Women's First Handgun Purchase

Chapter Four - What to Look for in Handguns, Part 4

Book Title:  Women's Guide to Buying Your First Handgun Series:  Firearm/Pistol For Life Series Author:  Ruperto Elpusan Jr. Be sure to look for ISBN #0-9772088-3-4 at Amazon, Powells and other fine online retail bookstores.

Chapter Four:  What To Look For In Handguns, Part 4

6.  Maintainability

Guns are mechanical devices.  As such, they do need to be maintained and cleaned, as they are used throughout the years.  Powder accumulates and fouls up the action.  The bore of the barrel fouls up the more bullets go through it.  The metal parts start to rust if you leave the gun in cold and wet places.  All parts start to wear with usage.

Maintaining and cleaning a gun is important.  A gun that doesn’t operate as it should can be dangerous to you and others around you at the range or anywhere you shoot.

Guns aren’t as bad as automobiles in terms of maintainability.  They are not anywhere nearly as complex.  There are many more gun users who can take apart their guns than there are auto users who can take apart their cars.  (And put them back together again.)

Since many women are casual users, there is no expectation to detail strip a gun in order to maintain it.  Everybody should be able to at least field strip a gun in its major components in order to be able to clean the gun.  It is advisable to clean a gun after each use. 

Of course, the realities of modern day living may prevent you from cleaning after every use.  You most certainly need to do the best you can with cleaning, but some guns are more forgiving than others if you miss some cleanings.  No gun is maintenance-free, but some are better with maintainability than others.

Therefore, a casual user needs to select a gun that is better with maintainability than others.  The gun should be usable even after missing some cleanings.

The subject of revolvers versus semi-automatics is covered in another chapter, but generally revolvers tend to have better maintainability characteristics.

Firearms instructors and knowledgeable gun hobbyists can provide guidance in this regard.  If you’re up to it, you can also read reviews online in the Internet or ask questions in some online gun forums.

7.  Safety Features

There is no question that a certain amount of safety features is imperative on handguns.  Some have more than others, although more is not necessarily better.

Regardless of the safety features, this basic handgun safety rule needs to be kept in mind.

For example, if the gun has a chamber load indicator, do not rely on that to determine if the gun is loaded.  You need to manually and visually check if the gun is loaded in the traditional way by opening the action and verifying if there are rounds in the chamber, and in some cases, you should even sweep through the opening of the action with your finger.

Before proceeding, let’s consider the following important point.

The importance of training cannot be overemphasized and safety is one of the primary reasons.

In fact, although some gun experts have the view that a lot of safety devices is good, there is an argument that too many external safeties is not good.

This insight point is an argument that some, but not all, experts make based on the prior insight point that practically all experts agree on, which is the prominence of training with regards to safety.

To expound on this view, the premise is that an external, manual safety will require training to use properly or it can become a serious hindrance in a crucial life-threatening situation.  In the middle of danger when the gun needs to be drawn very quickly and adrenaline is rushing through the body, it is easily possible for the user to forget to release the manual safety.  Getting confused with a manual safety is the ultimate safety error when you need the gun in an emergency situation.  An adequate amount of training will be necessary for the user to practice disengaging the safety.

To further elaborate on this view, if the user is investing time and effort anyway to practice working with the constraints of an external, manual safety, that same user could be trained to keep her finger off the trigger in all situations --- with a gun that has no external manual safety but has only internal safety that prevents the gun from firing unless the trigger is pressed.

The bottom line in this section is that you need to select a handgun with the mix of safety features that you are comfortable with.  You need the mix of safety features that works for you.  More is not better.  The combination of training and the safety features should be such that you can optimally use the gun --- including drawing quickly when you are in a crisis situation --- without compromising your safety and the safety of others.

Safety feature:  Ammunition printing on the gun

This is not usually discussed as a safety feature, but we list this here first because it is very important with regard to safety.  All guns today are required by law to have the type of ammunition it uses printed on the gun, and it’s usually on the barrel.  For example, if the gun uses a .38 special round, “.38 SP” is indicated on the gun.

Before you load ammunition, you should be trained in visually matching the type of ammunition to the ammunition requirement of the gun being loaded.  Even experienced gun owners are susceptible to error.

Make sure that the gun you purchase has the ammunition specification clear enough for you to see.  Printing on the gun is required by law but you personally need to be comfortable seeing it for visual verification.

Safety feature:  Manual trigger disabling  safety

This is usually built as a latch on the rear of the slide of a semi-automatic pistol.  Not all semi-automatic pistols have them.  When this safety is engaged, it prevents the firing pin from striking so that the gun does not fire, even if the chamber is loaded.

If the gun you would like to purchase has a manual safety, you need to determine if the position of this safety device is easy for you to reach and use.  Some gun models have an ambidextrous manual safety so both left-handed and right-handed users can equally access the device.

You will need to incorporate the use of the manual safety in your training repetitions in drawing the gun from your holster.

Safety feature:  Slide safety lever

Some semi-automatic pistols have a lever on the slide that prevents the firing pin from operating.

You will need to incorporate the use of this device in your training repetitions.

Safety feature:  Trigger safety

This is a mechanical appendage that is embedded on the front part of the trigger.  It looks like a second, smaller trigger within the trigger.  Its design intent is so that the gun is fired only by pressure from the trigger finger, so that the gun does not go off when it is dropped, for example.

Nothing consciously has to be done by the user to benefit from this feature and no additional training is required other than to practice operating the gun as normal.

Safety feature:  Grip safety

This is a mechanical sensor in the backstrap of the grip that prevents the gun from firing unless there is pressure being applied from gripping the gun.  The design goal is to prevent the gun from firing even if the trigger is pressed if the gun is not being gripped.

This is another feature that is considered an internal safety device not requiring to user to perform any specific action to use.

Safety feature:  Firing pin safeties

This is a family of mechanical safety devices that doesn’t require any learning by the user, other than to know that it exists in the gun model.  These are mechanical devices internal to the gun, in the assembly of the firing pin, which prevents the firing pin from moving forward unless the trigger is pulled. 

The design goal is to prevent the gun from firing unless the trigger is depressed.

Safety feature:  Magazine disconnect

Before proceeding, here’s a gun safety fact regarding semi-automatic pistols.  It’s a point of confusion for some people new to guns 

A round may still sit on the chamber.

Some semi-automatic pistols have a magazine disconnect feature which prevents the gun from firing if the magazine is not contained in the magazine well.  So, if a round is still in the chamber, this device prevents the gun from firing if the magazine is not present in the gun.

Safety feature:  Chamber load indicator

This is a mechanical device on the frame of the pistol which is supposed to show if the chamber has a round loaded inside it.  The way it’s typically implemented is that if the indicator protrudes out, there’s a round inside and if it’s flush with the frame, there is no round in the chamber.

Safety feature:  Decocker lever

When a hammer is cocked, all that’s required is to press the trigger to fire.  However, to suspend shooting and unload, you will need to decock the hammer.  This ability to decock the hammer needs to be trained into your operating skill as there is risk that the gun can inadvertently fire if not done properly.  Some guns have a decocking lever which allows you to easily decock the hammer.

Safety feature:  Loading gate interlock

This is an internal mechanism that applies only to some single action revolvers.  The design intent is to immobilize the hammer and trigger when the loading gate is open.

The idea is to prevent the gun from firing while the loading gate is open, especially when you’re loading or unloading rounds.

Safety feature:  Double action only

The fact that a handgun is double action only is not a safety feature per se.  However, it is regarded by some people as having intrinsic safety characteristics.

By pressing the trigger, two things have to happen with a double action only pistol --- the hammer needs to be cocked back first and then it goes forward to hit the firing pin.  The trigger pull is heavier than if the gun does not need to cock the hammer.

It is also argued by some that the heavier trigger pull contribute to safety by requiring the gun user to pull the trigger with more effort.  This is debatable but included here to make this discussion more complete.

8.  Training

You need to select a gun for which you can readily obtain training.  Not just any handgun training, but training for your specific gun model.

Therefore, your decision on a gun may end up being regionally-oriented.  Perhaps there is no local expertise for a specific model in your case, and that’s a good reason for selecting a different gun.

Before making a purchase, you need to survey your area for knowledge about the gun models you are considering. 

Ch 1 - Introduction | Ch 2 - Why Handguns | Ch 3 - Why Many Handguns Aren't Right | Ch 4 - What to Look for in Handguns | Ch 5 - Revolver vs Semi-Automatic Pistol | Ch 6 - Revolver Choices | Ch 7 - Semi-Automatic Choices | Ch 8 - Used or New | Ch 9 - Internet or Local | Ch 10 - Why Practice is Important