Thread: Personal Firearms

Originally Posted by JimmyHAD

A buddy of mine has the Taurus and likes it a lot. So far so good at the range. I just can't get past their old reputation for shoddy workmanship from 20 years ago or so. I hear they're running a tight ship nowadays but I'd still rather go with a premium maker. YMMV.

I've actually got one myself & it was hard to get past their old reputation. Sad thing is that my Taurus will outshoot my Colt, Springfields, and Kimbers. I say sad because it's about half the price of some of them. It will never go up in value like many firearms, but I knew this before I got it...

Originally Posted by Furcifer

For home defense, a shotgun is good to have, but somewhat limited in application. Rule #1 is HAVE A GUN, but I wouldn't go buy a shotgun and not have anything else. It's just not an either/or question for me; I like to have a range of options, so to speak... If I was going to run out and buy my "first gun" all over again, it would be something I could best afford with the best trigger and natural pointing grip angle that I could find such as an S&W M&P in .45 ACP, in dark earth with contrasting black grip and two extra mags (in case anyone reading had a sudden overwhelming desire to get me one)...

Please explain this to me as I just don't get it. I have seen the devistation a 12 guage w/ 00 buck can do & of all my toys I have...a shotgun (Remington 1100 w/ 18" sawed down bbl) is what is by my bed. I don't rack the action either, one safety is enough.

Originally Posted by shooter74743

Please explain this to me as I just don't get it. I have seen the devistation a 12 guage w/ 00 buck can do & of all my toys I have...a shotgun (Remington 1100 w/ 18" sawed down bbl) is what is by my bed. I don't rack the action either, one safety is enough.

Sorry for the confusion. I just mean to say that a defensive shotgun does not provide a particularly good platform for a person to "teach oneself to shoot well", per se, such as proper grip, trigger control, etc. It also isn't really the place to start with learning good indoor CQB tactics, such as shoot/no-shoot drills, Tueller drills, weak-hand reload, etc. This is not the gun that a person will shoot 200-300 rounds with every other week at the range. That doesn't mean it's not effective or that it shouldn't be learned and incorporated SOON... It's just not first, from a purely pedagogical approach to CQB (which applies directly to the safest and most effective home defense).

Now, I also have a 12ga and actually prefer 3" Mag 000 over 00 mixed in with 1" slugs that hit like a dump truck going 200MPH. I'm not saying it's not effective in the least, and certainly not saying don't have one, but for learning to shoot well and then adding good CQB tactics to it, start with a good pistol with a good comfortable frame size in an effective caliber, learn to shoot and move and THEN how to bring a shotgun into those tactics. A good defensive shotgun can be had for a lousy 250 clams, so it's not like buying the pistol puts one out of the shotgun market forever. On the contrary, the best recommendation to glean from my post is to eventually accrue all types of weapons, and learn to be effective with them in a reasonable order according to the way modern tactics are taught. (I can describe home-defense scenarios where the best weapon might be pepper spray, or a pistol, or a pellet gun, or a bat, or a Barrett in .50 BMG. There are a couple of good articles out there by some respected instructors/gunwriters that go against the standard gun-store recommendation that a shotgun is just always automatically "the best weapon for home defense", because, of course, nothing can be, for every case... ...although I'll still agree 100% that there are probably a lot more times when you DO want to pick up the shotgun to go investigate that bump in the night, but I'd have my .45 on my hip, too, just in case; after all, why not?)

BTW, I don't rack the action on mine, either. That big AK safety is real easy to find in the dark.

Thanks for the tips. I am leaning towards 9mm due to cost or finding something that has a .22 conversion for cost of shooting. I am thinking about the sig but I am going to the range to shoot several different guns before I go to a gun show this weekend. They don't have the sp2022 but I want to try the p229 the m&p 9 and the glock 19 at least.

Originally Posted by Furcifer

For home defense, a shotgun is good to have, but somewhat limited in application. Rule #1 is HAVE A GUN, but I wouldn't go buy a shotgun and not have anything else.

About twenty years ago Jerry Miculek and I were comparing S&W 625s mods for IPSC competition. Both of us were shooting the 5" barrel version. He reminded me to always make sure the tension screw for the hammer spring didn't back off , in case my life might depend on it. He paused for a moment and then said "if your life depends on it use a shotgun".

Originally Posted by welshwizard

About twenty years ago Jerry Miculek and I were comparing S&W 625s mods for IPSC competition. Both of us were shooting the 5" barrel version. He reminded me to always make sure the tension screw for the hammer spring didn't back off , in case my life might depend on it. He paused for a moment and then said "if your life depends on it use a shotgun".

I used to shoot bowling pins at a local range one night a week. Really a lot of fun. Anyway, the top guy there week after week used a 625 with the half moon clips. I was using a Glock G-20 10mm and it knocked the pins down one hit but I still couldn't beat that guy. The Indian, not the arrow.

I have found that not knowing what people are trying to accomplish, and their living situation can be the worst way to advise them of the weapon they need to investigate bumps in the night ...

Tell me to grab a .45 acp or pretty much any other pistol to go investigating bumps in the night, and I will tell ya good luck with that idea.. My living situation says the a 12ga with heavy loads or perhaps a 45-70 Guide Gun is the proper weapon for the job..
If I live in an apartment, my needs change, in a house with close by neighbors my needs change again...

Just like razors and many other things in life YMMV

Holy cow! I've never gotten so much crap about not using the safety and just putting one in the pipe, they take about the same amount of time, I didn't realize we had so many ninjas here. And, I have a lot more experience than my 18-year-old or my 23-year-old so I'd rather keep the pipe empty and let them rack It themselves. JMHO
PS, although as for the .45 in the nightstand, that doesn't have to be racked at all, but that's My Gun.

Thought I would share what I got the wife for Christmas this year. S&W M&P9 Julie Goloski breast cancer pistol. Happy New Year everyone.

I decided on the M&P 9c for my first gun. I only got the full size but the compact was the only model I found with the thumb safety (concession with my wife).

It's scary how easy it is to buy a gun in utah though. I still have that temporary paper license until the plastic one shows up in the mail in a few weeks. But even with that I was in and out in twenty minutes with a brand new pistol.