Mitch
BOM 2/09-Keeper BOTtLe
Firearms for self defense
Here are some thoughts you may wish to consider. First off is where will the weapon be stored? Handguns can be easily stored in a small lunch box size safe that uses a code to open it and is mountable just about anywhere. Getting a cabinet for a rifle or shotgun is much more of a pain. If you don’t secure the weapon, you are risking having walking in on a burglar being changed into walking in on an armed burglar. Trust me that all the hiding spots you will think of are either impractical if you hear a bump in the night, or the first place they will look for valuables.
If you are going to pick either a handgun or a shotgun, I recommend the handgun. It’s not nearly as powerful, but easier to learn to shoot, better for weapons retention, easier to teach women and young adults with smaller bodies and hands and it can be concealed. Even if you never ever think you will need to carry a firearm in your car or on your person, keep the option open. Two common myths of the shotgun are also that they have this magic cone of death and you can’t miss with one. The cone or pattern is actually very tight and it’s easy to miss up close where the pattern is often only a couple of inches wide. Shotguns using OO Buck or #2 Buck will penetrate car doors, exterior doors, interior walls, plywood, windshields, etc. They are not low penetration rounds and even bird shot due to it’s tight pattern up close will go right through these things as typical home defense distances.
Suggestions on a handgun if you are going that route is first to take a hard look at a double action .357 revolver. They are to hell and back reliable, very easy to shoot accurately and very easy to learn to use. The .357 is one of the most effective handgun rounds used for defense today, with few that come even close in stopping power. Revolvers do not have magazines, external safety switches, issues with jams, miss feeds or magazines that can pop out on accident. A loaded revolver doesn’t have a single spring under tension and can be stored for decades and still be reliable to the last shot. Automatics have lots of springs that must be under tension while loaded and springs compressed over a long period experience “stacking” or basically they loose the ability to go back to their full length and have less power to push with. This can be very bad if you are relying on the magazine spring to get the second shot into the chamber. If your wife never goes to the range even once, ten years from now she will be able to take the revolver and make it go boom six times. Otherwise, she is worried about which button is the safety, is the safety on or off now, is a round chambered, is the magazine fully in, what if it jams etc.
If you must have an automatic, go with a good name like Glock, Sig Sauer, HK, Ruger, S&W etc. Stay away from single action guns like the Colt 1911- they are great weapons for skilled shooters, but I’m guessing you want the anyone who needs it can use it weapon for when you are not home.
Top priority is find a gun you shoot well, go find a range that rents handguns and tell them you are trying to pick a handgun for purchase and want to try several. Most ranges will let you pay one hourly or set fee and swap out as many times as you like within reason. Don’t discount the 9mm, the high performance ammo for it is easily on par with the .40 and has less recoil and faster follow up shots. Police got away from the 9mm mostly due to politics, they were getting beat up over +P+ ratings that made them look all Dirty Harry, but rounds like the 9mm +P+ Win Ranger 125gr has better stops than many of the standard issue .40 police rounds in use today. Also, remember it is where you hit that matters far more than what you hit them with, so find a gun with good instinctive sights, preferably with night sights. I’m a big fan of a weapon mounted light and laser for in the home as well, but that’s another essay and I’ve gone on long enough.
Don’t get hung up on large magazine capacities, average shoot out is less rounds than a revolver hold let alone any of the double stack automatics of today.
If you are going for a shotgun, the Rem 870 and Mossberg 500 are both good picks, but consider a light and laser so you can hit the target easily.
Here are some thoughts you may wish to consider. First off is where will the weapon be stored? Handguns can be easily stored in a small lunch box size safe that uses a code to open it and is mountable just about anywhere. Getting a cabinet for a rifle or shotgun is much more of a pain. If you don’t secure the weapon, you are risking having walking in on a burglar being changed into walking in on an armed burglar. Trust me that all the hiding spots you will think of are either impractical if you hear a bump in the night, or the first place they will look for valuables.
If you are going to pick either a handgun or a shotgun, I recommend the handgun. It’s not nearly as powerful, but easier to learn to shoot, better for weapons retention, easier to teach women and young adults with smaller bodies and hands and it can be concealed. Even if you never ever think you will need to carry a firearm in your car or on your person, keep the option open. Two common myths of the shotgun are also that they have this magic cone of death and you can’t miss with one. The cone or pattern is actually very tight and it’s easy to miss up close where the pattern is often only a couple of inches wide. Shotguns using OO Buck or #2 Buck will penetrate car doors, exterior doors, interior walls, plywood, windshields, etc. They are not low penetration rounds and even bird shot due to it’s tight pattern up close will go right through these things as typical home defense distances.
Suggestions on a handgun if you are going that route is first to take a hard look at a double action .357 revolver. They are to hell and back reliable, very easy to shoot accurately and very easy to learn to use. The .357 is one of the most effective handgun rounds used for defense today, with few that come even close in stopping power. Revolvers do not have magazines, external safety switches, issues with jams, miss feeds or magazines that can pop out on accident. A loaded revolver doesn’t have a single spring under tension and can be stored for decades and still be reliable to the last shot. Automatics have lots of springs that must be under tension while loaded and springs compressed over a long period experience “stacking” or basically they loose the ability to go back to their full length and have less power to push with. This can be very bad if you are relying on the magazine spring to get the second shot into the chamber. If your wife never goes to the range even once, ten years from now she will be able to take the revolver and make it go boom six times. Otherwise, she is worried about which button is the safety, is the safety on or off now, is a round chambered, is the magazine fully in, what if it jams etc.
If you must have an automatic, go with a good name like Glock, Sig Sauer, HK, Ruger, S&W etc. Stay away from single action guns like the Colt 1911- they are great weapons for skilled shooters, but I’m guessing you want the anyone who needs it can use it weapon for when you are not home.
Top priority is find a gun you shoot well, go find a range that rents handguns and tell them you are trying to pick a handgun for purchase and want to try several. Most ranges will let you pay one hourly or set fee and swap out as many times as you like within reason. Don’t discount the 9mm, the high performance ammo for it is easily on par with the .40 and has less recoil and faster follow up shots. Police got away from the 9mm mostly due to politics, they were getting beat up over +P+ ratings that made them look all Dirty Harry, but rounds like the 9mm +P+ Win Ranger 125gr has better stops than many of the standard issue .40 police rounds in use today. Also, remember it is where you hit that matters far more than what you hit them with, so find a gun with good instinctive sights, preferably with night sights. I’m a big fan of a weapon mounted light and laser for in the home as well, but that’s another essay and I’ve gone on long enough.
Don’t get hung up on large magazine capacities, average shoot out is less rounds than a revolver hold let alone any of the double stack automatics of today.
If you are going for a shotgun, the Rem 870 and Mossberg 500 are both good picks, but consider a light and laser so you can hit the target easily.
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