Safe and clear

Welcome back to our series on safely buying your first gun and making sure that the person selling you that gun thinks you’re cool. Today we’re taking a look how to select a gun’s ergonomic features. Or to put it another way, how the gun fits in your hand. First and foremost in this is like every other time, we start by making sure the gun is cleared out and safe to handle.

Next up, we’re going to take a look at how the grip fits into your hand. Ideally, you want to be able to get all your fingers on the grip while at the same time getting the web of your hand between your thumb and index finger as high on the gun as possible. If the gun is a compact frame, like the Taurus G3c or GX4, check to see if pinky extensions for the magazines are available. Being able to incorporate your pinky into your grip gives you a tremendous advantage in recoil control.

If you’re looking at a revolver and the grip doesn’t fit right, don’t worry! There are lots of different grip sizes available for revolvers, so you can customize the grip to the one that best fits your hand.

The last thing you want to check is whether or not you can appropriately reach all the controls. Is your trigger finger in the right place to access the trigger efficiently? Can you release the magazines, manipulate the safety, and perform whatever other actions you may need? For left handed shooters, does the gun have ambi controls that you can access?

For more detail, check our Jessie Harrison walking you through the steps on how to select your gun’s ergonomics: