Just don't get the mossberg from Wally-World

really? why?

i keep mine loaded with bird shot because i assumed (or was told, can't remember) that way i'd be less likely to miss and/or it's less likely to go through walls and into my neighbor's walls.

plus, with the pistol grip .12ga i have, honestly 00 Buck kicks A LOT more. i mean, i'm not too worried about missing if i'm actually shooting at someone in my home, you're just telling me the opposite of what i was told by the dealer i bought it from and i guess i tend to believe you over him.

Noooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo. The shot pattern inside the home is still going to be very tight no matter what kind of shot you use. If you'd miss with a slug you'll almost certainly miss with birdshot as well.

But yeah that would kick pretty bad.

first time i ever shot it, hell first time i ever shot any shotgun, i loaded it with 00 buck and kinda held it to my side.

ribs told me that was a bad idea.

Yeah shotguns do kick but I was making the firearms equivalent of a grammar joke. A .12 gauge gun would be like a three inch smoothbore artillery piece or something. You should write "12 gauge". And load it with buckshot!!!

I'd do a good deal of research on the effectiveness of birdshot for home defense before I relied on it. I haven't researched the subject deeply because I don't currently own a shotgun but from what I understand, birdshot penetrates about 6" in ballistic gelatin, FBI recommends 12" I believe. Also, birdshot won't even penetrate a leather jacket at 8'. And didn't Dick Cheney shoot one of his hunting companions in the face with birdshot? What was the end result there?

From The Box O Truth.

You're much more likely to actually stop a bad guy in your house with a single shotgun shot than with a handgun hit. Obviously, handguns have advantages too, like number of bullets, easier to carry, etc. But shotguns are considered by most to be the best home invasion defense.

I respectfully disagree. There are benefits and caveats for each, but I think the caveats of the shotgun far outweigh the benefits.

watching the video for this laser sight kinda gives me a little gun boner

are side-mounted laser sights good? bad? unrecommendable? also, that is the same ruger lcp dbj recommended, no?

Side mounted lasers are great.

I use LaserMax sights personally, but as a somewhat inexperienced shooter I don't want the laser to become a crutch for you.

A laser has a couple of uses, one is to be able to hit targets more accurately from a retention position, the other usage is used properly, it's a great tool to identify a shooters weaknesses with trigger pull, easily identifying problems with both recoil anticipation and trigger slapping.

The downside of new shooters using lasers is that they cheat and never learn proper sight alignment.

And yes, that is the same gun.

so, if i do get a 9mm for my first gun, cuz I magically have loads of money to blow on multiple weapons apparently, would it be fine to get a kinda cheap one such as this? (seems to have ok reviews if you're the type that can take care of your weapon)

or maybe this

Well, the Hi-Point forum has a sticky titled "How to package your pistol for its trip back to Hi Point" if that tells you anything.

http://www.hipointfirearmsforums.com/forum/f272/

I despise Hi-Points.

I'd recommend putting at least $350 into a used gun such as a GLOCK, S&W M&P, Ruger, Springfield Armory etc.

Stay away from Hi-Point, Jiminez Arms, NAA etc.

and like the third post in it is vaguely racist



sigh

man, gun broker is just intimidating to someone who doesn't know wtf they're doing

eta

lol at their ad on their own site:

IMO you are much better off saving up and getting a high quality gun. Buying a gun based on price alone is almost like getting a tattoo based on price.

while i understand that, i would also prefer home protection sooner rather than later, what with the holidays coming up (i don't know if robberies occur more or less frequently in the winter, that's probably a stat i could look up)

if you want an unreliable, inaccurate, piece of **** then sure.

I'm with the others here.. save up til you can get something better. If you are hellbent on getting something cheap I'd go with a Makarov or CZ before I even considered a Hi-Point.

Go to your local shop and pick up a Hi-Point. Big, clunky, and terrible ergonomics. That's outside of the numerous other issues you may encounter with them.

you can get a glock for like $300

or like someone else said

get a used smith-wesson M&P

Low Key, something you may want to google "Police Turn-In GLOCK".

These are GLOCK pistols that are LE "turn-ins" which means they are GLOCK pistols being sold by PD's.

They are typically scarred and show heavy signs of wear on the exterior.

Internally they're nearly perfect, because hell, they're cop guns. They may get shot 2x a year.

They usually run ~$289 - $359, depending on age and wear.

I think this would be a better route for you than a Hi Point.

I hit a pawn shop today that was FFL. I asked them about it, but for some reason had a brain fart and didn't ask what they charged or for any specifics. Derp! They do auctions once a month, and they have one coming up. Here's a list of the guns that will be for sale, with no reserve/min bid.



Any gems?

While I was at the store, I looked at/handled a few pistols. One was a S&W, I think an sw9ve. I forget the name he called it, something that started with an s.

Handled that gun, which had a fairly nice weight/size to it. Also a little 5 shooter revolver, which was a little uncomfortable because the handle only had room for 2 fingers.

I don't really have a clue what I'm supposed to do with a pistol in hand that I'm not allowed to shoot. I don't know how to look at it, I suppose. I'm pretty sure the two I mentioned were new. Think they were both around $250-300. S&W was 9mm, I believe, and the revolver was maybe a .38? used .38 special ammo? I dunno.

I did look a little on a police turn-in site, but I couldn't tell if they would only sell some or all pistols to retired civil servants. The wording was kinda confusing. Should I be looking for one in my state specifically?

Looking to go Saturday to a local range and actually shoot some pistols. The time I went, there were three of us, we all got different guns, and obviously different ammo. I assume they wouldn't want or let one person swap to a different gun that requires different ammo? Or is that sort of thing allowed? Iirc, they said if we didn't like the guns we were using we could swap one out for one we were more comfortable with.

That S&W you looked at was a "Sigma".

It's the series that almost destroyed S&W. I firmly believe that had S&W never produced this load of crap, the M&P line would enjoy even more success than it does now.

They're junk.

Here's some police turn ins:

http://www.jgsales.com/handguns-c-16_150_497.html

I'd recommend #3 on your list as a decent gun if you want a revolver.

The rest are either junk or ill fitted for your purposes.

yeah that and the mossberg 500 are the only things that don't suck monkey balls unless your looking for a 22 rifle or a bird hunting gun.