My buddy just bout a Smith and Wesson MP .40 for Concealed Carry. It’s nicely made but I can’t hit shit with it because its a compact. If your gonna keep it in the house go with a full size or just a shotgun. I really wouldn’t want to discharge a shotgun in my house though.
Being that money is always an issue (for us normal humans) Probably a shotgun with a swapable barrel is the way to go for the first gun. It is what I will be purchasing soon, good for home defense, Good for large game hunting, Swap the barrell to the small game and go get some turkeys & rabbits. It would be the best for survival purposes IMO also due to the dual hunting use.
No doubt a high powered rifle is a better hunting tool for large game, but it might be hard to shoot a turkey or rabbit with one. Also they are not ideal for home defense.
My friends dad owns a LOT of guns. Rifles Shottys, Magnum handgun (357 I think) and he reccomended the swap barrel shotgun for me as a first gun. He said once you have that, then you can specialize later on your second and 3rd gun. Or 17th gun in his case.
V
If you get a handgun make sure to get a Gunvault http://www.gunvault.com/
PM me if you have any questions about this kind of safe, I’ve owned mine for 3 years.
[quote]celibrate2047 wrote:
Dedicated wrote:
What would you use it for? Just to have it in the home for defense, range activity, hunting? At any rate here comes 1,000 posts of everyones favorite tricked out guns.
D
We want it for home protection. Mindy also told me she misses going out to the range and shooting like she used to.[/quote]
With out reading the entire thread, I’m sure my answer has been given. But here are my two cents anyways.
I would agree with a shotgun.
A 12 gauge capable of shooting 3.5 inch steel shot shells. Mossberg makes a sturdy and cheap one for this.
You are much less likely to miss with a shotgun. Point and shoot.
With practice you will become accurate with a pistol, but you have to keep in mind that in a home robbery situation you won’t have time to ready, steady, aim and squeeze.
This is why the military uses automatic weapons too. Point and spray. Sooner or later you will adjust the stream of bullets to find your target.
Any 12 gauge shell will do the job at close range (any point in a home is close enough) but the larger, more powerful shell will do it better. You’ll also have more bb’s and a larger cloud. And the steel combined with a heavier powder charge will have a higher velocity, really making mince meat of your target and sounding like a scary cannon at the same time.
Just switch the safety off and go. You can remove the plug from shotguns too, which will allow them to hold 5-7 shells. Plenty for a home robbery I would imagine. And it won’t take more than one shot per person with a decent level of point and shoot accuracy.
Plus, skeet and sporting clays are much more fun than a paper target.
[quote]Vegita wrote:
Being that money is always an issue (for us normal humans) Probably a shotgun with a swapable barrel is the way to go for the first gun. It is what I will be purchasing soon, good for home defense, Good for large game hunting, Swap the barrell to the small game and go get some turkeys & rabbits. It would be the best for survival purposes IMO also due to the dual hunting use.
No doubt a high powered rifle is a better hunting tool for large game, but it might be hard to shoot a turkey or rabbit with one. Also they are not ideal for home defense.
My friends dad owns a LOT of guns. Rifles Shottys, Magnum handgun (357 I think) and he reccomended the swap barrel shotgun for me as a first gun. He said once you have that, then you can specialize later on your second and 3rd gun. Or 17th gun in his case.
V[/quote]
While a shotgun loaded with a slug would drop big game, it is not the ideal weapon for big game hunting as you mentioned.
You won’t get the long range accuracy of a traditional rifle and you will have to get much closer to the animal than normal as the large slug loses it’s velocity rather quickly.
If you are close enough to aim accurately however, hit your target spot on. Otherwise you will tear and bruise the useable meat to an unusable point. Slugs are big bullets.
Home protection, birds and rabbits are another story however. Spray a basketball size cloud of bb’s at something and you really can’t miss. If you do get accurate with a slug you will literally destroy rabbits and the like.
I’ve shot rabbits with slugs from about 25 yards and can usually find part of a leg, an ear in one case and two feet in another.
I’m not sure where the rest of them went. I searched a 30 ft. radius each time at least. I think the energy from the slug just literally destroyed them.
I split a coyote in half too. His spine was intact, but from the spine all the way down was about a four inch gap with his guts oozing out. One slug.
[quote]FormerlyTexasGuy wrote:
…
While a shotgun loaded with a slug would drop big game, it is not the ideal weapon for big game hunting as you mentioned.
…
[/quote]
Much of NYS does not allow hunting with a centerfire rifle. Slug guns are used for deer by most people.
You can get some good Berettas and Glock that would fit a purse.
Hypothetical question: What if intruder has gun and you are armed with a dog?
I’ll always have a gun and if I ever have kids will store it properly.
[quote]King of Kings wrote:
You bloody Americans and your guns.
If u are buying one for protection why dont u just go down to the dog pound and get a vicious dog for protection.
I have no problem if u needed a gun if u go hunting or live on a farm but why do all u guys need one in your house?[/quote]
wow. envy doesn’t suit you.
Kind of a weird question but does anyone see the point of using salt pellets (sorry if that’s the incorrect term) rather than real bullets.
[quote]celibrate2047 wrote:
Kind of a weird question but does anyone see the point of using salt pellets (sorry if that’s the incorrect term) rather than real bullets.[/quote]
No. The argument could be made that you predetermined that you wanted to maim an intruder, not to protect yourself and family. Lead is less messy, in the legal sense of course.
I second or 15th by now? the 12 ga. idea. If you can afford a few guns, a pump 870 or 500 will have a great psychological effect from only the cocking noise, and pistol grip and ~18" barrel would be the ideal home defense weapon.
If you’re only going for ONE at this time, to do multipurpose for fun, sport, training and protection, get an autoloader 12 ga. while they are still legal! Since these are a bit more complex than a pump, I’d stick with Franchi/Beretta/Benelli.
I have a Franchi 912 myself, gas operated=low recoil, very very simple to breakdown and clean. No problems even during break in! But man, heavy 3.5" shells do get to ya after a while… but then you have 1 shotgun that can do about everything well.
[quote]bigguy52774 wrote:
I have a Franchi 912 myself[/quote]
ok, now I’m the envious one!
[quote]celibrate2047 wrote:
Kind of a weird question but does anyone see the point of using salt pellets (sorry if that’s the incorrect term) rather than real bullets.[/quote]
From a legal standpoint never use hand-loads against another human being. Some will argue that it was premeditation.
[quote]Doug Adams wrote:
celibrate2047 wrote:
Kind of a weird question but does anyone see the point of using salt pellets (sorry if that’s the incorrect term) rather than real bullets.
No. The argument could be made that you predetermined that you wanted to maim an intruder, not to protect yourself and family. Lead is less messy, in the legal sense of course.[/quote]
I should have scrolled down, this is it exactly.
quote]miroku333 wrote:
ok, now I’m the envious one!
[/quote]
Hehe, it is pretty darn fun. I just knew that it would be my only 
firearm for quite some time so I had to make sure it was a good one! And being in Iowa, rifles are mainly for the range…
Basically, the way I figured out which shotgun was for me was by:
-
Picking out a gun I liked, looks-features-specs-weight
-
Checking manufacturers support forums for common issues
-
Reading up on views and said issues on thehighroad.org, or basspro or something, find similar gun from competitor
-
Google gun model + issue or feature to find specialized discussions on your specific model, like on firingline.com or duckhuntingchat.com or whatever forum.
-
Repeat #2 until you decide, or get sick of semantics. There seem to be occasional ‘bad batches’ localized by region.
-
Ask salesmen about your chosen gun before you buy, but realize there’s a good chance you’ll know more in DETAIL about the range of firearms you just researched. Buy, and have some fun already! it took me a few months to finally decide on the Franchi for the features, quality, intended usage and the price, but it was waaay worth it.
[quote]celibrate2047 wrote:
My wife and I have decided to purchase a gun. I have shot a few guns, but I have never owned one before. Mindy suggested a shot gun as a first gun. For those of you that own guns, what is your suggestion for a first gun?[/quote]
The question is to general to answer and you will get a lot of random - and usually wrong - responses which will only confuse you. What’s the gun for? How much time are going to spend learning to shoot it? Ever going to carry it? Both you and the wife gonna shoot it? Etc, etc.
For basic home defense that will stay home: you basic Remington or Mossberg shotgun with low recoil 00buck is low cost and low tech.
If you want a handgun, SnW 686 or Ruger GP 100 are well made revolvers that can chamber .38 or .357. Modern .38 are fairly effective and low recoil from those guns, so the wife would have no problems with recoil. A slow hit is always better then a fast miss…
Revolvers always go bang and need essentially upkeep. Beyond that, there are many choices, few of them good for people who don’t plan on taking courses, learning the gun, being able to use it under pressure, deal with it if goes down when SHTF, etc.
[quote]Zap Branigan wrote:
FormerlyTexasGuy wrote:
…
While a shotgun loaded with a slug would drop big game, it is not the ideal weapon for big game hunting as you mentioned.
…
Much of NYS does not allow hunting with a centerfire rifle. Slug guns are used for deer by most people.[/quote]
That is strange. What is the reasoning behind that? Too densely populated for longer range bullets?
[quote]FormerlyTexasGuy wrote:
Zap Branigan wrote:
FormerlyTexasGuy wrote:
…
While a shotgun loaded with a slug would drop big game, it is not the ideal weapon for big game hunting as you mentioned.
…
Much of NYS does not allow hunting with a centerfire rifle. Slug guns are used for deer by most people.
That is strange. What is the reasoning behind that? Too densely populated for longer range bullets?[/quote]
Exactly. I think they still allow centerfire in the Adirondacks and the Southern Tier where hardly anyone lives but most of the state is slug gun.
I have seen some nice slug guns though.
Just move to Canada it’s a LOT safer there.
But yea i’m going to be a hypocrite and say i will own guns when i have my own home, wife and children.
And especially if i ever happen to move to the USA.
Does anyone know if Ruger 9mms are any good?
I support everyone that has a Mossberg 500, some of them have some sweet specs on them too. I just got a Beretta px4 storm .45 on monday as an early present, and it feels great and shoots really well, its very easy to take apart and clean as well. (if you decide to get a pistol that is)