Yea air rifles should not be dismissed as a way to have a lot of shooting enjoyment.


The 22 rifle is the most fun for me to shoot, for handguns I like the 17 Remington the best. No kick to speak of, fun to shoot little critters with it (sometimes in the neighborhood) it’s a fun gun to shoot, and it’s deadly out to 175-yards.


At some point I’m going to see if I can fit a 177 cal pellet into a case and just use the primer as propellant. I need to get a Beaman pell-seat to downsize the pellet for this to work. I don’t know why I want to play with this????? Just something to play with.

I’m not a big fan either, and I would much rather carry my .45 or my .357 revolver over my issued browning HP 9mm. Personal preference.

A friend of mine was shot overseas with a 9mm by a new guy playing with his sidearm. The round went through 2 tents, a mattress, the corner of a barrack box and then clean through his leg. The FMJ NATO standard issued rounds certainly can penetrate. He was patched up and back to work in less than a week. True, a 9mm lacks the power of some larger calibers like the .40 or .45 but when placed in skilled hands it can be just as deadly as any gun out there.

That's FMJ, modern JHP ammo using bullets such as the new 147 gr Gold Dot, Ranger SXT or Golden Sabre are a whole nuther animal.

Military rounds are always ball ammo, seems to me that they should use a more deadly bullet type then ball.

It's because of the Geneva convention.

I handload hornady XTP in 125 gr for my .38/357 as well as WIN JHP-notched. I like hardballs in .45 but My para-ord likes hydra shock in 230 grain best so I stick to that.

I hand load 168 grain Barnes-x tripple shok for my .30-06 for large game and 150 grain Hormady SST for whitetails and have yet to lose and animal.

Those Barnes x bullets are mean bastards. I wish I could load a belt of them into my GPMG next time I go overseas.

This comes up a lot.
If you're talking about about a long term type of situation, I think a centerfire handgun for defensive use and a .22LR rifle for poaching (which is basically what it would come down to) would work OK. The .22 still isn't entirely helpless out to around 150 yards in skilled hands - as a teenager I could rountinely hit rocks the size of a coffee cup at that range with calm winds and a steady position. Add in the firepower of a 10/22 or maybe a lever or pump action and you do have something viable for self defense. It's not ideal but I have shot completely through cars with standard .22 LR 40 grain LRN so it's not to be underestimated.
For a little over $200 you can still get a new bolt action .22 LR and about 3500 rounds at Wal-mart, probably about $20 more for the package at a gun store. Everyone should have one anyhow, and at that price there is no excuse not to.

Handguns are too personal - pick what you like. For now, mine is a 9mm but a .357 would probably be more versatile. In my area, 9mm, .38 special, .357, .40 S&W, and .45 ACP are all very common. The biggest predator I could end up facing is a black bear and although the 9mm and .38 are admittedly underpowered for bear defense, I still think the 9mm loaded with FMJ would work OK because it penetrates very well. As I said, it's what I have so it's what I carry in the woods. If I had to worry about bigger predators I'd have to upgrade, probably to a .44 magnum. For my uses though, I prefer smaller full-size or mid-sized guns. They are big enough to shoot well but compact enough to carry fairly easy - decent compromise.

I'd also add a centerfire rifle - whatever works best for you. I tend to gravitate toward the full power .30 caliber rounds because I cut my teeth on them - my first rifle was an SMLE. It depends on your uses. My environment dicates something that is powerful enough to reliably kill deer or black bear (I don't hunt bear and have NEVER had a bad ecounter with one but I need enough power to defend myself against them and I'd eat one if I had to). To me, that means I personally wouldn't be comfortable with less than a 30-30 or 7.62x39 in terms of power (especially for the bear). I also like the range of the .308 but wouldn't feel at all uncomfortable if a No.4 Enfield or Marlin 30-30 was my only centerfire. For the guys who live in Alaska, they're probably going to want more gun than that, although the .303 apparently has a good rep on big animals with 215 grain bullets. Environment and availability are the biggest factors in this choice. In my area, 30-30 and 30'06 would serve very well (tied for most available), .308 is still pretty good, .270 is pretty common, and even .300 Savage, .35 Remington, and .303 British are widely available.

I like shotguns but I think they are outclassed in many ways by other choices. Handguns are better for carrying, .22 LR is more efficient for getting meat (as are snares), and a centerfire rifle will often quadruple the range without giving up anything at contact distance. Shotguns are versatile but if you have the other three, you don't need versatile because you have the right tools for many jobs.
I do admit though that it has always been easier to get game with a shotgun than with a .22. The shotgun is just more forgiving. If you were hurt, tired, hungry, shivering, it does add an extra margin in. But for the cost of two 12 gauge shells you can carry 60 rounds of .22 LR. Some guys love them and that's fine. I like them too and am planning to get another as a knockaround gun, but I don't consider them a necessity.

Well this is a very wide open thread that could go a million different directions.
As a gun nut, I will say this; a firearm is a tool. Think of it as a hammer. There are a bunch of different types of hammers for multiple jobs. You can bang on everything with 1 hammer, but it doesn't mean that hammer was meant to do that job.
firearms are much the same way.
First determine the JOB
Second determine the Tool (rifle & style of rifle, shotgun, pistol, revolver, semi-auto etc.)
Third (and by this point the second choice will have narrowed the feild considerably) Pic your Caliber or shotgun gauge.

I do not like the idea of a 1 gun for everything, but you can get away with any 3 of these 4.
one hand gun
one shotgun
one rimfire
one centerfire

But even doing that you have to buy one first, right. So wich tool is the most important to have first. Only you can answer that.

I have a decent collection, but setting here thinking, if I owned no guns at all (wich means I am not an avid hunter), what would I get first. For me it would be an AR15, m4 congfiuration (16" barrel)

They have very little recoil wich is good for a new shooter (unlike a 12ga, 30-06, 44mag, even 45auto) The report is rather loud, if that is a concern though.

Home protection is covered.

Survival is covered (large and small game) & No a .223 will not vaporize a squirrel or rabbit, just shoot it in the head, hence removing the head. Deer and hogs are shot all the time with .223's firearm regs be dammed.
JMO

Something along these lines:

This is getting fun. I think my second choice would be a rifle I do not even own, but have always wanted (much cheaper too)
A Marlin Lever Action in .44Mag, wich also shoots .44spcl's; wich is really like having two separate rifles.

.44 mag or .357 mag? I am trying to make this decision right now.

Nishnabotna,

I would go 44 all the way. It's more popular, better resale value. The .357 Lever is more of a novelty IMO.
Take that 44 and load 44spl's for home defence, wich are going to be moving alot faster out of a 20" barrel than they will out of a revolver. Potent Defence load.

Plus you can load it up with 300grain hunting loads and it will equal the ballistics of my 50cal muzzle loader shooting 300gr sabot loads. (around 1700 fps) That will put down any thing short of the Great bears at close range (100 yards or less), Not that they would bounce off a grizzley, just that you wouldn't hunt them on purpose with that round. (or I wouldn't)

Recoil is not an Issue, even the 300gr full house loads are about like a 30-06, slower on the shoulder, more of a push than a crack.

I like the Model 1894C



Ditch the stock rear sight in favor of a Ghost ring Aperture sight.