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First-Time Handgun Owner’s Guide

Fantastic video Paul! My daughter will be watching this soon since she finally decided she would like to learn to shoot.

I came from a large family of 10 kids that grew up in the suburbs with no firearms of any kind. At 30 (35 years ago now) I received my grandfather's 3 singleshot guns, a 1938 Rem Targetmaster 22 LR, a 1940 H&R 20 ga and a Steven's 12 ga. I had never seen them before, they had been stored in his attic as he had stopped hunting many years before. That's when I had to start teaching myself since I did not know anyone else who knew anything about guns.

It has been a long road since then with additional rifles, shotguns, black powder, handguns and finally ARs, all with a lot of learning, self safety training and cleaning all along the way. I'm glad this kind educational videos are available today so the uninformed don't have to dig as hard to learn as I have.
 
With new gun owners the first thing I tell them is to always be aware exactly where that muzzle is pointing. Down and away from everything you would not want to kill or maim. Loaded or especially when 'empty,' always down and away.
Keep your ammo put away, all of it, until you are packing for the range. Practice handling the cleared gun, learn about its field strip, but don't play with it. If goofy friends drop in, put it away. The average crowd can be pretty dangerous.
Last I tell them to never drink before or during range outings. Firearm handling is serious business. There's no tolerance of foolishness.
Then there's a whole lot more.
 
Wirenut said:
Great video Paul for first timer semi auto buyers.
I came from a family that had no interest in firearms and back in the 70's when I started shooting information was minimal you either were shown by someone or you learned by trial and error.
I was pretty much a revolver guy, then I jumped on the 9mm bandwagon and bought a S&W model 59.
Still have it today.
Thanks Mike for the post.
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Yes sir me too(family who had no interest in firearms). Fortunately I had some uncles and family friends who were like uncles that taught me how to safely handle and shoot firearms. By the time I enlisted in the Marine Corps in 1976 I'd been shooting a few years and the M-16 felt like a glorified 22. I'd been shooting a Remington in 308 before I enlisted. I enjoyed the 308 a lot. I still prefer bolt action rifles over semi-autos. Now that I'm retired and moved back home and live near family I'm considered the "gun" guy in the family. I get asked opinions about different firearms. I have taught basic firearm safety classes to several relatives, along with basic empty hand self-defense(I'm a martial arts instructor.).
 
conax said:
With new gun owners the first thing I tell them is to always be aware exactly where that muzzle is pointing. Down and away from everything you would not want to kill or maim. Loaded or especially when 'empty,' always down and away.
Keep your ammo put away, all of it, until you are packing for the range. Practice handling the cleared gun, learn about its field strip, but don't play with it. If goofy friends drop in, put it away. The average crowd can be pretty dangerous.
Last I tell them to never drink before or during range outings. Firearm handling is serious business. There's no tolerance of foolishness.
Then there's a whole lot more.
Click to expand...
Good advice sir. I use snap caps. And when I do the live ammo in another room. I have seen some very dumb firearm handling mistakes. And when given the opportunity I educated the person. I once spent a couple of hours with a cousin going over the proper way to check a semi-auto and making it safe(magazine out, action locked back) and how to keep from covering others with the barrel. We have refresher courses pretty often. My friends and relatives know that I am all about firearm safety. But it's something you can never get complacent about. And I totally agree that alcohol and firearms(or any weapon, knife, etc.) don't mix. I'm usually armed(firearm and knife) so I don't drink alcohol, not even just 1 beer.
 
I’ve always enjoyed teaching marksmanship and safe gun handling procedures more to young boys and ladies than to men. Too many guys think they’ve got some kind of “John Wayne” gene and they No everything so they don’t pay attention. I taught my younger BIL to shoot (Zero previous experience). I thought I’d have to break his finger to keep it outta the trigger guard before he was ready to shoot. I also had a heck of a time getting him to pull down his earmuffs before touching one off.
 
As a 82 year old life time shooter dealer instructor one item missed is can you comfortable rack the slide. I recommend most people to try then buy S&W Equalizer with its EZZY slide. Also for those not limited its easier to clear a bad cartridge. So many compacts have strong springs hard to rack slides.
 
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