What Is the Best Handgun for You? A Guide

In the USA, about 6,849 crimes are stopped or prevented every day by responsible gun owners.

Self-protection, home defense, hunting, and competitive shooting are just a few reasons you may want a handgun. Choosing the best handgun for you will depend on its intended use.

Choose The Best Handgun For The Job

A good way to narrow down the best gun for you is to consider what type of ammo you’ll want to use. Do you want more stopping power, or less recoil and thus more accuracy?

If you’re a beginner, you will want to start with a grade of ammo that is a good blend of power while still being easy to shoot. Therefore, many experts say that the best handgun for beginners uses 9mm ammunition.

There are a few types of handguns to choose from including single-shot pistols, double-action revolvers, and semi-automatic pistols. A single-shot pistol can only fire one round before being reloaded. Double-action revolvers and semi-automatic pistols have more ammunition stored and their reloading mechanism triggers with each shot.

A single-shot pistol would not be appropriate for self-protection or home defense and instead is sometimes used by marksmen or for training young people in proper firearm safety. So, the real choice is whether you want a revolver or a semi-automatic pistol.

Revolvers are extremely reliable, they are unlikely to jam or misfire. They also are available in higher caliber ammunition than semi-autos due to the solid frame structure. The downside with revolvers is that they usually can only carry about 6 rounds, which could be detrimental in self-defense situations.

Semi-automatic pistols generally have a higher rate of fire than revolvers, and some of the best 9mm handguns can hold around 10 to 17 rounds. In defense situations, your adrenaline kicks in, and your firing accuracy can be significantly lowered, which is why having a higher round capacity is ideal.

Decide If You Will Carry

Maybe you want to carry your handgun on your hip while hunting or you are a woman who wants peace of mind by having a gun tucked in her purse while walking home at night.

Overall, a 9mm handgun is the most utilitarian as it can be comfortably carried on the hip and also comes in compact sizes that are easier to conceal.

The best 9mm handgun for you will depend on these factors, but a solid and dependable recommendation is the variety of pistols by HK Firearms.

How to Buy the Most Comfortable Gun

Ergonomics are very important in choosing the right handgun. If you’re not comfortable with your gun, you won’t be as effective in shooting and it may even pose a safety risk.

Most gun stores will let you hold and sometimes even test the handguns for sale. Take advantage of this opportunity by holding several different sizes of handguns, making sure to note the way they sit in your grip.

An easy way to tell if a gun is too large for your hands is if your pinky finger doesn’t have room to sit on the grip.

If you are smaller in stature, or even just have smaller hands, a heavy gun might just be too uncomfortable to wield. This is extra important if your handgun’s main purpose is self-defense.

The SIG P365 is the best handgun for women, due in part to how comfortable it is to hold with small hands.

Where To Buy Your Handgun

Handguns are available at sporting goods stores, local gun shops, and even mega-marts. The widest selection is available online, and ships right to your front door.

Use what you’ve learned to choose the best handgun for you from an assortment of high-quality, durable, and reliable firearms.