Three Guns Every New Shooter Should Have In Their Range Bag

 
One of the questions that people in my shooting classes frequently ask is “What gun should I buy?” The reality is that when they finish the class they don't know enough to know what kind of gun to purchase. However, I strongly believe that there are three guns everybody should have in their range bag and I like to talk about that a little bit.

Each of these guns performs a specific function and their purpose is to build the shooters shooting skills. The first is a gas powered air soft, the second is a Ruger 22/45 and the final one is a Glock 17. Let me talk about each of these and I'll share with you why I think they need to be part of everybody's range bag.

A new shooter is trying to learn a number of new skills and they're trying to learn these skills safely. That to me is where the air soft pistol comes into play. I recommend a gas powered one so that they can shoot more than one round without having to charge the pistol. The normal gas powered air soft as a magazine that holds 15 of the 6 mm BBs. And many of them have the same type of form factor as many of the popular handguns so that they'll fit many of the Blackhawk Serpa holsters (my favorite holster). This provides the perfect platform to practice stance, draw from a holster, weapon rotation and joining of the hands, acquiring a sight picture, and finally doing everything from 1 to 3 round engagement with the threat. The nice thing about an air soft is a shooter can practice all day long with little expense, without worrying about weather – especially if they do not have access to an indoor range and they can grab much more practice time by setting up an air soft range in their home.

The second pistol that I believe everyone should own is one of the Ruger 22/45s. This handgun can perform many different functions. It can be used for everything from a trail gun, to a range  gun, to a beginner’s competition gun for rimfire events.  It has a number of features that make it very valuable as an initial training gun for a new shooter. Its touch and feel is the similar as many semiautomatic pistols, in particular a 1911. Its weight is similar to a larger caliber pistols, the grip is the same as many of the larger caliber pistols, and its front and rear sides are similar to those used on larger caliber pistols as well. And of course, another big benefit is that the cost of ammunition is much less than that of a 9 mm or a 45 caliber pistol. I find they shoot very well and they're very accurate.

And finally I believe that every shooter needs what I call a range gun. And in my opinion the Glock 17 is probably the best range gun on the market today. They're powerful enough to easily be used  for self-defense, there easily available at prices around $500 so they're not really expensive, 9 mm ammunition is cheap, relatively speaking, their maintenance is very simple and straight forward, and they just shoot every time you pull the trigger. When you marry the Glock 17 with a Blackhawk Serpa holster, a good pistol belt, and a couple magazine holders, along with a half a dozen magazines -you have what I believe is nearly the perfect system to use for virtually any kind of training course you want to take.

So there you have it. These are the three guns than I believe every new shooter should have in their range bag:  a good quality air soft gas powered pistol, a Ruger 22/45, and finally a Glock 17 with a total of six magazines, a Serpa holster, two magazine carriers and a good pistol belt. With these tools in their range bag, a new shooter is ready to take the next step to really begin learning their shooting craft.