Next to my bed - locked and loaded
S & W .38 hammerless 5 shot
With a red laser light - right on target
Posted on 03/23/2009 8:03:30 PM PDT by guitarplayer1953
I'm looking to buy a gun for protection and a riffle for hunting. I have handled guns but it has been a long time so I have become rather ignorant on what to have. So I'm asking the gun owners on FR to chime in and give advice on this and if possible some guide lines on what to pay for a good gun and riffle. Thanks
For hunting... 90% of all actual killing of game animals is inside of 100 yards. The most idea rifle there could be for North American hunting would be that Marlin lever-action chambered for 44 magnum. The pistol cartridge picks up an extra 300 fps or so in the rifle barrel, there is no serious recoil, and it will absolutely drop animals which so-called magnum rifles with three times the ballistics will not. Very little relation between ballistics and lethality; the 44 - 45 caliber rifles are much more lethal than the 30s.
shotgun...12 ga
If you must have a handgun, there’s lots to choose from:
glock
springfield
beretta
Sig and H&K are fairly popular too but I don’t care for them. Well, I like sig alot, just not at the price they want for them.
My first choice for a brand new pistol would be a beretta Px4 storm. Springfield has the new XDm...don’t know much about them though. Ruger makes pretty good pistols too.
Not only is a pistol conter-intuative, but a hammerless is the worse.
Remember the video of the crazy who got 5 feet away, on the other side of a 2 foot tree from his former lawyer? Six shots and the lawyer walked away.
Finally, if you shoot someone with a .38, it hurts badly enough that they are going to be really pissed, get up and hurt you back, but much worse!
A 12 ga (20 if you are a small woman or a disabled senior) shotgun, loaded with #4 buckshot. Baseball size hole going in, slow pitch softball size coming out!
And it's totally intuitive.
The next words that are said after you shoot a perp with that are "Dearly Beloved."
Shotgun, no shortage at all of ammo, even if there is a shortage of slugs, 00 buck or 4 with a little hnowhow you can get any of the million game loads and repack with something common like fishing weights.
Get you a mossburg 500, great home defence gun. Keep her loaded with buckshot.
You might consider using #4 buckshot because it won’t generally penetrate 2 layers of drywall. Might avoid shooting the wife or kiddies.
.45
‘cause they don’t make a .46
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bbT-JLYihtw
For home defense, unless your situation is quite unusual, a decent shotgun is a good start. 12 or 20 gauge depending on who's going to be shooting it. A Mossberg 500 or a Remington 870 can be had for right around $200-250.
For a rifle, same "it depends." If it's to put meat on the table a .308 or .30-06 is a classic hunting rifle. A .270 or a 7x57 is an easy-shooting alternative if the ladies are going to play. For self-protection you can caliber down to a .223 - a Ruger 10-22 is a low-cost option there. You're not going to be popping commies at 500 yds with it but then you aren't anyway, so why fantasize? An SKS is another way to go there.
These would be my suggestions for long arms at a bargain price. For a hand gun you'd find it hard to beat a .357 magnum wheelgun - they also shoot .38 special, a much lighter-recoil round, for practice. Semiautos tend to be a bit more pricey. It is especially important that you try a handgun first, though - it's a very personal taste.
More later - I think you'll find the forum full of good advice...
Good choice, especially since it has a safety for both right-hand and left-hand shooters. I have the Mossberg along with an Ithaca M87 Police pump, a reliable gun but the righty cross-bolt safety is a bit of a pain for me as southpaw.
12 Ga. number 2 buck shot backed up with slugs.
I had a browning bar 12ga when I was a kid or should I say dad had one he let me use.
Shotgun extends out, easy for someone to grab. Self-defense experts recommend a revolver or semi-auto. I would recommend a S&W .357. Kick isn’t as heavy as a .44 or .45, and it will do the job. A revolver is ALWAYS ready to shoot, and you don’t have to work the slide or worry about it jamming.
Amen brother...the Saiga-12 is the best home defense weapon available. I can have 20 rounds off in a matter of seconds. A saiga 12 with a 20 round drum magazine is a lot of fire power. No other shotgun can touch it!!
Yep, I agree. I’m with OMM here, alternating #4 and slug, but it’s the same principle. Got a good deal on #4 at a gun show. Do you remember (sob!) when ammo was cheap? :-(
For the house, a shotgun. Remington or Mossberg. Pump or semi-auto. 12 gage, or 20 [if someone using it is recoil averse].
Hunting: Depends on what you hunt, and where you hunt it [In a lot of New York, you can only hunt deer w/ a shotgun]. Northeast Whitetail, try a bolt action 7mm-08, .270 or .270 WSM, a.308, or .30-06 [Remington, Winchester, Ruger, Browning], or if you like levers, Marlin or Mossberg in 30-30, or Marlin in .308 Marlin or .35 Remington. .338 Federal’s good, too. All the 30s should be OK for blackbear.
For moose, heavier. Ditto for Elk [ I’d start at .30-06]. Ditto for boar and double ditto for Brown Bear [think 300 mag, 300WSM, 338 mag, maybe 45-70, .358 Win.
Small game: .22LR, 22 masg., 22-250, w/ 25-06, .243 Win.
Good luck, .223 works for varmints, too- like coyotes. Good luck.
Pistol on my nightstand, shotgun in the corner and an AR in my closet. Works for me. Oh, and I have a German Shepherd dog that sleeps near my bed. He is my first line of defense. ;>)
But, if all you want is a one gun, I recommend a shotgun, I like a 12ga pump. You won’t need to find your glasses, you won’t need to worry all that much about your aim when waking from a sound sleep, while having to deal with an adrenalin rush. It will stop any man, immediately, but is does make a mess. Retention is easy and if you know how, you can beat the bad guy to death with it. AND, nothing says “I mean it” like the sound of racking that monster. ;>)
Good luck... practice, practice, practice.
I have heard that a pump action shotgun, with the shortest legal barrel, is a good choice. The sound of the pump action chambering a round will generally make it unnecessary to actually shoot someone.
To learn to use it effectively, I suggest trap shooting. Even if you have very little talent for it, you should learn to hit a clay pigeon in flight, from 30 yards away, about half the time. If you can do that, it will be virtually impossible for you to miss a person size target inside your house.
A "security" shotgun is not designed to give you the best scores in trap, but your goal should be to get good with the security gun.
A shotgun has an additional safety feature. The BBs cannot go through walls to kill your neighbor, but bullets can very easily do that.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.