I'm a beginner interested in guns. Whats a good way to gain knoweledge about them, and whats a good first gun

Answer 1

Firearm Hunting Safety Course from your DEP

AND

NRA Safe Firearm's Handling Course

Join the NRA, and a local gun club.

Answer 2

I compliment you on your exercising your 2nd amendment right to keep and bear arms.
You don't mention if you are interested in a rifle or handgun, so let me try and touch on both.
Also, will the gun be the first of many or a sole home defense/target gun?
Anyway, lets say you are wanting to learn to shoot, and will likely buy another gun down the road. If this is the case, I would definitely consider a .22 caliber handgun or rifle. The ammo is cheap and there is no recoil to speak of.
If you are looking for a home defense weapon as well, forget the .22, as they are definitely not going to stop a crack addict bent on hurting you and your family.
Handguns, some choices:

1. A .357 magnum revolver, you can start out with .38 caliber ammo, which has very limited recoil, and advance to the full-on .357 ammo, which will stop pretty much anything except a grizzly bear or rhino;)

2. A .45 caliber semi auto such as the 1911 (the design, not some old gun..lol) or any chambering the .45. This round is pleasant to shoot but will take down most 2 legged robbers ect.

3. A 9mm semi auto, not my favorite as it's stopping power is limited, but the ammo is cheap and the recoil very low.

If you want a long gun for hunting/home defense:

1. A .357 or .44 magnum winchester rifle. These are beautiful guns and you have likely seen them used on many western movies. If recoil is a factor, you can can have these chambered in the .45 long colt cartridge, but this will be less effective for hunting. Be careful about the powerful cartridges for home use, as they can penetrate walls exceedingly well, but you can get special rounds called "Glaser rounds" that will break up on impact with a wall.

2. Another good gun is any AK-47 varient, but these will not be fully automatic. These guns are light, powerful, and ultra-reliable. They chamber 7.62X39 ammo which is quite cheap as it is made all over the world; It is very powerful and can be used hunting.

Ways to gain knowledge on guns:

1. Gun magazines. These magazines are informative and they usually have many great articles on gun types and test firing.

2. As questions at gun shops, if the place is not too crowed, you might just find a friendly person or teller who is all too happy to initiate the uninitiated.

Hope this helps, good luck!

Answer 3

A good .22 caliber rifle or pistol should be you first gun and hopefully it will always be with you. It does not have to be expensive but it sholuld be of certain quality. Read as much as you can about guns and visit a gun shop and a rental range if you can. Back in 1990 I got into guns without research and good questions and really burned myself. A Ruger .45 Colt Blackhawk and Ruger .44Magnum Redhawk were my first two. Real stupid for someone who never shot a gun before. The first (Blackhwak) had shells that were too expensive and the second (Redhawk) had shells that were expensive and too hot. Below is a VERY LIMITED list of beginner guns. There are so many more, so this is just a sample list.

Handguns

Ruger Single-Six .22LR/.22WMR (revolver) series
Ruger MK III .22LR auto series
Browning Buckmark .22LR auto series
Taurus 94 .22LR (revolver)
Beretta Neo .22LR auto series

Rifles

Savage .22 bolt action series
marlin .22 bolt action series
Ruger 10/22 auto

And remember, SAFETY ALWAYS COMES FIRST. There are warnings everywhere in a gun manual. Heed them and any other instruction you may receive.

Answer 4

Join the NRA. They give you a choice of which NRA magazine you get with your membership. Choose The American Rifleman. It always has great articles about guns, and their writers do a good job of writing so beginners can understand and so those of us who already know more about guns will also learn something new with each month's magazine.
Also check out the websites of gun makers like Ruger, Glock, Remington, or whatever gun you want to read about.
As for a good first gun, I would get a Ruger 10/22 rifle. It's cheap to shoot, accurate, and dependable, and there are lots of ways you can modify a 10/22. I have a scope on my 10/22 and shoot PMC Sidewinder bullets most of the time in it.
The clip that comes with a 10/22 holds 10 bullets, and you can get bigger clips. I have some that hold 50 bullets, a whole box of .22 bullets to shoot before reloading. That's fun!!!

Answer 5

There are a couple of ways to educate yourself. The first is go to your local gun shop/ shooting range and go through the safety course. Go to the library and get a book or two on gun safety. One you have done that then decide what type of gun you want, rifle, shotgun, or handgun.
If you decide on a handgun there are some ranges that have guns for rent. You can rent and shoot severl differnt makes and calibers in semi-auto and revolvers. This will show you what feels comfortable in your hand as well as what caliber you are comfortable with.
Just don't buy the cheapest thing out there be prepared to spend at least $500 up to $1000 for a quality firearm that will last. You can save some money if you buy a used gun, that is how I bought my first.

Answer 6

The best and most entertaining way to begin to educate ones self about guns in my opinion, would be to subscribe to Guns and Ammo and Shooting times. After a year or so, you'd be pleasently suprised at how much you've learned about gun safety, Gun types, Shooting sports, and all aspects of this rewarding hobby.

As to a good first gun to own, you just cannot beat the Ruger 10-22 22.caliber semiauto rifle. It's excellent as is for plinking and small game hunting as well as informal target shooting. It has a huge selection of ascessories avalible for it, everything from folding stocks,(of little actual purpose, but surely cool looking)
extended magazines, Optics mounts, Caliber conversions (.17
mach II), and can even be converted into a top-grade target rifle with the addition of target grade trigger packs and heavy barrels.
Best part is, the asking price new is still under 200.00, often little more than 150.00. There's nothing that can match the level of acceptance it has recieved, evidenced by the fact it has been in production for around 40 years!

Answer 7

Join the NRA, take a basic gun safety or hunter's safety course. And while you have to take things with a grain of salt, subscribe to a gun magazine or two. While a lot of what they print is just one man's opinion, they still do give out some good information.

Once you purchase a firearm hang out at the local range and gunshops. You'll most likely come across a number of experienced shooter and hunters that will gladly share their knowledge with you.

As for a good starter gun, well a decent .22 rifle is always a good choice. They are inexpensive to purchase, inexpensive to shoot and the low level of noise and recoil helps while developing marksmanship.

Marlin makes a number of bolt actions .22s as well as several semi-auto models. Ruger also makes a number of .22s and the Ruger 10/22 is considered one of the best .22 autoloaders made.

Good Luck!

Answer 8

A good way to gain knowledge on guns is to go to a gun safety course and read some books about guns.And a good gun caliber for beginners is a .22 rifle.It was my first gun.They are easy to handle and they don't have much of a kick to them.And if you think you might get into hunting, .22 rifles are great for squirrels and other small game animals.

Answer 9

Read gun websites
Get yourself some training by a certified instructor (not expensive and the value is priceless).
Find a copy of Jeff Cooper's book ' To Ride, Shoot Straight, And Speak The Truth' and read it.
Buy a .22 rifle as your first gun. No scope until you learn to shoot well.

While the recommendation of the Ruger 10/22 is sound, I prefer recommending the Marlin Model 60, which is the most popular .22 rifle of all time. It shoots well right out the box and does everything without gimmicks and gadgets, just a good little rifle.

Answer 10

Visit shooting ranges that rent guns. That way you can try before you buy. Find a gun that fits naturally in your hands and feels comfortable to shoot. You can download owners manual for just about any firearm made, to learn more about the firearm itself and also general safety and handling of firearms. Firearms and hunter safety courses are informative and helpful, even if you do not have a gun yet.