PDA

View Full Version : GUNS: What Should I Get?



urbanfarmer
01-08-2011, 04:29 PM
I have been considering purchasing a gun for a while or perhaps 2 or 3. I own a small piece of farmland, and I feel the need to be ready to defend myself if need be. My main concerns are cost, reliability, and ease of use.

UPDATE: No experience with guns, but I intend to get some kind of training and lots of practice. I want the gun(s) for protection against humans!

What suggestions, recommendations or advice do y'all have for me on the topic?

JCO
01-08-2011, 06:07 PM
In addition to being a sniper trained by the military I went through the Missouri Highway Patrol Academy in 1975 so I know how to handle a hand gun as well as a rifle. Still today I can hit a target at over 1,000 yards with my bull barrel 22-250 cal varmint rifle or put holes in your chest with a hand gun. :shock: :o

What do you want your gun/s to do. Self protection (carry permit) or kill snakes, rodents, coyotes, bears or fend off interlopers? Pick your targets and I'll tell you what weapon to buy but be prepared to shell out some serious doe! :?

I hope you know how to use whatever you purchase after you take it home. The accidental or intentional firing of a weapon of any kind in any direction could result in an accidental injury to other people and possible prison time for you!. :mrgreen:

davidstcldfl
01-08-2011, 06:18 PM
You didn't mention, if you have any experiance with guns...?

For the 1st one.......I'd think about a basic pump shot gun, like a 12 gauge mosburg. Not too costly and pretty reliable, easy to use.
Get some #00 shot for defense. Even if you don't hit them, the noise will scare the crap out of a burglar... :D
Get a few boxes of smaller shot for practice and..... 'if' you ever need, or want to hunt for food.
Make sure to buy a cleaning kit for it too.

stucco
01-08-2011, 07:32 PM
At present, my wife and I are looking at 375 and 38 special for our concealed carry. They both will work in the old Henry rifle chambered in 357. I am also loking at a http://gastatic.com/UserImages/124775/9 ... 527103.jpg (http://gastatic.com/UserImages/124775/904395073/wm_2527103.jpg) with choke tubes and a rifled slug barrel it a very versatile weapon/tool.

stucco
01-08-2011, 07:33 PM
At present, my wife and I are looking at 375 and 38 special for our concealed carry. They both will work in the old Henry rifle chambered in 357. I am also loking at a http://gastatic.com/UserImages/124775/9 ... 527103.jpg (http://gastatic.com/UserImages/124775/904395073/wm_2527103.jpg) with choke tubes and a rifled slug barrel it a very versatile weapon/tool.
http://www.gunsamerica.com/904395073/Gu ... S_MOBU.htm (http://www.gunsamerica.com/904395073/Guns/Shotguns/Mossberg-Shotguns/Pump/Sporting/Mossberg_835_24_24_12Ga_Combo_ADJ_FOS_MOBU.htm)

rfeiller
01-08-2011, 08:39 PM
like shooting fish in a barrel? sorry

i like my 9mm berrata, accurate reliable and effective enough. whatever you buy in a pistol make sure you are able to fire it rapidly and maintain control of the weapon. people tend to get large caliber pistols, like the police for instance, and the bullits go everywhere but what they are shooting at. a 44mag in a rapid fire situation, even a 357mag maybe too much. one accurately placed 9mm shot is better then a dozen scattered 357's. now if you want to scare the hell out of someone try a consul .454 revolver,(not the best for shooting snakes). if excited you may not hit anything but the shockwave will make the guy wet his britches. :lol:

a mossberg 12 pump is a great low cost and very reliable weapon.

urbanfarmer
01-08-2011, 09:13 PM
No experience with guns, but I intend to get some kind of training and lots of practice. I want the gun(s) for protection against humans!

A buddy of mine got a 9mm handgun for $400, and he loves it. I would like to stay in that budget range for my first handgun, but I am exploring my options after weighing the wisdom I expect to gain from this thread. :D

This is a little off topic, but how long do bullets keep? I assume forever if the humidity is kept right, but I have no idea...

Hotrodmike
01-08-2011, 11:45 PM
I am 100% with JCO as every weapon has good points and bad so a general use weapon ain't out there .
First off with no weapons backround ,go get some form of training before you go drool over things at the gun store . Go to a range as most have rental weapons for you to try out . So Get Training ,Try out multiple weapons after all that is done then go to the gun store knowing what you are looking for . The weapon not only needs to fit your purpose but fit you as if the weapon is too big ,too small ,too heavy etc. it will just make it harder to shoot . Now thats what you need to do ,,,but is there anyone else in the house ,wife ,kids ? Since you said it was for protection what if something were to happen and your wife was near the weapon and you were not ,would she be trained or know how to use it ? For a first gun I really tend to say revolver just for the fact it is simpler and is pretty hard to wrap off multiple round as a semiauto can
Since you said Self Protection
Now the last thing no one talks about is mental conditioning . Can you take another humans life as just pullling a weapon with no or little intent is a very bad thing to do and may very well be taken away and used on you and this is a very hard question to answer till you are placed in that kind of position and may not be as easy as you think .
Also once you learn ,keep learning and shoot how ever much it takes to keep your skill level up . Dont think that you got pretty good ,but you have not had it out of the drawer for 3 years and you still can shoot that well . I am sure I am more the extreme but when I used to really stay active I would go through 3 -5000 rounds a year :D
As for ammo most have sealed primers and kept dry should outlast you ,except for shotgun shells as the plastic get brittle . I have shot old can sealed military ammo that was maybe 80 years old ,still went boom !
Have A Kind Day
Mike

stucco
01-09-2011, 08:21 AM
I’m way more accurate with the 357 revolver than the glock 9 auto that I’ve been shootin, my wife on the other hand blows me away with the glock 9. She is deadly accurate and mean too. For me it is the size of the handle. Most conceal carry size semi autos feel like a cardboard cutout of a gun in my hand.

rfeiller
01-09-2011, 09:35 AM
for me the glock is very uncomfortable. yet they are very popular. that's why it is good if there is a pistol range around to try out several different ones. same with rifles or shotguns.

urbanfarmer
01-09-2011, 09:49 AM
That's a great idea. I will take some time to rent some different guns at the gun range and get some training. I will post here as I have more questions. Thanks everyone so far! :D

mommyhen42
01-09-2011, 11:00 AM
I’m way more accurate with the 357 revolver than the glock 9 auto that I’ve been shootin, my wife on the other hand blows me away with the glock 9. She is deadly accurate and mean too. For me it is the size of the handle. Most conceal carry size semi autos feel like a cardboard cutout of a gun in my hand.
Glock 9 now thats the one I want!!!
I currently have only handguns I love my 2 38's but am hoping to get a glock for christmas this year...

Get the proper training and be of the mindset that you may actually need to use it... Can you actually shoot a person to protect life and property??? Many people after some deep soul searching find that they can not in all concience fire at an actual person... Some find out the hard way when they actually need to but cant and the wepon is used on them!

Personally I have no problem shooting someone if I need to and actually did... Messy subject when you are a single mom, but they found that I was in the right by shooting him... son of a friend high on cocaine looking for my ex and swearing I had him hiding in the house... first shot went into his truck, the other one a leg, should I have to shoot again I would have had no problem killing him! Luckilly since he didnt heed my warning by shooting his truck, he did get in the truck and leave after I actually shot him. After that he avoided me like the plague! I guess there may actually be some room for learning in a burned up brain!

Before you buy, take a small arms or rifle training course, you will get the chance to handle, clean and fire a variety of weapons. Then you will be more educated on your choice and pick the one that suits you the best

jackalope
01-09-2011, 12:01 PM
I had a 30 cal. carbine, just like the one I carried wilst serving in the Army - which, when I got hard up, I hocked. They did an FBI check when I wanted it back, and the FBI wouldn't let me have it back because I was a Vet (therefore I shouldn't have a weapon?)! My wife had to get it out of hock for me. I have since sold it, and will buy my next weapon off the grid - no records for me, AFAIAC! The 30 cal. carbine is light and small, worked for me, and my wife could handle it with ease as well. The only thing that sets me back on buying another 30 cal. carbine is that 30 cal. ammo is hard to find here in MT. Anyone who has a 30cal. is hogging up all the ammo as fast as the gun shops get it in - a case at a time! The only thing I have left now is an old drop-block 22 cal. single-shot varmint rifle - accurate as can be, despite its age! In this town, I don't have to worry too much about using a weapon for protection, it's pretty tame around here, no illegals, no race riots, nothing to do!

And yes, I'd be prepared to use my weapon if required!

mommyhen42
01-09-2011, 12:17 PM
I am jealous!
Although I live in a rural area, we are literally 2 blocks away from the city. Thus we see the helecoptors nearly nightly. Sirens, gunshots etc...
There is a juvenile group home just down the street and the kids occasionally decide to have fun hitting the mailboxes with a baseball bat. Ours is pretty batterred but when it is ready to replace I will have a suprise for them! a large mailbox with a smaller one inside and the space in between filled with concrete!!!!!!!!
Hopefully that will ring their clock back a bit!
2 years ago the old man accross the street was shot gang style. Apparently to suppliment his SSI he was growing and selling Marijuana and pissed someone off.
We also had a drunken illegal sitting in a field 2 properties down shooting his rifled everywhere, he shot my van twice and nearly got me! I heard the bullet whistle just above my head and my hair move!
Most of the time it is quiet on our street, but just 2 streets down is a new housing project. They are usually bought up by gang bangers and illegals but eventually fill up with families, I figure we have 2-3 years yet before things settle down back to normal here.

Funny thing here if I show my DD214 I do not need any gun classes to purchase a weapon... My flight was the last flight of women to not have small arms training! I really wanted to go thru it... But I grew up in a household of guns so I can take most apart and clean in my sleep...

my 38's are undocumented as they had been in a storage box for the past 30+ years! luckilly they were cleaned and well oiled then wrapped to protect them and they are in beautiful shape. Unfortunatly the 3rd and my favorite, a saturday night special, is missing the magazine and was manufactured in Perris, It is made by Looking Glass but I have been unable to find the exact model I have... I am hoping to eventually find one for it, since it is small I can use it to kill my rabbits instead of breaking their necks. My hands are so arthritic now that it is becoming increasingly difficult to dispatch them, and I am unwilling to give up my rabbit meat.

mango matto
01-09-2011, 01:25 PM
Ok I have a fair amount of experience with guns and I will suggest you try out these two guns The Springfield 1911 (My every day carry weapon) is not a low budget gun but very accurate has great stopping power( stopping intruders). The second gun I recommend will be the Springfield XD9. There are other calibers in that model but I think the best option would be the 9MM for a couple reasons. Feel free to ask any questions.

dufflight
01-09-2011, 02:18 PM
Something to think about is when you are going to be using it. If its in the middle of the night and someone has entered your house then a shotgun is a lot easier to hit your target and has a shock value. Over here we aren't allowed to have handguns. But you can empty a rapid fire 22 pistol in a couple of seconds.

davidstcldfl
01-09-2011, 03:09 PM
Duff makes a great point about 'shock value'.

Your 1/2 awake and it's mostly dark....you get off the first round...

-lets say you shoot him in the flesh of the thigh with a 9mm. It goes right through and the crack head is so high, he barely notices.

-Same shot, with a 12 gauge, with buck shot.....you just removed
35 % of the flesh on his thigh and shattered the bone.....he's at least going down

JCO
01-09-2011, 07:11 PM
A very good all round weapon for a beginner would be a Walther P22.

http://www.waltherpistols.com/category/39-Walther_P22_Handguns.aspx

It is a double action 22 automatic with exposed hammer and safety. It is very accurate and a very popular concealed carry weapon. If you think that a 22 cal. is too small for protection, think again and take into consideration that more people are killed each year by 22 cal. weapons than any other cal. outside of war zones. The ammo is inexpensive and it is a very viable weapon to learn which end is which :? Once you become proficient with it, you can graduate to heavier cal. weapons if you choose to.

I have one with both barrels and laser site and I will have it till the day I die. It is a sweet little weapon and very accurate and deadly up to 50 yards in the learned hands of an gun enthusiast.

Shotguns are a great weapon however, being a former military sniper and law enforcement officer, I prefer rifles. If a rifle is your choice, again I recommend a 22 cal. weapon.

http://www.ruger.com/products/rotaryMagazine7722/index.html

I have a Ruger All Weather M77/22, a bolt action stainless steel 22 cal. rifle with a rotary clip ammo injection system with a Simmons 6 to 18 variable power scope with adjustable parallax. It is an absolute nail driver up to 100 yards with groups the size of a dime and still very accurate even beyond that up to 200 yards. :shock: :o

Here again, the ammo is inexpensive and this rifle can be used to become a proficient marksman hitting targets beyond the normal range of ability of the everyday person. Once you become proficient with it, you can move on to larger cal. weapons if you choose and YES, I will have this rifle till the day I die also.

Join a gun club that has an indoor as well as an outdoor range and spend as much money for ammo as you did for the weapon when learning to handle the weapon of your choice. Do not let gun store salesmen hype you into something you don't need. "Learn not to burn"! OH Sorry, that's an entirely different subject. 8-) :lol: :lol: Good luck :mrgreen:

urbanfarmer
01-10-2011, 01:00 PM
That's inexpensive. Thanks, I will make sure to try that one out while I am at it!

KentuckyFarmer
01-11-2011, 10:27 PM
For the home shotgum the wife can use it. For me went I`m out 45 or 357.