If you are considering your first gun chances are it's a hand gun. Rifles can be be intimidating and usually cost more than run of the mill pistols. So you may be wondering which caliber should I get?

There are many out there and and it's very confusing as a novice. As a rule of thumb, I don't purchase any guns chambered in exotic calibers. By exotic, I mean things like 5.7x28mm, 50AE, etc. If you want to learn more about these have a look at my top 5 dumbest calibers.


My general rule of thumb is to only purchase guns chambered in calibers which are readily available. This limits your choices for hand guns to:

• .380
• 9mm
• .38 Special
• .357 Magnum
• .45 ACP

I could technically throw .44 Magnum in the list but it isn't quite as easy to find as the calibers above and is fairy expensive. When I bought my first gun (Glock 21C) in 2005, I choose the .45 simply for the stopping power associated with it. However, I didn't realized the cost of .45 ACP which at the time was ONLY around $.37/round. It has since increased to around $.45/round today.

I always suggest a 9mm simply because it's one of the easiest rounds to find. The ballistic performance is good all around and the recoil is fairly easy to manage for new shooters. I'm not a fan of .380 or .40 calibers. Ballistics on the .380 fall short of 9mm while the price per round is almost equal. The .40 caliber is a high-pressure round with increased recoil over the 9mm; especially in short barrels. Neither will re-sell as easy as a 9mm.

I'm not a huge fan of wheel guns but .38 special is a excellent choice with a decent ballistics and the supply is plentiful. .357 is priced higher and packs more punch along with more muzzle flash. While there is no "magic bullet" I hope this information is useful to anyone considering there first hand gun.

Condition 3 carry refers to carrying a handgun with a loaded magazine but no bullet in the chamber. Condition 3 carry is usually seen with new concealed carry users who are not yet comfortable carrying a loaded firearm.

There is a lot of controversy over the combination of safety/practicality. While it's obliviously safer in terms of reducing a negligent discharge, the practicality of a dry chambered gun for self defense is low if any. The chances of having available time in a life-threatening situation to chamber a round is highly unlikely.


Consider the fact that nobody who carries a gun for a living (LEO/MIL) is carrying in condition 3. That alone should be enough to deter you from doing so if you are considering it.

These days there are plenty of high-end .22 rifles on the market. Look at rifles from Anschutz, Savage, CZ, and Ruger. Most claim match-grade accuracy and come equipped with long barrels, custom stocks, and other luxuries. However, the limiting factor with these rifles is the cartridge itself.

Due to the low bullet weight and velocity the .22 LR cartridge is simply not suited for 1MOA accuracy at long range. A standard 40 grain bullet is not stable enough to maintain accuracy at long ranges. Especially with limited velocity and added wind when shooting outdoors. When you compare it to a .223 consider that in addition to an extra 15 grains of weight (at least) the pill shape allows the projectile to maintain a more stable trajectory.

Add another 1500-2000 feet/sec and you can see why a .223 can maintain 1MOA accuracy at 100 yards. If you are looking for something smaller than .223 that can maintain 1MOA accuracy you may consider the .17 HMR.