Great Start Shooting School's class helps you find the right handgun by starting with a self-evaluation worksheet, then handling dozens of models in the classroom before testing your top picks on the range. The instructor created it after his first gun purchase was a mismatch, and says what feels good in your hand often shoots differently than you expect.
Oh yes, I'm live. Although honestly, welcome replay viewers, because you all are the only ones who see the very beginning of this. So yes, I know I'm chopping my head off and all of that because I wanted to show you what Find My Perfect Gun class looks like. And it's a little bit like walking into— I feel like I've got to come down here to talk to you all. Um, it's a little bit like walking into a gun store. You see all of these firearms You're like, oh my goodness, what do I choose? So the Find Your Perfect Gun class, if you happen to be at A&J's, there's this handout that they have there at A&J Gun Shop that will talk a little bit about picking out a new handgun. And then on the bottom here it says Find Your Perfect Gun. This is a class you can sign up here at a Great Start Shooting School, which I'm about to teach in about 30 minutes. And what do we do in this class? Well, first thing we do is we do have you do a self-evaluation. Questions like, what kind of gun do you think you want? How much time are you willing to practice at the range? How much time are you willing to practice at home? How do you like to learn? What kind of money are you planning on spending when it comes to your training? What safety gear do you have? What shooting equipment do you already have? And then what are your main concerns and priorities for your training? That said, there's still more. I still make you do more homework, like how important is it for you to enjoy shooting this gun? How much will cost of ammo affect you? If for self-defense, how many self-defense classes have you already taken? How important is ease of cleaning the gun? How important is ease of manipulating the gun? How much do you care about the look of the gun? Some people care a lot. And do you like smooth fitted or textured grips? There is more to this, but what we do is we figure out what you want, what your needs actually are, by figuring out your evaluation sheets. Once I've got the answers to that, then we come over here and we can discuss what fits into the criteria that you just outlined for me by filling in all of those sheets. So that's kind of it in a nutshell. You tell me what you're looking for, then you and I go through all of these and figure out what fits your needs best.. Now, why did I create this? I'm gonna do this because it drives me crazy to have my head chopped off. I created this. Oh, yeah. See, like, I'm sporting my new Icarus hat. I created this class because the first gun that I bought was also the first gun that I sold. Because, yes, Fiona, I almost have as many as you. So anyway. Oh, sorry, I forget. I'm on both sides. So Fiona just said, there's a lot of iron on your table, and the answer is yes. Yes, there is. There is a fair amount of polymer though too, to be fair. Um, but the reason I created this class is because the first gun I bought was the first gun I sold. And the first gun I bought was because I wanted to get in a competition. And I'm like, all I knew really was I needed a 9mm or bigger, and 9mm was what I was comfortable with. And then I bought a gun that was not the right gun. I wish I'd kept it, but I didn't. And then I went to competition and I found out, oh wait, everybody's shooting this gun, and it was an M&P Pro. And so then I went and sold the first gun I bought and then bought my M&P Pro. And so one of the biggest things when you're looking to figure out what you want for a new handgun is that you want to make sure you know what you're going to be using it for. If you are a brand new shooter and you've not shot at all, you really want to understand the first thing you're really working on is learning how to shoot. Um, I know the movies make it look super simple, like all you have to do is pick up a gun and pull the trigger. In the competition world, I can guarantee you there is no target that is too close to miss So it really isn't that simple. You need to train with the firearm, especially if you're planning on saving your life with it. So that's it, that's the whole shebang, uh, less than 5 minutes. But for those who are asking, um, because I've had a lot of students asking about this course and they're like, oh, do you have multiple things I can try? And yes, what you see on the table We have from the ittiest bittiest to large target. We have from.22 to.45. What else is there? Semi-automatic, revolvers, 1911s, polymers, full metal guns, pretty much the entire— a large variety of what you can find in a gun store. Not everything because it's not that crazy, but the nice thing that's going to happen at the end of this class what happens is you don't leave with, oh, I want that gun. You leave with, oh, I like this style firearm. I like these style, the style for sights. I like this trigger pull. Oh, I enjoyed this grip. I like that caliber. So now when you walk into a gun store, you have a shopping list and you go to the shopkeeper, they're gonna be thrilled that you've narrowed down what you're actually looking for. Because so often people walk into a gun store like, I need a gun for self-defense. And the shopkeeper just shows you whatever is the easiest thing or the most popular thing that they've sold or the thing they like the best. When you come to me, we find out what works best for you. And on top of that, I, I know that I've done my job well Glock boys, put your finger hands over your ears. I don't like Glocks, but I have Glocks for you to try. And one of my students came and took this class, and he went out and then he bought a Glock and then came back for more training with his new Glock. And I'm like, good for you, man. I hate them. He's like, why don't you tell me? I wouldn't have bought one. And I'm like, no, the whole point of Find Your Perfect Gun is that we find out what works for you. It's not what I like or don't like. It's to help you assess and learn the things that you want to figure out. So I know I said under 5 minutes and I kept talking, but that's what I do. So that is it though. That's the whole thing. The whole point of Find Your Perfect Gun is give you the opportunity to shoot lots of different things. And I say lots of different things, but we start the class with this whole table. Before we go to the range, we usually narrow it down to 2, 3, or maybe 4 guns that you're actually going to shoot. And then we go to the range and we shoot. And it's so funny, I hate to spoil the surprise, but so often the gun that you pick out here in the classroom as your favorite, often when you go down and shoot it, is not the favorite. So this is why, even if you don't take my gun, my class If you're gonna go pick out a new gun, shoot as many guns as you can. Try different calibers so you understand what you really do enjoy. All right, I'm really gonna leave because I gotta go up and wait for my student. Y'all have a great day, and I will talk to y'all later because it's Saturday, so I'm doing Suicide Prevention Saturday, 9 PM Eastern. See y'all there.
