Looking to pick up first firearm.

[ehuff73]

Have you ever thought of a 22lr with a folding stock

[opie4386]

What's wrong with using the sights with a pistol grip shotgun?

youtube shotgun to face

edit: PGO+bead sight aiming =fail!

[Mac]

[Sutcliffe]

One gun won't be enough

I'd start with a ruger 10/22 for a rifle. For a handgun a decent .38 special revolver. Both are simple, easy to use, and relatively idiot free. Once you get more familiar with them you can graduate to something more specific.

[WildWildWest]

I'm 5'7'' 160 and I can definitely handle the 12, so I guess bigger is better in the home defense scenario, pending your ability to properly fire it.

I'm 5'7'' and weigh only <134 lbs, and I handle the 12g 00 buckshots #4(9 pellets) just fine. Don't worry too much, practice makes perfect

[tpuig]

You should probably just try heroin. It's cheaper and less addictive in the long run... ;-)

Anything you get is personal preference. To start out?
Ruger 10-22 or Marlin 39 lever. Cheap to shoot, and just plain fun.
12ga pump shotgun. Rem 870 or Mossberg are the most popular.
.357 revolver. You can shoot cheaper .38 special and they work great for home defense.

[Quickdraw559]

Both Mossberg and Remington have aftermarket barrels if you plan on using the shotgun for hunting. For home defense buy a one with an 18" barrel and then get a separate 28" or 30" barrel for bird hunting, or a rifled deer barrel for larger game. Changing out the barrels is easy. Takes about a minute on my Remington. If you really want an inexpensive hunting rifle instead of using your shotgun, you can't beat a Mosin-Nagant. You can get them for about $150 out the door after DROS and tax. The 7.62x54r round is similar to a 30-06. Great for deer out to 300+ yrds.

Yea, Remington was my 2nd choice behind Browning. I checked the linkn posted further up in the thread to walmart, but I can't view firearms on the walmart website. I'm not sure why. Maybe it has something to do with wal mart not selling firearms in my area, any more. I hadn't given interchangable barrels a thought, but now that I see the benefit, I may go that route. As for Mosin Nagant, I'm going to try to stay away. I'm really looking for a nice firearm made in America, for Americans. If I have a bit more money, I'm going to try for an Italian made shotgun like a Guerini or a Benelli. If price is a true issue at the time of my purchase, I may swing for a Nagant. $150 for a great rifle is a DEFINITE bargain!

If I go the shotgun route, what are the top tier USA made brands? And do they all make left handed versions? I was checking online last night at various websites, and many of them only have a right handed version.

[SgtMerc]

What's wrong with using the sights with a pistol grip shotgun?

did this once myself. I shoot skeet and visited a family member's farm. He was showing off his pistolgrip.

We went to shoot skeet, he had me use his. I called pull. I tried to mount and get a good cheek-stock weld. I took a pistolgrip to the jaw, got a busted lip and spat blood for half an hour.

Damn muscle memory...

[joe_gman]

Yea, Remington was my 2nd choice behind Browning. I checked the linkn posted further up in the thread to walmart, but I can't view firearms on the walmart website. I'm not sure why. Maybe it has something to do with wal mart not selling firearms in my area, any more. I hadn't given interchangable barrels a thought, but now that I see the benefit, I may go that route. As for Mosin Nagant, I'm going to try to stay away. I'm really looking for a nice firearm made in America, for Americans. If I have a bit more money, I'm going to try for an Italian made shotgun like a Guerini or a Benelli. If price is a true issue at the time of my purchase, I may swing for a Nagant. $150 for a great rifle is a DEFINITE bargain!

If I go the shotgun route, what are the top tier USA made brands? And do they all make left handed versions? I was checking online last night at various websites, and many of them only have a right handed version.

Walmart refuses to sell guns in California due to previous DROS and 10 day jail issues.

Don't know about left handed versions. The firearm you purchase really depends on your budget. Bargain US made brands are Remington and Mossberg. You can get a well made firearm for under $400. Brownings will cost a bit more for the same thing. Benellis are great but like the Browning will cost more without being much better with the lower end models.

Don't discount commie guns. There are many collectors here that own plenty of them. The great thing about commie guns is that they are cheap, will always fire, and you can fix them by hitting them against a wall. Just don't buy a Mosin for a defense gun unless a) you plan on stabbing them from across the room with the bayonet, or b) clubbing them over the head repeatedly with it.

[opie4386]

http://www.galleryofguns.com/genie/d...spx?item=51482 american made amd very versatile. great deal IMO