
If you are reading this article, you probably made up your mind about becoming a member of our big family of firearm users. Or you were brought here by chance, having followed link after link trying to find something that may catch your attention. We know neither of these. But what we do know is that owning a gun is a great responsibility that brings you great power, just like superpowers, but without radioactive spiders and kryptonite.
Handguns are different from other firearms accessible to the general public, like rifles and shotguns. It turns out that life is not a GTA game, and they don’t sell rocket launchers to random passers-by. Nevertheless, the choice of handguns in particular (and firearms in general) is diverse enough to leave people wondering where to begin.
How wide handgun varieties are there, and is there one handgun to rule them all? The number of questions a novice shooter may have can be as high as the number of rounds shot across America every day, which is literally countless. If every time you enter a gun store, your eyes cannot but keep wandering from one pistol model to another, not in excitement but confusion, you may find this article helpful. We will tell you about the features that beginners should pay attention to and share our thoughts on which handguns are better to begin with.
We’ll deploy the spoiler bomb right away not to leave you wondering – no handgun can bear the title “The Best” and look down on the rest of its kind. Many manufacturers would be more than happy to procure this title for one of their creations, but this is not how the competitive market works.
We can only suggest what you might find comfortable using, but far be it from us to pursue titles and shove links of pistols in your face neglecting useful information. Rather than giving you a complete non-personalized picture, we’ll give you pieces to complete it yourself since you’re the only person who truly knows what you want. Once you read the article, you might even decide you want to build your own firearm using 80 lowers! You’ll also likely want to use 80 lower jig kits to make building your gun that much easier.
Things To Consider
Sub-Type
Is the best handgun a pistol or a revolver? That would probably be the first question we needed to answer if we knew what the best handgun ever was. We don’t, so we are not tortured by this quandary. Revolvers and pistols are the most popular types of handguns, beautiful in their differences that make them more preferable in this or that situation.
Have you always admired western movies and thought that revolvers are endowed with unmatched beauty? Then this is your perfect and ultimately best handgun! Revolvers are inseparable from the history of the American frontier and are one of the key elements of traditional cowboy attire. Revolvers are repeating handguns that make up for low capacity with high-impact rounds and simplicity of exploitation.
If you place more faith in the precision of your shots than in their quantity, revolvers are a great choice for you. If we were to advise you (which we are doing anyway), we’d recommend getting your first revolver chambered in .22 LR as they make for the best starter guns. It is a low-recoil caliber that also happens to be the cheapest to shoot. Since precision is a skill earned and not gifted, you will benefit significantly from owning a revolver that uses affordable ammo.
If you are mesmerized by the sight of a pistol being reloaded and the shooter aiming, our Sorting Hat already knows what to do with you. Pistols are adopted by law enforcement agencies, police departments, and armies as side-arms and are valued for their high magazine capacity and quick reload. They are available in a wide range of calibers and are applicable in many situations. Even though pistols are also available in .22 LR, we suggest newbies get one chambered in 9mm. That is a handgun caliber powerful enough to enter the ranks of self-defense calibers while being relatively low-cost. The evident benefit of such a weapon is that you can train with it and carry it for self-defense.
Purpose
Technically speaking, this is one of the determining factors when choosing a handgun. Are you looking for a means of self-protection or need a shooting range companion? Do you want to store it on your nightstand or plan to carry it on your person? Do you need a medium game killer or a varmint exterminator to keep your premises clear? All these situations call for different handguns, and no pistol or revolver can shine in every single scenario.
Full-sized handguns can bring you the best shooting range experience and make for fine home defense weapons but are not too comfortable to carry discreetly. More compact pistols and revolvers are a perfect fit for a concealed carry holster, but the increased recoil makes them a second choice for recreational shooting.
Pistols are favored over revolvers for everyday carry purposes, but both handguns can do the job equally well. Revolvers look gorgeous but will cost you a small fortune to shoot if you use something other than .22 LR. That’s the case when even an inexperienced shooter can listen to their intuition: you want something small to carry on your person, something bigger to casually spend time at a shooting range, and something with less recoil in both cases to master the gun more quickly.
Caliber
The general recommendation is to stick to rimfire calibers at the beginning of your shooting path to learn the basics and get the hang of shooting. But what if you are a beginner who needs a more powerful caliber instead of a .22 LR? If you set your sights on a pistol, there are four major calibers to choose from .380 ACP, 9mm, .40S&W, and .4 ACP. Of these four contestants, 9mm takes the cake for the highest muzzle energy, lowest price, and highest magazine capacity; .380 ACP can boast the lowest recoil; .45 ACP leaves the widest wounds; .40 S&W is a middling of the quartet.
If you are considering getting a wheel gun, a .357 Magnum will be your best revolver option from a price-to-impact ratio point of view. Of course, there are many other more powerful calibers like the .45 Colt, but shooting one round of that will cost you six times as much as a .357. If you are a shooting range regular, ammo expenses will sooner or later outweigh the sum you spent on the firearm. But you can delay this moment by getting a handgun that shoots more affordable ammunition.
Frame Material
Frame material matters more than one could assume. It’s not about weight only – you need to consider such aspects as maintenance, durability, continuity, and our beloved recoil. The basic frame materials are metal and plastic, but those are very broad notions. When looking at the “rame material” graph, you will most likely see the following options: steel, aluminum, and polymer. Steel and polymer are the extreme points of this field, while aluminum holds the middle ground. Steel frames are the heaviest of the three. They also absorb more recoil, are very durable, and are more expensive than the other two.
Polymer frames can boast the lightest weight, the lowest price, and ease of maintenance. Plastic is also resistant to temperature changes, which metals cannot boast. IIt’shardly pleasant to touch a pistol that is too cold or hot, and polymer handguns don’t suffer from this issue. At last, aluminum has all the distinctive features mentioned above, but to a very mild degree. Lighter than steel but heavier than polymer, aluminum frames can offer medium recoil, moderate durability, and median ergonomics.
We fulfilled our end of the bargain – gave you paints to draw your own image of the best handgun. Now you can follow this path not with fiddling steps but with a confident walk. We hope you will enjoy your very best first gun as much as we enjoy writing about firearms, which is very much.