Posted on 06/06/2011 1:08:04 PM PDT by Scythian
I finally broke down and purchased my first gun for home protection.
It's the Mossberg 500 12 gauge. It has a short barrel and is great for in the home use. It even comes with a pistol grip but I wont attach that unless it everything goes all "beyond thunderdome" on us.
Going to take my wife out and make sure she knows how to handle it. I felt a shotgun was better and safer for an in home protection mechanism in our case. Heck, just the pump-action noise is enough to send someone packing.
Anyway, in for a penny in for a pound. I set aside money for 3 purchases of different firearms. I feel safer knowing we have it, just hope to never do anything with it.
>>The breachers grip replaces the pistol grip that came with it<<
Good advice, thanks for the tip. I had not seen a Breachers Grip before.
I feel your pain. So did I.
Speaking as an NRA Instructor for the last 21 years, the number one reason is safety and control of the situation. For a kid it's too easy to get lively with the muzzle and the trigger and send rounds everywhere without regard for safety. Especially kids raised on video games and modern media. 10 rds from a 10/22 will go sizzling downrange in less than 2 seconds and once fired those rounds can't be recalled no matter how much you may want that. Reason #2 is to make certain shooter technique is correct. With a bolt in recoil and those tiny movements going on, it's more difficult to analyze technique like grip, trigger control, breathing and follow through. Marksmen are born of necessity. Having only one shot available makes you better. Having 10 shots engenders the spray and pray mentality, mostly because it's so much fun! But fun doesn't breed competence. I use a single shot bolt action to start children out on and move to a Single Action Ruger Super Single Six when it is time to move onto handguns from rifles. Same principles apply for the handgun but more so.
Exactly. Rack-rack is for Hollywood.
Just for the record, technique, safety, and other firearm skills were taught to my kids years ago on the BB gun.
It is not the same, but it was the teaching platform we started on. Living in Suburbia, it was something we could do often in the back yard. It allowed them to demonstrate safe handling prior to the first firearm.
If you have access to a competent gunsmith for any purchase of a used firearm, that's always a good thing but I take issue with the advice on caliber and action of the rifle. For a novice or less experienced shooter it is going to depend heavily on the intended use. Gathering meat would be the primary duty for the calibers you advised and secondarily of course is the ummm long range self defense or area security role. But for self defense and hunting combined, I'd be more apt to recommend a good lever action carbine in .30-30. Light, fairly fast to operate, rugged, accurate and multidimensional. Also a higher magazine capacity than most bolt guns. Easier (especially in terms of cost) to feed in just about every way. If the anticipated role is strictly defensive then you can't do any better than the classic AR platform in 5.56mm x 45.
I have never tried one with dual pistol grips. That just might make a difference. I did put a single one with no butt stock on my Winchester defender. It was awkward to handle and difficult to aim but that was not the worst problem.
It kicked like a mule. I then tried the pistol grip stock and that was better than either the plain stock or just the pistol grip sans stock. I have arthritis in my hands and it was much easier to handle with the assault rifle type stock setup.
It was the “Winchester model 870” which made me wonder if you were kidding.
LOL One of lifes moments.
Thanks for your service dg
Under some circumstances that is the only viable solution but often an imperfect one. The BB is ballistically unstable in flight and thus inherently inaccurate. It does have awful bounce characteristics and the old tale about shooting one's eye out is unfortunately based in fact. Where I had a choice when a "real" firearm wasn't available I would go with a .177 air gun or a .22 airgun that was pump operated instead of the old style spring driven BB. But it is incontestable that you have to work with what ya got not what you wish you had. I'm glad you were able to impart the basics safely with the venerable BB.
I can find no error in your criticism of my advice, friend. Have you seen some of the rail systems available for the venerable lever action that are available now?
So does anybody live over on the other side of that pond?
Nice, I can actually see the shot in mid-flight, amazing shot, although I was always taught never to shoot over open water ....
Whoever took that picture must be a photographic genius with incredible reflexes!
Why, no, I haven't. It seems an eminently practical concept which for a purist is sure to be ugly as sin, but again would be so practical. Got links?
I think you were just lucky...
Or that.
It could have been that I guess.
He did pretty well, I'd say.
I watched one of his daughters blasting coke cans and water bottles with a Ruger 10/22 a few weeks ago.
I saw very little to criticize.
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