Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Clint Thompson on January 20, 2014 at 23:47

Based on what you have outlined, you should consider these:

The Ruger SR9 which is 9mm.  The other calibers in 40 S&W and 357 Sig. have some decent recoil.  The 9mm is cheaper to shoot as well.  Buy one of the personal defense ammo for this pistol.

Based on what you have written a good shotgun for you is a 20 gauge simi-auto.  You can have a gun smith shorten the barrel to the 18 1/8" length.  I like the extra 1/8th" just in case.  I would pickup a used Remington 1100 in 20 ga.

Good hunting for you firearms.

Permalink Reply by jeff on January 21, 2014 at 5:23

sig 226 is a fav of mine, but, the 40cal is my preference. 357sig is hard to find ammo, and very costly. double action only,usually are not as acurate for target use. because of the trigger pull.

Permalink Reply by Ken Spielvogel on January 21, 2014 at 5:52

As far as pistols go: I highly recommend the Glock - the Glock 21 is very accurate with minimum kick and easy to shoot and maintain. The other Glock models are great also. Try one out - take it apart and compare to others. Your list above are all good pistols but IMO the Glock outshines them all.

Permalink Reply by Jess Cobb on January 21, 2014 at 8:13

I am a big fan of Sigs. They also make a polymer frame that shoots very well: the SP2022, which I know is available in a.40 S&W, and I think in a .357 Sig. Just as a matter of convenience I believe the .40 ammo is more readily available.

All that said, any of the weapons you mention would serve you well. I would not hesitate to rely on any of them.

Shotguns: I like auto-loaders and Mossbergs SPX series.

Good luck!

Try Bud's Gun Shop

Permalink Reply by Michael D. on January 21, 2014 at 19:20

I've fired the SR9. Very nice; not a bad recoil; fit my hand very comfortably. Now I can't buy it! Nor the 226 nor the 21. Why? Because of what the idiot Adam Lanza did in my state (Sandy Hook, Newtown, CT). They're now illegal to own and if you have one then you need to register it. Laws are very confusing in my state now.

Just before the law took effect, all guns were selling off the shelves faster than bread flys off the supermarket shelf during a blizzard. Really sucks!

Permalink Reply by anthony a. reid on January 25, 2014 at 20:25

Hi folks,

 i am stil weighing my options. i am usually a slow shopper because i like to compare as much as possible.

with help from you folks, the 357 sig round option has bit the dust. thanks.  so the 40 is still there & the 9 mm. i also know that if i get a 40 I'll get the thing magna ported , i had forgotten about magna port, but ran into a video of a long time shooting champ that highly recommends  them so i can get back on target easier.    so thanks folks. i'll let yall know as i narrow down my choices 

Permalink Reply by jeff on January 26, 2014 at 5:12

just to mention what i'm sure you have already contemplated,[ the ammo] imo of the ammo you've suggested, the 40 cal is probably one of the better rounds as far as penetration vs knockdown. much better than 9mm. the 357sig is great, but sooo darn expensive and hard to get your hands on..and getting harder.  just thinking this morn..good luck!......oh yea,  and , in past years i have had a big problem with smith semi-autos as far as mis-fire after a few rounds, if you are not an avid clean after a clip person, you might shy away from the smiths... just my opinion, but ive sold 3 smiths for that particular reason.

Permalink Reply by Jess Cobb on January 26, 2014 at 12:22

By the way...The biggest advantage of the 9mm is that you can get ammo anywhere in the world. However I do prefer the .40. I own more .40s than anything else. And of the weapons you mentioned, I would pick the Sig first, then the FNH. If you are looking for concealment, the Kahr cannot be beat. The question is: What gun and cartridge do you trust your life to? THAT is the one you should pick.  

Permalink Reply by Ms Data on January 30, 2014 at 20:29

I have had both .40S&W and 9mm and while I do like the .40S&W very much I eventually settled on 9mm simply for the cost of ammo for practice - purchased by the case when I can find it - and the availability.  My personal favorite is the Glock 19 because I feel comfortable with it both for concealed carry and for home defense.  I will admit to being a Glock fan.  I have had Glocks since the first ones came out in the 1980's.  The new Gen 4's are awesome.  Consider a couple of other things too before making your purchase, the availability of holsters (I like the Crossbreed Supertuck IWB holsters) and the availability of Crimson Trace laser sights (I prefer the new green Crimson Trace Laserguard).

Also, as for your shoulder and the 18" barrel shotgun.  When I was an NRA Instructor I taught, and still do teach, don't hold that shotgun up to your shoulder.  Get a shotgun with a pistol grip stock and brace that stock between your elbow/forearm and rib cage.  You will have much better control of the shotgun and the bad guy will have a much more difficult time lunging at you and grabbing the barrel.  I like a Streamlight TLR on my shotgun.  You may want to look at a pump, just because semi-auto's can jam and that is not something you want to happen in a self-defense situation.  Here is a link to the Mossberg 500 Tactical Tri-Rail which you might like.   http://www.mossberg.com/product/shotguns-pump-action-500-special-pu...

Permalink Reply by anthony a. reid on November 22, 2014 at 10:29

Hi folks,

 yup it's been awhile since i have been around.  That has not stopped me from buying knives i don't need or guns.

 So, the cat's out of the bag now I made my final decisions on what gun to buy.  Turns out that included 2 guns.

1.  NEW 2014 CZ PO7 9mm polymer frame wonder gun . :)  http://cz-usa.com/product/cz-p-07-9mm-black-polymer-interchangeable...

I had red fiber optic sights installed on the front and a plain black rear sights installed as well as a trigger job.  the trigger feels better then on my fancier gun. The feel of this gun in my hand is like they took my hand and then made a grip to suit it perfectly.  takes more muscle to rack the slide, but not too bad.  As i get a bit stronger i won't even notice that imho.

I person the gun actually looks extremely sexy, in the pics it looks more toyish and dull imho.  

2. CZ 75 75 SDP Compact http://cz-usa.com/product/cz-compact-sdp-9mm-black-alloy-heinie-nig...  Don't let the picture fool you; the black tigger doesn't exist for the gun because a combat trigger doesn't actiually come in black and never has.  They didn't even realise that until i asked about the black trigger that i wanted lol.

I guess it's too much to ask for them to change the picture lol.  

This has straight eight Heine rear sights, 1st. time for me, but no biggie because i haven't been developed any preference because of prior shooting experience. i can see them in low light too btw

So i brought cleaning gear, Shoot glasses =  ESS CROSSBOWS 3 lens system,  tipton snap caps, & of course a new CZ U.S.A. hoodie, I'll grab another one because 3x and up are hard for fat boys to find lol. 1 box of blazer just for tempo in home defense. it will be used on the range and replace with my chosen self defense rounds once i make a final decision on what I will use. I already have the candidates in line so just a matter of choice based on testing to see what my guns like.

I want to thank all of you folks for helping me. Your comments were/are very useful.  I don't claim to be an expert & still have mucho to learn that's for sure.  

The plan is to reload because I'm on a tight budget/fixed income.  I'm not close to dealing with that yet; but i have figured that I'll likely get a single/turret style rig. i don't need a progressive machine as i won't be shooting so much/often to justify it's cost.

I did have since enough to figure out it's cheaper to shoot pool then guns, so I BROUGHT A NEW POOL CUE @ Charlie's Pro Shop lol.  

Permalink Reply by Jan Carter on November 22, 2014 at 11:46

sounds like you got yourself all set up there Anthony!