imported post
Welcome to the forum!
Ultimately there is a lot to know, but here's a start.
Gun Safety:
Ultimately, the most important aspects of firearm safety are the following principles:
1. Never point the muzzle towards anything you are unwilling to destroy.
2. Always assume all guns are loaded, even if you KNOW they are not.
3. Keep your finger off the trigger until you are ready to fire.
4. Know what is behind your target.
The first principle is most important. If these principles are strictly followed, a mistake with terrible consequences would be very unlikely. These principles MUST be strictly followed at all times.
Also,it couldn't hurt totake a gun safety class. Also if you know someone who shoots that would be willing to take you shooting and give you instrunction it may be the best option.
Be sure to read the manual that comes with any gun you choose to have, and store them out of the reach of children (on your hip is good, or in a safe... they sell quick-access safes for $100-150 that you punch in a quick combo to open)
Also, when shooting a gun be sure to wear proper ear protection.Permanant hearing loss can result from shooting if you are not wearing ear plugs or muffs.Safety glasses are also a good idea.
Proficiency:
Before you carry a firearm, make sure you know how to use it. Take it to the shooting range first and make sure you can reliably hit a target. It may take some considerable practice, learning trigger control and sight alignment first. (Generally lining up a front post between two rear posts.) If you can't reliably aim a firearm there is the danger of hitting unintended targets
Choosing a gun:
For a carry gun, I would recommend something in a medium caliber which is effective and also has controllable recoil.The gun needs to be reliable too. You should select one that fits your hand well too.
There are a lot of good calibers to choose from. Just a few good calibers that a lot of guns are in include: 9mm Luger, .38 Special, .357 Magnum, .45 ACP, and .40 S&W. There are plenty of other choices too, but those are some of the most common. If you really want to know about terminal ballistics here is probably the best guide, written by the FBI:
http://www.firearmstactical.com/hwfe.htm. The most important thing is hitting a target in the right place, and having enough penetration to hit major organs.
Of course, a lot of these calibers can be quite expensive to shoot, so you might want to consider a gun in .22lr (which is by far the cheapest caliber to shoot) in addition to your carry gun just to get some practice and learn how to shoot. It's worth spending the extra money on a .22 in my opinion. (Shooting by the way is also extremely fun. I love plinking aluminum cans in the desert with .22s.)
As far as the carry gun itself, if you are going to open carry the gun (as opposed to concealed carry) it allows you to carry guns that areof a pretty decent sizeand thus easier to use than the tiny guns sold specifically for concealed carry. Unless you are going for concealed carry, I would get a handgun that has a barrel at least 3" long, preferably 4 or 5" long, with acapacity of at least 6rounds. Check out a gun store and look at their selection of semi-automatic handguns and revolvers. My personal favorite in each flavor is the Beretta 92FS in 9mm and full-size S&W revolvers in .357 magnum [which would also be able to shoot the much more mildly recoiling .38 special], but there are a LOT of good guns out there to choose from. Most of thetypical handguns I can think of are in the $400-700 price range but if you are on a limited budget you can find perfectly good guns as well.I can think of many firearms in the $90-400 that are pretty good.
Almost as important as the gun is a good holster which fits the gun.If you'll carry it a lot you need to find a comfortable one, and be comfortable with the weight of the gun etc. An external belt holster is ideal for open carry.
For concealed carry, the full-size guns may be more difficult to conceal, depending on how you dress. Common holsters used for concealed carry are inside the waistband holsters. Relatively big guns can easily be concealed under a jacket.Concealed carry though often calls formore compact guns. In the case of those, shorter barrel lengths, smaller magazinecapacities, and smaller calibers may be deemed necessary. Some small guns can even be concealed in pockets (Use a pocket holster for safety).
Some really popular CCW guns include 5 shot snub-nosed revolvers and a wide variety of semi-autos (PPK's and much more!). Virtually every company makes some sub-compacts. Depending on how small you want them, tiny guns like the Ruger LCPand even tiny.25 autos and mini-revolversexist, but keep in mind that the smaller the gun the less usable they generally are. However, a gun is only useful if you have it with you, so a gun that issmall enough and light enough to carryall the time is much better thana bigheavy gun that you leave at home because its too cumbersome to carry.
Gun Cleaning
Also, you'll have to maintain your gun. You'll need some cleaning supplies, likegun oil and copper solvent, and maybe some slide grease. You'll also need a cleaning rod for the barrel and some patches.
Basically, maintaining a gun comes down to cleaning it (which includes running the rod down thebarrel with alternating patches covered insolvent),oiling allmoving parts,and for semi-autos usually putting a small amount of grease on the surfaces thatrub against each other during recoil.
Some firearms are moresensitive toproper lubrication and cleaning than others, butmost guns shouldbe cleaned afterfiring afew hundred rounds through themorreliability could suffer and you could encounter jams.
It might be wise to clean and lubricate your firearm even when you firstget it new out of the box to remove anyanti-rust gunk (especially common withmilitary surplus)andensure proper lubrication (sometimes new guns aren't lubricated before you get them.) I once got a gun from the factory that was bone dry.
)
