Whether you’re seeking a new carry gun, a ranch toy or just a companion on your quest for that buck of a lifetime, renting several handgun options at your local range can give you a great taste of what’s out there. Rather than spending hundreds of dollars on a pistol that turns out to be not quite right, you can “test drive” pretty much anything on the market.

But, in the end, it’s just a test drive. You can’t put thousands of rounds through it in a single day, unless you’ve got that kind of time and money. Sure, you could take some bulk ammo and just start blasting away during your rental. But what will you have learned about the gun?

A more intelligent approach is needed when making these kind of decisions, so I’ve outlined a simple road map for taking a single box of 50 rounds and evaluating that pistol you’ve got your eye on.