Confidence - reliability: will it feed, eject and go bang every time?
Control - can you handle it comfortably and fire it accurately?
Concealability - can you hide it well, even in summer clothes?
Comfort - will your holster be comfy sitting, bending, driving?
Caliber - obviously bigger is better
Capacity - obviously more is better
Cost - both initial cost and the cost to practice
Recognizing EVERYTHING involves a trade-off, i.e. that a larger gun has more capacity and better control but is less concealable and less comfortable. One that costs less may be less reliable. Bigger caliber means less capacity.
This (above) is how I would order these factors, but I'm a newbie and am curious to know if those more experienced would have different priorities or add additional factors...
Fred
Control - can you handle it comfortably and fire it accurately?
Concealability - can you hide it well, even in summer clothes?
Comfort - will your holster be comfy sitting, bending, driving?
Caliber - obviously bigger is better
Capacity - obviously more is better
Cost - both initial cost and the cost to practice
Recognizing EVERYTHING involves a trade-off, i.e. that a larger gun has more capacity and better control but is less concealable and less comfortable. One that costs less may be less reliable. Bigger caliber means less capacity.
This (above) is how I would order these factors, but I'm a newbie and am curious to know if those more experienced would have different priorities or add additional factors...
Fred