The Best Handguns for New Shooters [2020 Update]

hey guys i am chris baker from lucky gunnar dot-com today i'm gonna be talking about the best handguns to consider if you're a new shooter this is an update of a video i did back in 2016 that one was called handgun recommendations for new shooters there have been a lot of changes in what's available on the handgun market since then and my thinking on this topic has actually changed a little bit in the last few years this time around i'm gonna suggest fewer guns but i'm gonna go into way more depth about why i chose each gun the truth is that there are probably hundreds of guns out there that would work just fine for most new shooters by explaining more about the why behind the guns on my list i think you'll have a better idea of how to evaluate other guns that are not on my list now i don't think you should just go out and buy a gun just because some guy on the internet said to i want you to have an understanding of what kind of things make a gun well-suited for a new shooter so that you can decide whether those things apply to you in a lot of ways asking what gun is best for a new shooter is kind of like asking what kind of car is best for a new driver or maybe like what kind of shoes are best for playing sports I mean you would need a lot more information to even begin to answer either of those questions same thing with buying your first handgun there is no way I can give generic advice that's gonna work for everybody I don't know anything about your physical size or capabilities or your prior experience or your budget or even why you want to own a handgun but for the sake of this video I am gonna make a couple of assumptions I am assuming that you want to buy a handgun primarily for the purpose of personal protection either in your home or for concealed carry I am also assuming that you're an able-bodied adult without any major physical limitations and I'm going to assume that you intend to practice with your handgun at least a few times a year and that you plan on getting some training in person from a qualified instructor if your plan is to do get a gun and stick it in your nightstand or your glovebox and never think about it again please don't buy a gun if you don't know what you're doing that gun is far more likely to be a liability than an asset even before you get some in-person training there are some other resources I want to recommend for you go out and buy a copy of this book it's called concealed carry class by Tom Gibbons the old edition was called fighting smarter this is a very comprehensive basic introduction to everything you need to know about self-defense before you even buy a handgun I like it because it goes way beyond just shooting and gun stuff he goes into topics like conflict avoidance recognizing potential criminal threats some legal issues that you need to know about there's just a little bit of everything in here if you really are brand new to shooting handguns or you've never shot one before at all I've got a couple of videos that you might want to watch from my shooting 101 series I did a while back check out how to use a semi-automatic pistol part 1 and part 2 and then how to use a revolver those videos cover the absolute basics of the different types of handguns and how to safely operate them ok now you came here for specific handgun recommendations so now I'm gonna give you some first I've got two handguns I'm gonna recommend for new like enthusiast level shooters and then I've got a couple more for the more like casual gun owners and then in between those there is going to be one that I think could work for either of those groups one thing you will probably notice is that all the guns I'm gonna mention are chambered for nine-millimeter and smaller calibers as a beginner there's really no reason to consider any of the larger calibers like 40 Smith & Wesson or 45 ACP those guns are more difficult to shoot and any ballistic advantage they might have is at best marginal 9-millimeter is going to give you the widest selection of models to choose from and it's got the most affordable ammo if you're new to all this stuff but you've already decided to just dive in headfirst you've been bitten by the bug and you want to drop some serious time money on all of this you want a gun for self-defense but you also think this shooting thing is gonna be your new hobby I'm putting you in the enthusiast category and the approach for you is gonna be a little more different than someone who's kind of a casual shooter this is gonna be pretty easy because the first three guns I'm gonna suggest are all Glocks now if you don't think you like Glocks for whatever reason bear with me I get it I don't particularly like Glocks either I don't carry a Glock I don't shoot Glocks any more often than I have to but I do wish that I had bought a Glock when I was first starting out whether you love them or hate them Glocks have two very important things going for them they are reliable and they are ubiquitous those are very valuable qualities if you're a beginner reliability is probably the most important thing we want in a life saving tool fortunately reliability is actually not all that uncommon in handguns these days most modern pistols are extremely reliable especially full-sized and midsize and nine millimeters just like any mass-produced machine every company at least occasionally lets a gun out of the factory that doesn't work that well if you start looking around online for potential problems with a specific model you will find them regardless of the brand now some companies have a better track record for reliability than others and generally speaking Glocks are among those that tend to work very well almost every gun company makes a pistol these days that is very Glock like Smith & Wesson 6 our beretta FN h and k CZ they all make polymer frame striker fired 9-millimeter pistols that are all pretty good but Glocks are by far the most popular and have the most aftermarket support so as a new shooting enthusiast if you start off with a Glock that means that your gun uses magazines that are plentiful and cheap as you're figuring out what method of concealed carry works for you and what kind of holsters you like any holster that you might want to try is gonna have a version that's made for Glocks any type of sites that you might want to experiment with are gonna be made for Glocks if something on your gun breaks or wears out replacement parts are cheap and super easy to install life is just easier if you're shooting a Glock as your skill level progresses as a shooter you might discover things that you wish you could change about the gun and you'll probably be able to change them because there are so many aftermarket parts and modifications available for Glocks but at first you don't need to change much you should probably get a set of sights with a brightly colored high visibility front sight if your Glock didn't come with one already I would also suggest the striker control device I've got a whole video on that for more details other than those two things just leave the gun alone until you've got at least like a thousand rounds through it if eventually you decide you would be better off with something other than a Glock you will have no problem selling the Glock there is always a market for used Glocks so even if you don't end up sticking with Glocks long term it's just a good kind of generic platform to start off with until you have the experience to understand what's actually gonna work best for you so with that in mind the first Glock I would recommend is the Glock 19 this is like the Toyota Corolla of firearms it is a compact 9-millimeter with a 15-round magazine now it's really only compact relative to a full-sized gun like this one it's actually kind of large by today's standards just because we have had so many really small 9 millimeters hit the market in the last several years but that said thousands of people carry Glock 19's concealed every day if you don't have any interest in carrying and you just want a gun for your house or for the range just take a look at the full-size Glock 17 it tends to be just a little bit easier to shoot than the 19 not by much though the 17 is also good if you've got larger hands and you can't quite fit all of your fingers on the grip of a 19 but most people can learn to shoot a 19 just fine the exception is people with really small hands or short fingers there's not really any way to compensate for that without compromising your grip on the gun so to figure out if the gun fits you first you're going to make sure it's unloaded and then place the topmost part of the grip in the web of your hand wrap your other fingers around the front of the grip and then place your index finger on the trigger you should be able to touch the trigger with the middle of the first segment of your finger a little pad here that should be able to touch the trigger without the rest of your finger coming into contact with the frame there should kind of be a gap here and then while you're doing that you want to make sure the gun is still resting in the web of your hand if you have to shift your hand over like that in order to reach the trigger so like more of the joint of your thumb is behind the grip that means the gun is too large for you if the xix is too wide for your hands that's gonna rule out most other Glocks for you because they're almost all the same width or wider but fortunately Glock has released a few slimmer models in recent years if the 19 is too fat check out the Glock 48 instead I did a review of this one just a couple of weeks ago it is the same length and height as the 19 but it is slimmer and it has a 10 round magazines instead of 15 it also has the benefit of being a little easier to conceal than the 19 because it's kind of slim now because it is a newer model it's like a year and a half old and it's not the same size as the other Glocks like the 19 and the 17 and the 26 that have all been around for like 30 years or more so the 48 doesn't have quite the same level of aftermarket support but you can still find plenty of holsters and sights and replacement parts they're just not quite as common the last glock I will recommend is one that can work for either like enthusiast level shooters or more casual shooters that's the Glock 42 this is the smallest Glock it's also the only Glock you can currently get in the United States that is chambered for 380 acp it feeds from a six round magazine the 380 cartridge is just slightly shorter and a bit less powerful than nine-millimeter if you're looking for the smallest most concealable pocket pistol on the market there are a bunch of 380 s that are smaller than the glock 42 but they all kind of sucked shoot the Glock 42 does not those tiny 380 s are very challenging for any shooter let alone a new shooter now somebody will probably tell you that 380 is not powerful enough for you to use to defend yourself you might be tempted by the fact that there are several nine-millimeter pistols out there that are almost as small as the Glock 42 they also suck to shoot the Glock 42 does not basically you don't want to start off with a pistol that is very small relative to the caliber it fires the 42 is just big enough then it has very manageable recoil and small enough that most people seem to be able to find a way to conceal one on their person without having to buy a whole new wardrobe having a gun that you can shoot effectively that you will also take with you is far more important than the size of the bullets it launches now if you think you're more on the enthusiast side of things you probably are not going to be satisfied with the Glock 42 as your only pistol it's just not quite as enjoyable at the range as a larger gun and even if you do intend to carry something like the Glock 19 it tends to take most people a while and some trial and error to figure out how to comfortably carry a pistol this large on a daily basis so in the meantime 242 gives you something that you can carry with you all the time so that you don't end up leaving a bigger gun in the car because you're sick of hauling it around okay now for the casual shooters if your plan is to buy a gun and you think you will get some training and you probably will practice at least every now and then but you're not necessarily looking for a new hobby or maybe you prefer shooting just for fun most of the time I'm putting you in the casual category so for you guys those nine-millimeter Glocks that I mentioned the 19 and the 48 those might work out just fine but I'm gonna suggest a couple of other guns that along with the 42 that I just mentioned they basically don't require as much effort to learn how to use well the first one is a little bit larger than the 42 but it's even easier to shoot and that is the Smith & Wesson shield ez 380 I did a full review of this gun last year if you want more details but I'll give you the basic rundown this is a slim and lightweight gun with an 8 shot magazine it's very similar in size to the Glock 48 has the same profile there that makes it relatively large for a gun chambered in 380 acp and that's a good thing because it means the gun has extremely mild recoil Smith & Wesson designed this gun from the ground up with novice shooters in mind and I think they did an excellent job with that the slide is very easy in Iraq the magazines are really easy to load you've got this little thumb stud on them so you can pull down the follower easily the trigger is relatively light it has a loaded chamber indicator this little thing on top of the slide will pop up when there's around in the chamber the shield ez is available with or without a manual thumb safety like this one I would suggest getting the version without the safety if you're not practicing with the gun frequently there is a very good chance you're gonna forget to disengage the safety in an emergency situation and that would be bad but the option is there if you feel like you really have to have a manual safety there is also a 9 millimeter version of the shield easy as well as a smaller 9 millimeter shield without the easy suffix I recommend sticking with the ez 380 version the 9 millimeter just has a lot more recoil one of the most challenging aspects of shooting a handgun is learning effective recoil control the 380 version of this gun makes that almost a non-issue you can become proficient with this 380 and learn to get fast and accurate hits on target in just a fraction of the time it would take you to reach that level of skill with a 9-millimeter the last gun I want to suggest is a revolver the Ruger LCR now recommending a lightweight snubnose revolver for a novice shooter it's kind of like a bad cliche guys behind the counter at gun stores are notorious for trying to nudge especially female shoppers toward snubby revolvers especially when they have like pink and purple ones in stock the truth is that none of those revolvers are very difficult to master they are known for having long heavy triggers and a lot of recoil on the flip side small revolvers tend to be a bit more reliable than the smallest of the small semi-autos some people also find them a little easier to conceal because they don't have as many sharp edges that can show through your clothing for a novice shooter revolvers have the advantage of being extremely easy to learn how to operate so difficult to master but easy to use there are fewer controls to remember all they've really got is a trigger and this latch here to open the cylinder so the procedure for loading and unloading the gun is a lot more straightforward than it is with a semi-auto you can always tell if it's loaded just by looking at it because the rounds are gonna be sticking out of the back of the cylinder here so if you're the type of person who is concerned that you might have trouble remembering how to safely operate a semi-auto a revolver might be a good choice as far as the trigger the LCR is a huge improvement over other lightweight small frame revolvers most versions of this gun have a very smooth trigger right out-of-the-box now it's still pretty heavy the trigger compared to a Glock or a shield it's got a longer range of motion but you can get the hang of it pretty quickly with just some dry practice at home it's not something I think should deter a new shooter just takes a little extra effort the heavy recoil problem is something we can take care of with careful ammo selection the Ruger LCR comes chambered in several different calibers I would suggest looking into the 357 magnum version but do not under any circumstances buy 357 Magnum ammunition for it unless you really just love the sensation of getting smacked in the hand with a two by four revolvers chambered for 357 magnum can also fire the milder 38 special cartridge it seems like 38 would be bigger than 357 but it's not they're the same diameter but the 38 are shorter I know it doesn't make sense just go with it there is a version of the LCR that only fires 38 special but I suggest the 357 magnum version because it's a few ounces heavier and that's going to help cut down on the recoil a little bit the 38 special ammo you want is the bullet type known as a WOD cutter several different ammo companies make these sometimes it's also called a full water cutter or a lead wad cutter or a hollow base wadcutter they have a distinctive appearance where the top of the bullet is flush with the top of the cartridge case of all the different 38 special loads out there wad-cutters tend to have the least recoil that makes them very well-suited for practicing they also happen to be pretty effective for self-defense water cutters were originally designed for punching clean round holes in paper targets but it turns out they're also pretty good at punching clean round holes in bad people the Ruger LCR will give you five rounds of 38 special that's not a lot of ammo but statistically speaking it is sufficient to take care of the vast majority of violent criminal assaults like I said earlier there are tons of handguns out there that might work just fine for you as you're starting out these are just a few suggestions to help get you thinking in the right direction whether you end up buying a gun from this list or some other handgun when you need ammo be sure to get it from us with lightning fast shipping at Lucky Gunnar calm [Music]

Channel: Lucky Gunner Ammo

Views: 210,612

Rating: 4.9002318 out of 5

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Id: Divg2ZFYf8E

Length: 19min 8sec (1148 seconds)

Published: Tue Jun 16 2020

Reddit Comments

[u/metalski]

Snub .38 is just kinda terrible for new shooters....

[u/jprboise]

Glock 19 - shorter size

Glock 17 - larger size

Glock 48 - slimmer, better for smaller hands

Glock 42 -

S&W Shield EZ 380 - lower recoil, good for a gun you may not be using a lot

Ruger LCR revolver - small, rounded corners, good for conceal

If you don't want to watch the whole video, the list of guns start at 7:45 into the video

[u/JohnBrown1ng]

Fantastic channel

[u/Funklemire]

I don’t want to have to watch a 19 minute video first. Can you just post the list?

[u/maess]

A revolver of any type is a steep learning curve for a new shooter, let alone an air weight .38...