New gun owner

[GtoRA2]

capt. apathy is very right about the kids. heheh


This thread has been good, good advice all around! lol

[GtoRA2]

If you want your house to be safe, a dog is better then a gun, it will keep you home safe 24/7 as long as it is there.


Do not get me wrong.  I love guns and buying one is not a bad thing.

When I was taking classes in school in prep for becoming a reserve cop (one reason I bought the sig) The books had statistics for home robberies, lol like 99% of robberies are non dog houses.

Unless the crook wants something specific he will just hit someone else instead of dealing with the dog.

Get a lab of some kind, great kid dogs and big enough to be scary.

Your kids will fall in love with it too.

[Airhead]

Originally posted by mosgood
I'm thinking about getting a hand gun for Home defense and target shooting.

Anyone now resources that can help me figure out what kind of gun to get?

Statistics show that you or a member of your family are more likely to be shot with your own handgun than it is likely you will shoot an intruder. If you are really intrested in home protection then get a dog and a baseball bat. Of course statistics show that you or a member of your family are more likely to be bit by your own dog or clubbed by your own bat too.

[Ripsnort]

Statistics show that the dog will most likely attack a family member or a neighbor than being shot by your own gun.  Also, statistics also show that once your kids a teenager in a liberal family, he's more likely to beat you with that baseball bat while you sleep.

[GtoRA2]

That are not put out by some anti-gun organization, until then they are about as useful as any colt fire arm!     Not very.



I am surprised no one jumped to colts defense lol.

[easymo]

Here is a real life shoot out story for ya. A friend of mine works at a cop shop in a small town here in Texas. He told me the following.

  Bad guy excapes from the Huntsville pen. Cops are out looking for him. A state trooper sees a suspicious car sitting in a road side park.  He approaches, and when he reaches the drivers door.  The guy inside starts firing a .38 special at him. Keep in mind that the cop is standing right next to the window. The cop pulls out his 9mm and returns fire. The bad guy empties his wheel gun.  The cop empties his 9mm.  Total damage.  The bad guy got a bad scratch on his arm, as a result of some flying glass.

  The moral of this story is. If you have the time, and money, to practice enough, to establish adequate muscle memory so that you are confident you will hit what you are aiming at. Even if you are ducking, and not aiming, per se, at all.  Get a hand gun.  Otherwise. I would suggest a 12 gauge Mossburg pump. Use 3 inch magnum loads, with #4 shot.  Double ought clumps to much.


Oh, and BTW.  Always. Always. Always. ID your target. AND your background.  Getting shot will hurt a hell of a lot less then killing one of your children

[rogwar]

Get a dawg and a shot gun

Those Mossbergs are pretty good and reasonably priced. Those top 2 look pretty good. I don't recommend the pistol grip versions. A stock gives you a lot better stability in your aim.

http://www.mossberg.com/pcatalog/Specpurp.htm

A standard pump hunting type shotgun will go a long way in home defense use. Use Number 6 birdshot. It will do fine at the combat ranges where most home invasion activity takes place. In addition, it is less likely to go through walls or into another house.

I have a variety of weaponry but my preferred home defense gun is my Remington Pump Shotgun which I use for turkeys and dove. I use a modified choke setting. Backup to that, I carry on ocassion and the spouse uses it as well when I'm gone or when needed, a Kimber Compact Stainless II with the .38 Super.

Others are kept locked up.

Another thing about a shotgun is the pumping of a shell into the chamber makes a very distinctive sound which can certainly scare an intruder.

[funkedup]

Originally posted by easymo
Here is a real life shoot out story for ya. A friend of mine works at a cop shop in a small town here in Texas. He told me the following.

  Bad guy excapes from the Huntsville pen. Cops are out looking for him. A state trooper sees a suspicious car sitting in a road side park.  He approaches, and when he reaches the drivers door.  The guy inside starts firing a .38 special at him. Keep in mind that the cop is standing right next to the window. The cop pulls out his 9mm and returns fire. The bad guy empties his wheel gun.  The cop empties his 9mm.  Total damage.  The bad guy got a bad scratch on his arm, as a result of some flying glass.

  The moral of this story is. If you have the time, and money, to practice enough, to establish adequate muscle memory so that you are confident you will hit what you are aiming at. Even if you are ducking, and not aiming, per se, at all.  Get a hand gun.  Otherwise. I would suggest a 12 gauge Mossburg pump. Use 3 inch magnum loads, with #4 shot.  Double ought clumps to much.

Gotta agree with Easy.  Hitting stuff with handguns in a combat situation is not as easy as shown on TV.

[capt. apathy]

you can develope some really nasty loads for shotguns.  I had some I loaded for the wife while I was out of town.  I used 7 1/2 shot cast into a slug using jewlers wax.  we tested them up in the woods.  what awsome loads at just about any range.  they hold energy like a slug but on impact they completely come apart giving maximum 'moment of force' power. another plus was if you miss and hit a wall they break up fairly fast and don't penitrate to far.

the only really bad thing about developing loads specificly suited for deffence is if you have to use them it's likely some prosecuter will try to establish you where 'looking to kill someone' or 'setting up a trap'.  complete crap, but thats the way the legal system works, prepare for a 'worst case scenereo' and they'll say you where looking forward to it.

[Wotan]

a .44 special is lo velocity were not talkin 44 magnum.

In home defense situation most likely the attacker is within 6 feet of you. You need to drop him.


Stick with a revolver, they are reliable cheap and easy to maintain. You need a calibre that will drop a guy. More then likely a dopped up guy.

my choice for home defense would be a charter arms .44 bulldog

I own several handguns most stay locked in the safe but my 44 is where I need it.

You dont 600-800 dollars for home defense. You also may want to look into you homeowners insurrance or renters insurrance. Even if you kill a badguy you wanna be protected against lawsuits.

[easymo]

Just a word on penetration.  IMHO if you have a loved one, on the other side of that wall.  You do not want to fire ANYTHING in that direction.

[AKIron]

Well, if ya really wanna defend yer home in style go with a .50 cal Desert Eagle. I thought a .357 magnum was loud 'til I fired one of these. Guaranteed to wake the neighbors.

[funkedup]

You need to be the Incredible Hulk to handle one of those effectively.

Christ, I'd need a bipod just to hit a guy in the doorway to my bedroom.

[hardcase]

You jack a shotgun round into the chamber and you will scare the crap out of most intruders. Shotgun for inside. Get one with 18" barrel(or cut it yourself) and a folding stock. Take out the hunting chokes.

HC

[lazs2]

ok... if you have very little experiance with handguns and/or are not planing to train extensively with one.... don't get an automatic.   You don't need to figure out if the gun has one chambered or if the safety is on or if there is a magizine in place.... in the heat of a conflict.  Also... you will not be able to use a variety of exotic ammo like alternate hydrashock and hollowpoint.

I am partial to 44 mags but I reload.   I can make any ammo i want including multiple projectile rounds that don't overpenetrate.. You probly wouldn't want to get hit by three tumbling 44 cal rounds at once.   penetration is acceptable

But... I digress... get a good .357 revolver by  Smith or taurus or ruger in stainless steel... 6 or 8 shot your choice.. with what you have left over from not buying the latest gee wizz full digital automatic... by a smith K22 masterpiece revolver in .22... take both guns out a lot and practice.   practice double action with the K22.

For the .357.... use either hydra shock loads or 125 grain hollow point slugs better.... load both alternately (the beauty of revolvers)..  Overpenetration should not be a factor with either of these loads.    Use .38 full wadcutters to practice double action in the .357.    357 is still king of the hill in every study done on actual stopping power when the data is taken from actual fights.

Colt.... I have a 1930's vintage 1911 that I use 7, 8 and 10 round magazines in.  It eats every brand and vintage of ball ammo that I put through it and is the very example of dependebility... I keep one in the chamber with the hammer down and have never put the gun on safe.   I thumb back the hammer for the first shot.

The best gun to have is the one you have on you when you need it.   My Walther in .32 is very accurate , dependebole and reasonbly compact and if i put 7 silvertips into the hulk I bet I could kick his bellybutton after that.  The walther is never on safe either with one in the chamber.  it is double action so very quick to get into operation... it is hefty for a small gun and points well.

whatever gun you get... get one you enjoy shooting cause you should shoot it a lot.  

.41 mag?  useless.   not as handy as a 357 but not near4 as powerful as a 44.   Same size gun as a 44.   Hard and expensive to reload for... the 41 idea died for good reasons.

bulldogs?   had a bunch of em.  you guys ever shoot one?  LOL... these things kick!  and i ain't exactly recoil consious.  Bulldog is an experts backup.   if a newby gets one he won't shoot the first box of ammo in a year.   No real point to getting one unless you need a carry gun and are married to the 44 caliber idea.   Personally... I cut down a ruger redhawk and it works better for me.   My 5'3" daughter shoots the cut down 44 double action and enjoys doing it.   bulldogs are to light and tend to flip in the hand.

shotguns are not good in the house.. you can't get to em... they cant be nmanuevered easily and.. you are in real danger of having one taken away from you...  They also are hard and slow to point in the house and it is easy to miss with one.   Once you miss.... a second shot is difficult unless you have a double barrel or autoloader.
lazs