Free Republic
Browse · Search
Bloggers & Personal
Topics · Post Article

Skip to comments.

Best Handgun Calibers for Beginners
Am Shooting Journal ^ | 3/5/2019 | J Wilson

Posted on 03/05/2019 5:23:19 AM PST by w1n1

Pick the right entry point and you're already on your way to enjoying a fun, long-term shooting hobby.
For a new shooter, buying their first handgun can be an intimidating experience. What brand, what style, revolver or semiauto, and most of all what caliber?
Most people jump straight into picking out their favorite handgun without thinking about what caliber it is. Caliber choice is critical for new shooters. Too much gun can be a handful; too little and you might be under gunned.

Beginners looking for a firearm gun to do. For example, a new shooter may desire a firearm that is suitable for self-defense; a self-defense caliber has certain criteria to meet.
A shooter looking for a fun range gun has some different criteria to meet. We are going to first look at the best calibers for beginners, and then provide you with a few examples of popular handguns in each caliber that you should consider when you are first starting out.

TRAITS OF BEGINNER CARTRIDGES
In general, beginners should stick to commonly available, well-reputed handgun calibers. Magnum rounds are often too much of a handful for new shooters, and odd balls are often expensive and hard to find.
Commonality and afford ability are very desirable traits for a caliber to have. If you cannot afford to shoot the caliber regularly, the skills you build will deteriorate.
The same goes for trying to find ammunition in odd calibers. Rounds like the .32 Long are still out there, but they can’t be found in most big box stores.

The round should be relatively low recoil. Beginning with powerful, heavy recoiling rounds can actually cause training scars. Training scars are poor habits gathered from poor training and practice.
Magnum calibers in the hands of beginners tend to create an exaggerated and noticeable flinch that pulls a shot off target. Starting with a smaller, lower recoiling caliber and working up to larger calibers is the better way to go. Read the rest of handgun calibers.


TOPICS: Hobbies; Outdoors
KEYWORDS: banglist; bestblogpimpbeginner; blog; blogpimp; clickbait; eighthgrade; esl; fundraiserfail; getaneditor; goawayyousuck; handguncalibers; momsbasement; pimp; readtheresthere; whydonationsarelow
Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first previous 1-2021-4041-6061-75 next last
To: real saxophonist

You’d think in this day and age people would have someone with a decent grasp of English grammar proof-read their articles, but here we are.


21 posted on 03/05/2019 5:59:51 AM PST by thefactor (yes, as a matter of fact, i DID only read the excerpt)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 6 | View Replies]

To: Clay Moore

I guided a lady named Pam on a couple of hunts. She was a little ole thing, about 5’3” and weighed every bit of 100 lbs. She hunted with a scoped Freedom Arms .454 Casull and she was very good with it.


22 posted on 03/05/2019 6:00:12 AM PST by ManHunter (You can run, but you'll only die tired... Army snipers: Reach out and touch someone)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 7 | View Replies]

To: w1n1

Revolver, 22 LR.


23 posted on 03/05/2019 6:00:22 AM PST by Bonemaker (invictus" maneo)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: w1n1
First gun? Ruger Single Ten in 22LR or a convertible Single Six in 22LR / 22 mag.

Expensive but light trigger pull, heavier (no recoil), and UTTERLY reliable.

Once you have a handle on marksmanship and gun safety, THEN start renting guns and fund what you like.

24 posted on 03/05/2019 6:00:34 AM PST by Centurion2000 (Coming in from the cold .... been a LONG while.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: yarddog

Yes, Ruger New Model Single Six is fantastic and easy to handle, especially for smaller shooters or hands. A Ruger Target pistol, with a bull barrel, is also great. Both are easy to handle, easy to shoot, incredibly accurate, and very cheap to shoot and shoot and shoot. Can’t beat $0.03 to $0.05 per round!


25 posted on 03/05/2019 6:01:32 AM PST by Reno89519 (No Amnesty! No Catch-and-Release! Just Say No to All Illegal Aliens! Arrest & Deport!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 4 | View Replies]

To: w1n1

I believe in getting the right gun for the person.

For me, the right gun is a bazooka. I only want to take one shot to take care of a problem.


26 posted on 03/05/2019 6:03:44 AM PST by Jonty30 (What Islam and secularism have in common is that they are both death by cultsther)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: EQAndyBuzz

Well, MY ability to afford stuff has diminished recently. LOL!


27 posted on 03/05/2019 6:05:54 AM PST by rktman ( #My2ndAmend! ----- Enlisted in the Navy in '67 to protect folks rights to strip my rights. WTH?)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 11 | View Replies]

To: ImJustAnotherOkie
Caliber Schmaliber, maintenance, practice, and learn how to control the trigger. Most of all, don’t shoot your eye out.

BINGO!

;^)

28 posted on 03/05/2019 6:08:48 AM PST by Who is John Galt? ("He therefore who may resist, must be allowed to strike.")
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 16 | View Replies]

To: w1n1
Start with a .50 cal. Master than and you can shot anything. (If you don't kill yourself first)


29 posted on 03/05/2019 6:09:24 AM PST by Gamecock (In church today, we so often find we meet only the same old world, not Christ and His Kingdom. AS)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: w1n1

I started as a child with a BB. Bun. Next a 38 cal revolver, great gun combat special. 22 Sig not as accurate. Contender 22, 30-30, great accuracy but only 1 rd. 45-70 tells you where every bone in your body.


30 posted on 03/05/2019 6:17:32 AM PST by Retvet (Retvet)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: w1n1

45.........................


31 posted on 03/05/2019 6:19:45 AM PST by Red Badger (We are headed for a Civil War. It won't be nice like the last one....................)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: w1n1

A REVOLVER for a first time shooter.

I would never give a semi-auto to someone not used to pistols


32 posted on 03/05/2019 6:22:03 AM PST by Mr. K (No consequence of repealing Obamacare is worse than Obamacare itself.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: w1n1; struggle
One of the problems with .38 snubbies, especially for beginners or the recoil shy is the harsh recoil.

.38 Special in 148 grain Hollow Base Wadcutter, a target load, does away with the recoil factor.

Has about as much as a .22 LR.

Not a bad self defense round either.

Another good defense round is the Hornady Personel Defense Lite in 90 grains.

Very low recoil

33 posted on 03/05/2019 6:24:20 AM PST by Eagles6
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

Whatever is within your budget. Whatever ammo is ready and available more than occasionally at your local ammunition counter. However online purchasing is always optional at this point in time.

What type of site do you want? If it’s a fixed ramp go with what the factory tested at before they boxed it up and shipped it out.

Learn how to maintain it, learn how to take it apart and put it back together again successfully.

Consider a caliber that you can reload if you need to.

Don’t over-gun yourself. A 2nd shot quickly acquired and fired is just as important as a first shot. Maybe more so.


34 posted on 03/05/2019 6:36:37 AM PST by Clutch Martin (The trouble ain't that there is too many fools, but that the lightning ain't distributed right.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 26 | View Replies]

To: w1n1

I like my .380 Ruger but I also carry a .40 Smith MP Shield. My service gun is a Glock. I have another small pistol, a Beretta Tomcat in .32ACP. I have kinda small hands and all three fit nicely.


35 posted on 03/05/2019 6:39:05 AM PST by SkyDancer ( ~ Just Consider Me A Random Fact Generator ~ Eat Sleep Fly Repeat ~)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Gamecock

Who ever “Setup” That Shooter
Is a Jerk!


36 posted on 03/05/2019 6:39:23 AM PST by Big Red Badger (Despised by the Despicable!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 29 | View Replies]

To: w1n1

A Desert Eagle of course.


37 posted on 03/05/2019 6:42:28 AM PST by central_va (I won't be reconstructed and I do not give a damn)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: thefactor

“You’d think in this day and age people would have someone with a decent grasp of English grammar proof-read their articles, but here we are.”

I get the feeling most people are using their phones rather than sitting thier fat butts behind some desk and typing like an old school computer user. Now I fit into the category of sitting behind a desk and typing on an old-school desktop, however a lightning strike took my desk top out and to be honest with you, I got a laptop that I sometimes use but most the time I’m using the phone. And I have had very glaring mistakes often because my phone autocorrects when I hit the Go Button. Because I perused most what I write and have found that voice texting actually works better. But I still have to go back and adjust some punctuation and that clownish autocorrect changes things sometimes if not more often than I wish it would.

I wonder if an edit function would be plausible in the future for this website? That would alleviate a lot of the issue of which you speak. I know I would like one. But perhaps it’s not possible. I am a far cry from a programmer so the intricacies of allowing for an added feature escapes me. But as a relative dummy in the world of computer programming and when I go out and see hundreds and hundreds of websites that allow you to edit your work I cannot understand why it wouldn’t or couldn’t be available here as well.


38 posted on 03/05/2019 6:46:26 AM PST by Clutch Martin (The trouble ain't that there is too many fools, but that the lightning ain't distributed right.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 21 | View Replies]

To: w1n1

This ridiculous website again. What a stupid article.


39 posted on 03/05/2019 6:51:27 AM PST by Seruzawa (TANSTAAFL!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Clutch Martin

The grammar deficiencies I was referring to were present in the article at the link. But yes, I would also love to see an “edit” feature on this website. And Twitter too!


40 posted on 03/05/2019 6:55:10 AM PST by thefactor (yes, as a matter of fact, i DID only read the excerpt)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 38 | View Replies]


Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first previous 1-2021-4041-6061-75 next last

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.

Free Republic
Browse · Search
Bloggers & Personal
Topics · Post Article

FreeRepublic, LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson