Phteve's Handgun Selection Tool
Shopping for a new handgun is often a chore for those familiar with the market, and downright bewildering for those just being introduced to it. What should I buy, a striker-fired, hammer fired, DA/SA, SAO, DAO, semiautomatic, or revolver? Caliber? Is 9mm good enough, or do I need something with a “4”?
There isn’t an easy way out (well, besides “get a Glock”) for most people, but there is a market for a tool that at least makes the options clearer. That’s the niche that Redditor Phteven_j seeks to fill with his Handgun Selector, which automatically brings up a selection of handguns meeting the criteria entered in by the user, with their makes, models, calibers, pictures, and other details.
An excellent feature of the Selector is that clicking on the price hyperlinks one to a GunBroker search for handguns of that make. The Handgun Selector does not appear to be totally finished: Notably missing were some of the more recent firearms, such as the Kimber K6S revolver, Walther PPS-M2, and Ruger American. However, Phteven included a function for users to submit handguns that may be missing from the database, so hopefully the more users the Selector gets, the more complete it will be.
Nathaniel is a history enthusiast and firearms hobbyist whose primary interest lies in military small arms technological developments beginning with the smokeless powder era. He can be reached via email at nathaniel.f@staff.thefirearmblog.com.
More by Nathaniel F
![[NRAAM 2024] Trijicon's NEW 2024 REAP-IR and IR-HUNTER Thermals](https://cdn-fastly.thefirearmblog.com/media/2024/06/04/064419/nraam-2024-trijicon-s-new-2024-reap-ir-and-ir-hunter-thermals.jpg?size=350x220)
Comments
Join the conversation
Not to throw water on the parade, but many online gun stores have almost exactly the same type of filter capability already. What would be very useful would be the ability to filter by characteristics that stores don't usually offer searches on: such as recoil factor, grip cross-sectional diameter, length, and aspect ratio, accessory availability, and as another poster mentioned, legality in various states. That would be harder because it would require some research, but it could be an amazing tool.
Will there be a selection for barrel lengths. For example single action cowboy guns.