In the first episode of Sam's Corner, we discuss the best firearms for any beginner who is new to shooting should look into. Sam explains why a .22 is actually a good firearm for self-defense.
"Howdy friends and mobile homies! Welcome to Sam's corner from Tommy's Garage. I'm a gun guy, I like to shoot, have for a long time, and I've noticed that there are a lot of people that were looking for the first pistol who have no experience at all of what to get. And you're gonna get about 487 different opinions, including mine.
Off the top before I go anywhere, I'm not a law enforcement officer, I am not a defensive pistol trainer, I do not have defensive pistol training, I'm not an operator, I am not high speed, low drag in any way, shape, or form. I'm just the guy that likes to shoot.
If you if you're interested in getting a gun, I think the most important thing is to get a gun that will teach you how to shoot effectively. And I think the best gun to learn with is a 22 pistol. And I brought a few out here. Some of them are borrowed, a few of them are mine. These are guns that will help you avoid some of the first mistakes that people make.
And one of the biggest mistakes people make is they look for a gun, if it's a 22, they figure they'll get something tiny and cute. Both of these fall into that category. We have a Taurus PT 22 and North American Arms 22 Derringer, and they are cute. With the pearl, they're really pretty little guns. The problem is, the short barrels make them very difficult to shoot well. And they require a lot more time and effort to get to the point where you can actually get hits with them. In addition to that, there's some danger involved with super short guns, because it's easy for you to get your fingers in front of the cylinder, or even in front of the barrel. And you can really, really hurt yourself bad. So these are not good guns to start with. These are the kinds of things that you look for after you've been shooting for a while.
A snub-nosed revolver like this old Smith and Wesson kit gun, that's easier. But still you have a very short barrel and you have a very short very short cylinder and it's easy to get part of your hand in an area where it shouldn't be when the gun goes off.
There are three different action types that we're working with here. We have semi autos, semi autos come in single action and double action. This one being the double action. Revolvers come in single action and double action. The Smith here is a double action. This old High Standard is also a double action actually, it's a JC Higgins. And all that means is you can caulk the hammer and fire the gun or you can just squeeze the trigger. This is a great entry pistol. Entry Level pistol, you don't have a whole bunch invested in it. High Standard made good guns. It's a nine shot, double action revolver. It holds nine rounds of 22 and you can solve just about any defensive problem with nine rounds of 22. But more importantly, they're fun to plink with you can do a lot of shooting you can punch holes and paper targets, take them to the indoor range or even take them out if you have family that have any kind of rural area and set up an approved backstop.
The key is find something that fits your hand, find something that you enjoy shooting. And 22 is a good way to start because the ammunition is really reasonable and you can buy a lot of it and you can shoot a lot. And the more you shoot, the better that you'll be. The 22 semi auto pistols, a lot of people will tell you, you can't use a 22 semi auto pistol for defense. That's not true. No one that's breaking in or messing with you is interested in having any kind of a hole put in their body. The fact that it's 22 caliber versus a 44 caliber doesn't matter at all.
This Beretta Model 71 here is in 22. These guns were the choice of the Israeli Mossad teams and also the Israeli Air Defense teams. It's a 22 long rifle, it holds eight rounds, but it's got just enough penetration and it's got just enough power, and it's accurate enough that you can actually put your shots right where you want them to be. It doesn't make any difference how big the bullet is, if you don't hit what you're shooting it with it won't be effective.
So, that's the story here. Like I said, we have different kinds of 20 twos a Ruger, Beretta, Taurus, North American Arms. That's a High Standard, Smith and Wesson. This is a Ruger Bearcat This one's kind of a custom. It had nice Smith and Wesson adjustable sights put on it by Allen Harton at at Single Action Services. It's had the action really slicked up. This one is a lot of fun to shoot and for its size, it's ridiculously accurate. Both of these are in about the same, the same fishing pistol, tote and gun region there. This one is more of a highly customized target pistol Volquartsen trigger a lot of work done on it. Much better sights, very slick action.
But in the end, they all are designed to put holes in paper, or to harvest small game, or in a pinch to serve defensively. So, don't be afraid to ask questions. If someone tries to lead you into by Think something that you don't want walk away. And if someone treats you like you're stupid, you just don't know what you're talking about. Walk away from them too. There are no dumb questions and there are no wrong answers. Buying a gun is a riddle, and the answer to the riddle will only be known to you, and it will only be known to you after you've invested considerable time and attention into figuring out what works for you and what you like.
So anyway, I wish you luck. Any questions that you have that you think I can answer any way that I can help? Feel free to give us a holler? We'll put an address up where you can send us comments. And if you have questions, I'll try to answer them as best I can.
Once again, no legal information contained herein or advice. I'm not a defensive pistol instructor. I'm not law enforcement, you'll have to check out your own laws for the area that you live in and make sure you're doing everything by the book.
Just a basic rule of thumb. If you want to own a pistol, you want to start with firearms and you haven't own one before, the 22 is the best way to go. Get a 22, get a lot of ammo, get a little bit of training, shoot, shoot, shoot, shoot shoot and you get to the point where you're pretty good with that then you can work your way up the caliber ladder if you if you're so inclined. Best of luck and hope you have a lot of fun getting a pistol." — Sam Griesbaum