[Rummyfan]

Bump for reference!!!!

[satchmodog9]

Life is good when you own more than ten firearms.

[mbynack]

I'm sure that you're going to get a lot of people disagreeing with his choices.

I would recommend a 12 gauge pump as the first gun. You can use it for home defense and hunting.

I don't think a 22 magnum is a very practical choice. It's only good for plinking and small game. A 22 long rifle is cheaper to shoot.

A 454 Cassull is not practical for anything but medium size game hunting. It's not a good weapon for a beginner because it's expensive and kicks pretty hard.

[holymoly]

"Ruger Mini-14 Ranch Rifle. A lot of people who saw what recently happened in New Orleans have concluded that every man needs an assault rifle."

Too bad the Mini-14 isn't an assault rifle.

[papertyger]

Do you think at some point you could write a column on some of the basics of getting into the world of firearms? Specifically, I'm looking for tips on acquiring weapons for home defense and hunting. While I'm not a survivalist weirdo...

Dear Mike,

Seeing as you're already sneering and labelling the folks who are expert in the information you seek; No, go to hell.

[saganite]

Pretty good recommendations. I personally prefer the Mossberg 12 gauge pump (18 1/2" barrel) for the home and my .357 is a Ruger sp 101, good for concealed carry. Just got a .270 Savage bolt action with the accu trigger for hunting.

I wouldn't touch a .454 Casull though. That's too much gun for the average gun owner and is really only needed for very special applications, like grizzly at close range. I much prefer a standard 1911 .45 which will be my next purchase. Since I can't afford a Kimber I've got my eye on a Springfield Arms milspec 1911 .45.

[Drammach]

Banglist added to "Keywords"..

Adding Banglist to keywords insures that it gets to the "interested parties"...

And Thanks for the post..

[niteowl77]

I agree that a good .357/.38 revolver in stainless steel is the best choice of handgun for the casual shooter, but I long ago gave up on revolvers with barrels longer than 4" (I like a 3" SP-101, my son prefers a 4" GP-100, and neither one of us can convince the other to change). Be that as it may, I've selected the Glock 19 as the family SHTF handgun- no manual safety levers to fumble with, easy to strip for maintenance, nearly unbreakable, utilizes common-as-dirt (and cheap) ammunition... and is eminently affordable.

[AnAmericanMother]

Well, there are as many favorite firearms as there are shooters, but here are my main beefs with this writer:

He has a thing for oddball calibers. Now, I myself have nothing to brag on in that department, seeing as how I have a couple of Lee Enfields in .303 British, a .455 Webley revolver, a Webley in .38 Smith (NOT .38 special) and a .41 mag. BUT, oddball calibers are not good for first guns because ammo is expensive and not readily available.

I would stick to 12 ga., .308 Win (7.62 NATO), .22 rimfire, and .38/.357 Magnum because if ANY ammo is available, those will be. (I am personally prejudiced against 9mm, and I prefer .45 ACP to the .38, but again not for a first gun.)

Everybody should begin with a .22 rifle (not a .22 magnum - talk about difficult finding ammo!). Ammo is available everywhere and dirt cheap, zero recoil, ample accuracy with the right selection. I wouldn't bother with a bolt action though, if you need discipline in placing your shots just load one at a time. I am very happy with my Ruger 10/22 Stainless, although the rotary magazines are a bit fiddly (I would buy a couple of spares).

A reliable .308 rifle is a good thing to have, my hubby swears by the FN-FAL but I find it too heavy and bulky to tote around. I have a little Ruger M-77 with a 4x Leupold scope on top, and it does everything I need for it to do. Probably a semi-auto would be better than a bolt action, but the M-77 has a very smooth and quick operating action. I love my Ruger and I can drive tacks with it all day long.

A good pump shotgun is the best first shotgun. Our hunting club has eight Remington 870s that we use day in and day out in training and during hunt tests. Some of them are older than I am . . . they get battered around and treated pretty roughly, but they remain reliable and accurate.

I agree with a .357 because you can feed it .38 sp for practice, but a six inch barrel is going to be very awkward for a new shooter. Four inch to me is a better compromise between recoil and ease of handling. Once this shooter gets comfortable with a revolver, he ought to look into the 1911A1.

Just my

[yarddog]

Nothing wrong with his choices but mine would have been different.

That is the nice thing about guns. Just about all of them are useful.

I ran into a bargain on .22 magnum ammo around 20 years ago and bought 100 boxes. I had a Thompson Center Contender with a .22 mag barrel at the time.

Well that magnum barrel turned out to be a dog. The only bad barrel I have ever had with the contender. I eventually traded the contender and all barrels off.

With all that ammo, I have been wanting a .22 mag for some time. I settled on the CZ automatic rifle. While saving up for the purchase, I noticed someone advertising a Marlin model 25 for only $100 in the local paper. I phoned him and he came over immediately. I think he really needed the money, anyway the rifle had a cheap but good scope and three mags.

The rifle is not particularly well made. It looks ok but nothing extra. The good thing is the accuracy. Using CCI hollow points, it consistently put all shots into one large hole at 50 yards. Really unusual accuracy.

That rifle is very useful for varmints, wild dogs etc.

All in all, tho a good .22 LR repeater is the best gun to start with, either rifle or pistol.

[xsrdx]

Reasonable recommendations. No heartburn with the .270, 686 and Benelli Nova, but the rest are a little eccentric.

And the Ruger is not a top choice in .223 semiautos.

[xsrdx]

And a Ruger 10/22 in 22LR is a better choice in a .22 rifle than the Marlin 22 MAG.

[xsrdx]

You might also want a flash suppressor, which will keep the muzzle low while you fire away.

Ok, this guy is inept. A flash suppressor/hider is just that - it does not serve as a muzzle brake or compensator.

[P8riot]

Personnally my SHTF rifle is a Sprinfield M1A. The .308 NATO round is my favorite in a long gun.

[Euro-American Scum]

Bump for later.

[CodeToad]

Rules, man, the rules: Gun porn required on gun threads!

Kimber Eclipse. The finish is like no other.

[eXe]

Do you think at some point you could write a column on some of the basics of getting into the world of firearms? Specifically, I'm looking for tips on acquiring weapons for home defense and hunting. While I'm not a survivalist weirdo, I have no intention of waiting for any level of government to ride to the rescue, should bad times come along.

And just what is so wrong with being a "survivalist weirdo"

lol

[Bottom_Gun]

some good choices there, Mine would be different, but that is personal choice. The one thing he left out would be for first timers, or people with little experience would be to get some component instruction on the weapons of their choice!

[alarm rider]

Excellent choices.

[rightwingreligiousfanatic]

I am thinking of getting a .22 pistol (maybe a Walther P22) for my first gun and to learn about shooting together with my son. He got a Walther P22 Airsoft gun that feels fantastic in my hand, which got me thinking about this.

Any recommendations or feedback from all of you gun experts out there will be appreciated.