The Six Steps To Buying Your First Handgun – Step 5: Caliber

The Six Steps To Buying Your First Handgun – Step 5: Caliber

In this article we are going to cover what the size of your handgun that you are going to purchase.  This first part comes from Jeff Levant, The Shooting Channel who wrote an article for the Daily Caller. From Jeff’s article regarding the most controversial of subjects, which caliber should you choose: 

Choosing the right caliber is probably one of the most debated topics in the firearms field, and there are varied opinions and almost all of them have some merit.  So here is mine.  For the purposes of this article we will only consider the .380acp caliber and higher.  I know that there are plenty of guns chambered in smaller calibers and plenty of people have a valid reason to choose them, but the guns are usually chambered in smaller calibers for very specific purposes and do not relate to this article about choosing a first handgun.  Recent FBI Protocol testing would suggest that if you are using modern defensive ammunition chambered in .380 or higher you should be well armed to meet most threats encountered by your average self-defense shooter.  Going back to when we talked about handgun size and perceived recoil, the same holds true when we talk about caliber.  When comparing two handguns of similar size and weight, the one chambered in the larger caliber will have more felt recoil than one chambered for a smaller, lighter caliber.  In addition, the handgun chambered in the larger caliber will normally have a lower capacity than the one chambered in a smaller caliber.  We can draw several conclusions from these simple facts.

1. Handguns chambered in larger calibers provide more stopping power than ones chambered in lighter calibers, but are slower shooting due to higher felt recoil, and have a reduced capacity for possible follow up shots.
2. Handguns chambered in smaller calibers allow for fast multiple shots, provide a higher capacity for those multiple shots, but may not end conflicts as quickly with a single shot.

In my opinion, new shooters need every advantage they can get, which means they should be looking for low recoil, high capacity, easy shooting handguns.  As a shooter trains and improves their skill level, they can look to shooting larger caliber firearms.

Now in my humble opinion, I don’t care which caliber you choose, whether it be .380 to .45, as long as you carry. One thing you should consider is availability, price & comfort. This may mean you have to play around with different guns (or just buy more!) Just understand that there is no perfect answer. For most, they take their choice of caliber very seriously, so be prepared for a variety of opinions. 

Here is some more information from the Lucky Gunner YouTube channel, which is really well put together.

Check out Part 1 Here, Part 2 Here, Part 3 Here, Part 4 here    

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