Gun Buying Tips

I am frequently asked “Hey Kurt, I’m thinking of buying a gun…what should I do?”

Here is a response I gave to a friend out in California.

What will be the primary purpose: Home defense or concealed carry?

I was big fan of the Sig Sauer guns. Till I bought a Glock. Now I have 2. I have the Glock 23 (G23) Home and the Glock 27. (G27) Conceal Carry(I’m wearing mine right now) you can find them in the $450 to $550 price range. They are both .40cal guns.

A good place to shop prices is www.gunbroker.com you may even want to buy one from them and have it shipped to your closest FFL(Dealer)

DO NOT buy a .380 as the ammo is very hard to find and the stopping power of a .380 is not very good. .40 will knock a guy down and make a big hole. 9mm is ok but you can get used to shooting a 40 real fast and the recoil of most modern semi automatic pistols is minimal.

Almost every region has an indoor range where you can rent different guns to get a feel for what works for you.

In many states you’ll need to take a course/test before you can buy a handgun.

Storage: Buy the “gun vault” it’s a small gun safe with a spring loaded hatch. Fastest opening safe on the market. It can be bolted down to your closet shelf. Comes in multiple sizes. Search Ebay

The most challenging part right now is getting ammo at a good price. www.ammoman.com is a good place to find deals but they might have stopped shipping to CA. Many companies have. Other than that, you’ll have to visit Walmart, Big5, or Dicks(Ask about discounts for buying in bulk) sporting goods stores looking for deals. I like to keep 2k rounds handy and it has been hard to find ammo to replace what I shoot.

There are a lot of good guns out there. Find one that fits your hand well and that is easy to shoot/disassemble/clean and buy it.

Happy shooting,

Kurt