It’s been interesting to see Ricochet’s firearms owners come out of the woodwork and talk about the guns they own and safely enjoy, and it’s been even more interesting to see others who are interested in owning a gun ask questions of our members about what gun might be best for them. These days, I usually recommend a compact 9mm pistol as a first gun, but then the question arises, “Ok, what do I buy after that?”

That’s a tough question to answer, because there are so many different ways to enjoy firearms. I’m partial to practical shooting myself, such as IDPA, USPSA and 3gun, and friends of mine really enjoy dressing up in their finest cowboy duds and going out to a Single Action Shooting Society match. Then there’s all the shotgun sports, like trap, skeet, and sporting clays, or maybe the precision of traditional bullseye events like High Power Rifle is your kind of thing. There’s also silhouette shooting, benchrest, quick draw, and the list goes on and on and on. Suffice to say there’s probably a sport out there for anything that has a trigger and goes “Bang!” With all of these ways to enjoy owning a gun, what are some of the guns besides a pistol that you should have in your household armory?

The Second Gun
After you buy a defensive pistol, I recommend a rifle chambered in .22 Long Rifle (LR) as a second gun, usually a Ruger 10/22, Marlin 60 or a CZ 455 if you want a bolt-action gun. These rifles are inexpensive to purchase, inexpensive to shoot, and all are great to practice with. There are few things more enjoyable than spending a lazy Sunday afternoon with a .22 rifle in your hands and a bunch of tin cans down range, and .22LR ammo is finally in-stock at most gun stores after years of being in short supply. In addition, a .22 rifle is a great way to learn the fundamentals of marksmanship such as breath control, sight picture and trigger squeeze without having to worry about spending large amounts of money on ammunition.