The new age requirement for the Texas License to Carry – Texas Concealed Carry is now only 18 years old per Federal Court Ruling.
Firearms Policy Coalition, Inc. et. al., v. Steven McCraw, et. al., No. 4:21-cv-1245-P
This checklist addresses the critical, but frequently overlooked, interface between the shooter and the handgun How to Ensure That Your Handgun Fits Correctly.
There’s a reason you take a test drive when you’re thinking about buying a new car. During that drive, you want to see how the car performs, but you also want to see how well you interact with it. Is the seat comfortable for you? Is the steering wheel and armrest comfortable? Are all of the controls convenient and simple to use? If you answer no to any of these questions, you’ll probably try a different car.
What is this got to do with handgun Fits?
Actually quite a bit. How you interact with your handgun influences how well you shoot it and how frequently you carry it. I believe that when choosing a new handgun, shooters frequently overlook this interface, instead of focusing on things that are less important. There are five primary points of contact when it comes to handguns. Let’s take a look at each of these and their significance.
Carry-All Day
Carry comfort is an important aspect of shooter interface with defensive handguns. A defensive handgun will be carried far more than it will be shot, and concealing a handgun in a holster on your body is not as simple or as comfortable as it may appear. In general, shooters will find that mid-to large-size handguns provide a better interface with the grip and better recoil control. However, when it comes to concealing a handgun, smaller handguns are easier to conceal and more comfortable to wear all day.
Though it may appear that you’re going backward if you want to buy a new handgun for all-day concealed carry, start by determining what size and type of handgun you can comfortably carry all day. After you’ve narrowed the field, you can start looking at the other components of the shooter interface.
Grip Comfortable
The grip is the primary point of contact for any handgun. The grip of a handgun should fit the hand or hands that will be holding it, not the hands that will be selling it. The fit of your hand in the grip also influences how well you can control recoil and manipulate the trigger. Some handguns appear to fit a wider range of hands more comfortably than others. This is why almost everyone who picks up a Browning Hi-Power or a Beretta 85 Cheetah remarks on how good it feels. Some handguns appear to be more universal and comfortable in design.
If you’re going to carry a handgun for self-defense, you’re going to spend a lot of time shooting that handgun. Shooting a handgun that does not fit you is not conducive to accurate or quick shooting, nor is it conducive to enjoyable range sessions. And both are essential for developing a practical level of competency. Try several handguns to find those that feel right in your hand, and if a particular handgun does not feel right, avoid it, no matter how hard the gun counter geek tries to convince you it’s the best choice for you.
Correct Trigger Geometry
The trigger on a handgun could be considered part of the grip, but it is possible to find a handgun with a good grip but a trigger that does not work well with your finger. To operate a trigger correctly, your trigger finger should rest at a 90-degree angle on the trigger’s face, with the pad of your finger centered on the trigger. Your shots may be pushed or pulled to the left or right if your finger is too short or too long for the trigger. It may also cause you to incorrectly adjust your grip while attempting to correct this issue.
You can fondle a handgun for hours and never really get a feel for the grip or the trigger. Shooting the handgun is the only way to know for sure if your hand fits the grip and your finger fits the trigger. This will bring any grip and trigger reach issues to the forefront as you attempt to control the handgun via the third element of the shooter interface, recoil.
Recoil Control
Recoil is subjective, but a shooter’s ability to manage recoil is heavily influenced by how well the handgun’s grip and trigger reach fit them. But it goes further than that. Many people who like the feel of a Browning HI Power later discover that they get hammer bites when shooting one. You may find that a 1911 grip fits you very well if the handgun has a short trigger, but 1911 recoil may be uncomfortable unless the handgun is chambered for 9mm rather than 45 ACP.
For these reasons, it is critical to test drive a handgun in the same way that you would a car. This allows you to test whether the grip that felt so good at the gun counter will hold up on the range when firing full-power defensive ammunition. It allows you to determine whether the trigger that was easy to manipulate during a dry fire is also easy to manage during live fire. Finally, you’ll find out if the gun has any sharp edges or peculiarities that make shooting uncomfortable.
Simple-to-Use Sights
Those claiming to be experts in the field of personal protection will frequently claim that one type of vision is superior to all others. There are numerous options for handgun sights, ranging from basic black to glow-in-the-dark Tritium and bright fiber optic inserts and beads. The most important feature of any handgun sight is its ability to be seen in a variety of lighting conditions. The second most important aspect of a handgun sight is that it is something you can easily interact with, allowing for fast and accurate shooting.
The Big Dot sights from XS Sights, for example, are among the most visible sights available. They’re nice, and I use them on a lot of my handguns. However, the express-type sight picture they provide is difficult for some shooters to master. Try out different sights to see which one works best for your eyes. Fortunately, with the abundance of aftermarket sights available, you can generally fit almost any sight you want to any handgun.
When you’re ready to get your Texas License to Carry (LTC) or your Oklahoma SDA, make sure you choose a premier training provider. Conceal Carry Academy is committed to offering the best firearms training possible through the NRA or other State programs. When they need information on firearms safety or they want to take a Texas LTC class or Oklahoma SDA, gun owners trust the expertise of the pros from Conceal Carry Academy. If you have questions about any aspect of gun ownership in Texas, contact us today!