand).

Contrary to popular belief, the little baby guns don’t kick less because they’re small. It’s the exact opposite because they are much lighter and have less weight to absorb that recoil. People don’t buy micro compacts because they’re the funnest to shoot, they buy them because you can hide them on your person like you wouldn’t believe. They are also the hardest to shoot accurately because of their shorter, more concealable barrel lengths. The longer your two end points are on a barrel that you can line up if using the front and rear sight, the more accurate you will be and longer the bullet will go perfectly straight. This is why it’s so much easier to be accurate with a rifle at longer distances vs a handgun. A standard micro compact barrel is usually 3 inches or less, the standard rifle barrel is 16 inches. Compacts are usually 4 inches and full size up to 5 inches, but that makes a huge difference in the scale of the gun. That’s 40% more barrel between full size and micro-compact.

*Handgunhero.com is a great site to compare gun sizes online. The micro compact Bodyguard 2.0 on the left weighs 11.4 oz vs the M&P9 2.0 weighs 28.1 oz*

Compact guns are a nice blend of capacity and lessened recoil while still having some concealability and fitting many hand sizes. Mid-size sedans have a nice blend of MPG and horsepower with a few more amenities and will be comfortable for most people to sit in. Key word there is most, which leads to the next category, full size. For those with large hands, many micro compacts and some compacts can be uncomfortable in the hand. This is generally accepted in the trade off of concealed carry so it doesn’t print easily (print is the term of your gun being noticeable as your clothes press to it and the shape can be easily seen and identified as being a gun). The bigger the gun, the more likely it is to print. Grip size on a pistol for those with big hands is the same with very tall people in sedans. Full size handguns are going to have the biggest grips, and full size sedans are going to have the most head and leg room compared to the two smaller options. Not everyone jives with a sedan, but thankfully there’s a full size pistol for nearly every hand size.

Many people with smaller hands do great with full-size too, it’s more the reverse that’s a problem for some. Rounding out the car and pistol comparisons, full size sedans still usually have solid MPG but a lot bigger gas tanks and horsepower, similar to the largest magazine capacity for handguns being the full size. I know horsepower isn’t the best 1:1 comparison since all of these handguns usually have the same caliber bullet, but being able to send 17 bullets at something vs 8 of them should be pretty self explanatory in every sense of the word of why that’s more powerful to have.

Ok, we’ve had a nice fill of car comparison talk. Let’s get down to the common reasons people want to own a handgun and what to consider for each. Aside from some that can be used for hunting, I sum it up to owning them for one or all of these:

Fun

Home Defense

Conceal Carry

I think fun can be accomplished with pistols that also serve the other two categories, but recognize some may not be at that step yet. Do I think personal defense should be the ultimate end game of everyone who chooses to own a firearm? Yes. I think good training and proper discussions can quell any reservations, and make having the skills and confidence to own for defense a pretty quick timeline. It doesn’t need to be a meandering saga of drama. Millions and millions of people safely and confidently own guns for self defense. 21 million have concealed carry permits. I’m sure not all of them carry, but this also doesn’t factor in 2A states that let you carry without a permit. I’ll lay out my reasons for why I think people should own a gun for self-defense another time, and link it here when I eventually do.

Fun

The biggest factor when it comes to fun, is recoil, and liking how the gun fits in your hand. Liking how it fits in your hand matters hugely in this and home defense. Conceal carry sometimes has to have a concession on the most perfect hand fit for being easier to carry based on the method most comfortable for you, which results in you carrying the most, which is the whole point of it.

For recoil, that’s where I think many have a bad first experience with guns or get turned off from owning one. A lot of people get thrown into the deep end and immediately jump into shooting a 9mm, the most popular handgun caliber in the world. Some even larger calibers. Now, 9mm recoil is fine for pretty much everyone with the right pistol selection and as they get comfortable with guns, but you need to remember the context of the situation for that being the first exposure. Everyone is scared their first time shooting, it’s extremely indimidating for many. That’s why I like to start every person I train how to shoot, on a .22 caliber pistol. Any .22 caliber gun has about the smallest recoil in existence for firearms that shoot live rounds. I shot .22 rifles and pistols as a five year old and there was no discomfort, the kickback is very very minimal. It cuts the tension of fear and gives the confidence of hey, great job, you just shot a live handgun. Let’s do it a few more times, then jump up to the next caliber. It didn’t bite your hand off, it was fun.

*The guns I shot most as a kid. A Remington Youth Model 870 20 Gauge Shotgun, a Chipmunk .22 Bolt Action and a .22 Single Six Revolver*

The standard 5.56 caliber AR-15 looks intimidating to many and is loud, especially when shot indoors, but is actually not much bigger than the .22 bullet and has very minimal recoil. It’s a lot of fun to shoot.

So, all of that to say, shooting guns with practically no recoil is the funnest way to do it. Shooting big guns are awesome but the recoil gets tiring. There are many different calibers and gun styles that make shooting a 9mm and larger handguns a breeze. The most popular semi-automatic calibers I train people with aside from the .22 are .380 and 9mm. If you want more pop than a .22, there’s a few great pistols that shoot .380 with low recoil, and a ton of options for 9mm. There are not many larger compact or full size pistols that take .380 as it’s not as popular of a round. While it’s close in size and power to a 9mm, unfortunately it’s 25% more expensive. For a 9mm with lower recoil, look at full size (fs for short) handguns, or compact/fs that are made of all metal. Those heavier guns will absorb more of that recoil. It’s tiring to hold up for longer if you’re shooting for a few hours, but shooting costs can add up quickly where your wallet will get tired before your arms do anyways. There’s many other handgun calibers one can shoot, but I think .22, .380 and 9mm are simplest and a great entry point for new gun owners.

So, when it comes to fun, here are my recommendations:

.22 caliber - nearly zero recoil in all guns that shoot it, inexpensive for a baseline gun and ammo

.380 and similar size - stick to compact or full size handguns, though not many that are larger

9mm and above - full size semi-auto or, most ideal, all metal semi-auto or revolvers, the larger the better. Smaller guns are snappier and not fun to shoot for long, some if at all.

Home Defense and Conceal Carry

On the topic of conceal carry, it comes down to what version of carrying is most comfortable and realistic for you. For home defense, it leans more on what gun you feel most confident and accurate with. Accuracy of course matters in any concealed carry self-defense scenario, but it’s the trade off of having a more concealable gun when you carry and distance you feel would be most realistic in a situation. Statistics show most self-defense shootings happen within 7 yards. However, Elijah Dickinson at age 22 in the year 2022 stopped an active shooter at a mall in Indiana shooting him from 40 yards away, for example. You have to assess what tradeoffs you are comfortable with. How you like to dress plays a big part in conceal carry as well that I’ll touch on later. I carry one of the smallest micro compact guns very often because it suits me best, but I know it’s a tradeoff of ease of carry vs. accuracy at longer distances. I’m ok with that gamble where at those longer distances I can ideally just get out of the situation, but then if I’m in a 7-10 yard scenario I can’t get out of, I am still very confident in that range with my micro compact.

Thankfully, nowadays with the way micro-compact, sub-compact and compact guns have been revolutionized over the last decade with the grip size and capacity companies are now fitting in these guns, you can find some options that are perfect for both conceal-carry and home-defense, which can be a heavy deciding piece in circling back to that first factor, your budget.

A decade ago single stack micro compacts had 6-7 rounds of capacity. Single stack is when the bullets are stacked directly on top of each other in the magazine, which leads to a thinner gun and grip, but less capacity. Sub-compacts are as thick as the compacts but with the shorter barrel and grip/magazine, they make for a more comfortable conceal option for many with big hands. However their shortest concealable magazines (flush fit) usually held 10 at most in the past. They were easier to conceal because the grips were much shorter than the compact version but still the same thickness which can be too much for some, especially those with more form fitting or less bulk from their clothing living in hot climates.

Single stack vs double stack magazine

The Sig Sauer P365 was released and its popularity changed the whole game where they essentially made a half single stack half double stack magazine. It floored everyone where they somehow fit 10 rounds in the magazine of that small of a micro compact gun where almost all options before in that size had 6, and soon everyone followed suit creating their own. Sig is certainly mired in controversy lately due to issues of the P320 full size line “allegedly” shooting on its own without the trigger being pulled from a faulty firing pin internal safety set up (those videos showing it firing on its own sure don’t look doctored for what it’s worth). It’s allegedly fixed but has hurt a lot of buyer confidence in Sig.

The P365 hasn’t had that issue, that we know of. The P365 is small enough to carry in your pocket, and they also created the micro compact P365XL which holds a standard of 12 rounds, and has a 15 round extended magazine option. To top that off, they also created their compact P365 Macro, which holds 17 rounds. That gun is smaller than a lot of other compact guns and has full-size capacity. Sig sells that 17 round magazine option with three different interchangeable base plates that are meant to fit seamlessly with the grip of every single P365 model. Therefore, you can have the basic, easily concealable in nearly every fashion P365 as your carry gun, and then when you get home pop in the 17 round magazine and now it’s your home defense gun with a near full-size grip.

My confidence has been hurt in Sig with these controversies, but I’m using this example on paper because it’s a well known name and the versatility of the P365 line is undeniably tremendous. Other companies have some similar offerings as well. Some friends of mine are still buying P365’s. Some are selling their Sig’s and never buying the brand again due to lost trust and confidence. Make that decision for yourself.

HK - Heckler & Koch is a top trusted brand that doesn’t have as much micro compatibility with the larger offerings but has multiple sub-compacts with 10 round flush fit magazines easy for carry (VP9SK and P30SK) that also take factory 15 round magazines that have a perfect grip extension making it essentially a compact size grip.

There are companies outside of the gun manufacturers that make magazines that fit their guns. One makes a 15 round magazine for the Glock 48 that is the same physical size as the standard factory 10 round Glock magazine. While this is neat and fun, I don’t recommend anything aftermarket if it’s your defense gun. I’m sure a lot of aftermarket magazines perform well, but I want stock from the company that has been testing it since its inception, and usually modifying and improving their gun making process for decades. Same with vehicle upgrades. You can add a lot of cool pieces to make it funner, but it throws off the initial balance of everything it was cohesively tested and constructed under. Throwing a 2 inch lift on your truck and a turbo in the motor is going to wear everything out faster, therefore speeding up time for when repairs are needed hurting its reliability. External upgrades like sights are fine since they don’t impact how the gun works. Anything that depends on the internals working, like the trigger even though part of it is external, to me, is best to have stock for reliability. Just my two cents. OEM meaning original equipment manufacturer is the designated title for that.

Concluding this section, if you can shoot really well with these micro and subcompacts that have many different magazine capacities and extensions, whereas it wasn’t so easy in the past to have a one size fits all gun, now it is easy to do so. A lot of people don’t like the weight or bulk of carrying a gun with a light. I do recommend one for home-defense. The smallest micros don’t have great options, but the new borderline compact sized micros do and many subcompacts as well. You would need to test out of a gun with a light would be too much to carry based on your preferences.

Conceal Carry Modalities

I touched on concealed carry a lot in the previous section but wanted to add a little extra nuance. The ways people conceal carry include pocket, ankle, belly band/spandex tool, fanny pack, high thigh for women in a dress, purse, inside the waistband/belt and outside the waistband carry. The .22 caliber is generally not recommended for defense. It is certainly lethal as it typically penetrates through a person’s body but not always all the way through, where it can then bounce around inside and can do a ton of damage. Its lethality if not hitting a vital organ that incapacitates you immediately is through that irreparable damage, but to the point of death can be long after being shot. That round is also known to not always even make that first penetration into your body. I suggest .380 and above since it punches harder with a lot more stopping power.

Stopping power is a bit of a loose term but essentially meaning a bullet creates enough damage for your body to involuntarily shut down. I think there’s a .380 gun everyone can be comfortable carrying and can manage the recoil. Chances are if you can handle that, you can also handle the 9mm no problem. Still, if a .22 is the only carry caliber you feel comfortable with due to recoil or any other factor, presenting a gun in a self-defense situation will scare off many, and 8 rounds from a .22 double action revolver still is better than nothing without a doubt. I only recommend double action revolvers for .22 because the semi-automatics are very finicky with ammunition. Single action revolvers require you to pull back the hammer to shoot each round, double action you only need to pull the trigger. Semi-automatics rely on the round being ejected correctly to then load the next one, whereas with a double action revolver you simply keep pulling the trigger and it cycles the next one in the cylinder.

Semi-Autos: Hammer Fired first, Striker Fired second

Many semi-automatic pistols are very reliable, but so are revolvers, the style being least likely to have anything interfere with it (clothing for example) is a hidden hammer revolver. Revolvers can be tricky for new shooters because they require strong trigger pulls. Up to 8-12 pounds of pressure vs a standard striker fired semi-automatic which is usually 4-6 pounds. With external hammer revolvers you can cock the hammer back but it then becomes a 2-3 pound trigger and is easily accidentally fired by many. Probably not best in self-defense. Hammer fired semi-automatics are usually double action/single action, so the first shot is with the hammer set in place so it’s a stronger pull 6-10+ pounds, then the slide action resets it to single action every following shot, also much lighter, 2-5 pounds depending on the brand. There’s no bad pick and tradeoffs to any way you go.

3. Aesthetics and Lifestyle

I wanted to give aesthetics a dedicated section because I think it is vastly underplayed just how much it plays into gun buying, and as a theme in all of our personal lives. Everyone has a style with how they purchase. Phones, cars, clothes, hats, shoes, bed frames, linens, rugs, furniture…I can go on and on. We all have our own taste. I’m here to say, if you don’t like the look of the gun, that’s completely ok. Maybe give it a chance first, because you could love how it shoots and feels in the hand where you overlook that or the aesthetics grow on you as being something unique because the rest is so great for you. However if you’re indifferent on how it feels and don’t like the looks, don’t buy it, even if your friend pressures you to, or the sales person says it’s so great.

I want you to be excited about every facet of gun ownership. Gun owners like to portray this life of utilitarianism and efficiency and practically, which all usually do in varying degrees. Get any gun person talking about guns or asking about a brand and I guarantee you eventually get a comment about how a gun looks. It’s simply engrained in all of us. I am 99.99% confident you can find one you like or don’t mind the aesthetic of. Price and reliability may vary there, but I think you can find the right sweet spot that looks good, feels good in the hand, and is reliable.

Hi-Point (black) considered the ugliest in the industry vs 1911 (chrome) as one of the best looking

In terms of lifestyle, this circles back to the conceal carry section briefly. Take a step back to see how you usually dress and conduct yourself day to day. Do you work manual labor in South Dakota and even when off work, you’re a big t-shirt or sweatshirt person? You’ll probably be able to handle a compact or full-size handgun for waist carry easily if you’re a larger person. Do you dress business casual for your job in Arizona? You’ll probably want a smaller micro-compact you can carry with light tucked in clothes. Same thing for the ladies with clothing and size of purse you carry. Micro/sub and compact are usually best there.

Many companies make inside the waistband holsters you can tuck your shirt in over. If that’s not your style or you worry about it showing too easily, you can pocket or ankle carry. Those options may be good as well if you have easily triggerable back pain. Always have a holster for pocket carry, there’s tons of great options. People also keep it in a bag they carry. Whatever is best for you, but I’m more in favor of carrying a small gun all the time vs a larger gun you don’t have access to quickly. Some even carry the very small one on them and then have the larger one not far away in their bag or car. The consequences of losing that bag or getting it stolen are hefty, so know what you’re getting into if you do that. Fanny pack in an enviroment where it doesn’t look out of place is a great option too. Most micro/sub and compact guns are small enough to fit in any brand fanny pack. Just make sure to get a well fitting holster, whether a pocket holster, trigger guard, or other small option that fits easily into the pack.

I’ve even had guns so small and nearly weightless where a leather holster with a clip would keep it nicely secured to my tied off draw string athletic shorts. There’s guns for nearly every carry scenario you can think of, even your birthday suit, but that goes down a path of humor I gave up posting publicly a long time ago.

4. Grip and Sights

Like the section before there’s not much to write here to explain, more of a hey you should know about this which you wouldn’t think to look for with being newer to guns.

How does the grip feel in your hands? Is the stippling on the grip pretty rough where it’s uncomfortable? Too smooth where you feel like you're holding a butterfingers candy bar? Is it really hard to fit your non-dominant hand on the frame where it doesn’t interfere with things like the safety if it has one, the slide lock, or your other hand when holding the gun? Is it too small where it feels uncomfortable for your finger to easily pull the trigger?

Take time to consider these questions while holding the unloaded gun, and then review after shooting. You may find the grip texture seemed intimidating, but actually was much smoother when shooting. You could find you felt confident holding it, but it was actually hard to corral in the hand vs another that felt much more secure when actually shooting.

When it comes to the sights, are they easy for your eyes to pick up? Is there a lot of space in the rear sights where it’s hard to narrow down accurately, or too little where it feels like a real challenge? Are you going to have a light on the gun? If not then night sights may be preferred. Many guns have an option to install an optic like a red dot. I recommend learning on standard iron sights first since that transfers to all types of shooting. If you know you’ll want a red dot, make sure the slide has a removable plate insert on top of the slide near the rear sights to then install an optic. Google Glock MOS to see an example.

5. Caliber Selection, Magazine and Slide Lock Release & Springs, Recoil

Like the last two, I am bringing these up because there’s nuance, but it’s up to you find out which is best for you.

First is recoil tolerance which aligns with ammunition caliber selection. As mentioned before, any gun is better than no gun. Many people poo poo the .22 caliber, but no one in the history of humanity has volunteered to stand 10 yards in front of it while you shoot it. It’s still extremely lethal. Yet, I recommend sticking to around the .380 caliber and above for protection. Many prefer carrying larger rounds like .357 magnum in a short barrel revolver. Whatever is best for you. Since I’m appealing to mainly new/intermediate gun owners, I stick with .380 and 9mm because it’s less recoil and more capacity. Maybe start with that caliber, or do a ton of training before shooting with those larger options since those have a ton of recoil and heavy triggers in revolvers.

Next is spring stiffness in the magazine and slide (the top part of the gun that holds the barrel and racks back when the gun is fired to eject the round and load the next one).

*HKVP9 color FDE which provides the nice contrast to point out what I’m referencing*

Standard handguns springs are fine for many in the standard semi-auto handgun, but can be a challenge for those with weaker grips, arm/hand injuries or arthritis. Same for magazines, but there are speed loaders everyone can use to negate that. There are not too many firearm options in general for those with grip issues. Revolvers can work for many because the cylinder release button that swings it open for loading is very easy to push, but you need to make sure you have strong enough finger strength to pull the heavier trigger or hammer.

Since this is a bit of a special category, a gun I will go ahead and recommend is the M&P EZ line from Smith & Wesson. They make it in both a .380 and 9mm version. These firearms are made with much lighter springs compared to the standard guns in their or any other company’s lineup. I’ve yet to find an adult that couldn’t load the magazine and pull back the slide fully. When I have my well trained friends work it for the first time, their jaw always drops or they have a surprised expression on their face because of how easy it is compared to the rest of their guns. For those that use all other guns with regular springs, many also use an attached red dot sight on top to rack the slide which makes it easier.

Remember, the smaller the bullet, the less recoil there will be when fired of firearms that are the same, except the barrel and magazine to accommodate the change in caliber, like the two EZ offerings. Many micro compact .380’s have more recoil than a full size 9mm.

*Pictured earlier but also putting here again for reference - my M&P EZ .380*

Finally, are you left handed or right handed? The slide lock and magazine release on many guns are easily suited for right handed shooters where they can be reached and worked by your thumb. This typically applies with heavier importance in a tactical setting where people want to do tactical or emergency magazine reloads, and prefer to release the slide lock with their thumb instead of grabbing the slide to rack it back. It should be noted numerous lefties do fine with using their finger instead for both functions but I believe thumb is deal for dexterity and strength. If you like the idea of practicing your John Wick skills sooner than later and you’re a lefty, opt for a gun that at least has an ambidextrous slide lock. Many of the latest releases from brands have an ambidextrous slide lock in their compact and full-size guns, some in their subcompacts. Rare in micros.

The magazine release is pretty easy to adjust to using a finger instead of your thumb. HK, who I mentioned earlier has a unique patented design with their ambidextrous magazine release. It is the black lever on the bottom of the trigger guard on the VP9 pictured 3 paragraphs ago, rather than a button on most pistols. Also, regardless of your hand dominance, make sure it doesn’t interfere with the slide lock or safety. I have guns I use to train people that if I don’t pay attention my thumb will engage the safety switch. Not every gun has a safety switch, all of them have at least one whether on the trigger, frame or grip.

None of my personal guns I used for self-defense have a frame lever safety like shown on my EZ .380 shown before. There’s guns I’ve tested where my thumb hits the slide lock, so when I shoot my last round where that lock should catch it and hold the slide back, it goes forward instead like another round was loaded, so it’s misleading as I think I have more ammunition but am actually out. Again, more tactical importance to that vs a standard home defense or fun gun where it’s unlikely you’ll need a second loaded magazine.

Concluding Thoughts and Breakdown of Brands and Gun Options

Ok, so I’ve given you all this information, what now?

If you’re local to or planning to Austin, Texas, give me a shout!

Outside of that, start Googling your local gun ranges and training options. Do some research, see what reviews and even Reddit says. If you have a trustworthy friend who shoots a lot and is a pretty safe person and prioritizing it, that can be worth exploring. I know Reddit is an interesting social media site at times, but I’ve found a ton of useful and helpful anecdotes on peoples experiences with guns, and stores on there. It’s not an end all be all but in many instances a very useful tool. If it’s solid, aside from the stray bad experience, it’s usually pretty obvious in many comments and google reviews. If there’s issues, it’ll be pretty noticeable where it’s maybe best to look elsewhere for training or the gun you’re considering purchasing.

Look for special or group deals on training or rentals since the costs during your exploration process can stack up. A lot of ranges have ladies night where it’s discounted lane fees and a free rental, so use that experience to rent one for free then rent a few others on top of that. Make sure the rental can loop in with a lesson, or you go after getting lessons and are 100% competent with safety on your own and now are trying out different ones to see what you like. It takes a little time and money up front, but will make your first purchase much more secure in your experience. No need to overthink it though. If you like how it shoots, looks and feels in the hand, git r done. It can be an endless search to try every single handgun. I’d saying shooting at least 3-5 brands will give some good variance.

Shooting should be a confident comfortable experience after your first time and every one after that. It will be uncomfortable at first being at a range purely due to the noise and concussion the guns give off, so you’ll feel some physical pressure standing next to someone shooting, especially indoors. The staff and/or instructor should be confident and preach safety. If they do anything that makes your skin crawl, get out and leave. The four universal safety rules are 1) Treat every gun likes it’s loaded. 2) Don’t point it at anything you’re not willing to destroy. 3) Keep your finger off the trigger until safely pointed down range and you’re ready to shoot. 4) Know what you’re shooting and what lies beyond it. There’s enough horror story videos where, yes, some people are paid and have a title, but are far from professional in every sense of the word.

You may say to yourself, being new to guns, I know I need someone to teach me off the bat since I know nothing about them, but when am I ready to buy and operate a gun on my own? Watch this video here for demonstration on my YouTube.

Brands and Their Options

The guns I’m listing below generally have pretty strong reputations for reliability. Give any gun a good first cleaning when you buy it. If you are experiencing issues, sometimes this is due to the gun being picky with ammunition. I’ve had some guns in one brand's lineup that I’ve never had issues with, then tried another and had issues regardless of ammo. My Ruger LCP worked perfectly for me. The LCP max trigger I tried would pinch my finger and I had a few malfunctions with it. Plenty have had no issues with either. I am only one person with my experiences, and many gun friends with theirs. Below I will give some suggestions of initial brands to check out in that $300-800 range. Many of these brands will also have higher priced options in their catalogue if you prefer, and other brands exclusively above that are easily searchable. I do not include revolver suggestions, as I don’t have experience with many, and don’t think they’re the best option for a true novice. If you want to explore them, you can google the brands I have below and their revolver options.

In general, if a gun brand is popular, it’s for a reason of being tried and tested. At this point you should have an idea of what sizes you want to maybe try. Many gun buyers don’t like certain gun brands but it can be because they are mainstream contrarians, don’t like that company’s marketing, or don’t like the decisions they’ve made especially if they were counter to the second amendment. If you want to shoot just for fun, unless it’s a micro size .22, you probably won’t want the smallest micros in any caliber because of the strong recoil. A tweener size like the micro Sig P365XL which is a borderline compact, many enjoy.

Now, here’s the thing to remember if you’re new to shooting. One more analogy I like, instead of cars, is golf clubs. Yes there’s varying tech in clubs, but at the end of the day, a pro golfer can take a new set of $500 golf clubs and do things you can’t even dream of even if you had $20,000 of customized gear. Yes, there’s moments where that luxury and tech can be forgiving for you, but barely. When you’re new, you’re going to shoot about the same either way. Determine a budget you’re comfortable with. Don’t forget to include range time, ammunition, maybe lessons, and other accessories you’ll want to get into right after buying in the scope of asking yourself “what can I really afford here”. Beautiful expensive guns are great and rarer on a general ownership scale, but like a 315 bench press, there’s still plenty of other people that have it, and women don’t care. For the ladies reading, men don’t care how expensive your gun is. They already want to love you until the end of time for liking guns in the first place. The most impressive characteristic anyone can have when it comes to shooting…is how well they shoot.

One last thing, one of the brands below, PSA, is the house brand of palmettostatearmory.com that sells nearly everything related to guns. That website partners with Sezzle, a payment platform that lets you do 4 monthly payments for 0% APR on any purchase on that site. Many of my friends and I have used it and it’s very simple. If you are more cash strapped, look at that option, since it gives you more time to have all of the money if you cash strapped but want to be able to defend yourself as soon as possible.

Gun Brands and General Prices for some Options Below (Varies Per Store)

I personally consider CZ, HK, Glock and Smith & Wesson to be the top four in reputation for reliability and quality based on my experience and talking with others deep in the gun game. Sig was in that level before the P320 issues. I would include Springfield Armory as a fifth option in that reliability grouping as well, but you won’t find many gun people that potentially agree as that company has garnered a lot of hate for a 2017 controversy I note further in their section. It was from a political controversy rather than the firearm itself. Like any controversy, hard to know what the exact truth was, but wanted to put that note since I never hear anyone actually complain about their guns working.

Glock

Glock is like Toyota in the 90’s. Tremendously reliable, durable and simple in its design and repairs. Most likely the best selling and most popular handgun brand in the world. Not everyone likes the look, many don’t like the 22 degree frame grip angle (myself included) vs the more natural 18 degree angle many pistols have. Pistol sights typically line up more evenly right off the bat when you extend out to aim with an 18 vs 22 grip angle. It’s not a deal breaker, it just takes slight adjustment if at all. No one can argue against its reliability, quality and durability.

G42 - .380 Micro ~$420

G43x/G48 - 9mm Micro ~$450

G26 - 9mm Subcompact ~$500

G19 - 9mm Compact ~$550

G17 - 9mm Full Size ~$550

People also like G49 (full size barrel, compact grip), G45 (full size grip, compact barrel), Glock 34 (full size grip, longer than regular fs barrel) and Glock 17L (longest pistol barrel Glock offers)

Smith & Wesson

Been around for 173 years and has been on a heck of a tear lately overhauling the design and aesthetics of many of their guns and continually dropping some new innovative offerings. Known to be very reliable as well. They are making a hard charge to be in the top 2 of popularity in my opinion.

Bodyguard 2.0 - .380 Micro ~$399

EZ .380 - .380 Micro ~$420 (EZ is the lineup mentioned before for grip challenges)

EZ 9mm - 9mm Micro ~$450

M&P Shield Plus - 9mm Micro ~$399

M&P 2.0 Subcompact - 9mm Subcompact ~$609

M&P 2.0 Compact - 9mm Compact ~$600

M&P9 Metal 2.0 - 9mm Full Size ~$899

HK - Heckler & Koch

HK has been around for decades and has some of if not the most tested pistols in the history of guns. Not as well known off the bat to the mainstream newcomer to guns like Sig and Glock in my opinion, but as reliable and durable as it gets with many being ambidextrous in their designs of slide stops and magazine releases.

CC9 - 9mm Micro ~$670

VP9SK - 9mm Subcompact ~$799

P30SK - 9mm Subcompact ~$720

VP9 - 9mm Compact/FS ~$750

P30 - 9mm Compact/FS ~$750

CZ-USA

Like HK, not as well known to the mainstream public but both have top reputations for quality and reliability. CZ is one of the few currently that offers both polymer frame and metal frame options for compact and full size. They seem to be out of stock or discontinuing the micro P10M. They have also been around for decades and are known for that same high quality and reliability as the others I’ve mentioned so far. In my opinion they are the top . There’s small degrees of accuracy differences between brands, nothing that matters for new shooters, yet CZ on paper quite possibly is the straightest shooting out of the box if you consider MRBF data. Google if you’re curious.

P10 S - 9mm Subcompact ~$390

75 C and P-01 - 9mm Compact ~$750

P09C - 9mm Compact ~$530

P09F - Full Size 9mm ~$550

P10 - Full size 9mm ~$400

SP01 - 9mm Full Size ~$890

Sig Sauer

As noted before Sig is controversial right now due to the P320* issues. It essentially boils down to right now there’s proceedings going on in courts, videos showing up that do not paint it in a good light, and the company publicly doubling down there aren’t and haven’t been issues. Like anything, time reveals all, so TBD. They are still a top brand but confidence is shaken in many. Before this, they were on a trajectory to be maybe even number one with some big time offerings. The P226 was legendary for quality and reliability having been used in by Navy Seals for years. The P365 undoubetly changed the micro game with its popularity.

P365 - 9mm Micro ~$530

P365 XL - 9mm Micro ~$620

P365 X Macro - 9mm Compact ~$699

P320* - 9mm Full Size ~$530

Palmetto State Armory - PSA

PSA I describe as the Kirkland of the gun industry. They are a retailer of all things firearms and their house brand line has really gained traction lately for being good quality guns at about the lowest price in the industry. They are compliant with Glock magazines and are generally understood to be based on the Glock Gen3 G19 in many ways. They had issues with their pins years ago but have seemed to fix that issue with a lot of great reviews in the past few years. I think if you’re cash strapped, this is a great start.

Micro Dagger - 9mm Micro $340

Dagger Compact - 9mm Compact $299.99

Dagger Full Size S - 9mm Full Size $369.99

PSA often has major holiday or daily deal sales. I’ve seen the Compact as low as $240 online. Here’s a goofy video I did about how to buy it online.

Springfield Armory

I owned a Springfield XDS in the past and it was solid, never any issues and I enjoyed shooting it. As alluded before, many gun owners do not like how the company was involved in a scandal where an event happened that painted them as anti second amendment in 2017 with this article explaining it. It’s tough to know if it was the truth or they were covering their a** after, but it’s a big reason many current gun people don’t like them. Other don’t like how they are a US based company but have certain parts made and imported from Croatia. I’ve yet to see any give a gripe against reliability though, which is always most important. Many still enjoy using them. They’ve also innovated some guns with a lot of features lately at a very low price. Great budgeting, or too good to be true? Time reveals all like any brand.

Hellcat - 9mm Micro ~$550

Hellcat Pro - 9mm Micro ~$600

Echelon C - 9mm Compact ~$630

Echelon - 9mm Full Size ~$700

Extra Mentions

Handguns I haven’t used at all or by those I run and gun with, that are popular and worth researching on your own are Walther, Browning (great shotgun reputation, never shot a handgun from them), Canik, FN, Kimber, Taurus and I’m sure many others I’m missing.

Mossberg is known for long guns but their micro and compact handguns are definitely sleeper picks with their out of the box quality, trigger, reliability and price. They do not have a full size currently.

For Ruger, I owned and carried an LCP first version for years with no reliability issues on the range. Their revolvers are legendary. I’ve seen more mixed reviews on their polymer pistols, but worth exploring further in the low price category on some like the Security 9.

Beretta I am familiar with only with the 92FS which was the main sidearm of the military for decades. You probably recognize it from Lethal Weapon and Die Hard. A lot of veterans may not have had the best experience because they were using guns and parts that were decades old. New ones have been and are known for great reliability. I am not familiar with any other offerings in their lineup which is why I put them here.

I don’t play much in the $2k+ gun zone, but Staccato has come on strong as the industry leader in the 2011 handgun category of pistols at $2-$3k+ in price. They are well made high performance machines.

Colt is up there with Smith & Wesson in age, they are a legendary company with many gun options, but not inexpensive. Made some anti second amendment moves that turned off a lot of people a few years ago announcing they’d stop selling AR-15’s to the public, but still trusted quality wise by many.

If you’ve made it this far, I truly appreciate you making it through that forrest of words and details. There’s many articles out there for beginners, but I felt it necessary to keep this level of depth to give everyone their best shot at accomplishing buy once cry once since this hobby and lifestyle sure ain’t cheap.

Thank you for reading!

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