Best Gun For Beginners: Complete Guide

Above, a shooting outing with friends in Texas Canyon circa 1984.

The earliest I remember going to a shooting range with my dad was when I was around 12 years old. However, before that, I took a National Rifle Association gun safety class with my Boy Scout troop when I was eleven. 

The first guns I fired were pistols. I think it was my dad's Luger. 

On my own, the first rifle I shot with was my grandfather's Winchester 62A .22 caliber pump rifle I inherited. I still have it. The first gun I purchased as a Ruger 10/22 rifle. 

One may ask, "What is the best gun for beginners?" That may be a subjective question. One will get different answers from different sources.

Here's an article from Bear Creek Arsenal on that topic.

They begin it with:

Best Gun For Beginners: Complete Guide

Guns are more popular than ever, contrary to what anti-gunners may try to tell you. America, before the pandemic, was home to around 340 million guns. The pandemic changed gun-buying habits. According to thehill.com, “Americans purchased nearly 60 million guns between 2020 and 2022, according to an analysis by The Trace, a nonprofit, nonpartisan news organization that tracks gun violence. Yearly gun sales are running at roughly twice the level of 15 or 20 years ago.” Today’s gun total for the U.S. hovers around 393 million – we have about 60 million more guns than people! 

Accounting for the fact that many of those pandemic purchases were by gun owners, that still means that millions of folks who had never before bought a gun got into the act and became a new gun owner.

This article will be broken into two sections… first, some basic firearms information, including types of guns, pros and cons, and usage information. The final part will be some specific recommendations. It is addressed to the first-time gun buyer, but experienced shooters may find it useful, as well.

To read more, go here.