When someone decides to learn how to shoot, they are opening a door to a lot of information. Like most new interests, you don’t have any idea about the extent of rabbit holes you can go down until you take the first steps. I know that was the case for me. Also, please remember that everything here is my opinion. I’m no expert, just an obsessed beginner. YMMV. These are the steps I took to buy my first gun.

There are two big questions you need to answer before you go gun shopping. What is the main purpose you will use it for? What kind of gun are you looking for (handgun, rifle, shotgun)?

Your Purpose Makes a Difference

Some possible purposes for having a gun are:

• home defense,
• personal defense (carry),
• hunting,
• competition,
• plinking,
• some combination

For me, I decided my first priority was home defense. I’ll talk about this in more detail elsewhere, just suffice it to know that you need to do some research into what each of these things mean. Also know that whatever you decide, you may change your mind later. You want to take care to try to get something that meets your needs, but buying a gun is not an irrevocable decision. Remember that you can sell it later. You can certainly purchase more than one.

After Why, then What

Once you decide on why, you can start thinking about what. If, for example, you decide on a firearm for home defense, you need to understand how your environment may affect your selection. Some people think about a shotgun for home defense, but if you live in an apartment or townhouse, the odds are your buckshot is going to go through the walls. With a handgun, your type of ammo may make that less of an issue. In any case, you need to be aware of what (or who) you may hit unintentionally when your boom stick goes boom. There are similar considerations for personal defense.

I decided I wanted a handgun for home defense. While some rifles might work for home defense, and can be easier to shoot, I don’t have a large house or long hallways. I also don’t have a lot of room for a large safe. I wanted size-appropriate weaponry.

I was lucky enough to be able to shoot some handguns and rifles with the-gun-advocate. This gave me a chance to try things out. He started me with a Walther P22 with a suppressor. This is a very soft way to get introduced to handguns. After that we worked our way up, a 9mm Glock 48. By the end of the day, I’d shot different things all the way to a .357 magnum and an AR-15. This process got me focused on wanting a 9mm handgun.

Research is Your Friend

Once I got focused on a 9mm, I started working through YouTube videos and websites, looking at reviews and information. Eventually, I put together a rather lengthy list, mostly using the BassPro website for data like price, hammer-fire versus striker-fire, weight, and whatever else looked useful to note down. I then asked a co-worker (who does competitive shooting) to give the list a once-over. After his “nope, not that one” and “that might work for you” comments, my list was cut in half.

After that, I visited several gun and sporting good shops. I wanted to put my hands on as many of the guns on my list as possible. I also tried a couple of pistols that were suggested by the folks at the shop. While comfort may not be the ultimate deciding factor, if I couldn’t reach the trigger or rack the slide, the gun was not going to work for me. This process cut my list down a lot.

Hands-On

I did shoot a couple of guns with my co-worker. He had one that was on my list. I was glad to try others as well, going under the assumption that my knowledge made for a very small pile of beans. I then went to a local range, where I was able to rent and try the four guns that had made it to the top of my list: The Hellcat Pro by Springfield Armory, the PDP-F by Walther, the CZ P10-C, and the Glock 43X. The-gun-advocate was with me on this adventure, which was very useful. He noticed that my shots were sort of all over with three of the guns, not a surprise, considering my inexperience. With the fourth gun, the Walther, my shots were in more of a column.

Armed with this knowledge, I went back to my research. I learned that the PDP-F has a shorter distance from the grip to the trigger. This meant that I was able to get the pad of my finger on the trigger correctly. I wasn’t pushing the trigger to the left when I pulled it, so I avoided a bunch of the typical “down and left” that can happen with a right-handed shooter.

Armed with all this knowledge (pun intended), I went to my local gun shop. I asked to see the PDP-F. They had a PDP-F Pro in stock. When I dry-fired the gun, I really loved the feel of it and the trigger was wonderful. I discovered that the Pro model has an updated trigger, so it was even nicer than the one I rented at the range. I gleefully plunked down my money. It took seven days to get it, because of where I live, but it was worth the wait for my first gun. I’ve been very happy with my choice.