5 Essential Items to Purchase Along With Your New Gun

If you just purchased a new firearm, congratulations! Whether it’s your first or your 50th, there are certain items that you must have in addition to the firearm itself. 

While there are essentially unlimited items and accessories that you can and probably will purchase, a select few are essential. 

Today, we’ll go over the five most important ones, explain why they are important, and suggest a few of our favorites to consider purchasing for yourself. 

While training can be “purchased” in the form of classes, you can also train at home for free. So, while training is not on our list, it is arguably more important than anything else. Do not forget to familiarize yourself with your firearm, train as much as possible, and don’t be afraid to ask questions!

New Firearm Essentials

The following essentials aren’t necessarily in a specific order, but I would say the top three are ammo, a way to secure your gun, and eye and ear protection. 

Eye & Ear Protection

If you value your hearing and vision (which I’d assume that you do), you better grab some eye and ear protection. 

I’ve had several instances where if I weren’t wearing eye protection, I would have been having a very bad day, to say the least. I recommend purchasing at least two pairs, one for your range bag and one for the car. That way, in case you forget one set in the range bag, you’ll still be covered.

Even if you’re not an operator, a quality set of eyes and ears is a must. Source: gatorz.com

There are tons of cheap $5 glasses on Amazon, but you’d be better off spending a few more bucks to ensure you’re truly going to protect your eyes. At a minimum, the glasses should meet or exceed ANSI Z87.1 standard. If they do, the company will be sure to advertise it. You won’t have to guess. 

When it comes to ear protection, you want to ensure you’re looking at options that have an appropriate NRR or Noise Reduction Rating. The higher the number, the better, meaning it reduces more decibels. 

You can choose from several types of hearing protection based on your budget and comfort preferences. The most inexpensive will be the disposable foam earplugs that do a decent job of reducing the noise but don’t allow you to hold conversations well and can fall out easily. On the more expensive side, you have electronic earbuds and earmuffs that reduce the harmful loud sounds but amplify standard sounds like people speaking.

The Walker’s Razor Slims are affordable and high quality. Source: walkersgameear.com

10/10 times, I would recommend investing in a quality set of electronic earbuds or earmuffs. Check out the Walker’s Razor Slims if you’re interested. You can thank me later. 

Ammo

This may seem like an obvious purchase to go along with your firearm, but you’d be surprised at how many people I’ve seen show up to the range empty-handed and have to pay inflated ammo prices. 

As you get familiar with your new gun, I always recommend putting multiple types of ammunition through it to ensure it’s not picky with anything in particular. Everything from cheap range ammo to expensive defensive rounds, you should try them all. For example, if you’re shooting 9mm, maybe grab a few boxes of 115-grain FMJ ammo and then some 124-grain or 147-grain JHP ammo. 

While it may be tempting due to a lower price per round, I never suggest using steel case or reloaded ammo. Stick to new brass case ammo unless you’re reloading them yourself.  

A Way To Secure It

Whether at home or on the go, you need to ensure your firearm is safe and secure. The last thing you want is for your gun to wind up in someone else’s hand, good or bad. 

A proper safe is highly recommended at home, especially if you have children. Many lockboxes on the market are easily opened, so it’s wise to invest in an actual safe from a reputable company. If you’re looking for a small and simple nightstand safe, consider checking out Vaultek or Hornady, who both have technologically advanced and reliable offerings.

If you’re looking for a standing safe, Canon and Winchester offer affordable, spacious, and quality offerings. Of course, there are others too, but those are some suggestions of where to start your search.

Vaultek offers biometrics and Bluetooth technology on some of its safes. Source: aulteksafe.com

An inside-the-waistband or outside-the-waistband holster is going to be a must if you plan to carry your gun. Don’t go just sticking the gun in your pocket or purse. Decide how you want to carry it and where you want to carry it, and go from there. 

Extra Magazines

You can never have too many magazines. Whether they are rifle or pistol magazines, the more the merrier!

Maybe your gun only came with a single ten-round magazine, and you want a few 15-round magazines to pre-load and save time at the range. Or, maybe you think zombies are coming soon and want to place magazines methodically throughout your home to be ready in any room.

You can never have too many magazines or ammo.

Whatever the reason may be, extra magazines come in handy. I’ve never met someone who said, “I wish I hadn’t of bought that extra magazine”. 

Based on where you live, there may be magazine restrictions, so please do your research before placing a bulk order of 60-round Magpul drum mags.

Cleaning Kit

Depending on who you ask, you may be told to clean your gun after every range session or once every 5,000 rounds. Regardless of which advice you decide to follow, cleaning your gun is something you need to be prepared to do. Luckily, there aren’t too many supplies that you need in order to perform a solid cleaning. If you don’t want the hassle of piecing together a cleaning kit, affordable pre-assembled kits will provide everything you need. Breakthrough Clean and Hoppe’s are just some examples of manufacturers providing great all-in-one kits.

A simple kit can still be an effective kit.

If you want to piece together your cleaning arsenal, you’ll want to consider purchasing some or all of the following:

• Bore brush (caliber specific)
• Bore cleaner
• Bore snake
• Lubricating oil
• Brass or steel rod and slotted ends
• Patches
• Microfiber cleaning cloth
• Double-ended brush

To save a bit of money, common household items can be used in place of some of these items. Using old T-shirts instead of microfiber cleaning clothes is a prime example. Getting your gun clean is the objective, so as long as you’re not using chemicals or tools that will damage your firearm or its finish, clean away!

Conclusion

It may seem like a lot to buy all at once, but if you find a few deals and spend wisely, you could likely get all of these items for less than the cost of a new Glock. Unless you want to buy 20+ magazines, a few thousand rounds of ammo, and a 48-gun standing safe…then you better start saving your dollars! 

But in all seriousness, put some additional money aside before you purchase your new gun to ensure you have everything else you need to go along with it. The last thing you’d want is not to be able to shoot your brand new gun!

As always, stay safe, train hard, and have fun.