Suggestions And Considerations For The Purchase Of Your First

BRIEF
Suggestions And Considerations
For The Purchase Of
Your First Handgun,
Rifle and Shotgun.
One in a series of briefs offered by
copyright 2012 all rights reserved
Pulse O2DA Firearms Training, Inc. on topics of interest to the firearms training community.
BRIEF: Suggestions And
Considerations For
The Purchase Of
Your First Handgun,
Rifle and Shotgun.
One of the more common questions we receive from our clients is “What firearm should
I purchase?” I am always hesitant to give an answer, not because I don’t have my opinions, but because more importantly I don’t want a clone army of clients coming through our training with only the recommended firearms
and equipment we suggest.
To be perfectly honest, we see almost as many new and interesting pieces of equipment come to our courses as
we see that are not so great, so the less we suggest the more diverse equipment our clients bring. And new is
good, because even if we see a piece of equipment fail, we all learn something during the course that we didn’t
know before the course.
However, our silence in this area is being broken because the issue of “what should I buy” has come up so often
and with such passionate pleas, that I feel compelled to give some general ideas and comments on the subject.
While I will give you some of my personal suggestions, and the reasoning behind the suggestions, I want to make
it abundantly clear that I am not endorsing any firearms or equipment in specific, I am simply telling you what I
have generally found to be a reasonable answer to the above question.
A good friend of mine once told me “The best firearm and ammo is what you have on you.” The idea here is that
the firearm you currently own will work if you know how to use it. Having said that, some firearms work better
than others.
What I am going to suggest are simple, time tested, and reliable rules of thumb. Could you purchase a more expensive firearm or one that doesn’t fall within my guidelines and do well with it during your course or to protect
your life? Absolutely.
Consider the following as a guide, a way to hopefully help you take a new look at ideas and a few items that you
may not have worked with before. You need to take the information I present, and make your own fully informed
decision, and by all means, feel free to kick around the ideas and give us your feedback. As always, I welcome disent and varying opinions because I love to learn... and as always, please keep it civil and include your reasoning.
I highly recommend that you read the entire brief. Please don’t just skip to firearms recommendations and blindly
follow my preferences, because they may not fit your particular needs.
WWW.PULSEFIREARMSTRAINING.COM
COPYRIGHT 2012 PULSE O2DA FIREARMS TRAINING, INC.
1
BRIEF: Suggestions And
Considerations For
The Purchase Of
Your First Handgun,
Rifle and Shotgun.
One in a series of briefs offered by Pulse O2DA Firearms Training, Inc. on topics of interest to the firearms training community.
Basic Factors in Firearm Selection
Selecting a firearm can be daunting, and books have been written
on the subject. So I am going to hit the relevant points that I believe
are the most important for those who intend to win a fight for life
instead of a competitive shooting match.
As I have pointed out in previous writings: I am not professing to
know your situation or what will ultimately work best for you, I am
simply laying out some simple guidelines with simple suggestions that I
have found work for the most people most of the time.
Keeping the above in mind, I would offer the following recommendations for your consideration:
Size - It matters. Both in the caliber you are going to be shooting, as well as the size of the firearm you will be
carrying or - in the case of carrying a concealed handgun - trying to conceal the firearm with your clothing and
equipment so it’s not blatantly obvious to everyone around you (see our two part post about concealed carry
here).
Caliber: I would recommend that you shoot the heaviest and most prolific caliber you can shoot comfortably.
What I mean by most prolific calibre is simply the most common ammunition in your region. That means that if
all of the police departments and your National Guard units shoot 5.56 (rifle) 9mm (handguns), then you may
want to consider having that caliber as - at the very least - a backup. If you find yourself in a situation where you
need to borrow ammunition in a hurry then you will be grateful for this advice.
Remember, it’s not the calibre or number of firearms that you own that make you a lethal force, it’s you ability to
decisively use one or two masterfully that will increase your odds of survival.
Comfort: Why does shooting comfort matter? Because if the caliber is too big and its recoil intimidates you
when you are shooting you will develop bad habits that degrade your ability to shoot well, which in turn makes
you less confident and therefore you will both be shooting less and the little shooting that you do fit into your
training will be of a poorer quality. Shooting less and practicing with poor quality is not conducive to setting
WWW.PULSEFIREARMSTRAINING.COM
COPYRIGHT 2012 PULSE O2DA FIREARMS TRAINING, INC.
2
BRIEF: Suggestions And
Considerations For
The Purchase Of
Your First Handgun,
Rifle and Shotgun.
One in a series of briefs offered by Pulse O2DA Firearms Training, Inc. on topics of interest to the firearms training community.
yourself up to win the fight of your life.
Also keep in mind that if you receive proper training on a good combative firing grip you will be able to manage
greater recoil than you may currently believe yourself capable of, so don’t necessarily turn down something that
seems barely manageable, because with the correct grip “barely manageable” becomes manageable.
As an additional note on personal protection handguns - if you are a person who is physically larger than the average person, you have more options than if you are smaller/slimmer. If you are smaller and/or slimmer, you find
that you may have some limitations on the size of firearm frame you will be able to hide on your body if you are
trying to carry concealed.
For instance: If you choose too large of a size of a frame, it will become difficult to effectively conceal a larger on
your body. Too small of a handgun, and you will run into the problem listed below under the heading of ergonomics.
Ergonomics - The firearm you are looking for needs to offer easy accessibility to any safety mechanisms that
need to be deactivated without having to compromise your grip. That is to say you should be able to carry a rifle
without having to compromise your firing hand to manipulate the safety, and your handgun should allow you to
disengage the safety without extraneous or overly unnatural movement during the draw.
With concealment handguns the firearm need to be small enough to conceal, yet large enough to fit your hands
in a manner that allows for the manipulation of that handgun without having the firearm pinching your hands
during the manipulations - such as reloads and malfunction clearances.
Weight - While an extra pound here and there doesn’t seem like much, after 12 or more hours you will feel it.
Can you learn to deal with it? Certainly, especially as you practice with it and carry it more. However, if it causes
you to carry your firearm less and practice less, the added weight becomes a liability.
Balance - A few extra ounces balanced correctly will hardly be noticed, yet a few extra ounces poorly balanced can make a huge difference in handling and recoil management, as well as wearing on you over a few days
of carrying or training.
The majority of the weight should balance towards the rear for long-guns (rifles, shotguns, etc.,) and firmly towards the stock with the handguns. Having the long-gun balanced towards the rear makes for a more comfort-
WWW.PULSEFIREARMSTRAINING.COM
COPYRIGHT 2012 PULSE O2DA FIREARMS TRAINING, INC.
3
BRIEF: Suggestions And
Considerations For
The Purchase Of
Your First Handgun,
Rifle and Shotgun.
One in a series of briefs offered by Pulse O2DA Firearms Training, Inc. on topics of interest to the firearms training community.
able presentation/mount, as well as facilitates a more rapid transition between multiple targets, where a heavy
barrel could cause the inertia to slow your presentation and cause a overshoot of your intended target.
This balance principle is often defeated the more gadgets we put on the forend and sometimes this simply can’t
be helped, as some accessories will be mission necessary.
However as a good friend of mine once said “Maximize your equipment, while minimizing your gear.” This advice
is not only good for your firearm, it’s great for everything you carry.
Safety features - There is no real way to say this tactfully, safety features are overrated. Why? because you,
the end user, are the one safety feature that must be in place. The bottom line is that if you have poor safety
habits, the number of safeties on a firearm make no difference, you will still be a danger to both yourself and
everyone around you. Conversely, if your safety habits are well ingrained, you can confidently carry any unmodified handgun safely.
It’s also important to consider the fact that most gunfights don’t last very long at all, and are generally concluded
in a matter of seconds. If you are busy unlocking your firearm or fiddling with safeties while the other guy is
shooting, you are way behind the power curve.
Semi-auto, bolt, lever action, or something else? - This is completely a matter of personal preference and how much quality time you are willing to put into your training. I have seen plenty of handgun revolver
shooters and pump shotgun shooters consistently shoot much faster than their semi-auto counterparts.
Like everything else in life there is give and take (see, the Principle of Duality in the Basic Principles chapter in
the Pulse O2DA Tactical Manual), and such skills come at the price of intensive and focused training when dealing
with slightly more labor intensive firearms: So while you may gain more reliability in function, it will require more
practice because there are more moving parts to deal with. This is not necessarily a drawback (especially once
mastered), just be aware of the additional commitment required.
Rails - When talking about shooting to save lives, rails are a necessity, not a nicety. Because a majority of real life
fights for life happen at conversational distances, very rapidly, very violently, and in low light/no light conditions,
you will want a dedicated weapon mounted flashlight, as you will need the light for target identification in low/no
light situations, and to help you clear darker/deep shadow areas.
WWW.PULSEFIREARMSTRAINING.COM
COPYRIGHT 2012 PULSE O2DA FIREARMS TRAINING, INC.
4
BRIEF: Suggestions And
Considerations For
The Purchase Of
Your First Handgun,
Rifle and Shotgun.
One in a series of briefs offered by Pulse O2DA Firearms Training, Inc. on topics of interest to the firearms training community.
Summary:
The above will cover the basics and push you in the right direction. As most things in life, keeping the principles
simple will give you what you need and simplify your life.
If you feel you need more information on firearms selection, just do a quick search on Google and get to it, as I
said above, there are plenty of online resources available both at our blog and throughout cyberspace.
Finally, if you have never shot before (or shot very little), I would recommend that once you have narrowed your
potential candidates down, you schedule a half day at a local gun-shop that has an indoor range where you can
both manipulate and test-fire different handguns under basic supervision. During your manipulations you should
be checking to see if the basic manipulations (loading, unloading, and reloading) meet the above requirements
listed under ergonomics heading.
Many shops have this type of service available, and you should take full advantage of it.
Finally, don’t let someone sell you anything you don’t need or that you don’t believe is right for you. Pick your
firearms for functionality, not fashion or popularity.
Firearms Recommendations:
I want to clearly state that the below recommendations are not meant as an endorsements of the mentioned
brand names. I simply recommend these items because I have used and trained with the equipment below and
I have found the mentioned firearms and equipment both function reliably and hold up to use and abuse. If you
have preferred equipment that you thinks merits mention, please feel free to comment below.
The Practical Rifle -
WWW.PULSEFIREARMSTRAINING.COM
AR-15/M4 type Rifle, pick your favorite calibre as advised in post two of this series.
COPYRIGHT 2012 PULSE O2DA FIREARMS TRAINING, INC.
5
BRIEF: Suggestions And
Considerations For
The Purchase Of
Your First Handgun,
Rifle and Shotgun.
One in a series of briefs offered by Pulse O2DA Firearms Training, Inc. on topics of interest to the firearms training community.
Must have accessories:
A quality tactical sling like the Chalker (single point for S.T.R.I.K.E. for MOLLE gear or the Elastic Back
works just as well) I also like the Viking Tactics slings for their versatility as well as their ability to quickly tighten/
loosen the sling for the desired retention of your rifle. Both systems are reliable and simple to use during transition drills and shooting from the support side. Don’t forget additional sling attachments as you may want them
for a custom fit.
Magazines (x2-3) Magazine pouch(s) from either Raven Concealment Systems and Kaluban Cloak
Rail forend (if for nothing more than mounting a quality tactical light)
Tactical flashlight and mount (no need to overdo the light, something that let’s you see out to 25 or 50
yards should be sufficient for your personal protection needs) I recommend Surefire products, they are tough as
nails
Foldable front and rear sights if you plan on using optics
Niceties:
Quality low power/no magnification optics, Aimpoint, EOTech, or ACOG are reliable and battle proven, don’t
forget the optics mount if not sold with the sight
Free floating barrel (not only improves accuracy, it helps to keep your handguard/forend cool during sustained
shooting)
Collapsible and adjustable but-stock (quick solution to custom stock fitting)
Vortex flash hider is great for lowlight shooting as it tames even the most brightly burning powder
Ambidextrous safety is great for when you are carrying or shooting from the support side and magazine release
lever (great for support side manipulations)
MAGPUL’s Battery Assist Device (BAD)
WWW.PULSEFIREARMSTRAINING.COM
COPYRIGHT 2012 PULSE O2DA FIREARMS TRAINING, INC.
6
BRIEF: Suggestions And
One in a series of briefs offered by Pulse O2DA Firearms Training, Inc. on topics of interest to the firearms training community.
Considerations For
The Purchase Of
Your First Handgun,
Rifle and Shotgun.
Practical Handgun:
Glock - third or fourth generations (manufactured with accessory
rails), pick your favorite calibre as advised in post two of this series
Must have accessories:
Magazines (x2-3) Quality holster and magazine pouches, I recommend Raven Concealment Systems and Kaluban Cloak I like both and
they both hold up well enough for daily use.
Tactical flashlight (no need to overdo the light, something that let’s you see out to 25 or 50 yards should
be sufficient for your personal protection needs) I recommend Surefire products, they are tough as nails
Sights Trijicon “Bright and Tough” front and rear night sights
Practical Shotgun:
Remington 870-P, or equivalent
Must have accessories:
WWW.PULSEFIREARMSTRAINING.COM
A quality tactical sling like the Chalker (single point for S.T.R.I.K.E. for MOLLE gear or the Elastic Back
works just as well) I also like the Viking Tactics slings for their versatility as well as their ability to quickly tighten/
loosen the sling for the desired retention of your shotgun. Both systems are reliable and simple to use during
transition drills and shooting from the support side. Don’t forget additional sling attachments as you may want
them for a custom fit.
COPYRIGHT 2012 PULSE O2DA FIREARMS TRAINING, INC.
7
BRIEF: Suggestions And
Considerations For
The Purchase Of
Your First Handgun,
Rifle and Shotgun.
One in a series of briefs offered by Pulse O2DA Firearms Training, Inc. on topics of interest to the firearms training community.
Sights Trijicon Bright and Tough front and rear shotgun sights
Shotgun forend tactical light
Shotgun shell tactical stripper (fits on belt)
Have a gunsmith adjust the length of pull (removing/adding some stock length so that the shotgun fits you better). Adjusting the length of pull will make shotgun manipulation much easier
Niceties: Have a gunsmith lengthened forcing cone. Doing this will reduce the recoil. Have a gunsmith port
the barrel. Porting the barrel helps reduce recoil, and systems like Vang Comps barrel porting significantly reduce
muzzle flash.
+++++++++++++++++++
As I have stated previously, this is not a comprehensive list, nor is it necessarily the most up-to-date. Thanks to the
marvels of capitalism, there are always newer and better items that are developed in the effort to help us win a fight
for life. As you find new and worthy products, please feel free to keep us in the loop, as we love to hear from you and
appreciate your input. Until next time, stay frosty. Silent Bob
WWW.PULSEFIREARMSTRAINING.COM
COPYRIGHT 2012 PULSE O2DA FIREARMS TRAINING, INC.
8
ABOUT PULSE O2DA
We have one objective at Pulse O2DA - to teach our clients the gun fighting skills necessary to win the fight of their life. To
master the chaos that results when a lethal force confrontation is thrust upon you. We don’t teach competitive shooting or
recreational gun handling skills. We teach a devastatingly effective gun fighting methodology we created called the Pulse Engine,
a method that quite simply unravels an adversary. Properly engaged the Pulse Engine is virtually unstoppable, causing panic and
confusion in your adversary so that they literally “fold back” on themselves. If you are serious about weapons training and you
enjoy learning not just the mechanics, but also the theory, strategy and tactics that allow you to dominate a lethal threat confrontation - then you should seriously consider registering for a Pulse course. We have structured our training resources in a
manner that makes them both accessible and affordable beginning with free resources you can access on our blog Warriors
and Capitalists. Next, we offer the Pulse O2DA Armory - an on-line $9.95 per month subscription based portal that gives you
complete access to our training manuals, videos and reference sources. Then we offer 4 course formats designed to take the
gun novice up the ladder to “Master of Chaos”.
Please visit our web site at www.pulsefirearmstraining.com for more information