Choosing Your First Gun

As your licences eventually come in we get a lot of questions about choosing a first guns. What’s easiest to learn with? What’s the best caliber? What’s a good price? Naturally the answers depend to an extent on what you plan to use it for? Do you have any brand preferences? And how much experience to you have? But that all said we do have a few simple rules to share that we think will help you in your search for the right guns.

1. Go To A Physical Store

We always recommend going to brick and mortar gun stores. The biggest reason is a good gun store is going to have pretty knowledgeable staff. It’s a specialist position, and they tend to know a lot more about guns than your average retail employee knows about, say, electronics. They’ll have a keen sense on what’s right for the purpose you have and what other customers think about a particular gun. Has it been reliable? Can it take a beating outdoors? Are replacement parts easy to get?

Second, you’ll get to handle a bunch of potential firearms so you can see what feels right. This often includes used firearms. There is a huge secondary market for firearms and this means savings for you. A reputable gun store has inspected and vetted - possibly even made a repair or two - and is invested in seeing you happy and satisfied with your purchase.

Third, a reputable gun store will usually offer warranty and customer support. Whether buying new or used you want to understand what support you’re likely to need, and what the terms and conditions are of the warranty. This is all going to be a lot clearer to you if you go to a store and have a conversation.

How do you find the right store? Well, we have our favourites, but we recommend visiting a few and seeing where there is some knowledgeable staff you can have an easy conversation with.

2. Buy For “Fit”

People often have their sights set on a particular brand or the look of a particular model, and now and then they forget about “fit”. Fit is how a particular firearm actually fits with your body. Remember, becoming proficient at shooting is mostly learning and practicing certain body mechanics. You can really stand in your own way if your firearms isn’t a good fit for your body and is standing in the way of your skills development.

Here are easy ways to feel out the fit when handling firearms at the store:

Rifles: it’s a good fit usually if you can hold it up easily and manipulate all the buttons and catches without having to remove the firearm from your shoulder.

Shotguns: you should be able to shoulder and cheek weld the gun and have your eyes line up the center rib and sights. It should feel natural and line up every time you shoulder. 

Pistols: it should fit well in your hands and you can reach all the buttons and catches without moving your hands too much. The less you have to break your grip the better. 

3. Buy a .22LR Rifle Or Handgun

Some of you may have been doing research and looking around and want to buy that cool gun from a movie or video game you love, or maybe you’ve got a few things in the family you’re going to be shooting. Also, go buy a .22LR rifle or handgun.

.22 is the smallest and cheapest caliber of ammunition you can buy. This means you can spend hours upon hours building up the skills you need without breaking the bank. It also usually means less kick, and slightly lighter firearms, meaning you can work on the fundamental skills of accurate shooting without fighting for control all the time.

We definitely recommend starting here to build the base skills. You don’t have to hold off shooting other things. That’ll be experience-building as well, and fun! But give yourself the benefit of time with a .22 and you’ll see it pay dividends as you take on bigger calibers. A gun is ultimately a tool that is only as good as the person behind it!