Live to Shoot - Defending our 2nd Amendment Rights

My First Handgun

June 13, 2020 Jeff Dowdle Season 1 Episode 24
Live to Shoot - Defending our 2nd Amendment Rights
My First Handgun
Live to Shoot - Defending our 2nd Amendment Rights
Help us continue making great content for listeners everywhere.
Starting at $3/month
Support
Show Notes Transcript

In this episode, we introduce Mr. Howard who will be helping us in the future with our Youtube channel.  He discusses his first handgun and how to choose a first handgun.

jeff@livetoshoot.com
Youtube Channel
subscribe to my newsletter

Support the show

Well, welcome to the lift to shoot podcast. I'm Jeff doddle, and I've been a licensed firearm dealer for 13 years. And I'm passionate about sport in our segment. Right? In this podcast, we'll cover various topics related to the second amendment. Plus any other topics that they, that are interesting or more relevant? Am I even slip in a sport story or some movie topics? Occasionally? I hope you find this, Podcasts informative and can take away at least a little nugget each week that you didn't know. Now on this week's episode, we got a special treat or introducing mr. Howard. He's going to be helping us with our new YouTube channel. And I'll be putting a link to that in our show notes later on. But in this episode, mr. Howard. introduces us to have by your firsthand gun. So take it away, mr. Howard. Hello, you do mr. Howard here doing another video for our friends over@shoot.com. I don't know when you're going to view this. So jump on over to the live shoots website and see what kind of deals I got going. There's going to be podcasts and, forums and all kinds of stuff over there and talk about, shooting and, and, the shooting world. Second amendment, all those kinds of things. A live shoot asked me to do a video on, some of the frequently asked questions. So I've got a bunch of them, but today we're going to start with the one I get from guys like me, you know, Not a military guy, not law enforcement. I'm just a guy. Now I've competed lots of competitions over the years. IDPA dipstick, cowboy action, high power rifle to gun three gun, trap skeet, small bore rifle. That's where I got started competing all these great things, that have, No furthered my education into, shooting guns and, and, and all those shooting sports. So that's what I've been asked to do. Share some of my very, very expensive education with you guys for free. Well, it's pandemic got nothing else to do. so we're going to give it a whirl here. So mr. Howard, I want to get into shooting. It looks like a lot of fun. I go into the gun store and I'm intimidated. I go to the rent guns at the shooting range and, it's just not all that pleasant, helped me. Well, here goes so first off, all those things are, are great. I'm familiar. I've. Been around a lot of cuts stores and I've seen a lot of people do it the wrong way, where, if you don't wear camouflage or you're not a Hunter, or you're not law enforcement, you're not a member of their range or whatever that you're not doing proper, kind of turns them off. And I I'll do a whole video on. A gun store then what it's like to run a gun store as a business, that's topic for another day. But, at any rate they don't pay a lot to stand behind a gun counter. There's not a lot of margin in, guns, contrary to popular belief that, people think that. Guns are expensive and that the dealers have a ton of markup in it. That's just not the case. So you get a lot of people in there who are, more or less volunteering their time. And, they hear the same questions over and over and over. And sometimes they just don't, they just don't come across that, pleasant. I know I've been one of those people. I struggled with it. So, We'll do some videos here in the comfort of my office, and everybody can watch them in the comfort of your own home, and everybody will be comfortable. So mr. Howard, I want to get into shooting, you know, maybe I live in the city. I don't, I don't have my own shooting range. Like those guys on YouTube. I don't live out in Utah where I can just walk out and drop steel targets and. Drive back my truck and shoot them from a thousand yards or, I don't have a bunch of, you know, steel silhouettes that I can shoot from the draw and practice and do all those cool Ninja gun stuff that I see on TV, on YouTube. but I sure do like guns and, and Hey, I'm wanna you, so, I'll tell you what, I tell everybody else is you need to go get yourself a 22 revolver like this one. you're not going to find one like this one, mr. Harris been hanging on with this thing for a very long time. It was made in the fifties, but. We're not talking about this specific gun, but I will talk about this specific gun and some video sometime, but this is a herring of Richardson's model, a sportsman model. this one has to be single actually. So it's a, they don't, didn't make a whole ton of these. long story short. My father gave me that gun and, that was my first gun. I asked for a pellet gun and he said, Pellet guns or persist sissies. I'll get you a 22. That's one of the great stories I have about my father. I don't have a lot of them, but that one is one of the good ones. And, me and my friends, we shot that gun and until it broke, cause that's actually the replacement gun. We shot the double action version of that gun. So many times that, he couldn't be repaired. It needed a new hammer, new sear, new, hand, it needed, everything need to be new. And, before the wild, wooly days of the internet, those parts were incredibly hard. Fine. So, I traded that gun off to a gunsmith for parks and, I would spend a lot of time trying to track down another one, as I got older, but I realized the, the genius behind the 22 long rifle revolver is, is that it always goes back since then. I've, I've seen people coming to gun shops and asked for. you know, they want to get into shooting and most of the time they get steered towards some sort of nine millimeter or 40 or 45, which is we'll get to that in a second. That's not what I recommend. but if they do take the advice and they do buy a 22, they want automatic, they want to rack, it, hit the magazine. They want to be you like, the guys I see on TV and, There there's one problem with that is a Glock has found recently with their model 44, I believe is no matter how much engineering you put into a automatic, a 22 revolver, or sorry, an automatic 22 pistol, they're finicky on ammo. The ammo is, you, it takes some time, but usually the cheapest ammo that you find it, Online or Cabelas or whatever is not consistent enough to run a brand new, 22 automatic. Sometimes it is sometimes it isn't, but you've just got this new shooter. You talked me into this 22 and they go home. They go out in their backyard or wherever to shoot it and, itching, jams, and you know, so all of a sudden the good news is they're learning, they're clearing drills. but they're also, getting frustrated because, there's a little guns not working, so I don't recommend, 22 automatics for people as their first gun. If I can talk them into it, I'll talk them into a Ruger single six or, Ruger Scott SPU, one Oh one and a double action, Smith and Wesson Scott, a couple of guns that they're still making. these guys usually have nine rounds or 10 rounds. Of, 22 and, there are a lot of fun. And the, the great thing about that little gun is, you can hand it down from generation to generation. You can teach kids to shoot with that gun. That's a, that's a forever gun. Once you get one of those you'll, you'll never want to get rid of it. So it's a great first gun. Doesn't matter. How old are you are, how young you are, if, you're just getting into shooting. They're great. if you forget to put your hearing protection on it, won't kill ya. always shoot with hearing protection, even with these 22. So you'll, you'll lose your hearing when you're old like me. however, I did have an uncle when I was little who, who, mentored me a little bit. One of the things he said was he always shot hearing protection. And so I've always shot with hearing protection, except for a couple times when. just kinda forgot to put it on, use your hearing protection. It'll it'll say it'll save your, save your ears. You don't want to lose on it. So that's it. That's the basic you want to go with the 22 now? There's going to be people out there you said, but I, I want to be able to defend myself and I don't feel adequately defended with a 22. and you're right, right. If I had to, I cheat somebody with a 22, but I'd be shooting them a whole bunch of times. president remember president Ronald Reagan was almost killed with a 22 long rifle. So, they're quite deadly. Don't, don't test them. They're not pellet guns. you shoot something with it. You, you better mean to, kill it because, it'll do the job. Now you, it won't do the job as great as a modern, handgun ammunition. Yeah. There's going to be those be out there who are just to say 22, just, just not it for me. I got to have something bigger. So my answer to that is by Glock 19 or Smith and Wesson MP, one of those two guns, that'll get you into the modern polymer frame, striker fired, guns that are. Proliferate this planet and, knock yourself out. There's nothing wrong with those guns. In fact, I've got Smith and Wesson MP right here. I bought this gun. This is a full side. So a little edit there. So this is a Smith and Wesson MP. This is a five inch gun. 17 round mag. I bought this gun for two reasons. number one reason was I wanted to get into strike for pistols. I want to be able to talk about them. I wanted to understand what all the fuss was about. everyone I'd ever shot. I was not all that impressed with compared to the guns I already had, but you know, you can't go against a modern convention forever and, blocks for. Taking over the world and Smith and Wesson, had come out and built their version of a Glock. And, I just liked the grip on the MMP better. And the second reason I bought this gun, was to teach my daughter how to shoot a modern pistol. I figured, you know, The guns that she's going to run into when she's in her twenties and thirties and forties and whatever, they're probably going to be Glocks. so I wanted to make sure that she knew how to run one of these guns. And, unlike a Glock, these guns have, smaller backstraps on them. they're a little easier for a small hands to get around, and I know that you can do it with a Glock. There are plenty of small handed shooters out there shooting Glocks, but, This was before Glock had the Masa. So when I wanted something I could put an optic on and, eventually help, old mr. Howard, bad eyesight, which topic for another video, we'll talk about bad eyesight and corrective lenses and stigmatisms and all those kinds of things. One of these days for you guys out there who suffer from the same problem I do, but suffice it to say it's getting really hard to focus on that front sight. It's. I've been shooting a long time. So I know what's out there and I trust that, I get the best focus on it. I can, and I pulled the trigger and I do the same thing over and over and over. And all the bullets are going to group down there, in the same general area. But, I won't be doing a bullseye shooting, with iron sights ever again in my life. It's just not gonna happen. So, I don't, carry this gun. I don't even have a carry holster for this gun. And I know a lot of you guys are getting into shooting and you want a gun that if you're a gal that may can put in your purse, or, you know, you can keep it in the car or, you know, I'm sure. You're thinking you're going to carry it on your body and carrying a concealed weapon. That's a, that's a whole nother video on its own, but I know that when people are looking at buying a new, yeah, guns, they're thinking that they're going to shoot it. They're going to be the deadliest person alive and they're going to be John wick and, they're going to need to conceal it. well, Glock 19. Is small enough that you can conceal it. but big enough yet that you can shoot it. And that's the, that's the big thing. If you've jumped down to a small, small gun that you, can easily conceal like a pocket gun, like, you know, one of those small Kimber's or one of the, SIG, I think they're the, P nine 38 will single action, nine millimeter. those are great guns. they'll work. They'll do the job, but you're not going to want to practice with them when you go to the range. I said in the beginning, mr. Howard, I shoot because I enjoy shooting. There's something about, you know, the precision of it and I enjoy shooting it. And, one of the things that will kill that enjoyment is shooting big calibers out of tiny guns. And so. I tried to avoid doing it. So for years, here's my carry gun. I, I shot IDPA, shoddy up sick with this gun, and this is Browning high power. and I've carried this gun and the right type of holster. I carry this gun just fine, but, you know, it's a, this gun is a. Custom Browning high power. And the time came that it was time to retire that gun for being carried all the time. I still shoot it at the range and enjoy shooting it. And I had to make a decision. You know, I need a gun, a midsize gun, nine millimeter, like a Glock 19. This is the original block, 19 size. And he laid a Glock 19 next to a burning high fire. You'll find out that they're very similar in size and Glock nineteens carry 15 rounds of Smith and Wesson, MP compact, or Carrie. I can't tell you. which one exactly. I lose track of all the nomenclatures and forsake and Smith and Wesson and, you know, all those guns, but they're there they're 15 round, double stack. Guns are all basically four inch barrels on there. They're what I would call the mid size versions of their stark pirate pistols, and you know, Those guns are concealable, like I said, I've already got branding and my parents, but I want a gun to carry 15 rounds. It was that size that, you know, I had to wear certain clothing to conceal why just keep carrying my Browning high powers, but I want some live smaller, just like I said, of course this isn't my first gun. This is a. God knows. And my 80th gun, as far as handguns go, I I've gone through a lot of guns. I just, another video for ya. We'll go through, I don't have them all, but I've got pictures of all the guns I've ever had. And, we can go through old mr. Howard's gun collection sometime that might, thrill a few of you a little bit, just let us know down in the comments, you know, the types of things that you want to see us do videos on, I'm just talking here. hopefully just give you some straight talk for some of you guys that just, don't fit into the current slots of, all the craziness that's on YouTube. you're not out trying to, be an assassin or, Get into a gunfight. You just, you just enjoy shooting you, you, maybe you enjoy collecting guns and you just want some help making some good choices. That's what, that's what we're here for. So, my current carry pistol that I've settled on is this. This is a SIG P three 65 XL. it's, it's the bigger version of the three 65. And I got to tell you that, I waited a long time to find a handgun that fit this, particular, dimension. I I've shot the three 65 and I kind of thought was a little small. when I go to draw that gun, there's just not a lot of grip for me to get my hand on once it's in my hand. It's fine. I shoot that gun just fine. But, when I decided I don't care again, I want something with a little bit more grip on it, so I get my hand around it. So, you know, this guy is, is big enough that I can take this through range and shoot it, all the time and practice with it and put a lot of rounds to it. if I was going to take a defensive handgun course, I probably wouldn't use this gun. I'd probably use my high powers. I might even use a 1911 that's when I I've always used in the past when I take, gun courses. But, that's another topic for another day, as to why I've used 19 Eleven's for that, it was the thing to do when I was a younger man was use 19. Eleven's a lot of those gun courses. Now they expect you to show up with a Glock 19. Like I said, I don't have any Glocks, but they're good for what you want to do. one of these days I'll make a video explaining to you how it is that I don't have any Glocks, but I do have this three 65 XL and it's a hell of a gun. pardon my French. It, you shoot it at the range. I've probably got about 2,500 rounds of this gun. And it's very pleasant to shoot. so is it as pleasant to shoot as a larger gun? Like a, like maybe the SIG P three 20 or the Smith and Wesson MP, with 15 round magazine or the Glock 19? I don't know. I haven't shot those guns a lot, but, those are all good choices. but if you're going to skip right past the midsize gun and go to something, you can carry. I can personally recommend the SIG P three 65 XL. I'm not going to do a whole video on the three 65 XL. If you want to see a great video on the three 65 Xcel, go check out, lucky gunner.com, that go there. Just wonderful videos. And it'll explain everything there is snow about the three 65 Xcel and, and why it works so well. It's a great video. I highly recommend it. But that's it. those are my recommendations. if you want to talk, old school, I can, I'll make a revolver video one day I'm 38, three 57, Magnum revolvers. And, tell you about, all of this is Smith and Wesson. Six 86 is too big for me to carry. I don't have the body type to hide a gun like this. it's been one of my favorite guns and, I practice with this at the range and then carried a smaller version of it. J frame gun, double action revolver for years too. And that little J frames kind of like the a P three 65, or the, the little single action, nine 38, or any of those guys guns. A little too small to shoot a whole lot. And, and the bottom line is if you want to be proficient with these guns, you want to hit what you're aiming at. You need to be putting a lot of rounds down range and how you do that. You get yourself a good range gun like this, like this, or like this. And you buy as much ammunition as you can get your hands on and you go shoot. So there you had a first gun gift shelf at 22 revolver. Teach yourself how to shoot, watch YouTube videos about sideline, mint, and trigger, squeeze, and all that. And learn to do it with a 22 revolver. Then step yourself up into a Glock 19 size gun and nine millimeter. and, and move on from there. As you master these different guns, then you won't have to watch YouTube to, get answers to your questions. You'll start to have your own personal authority on how to shoot and, and how you shoot well. So, as always be safe out there where you're hearing protection, where your eye protection, don't point guns at things that you don't intend to shoot. and if you're going to make a YouTube video, Make sure you don't have any ammunition around when you're filming it's would be super embarrassing if you were to actually discharge a weapon and put it on YouTube. So once again, mr. Harris could live. Shoot. We'll see if mr. Howard can edit these videos and actually get them up on YouTube. if I do like, and, all that kind of stuff down the bottom, but send us your comments and, We'll address those the next video, mr. Howard, sign it off. Thank you, mr. Howard, as always, if you liked this podcast, subscribe to it. raised foster on them. Apple podcast. you'll see my email in the show notes. You can email me with any comments or questions. Tell me what you thought about mr. Howard and, If you, also can subscribe to our newsletter and, And I'll put a link to our YouTube channel and you can just describe it as well. So until next time, thank you.

Podcasts we love