i never held any strong opinions about responsible gun ownership before. I just never really wanted one myself
Because of the current state of things, I've finally come round the bend on having a gun for home protection.
i know some here might have already reached that conclusion, probably long ago. I'm curious what the entry point was for those of you who own a pistol or otherwise?
seems like 9mm, s/w, glock are the big ones? what do you expect in pricepoint and is it something you want to buy brand new? and whats the deal with magazines, sounds like the more the merrier?
and, of course, politics and emotion free shitposting only plz
From:
chobbler
- - - - - - billy bumpkin here -
#2 Date:
01/14/26 @ 5:35 AM
If it's for home protection, I feel like a long gun makes more sense. Hand guns compromise on a lot to be so portable and convenient. But I also don't own any hand guns and the long guns I own are very old from my grandpa.
Hand guns compromise on a lot to be so portable and convenient.
elaborate?
From:
katfude
- straight up "jorkin it"
#5 Date:
01/14/26 @ 8:14 AM
There's two schools of thought. Long arms are easier to handle and easier to be proficient with.
Pistols are much better to handle in close quarters and can largely be operated one-handed if an assailant got close enough to grapple.
Semiautomatic shotguns can sometimes be quite tempermental on the ammo type fed and can jam. Also can be quite long so maneuverability low. Pump actions feed reliably but cannot be operated one-handed.
If you're going pistol route, aim for a 9mm. High capacity offsets the lower stopping power and the lower recoil is easier to deal with as a beginner. Modern defense ammo for the 9mm is more than sufficient for anything other than a dude in a plate carrier, but volume of fire offsets that.
From:
Space Cat
- please delete this account
#6 Date:
01/14/26 @ 12:16 PM
I don't know much on the subject, but I do remember hearing that you don't want something that easily shoots through walls and might kill or injure a family member in another room. I guess that could be both a gun and ammo choice.
The way houses are built and how close neighbors are, then that's pretty much any gun that presents a risk of hitting something beyond your target. Get a potato gun and start blasting, though.
9mms are not barrier-blind and will lose a lot of zip once they make contact. Buckshot 12GA isn't that bad, either. Slugs are a problem. AR-15s spit those little bastard bullets fast as hell and they are an issue.
Jacketed hollow points are much safer for this application. Anything FMJ is far more likely to overpenetrate.
That said, 5.56 green tips are good against anything short of plate carriers, so if your idea of home defense is "...and then they came for me" that's the gun to go out with.
great info thanks I also had just started to read last night about over penetration being a factor to consider. another scary lil rabbit hole.
Reddit is a big ole mess of angry morons on that particular topic as expected btw lol
Also sounds like shotguns are treated differently than pistols when it comes to licensing/regis? I think Oregon may have a new law that changes the once it gets through the courts
Looks like you're limited to 10 round mags so the capacity of the 9mm is not a pro.
If you plan on practicing frequently and go handgun, consider changing to a .45 ACP. Heavier recoil but more stopping power. The bullet itself is subsonic so overpenetration is less of an issue.
If you end up going shotgun and go semi-auto, look for a short barrel and run buckshot. 00 is the meanest but number 4 buckshot is still lethal with less concern of overpenetration.
If you don't mind a pump and have tight hallways around the house, the Keltec KS7 (a brand that is usually not recommended but this is a pump shotgun) is crazy. Super compact 7 shot shotgun.
From:
Bearclaw
- Master of the Obvious
#11 Date:
01/14/26 @ 11:23 PM
I went for a Glock 21. full size 45 auto. just in case things go sideways. I dont wanna bring my fists to a gunfight. been there, done that, didnt care for the result.
Haha yeah just stand there and try to put it back together
the whole sequence of him attempting to gather it all up makes my belly jiggle. He could have grievous injuries but that fucking shotty will ride again
From:
katfude
- straight up "jorkin it"
#20 Date:
01/16/26 @ 1:05 AM
Heferito said:
Nothing beats a good ole Remington 870 Shotgun for home defense. Just the sound of you cocking it may be all you need.
I have an 870. Even with a police barrel the damn thing is long as hell. Hard to maneuver around hallways. My first go-to is still a handgun if shit ever went south which used to be something only the paranoid right wingers said, but now... *gestures broadly*
From:
redchiron
- cant' think of a witty tagline
#21 Date:
01/17/26 @ 5:01 AM
I like my Mossberg 500. 18 or 19 inch barrel, a4 collapsible stock, and loaded with 00 buck. There's a few others in the safe, but that one is the standard for home defense.
Heferito said:
Nothing beats a good ole Remington 870 Shotgun for home defense. Just the sound of you cocking it may be all you need.
I wouldn't rely on the sound as a deterrent. If it makes them stop and fuck off in another direction, great. Just make sure you have a plan if it escalates. Doing some semi-regular training is never a bad thing.
I just bought my first adult sized Red Rider BB gun. Wanted one all my life, even before I saw A Christmas Story. I begged my dad for one since all my childhood friends had BB guns. That Christmas, I got a bolt action 22 rifle. Even better than a BB gun, yet I was sad. I lived in town and couldn't shoot it. Now I have a safe full of rifles, shotguns, pistols, and one Red Rider BB gun.
Another fun story - I inherited a beautiful S&W 38 special, so naturally, I bought a giant box of 38 Special rounds. Dumb mistake. Those rounds are completely different. My little gun requires 38 S&W (even though it's referred to as "special.") Makes sense? None at all. The 38 Special rounds go in a 38 Special pistol, which is completely different than a S&W 38 Special. Dicks. Who thought this shit up? Anyway, so I have a big box of 38 Special ammo, so logic dictates that rather than return it, I should buy the correct pistol to go with it. And I did just that last week. RIA 38 Special, cheap, but fun to shoot.
I am organizing the things my father left behind after his recent passing. He got very conservative and conspiracy minded browsing Facebook and shitty news sites all day.
Well I knew he got some guns, some older collectible types, like a Mosin Nagant and other WW2 deals. But in clearing things out, my siblings and I have found like 40 guns of all types, gun parts, ammo hidden all over, gun accessories everywhere, and the old 12 gauge lever break action shotgun he tried to say one of us lost years ago. Also just knives and machetes all over. And radiation pills.
AND YES, survival food in the basement.
My sister's fiancé is former military so he was doing all the cataloguing and was surprised by a lot of the stuff he had, like the M3 grease gun. They sorted it and then grouped it up together in batches. Then kept sending pic after pic where they hid/put stuff, with a classic reply by me.
So aside from what we might end up selling. Each of us is likely going to end up with a couple guns.
my credential for saying so is that i hold a basic pistol instruction certification from a bullshit organization that has shockingly good educational materials
i will differ a little bit on opinion though, and say this: the gun our rogue state trains their poverty drafted conscriptees to be effective with is the AR15
which can be configured to a length significantly less than a shotgun, while still offering 30 rounds and good penetration
and speaking of penetration, every bullet leaving the gun is going fast as fuck and will go further than you want it to
so: plan accordingly (figure out where in your house you'd take a stand and what direction that faces and how rounds going in that direction might affect your neighbors)
I am betting heavily on replica, though I didn't personally handle it. I don't think he ever spent more then $500 on a gun that I witnessed, always just scrounged for deals and trades. And it's not something he would have had other than through buying.
From:
katfude
- straight up "jorkin it"
#30 Date:
01/20/26 @ 1:32 AM
I didn't really bring up the ar-15 as they mentioned they probably didn't want to go that route. Also Oregon, so the 10rd limit heavily impacts what makes the ar-15 so effective.
But i absolutely have a minimum legal length ar-15 with green tip ammo for the gestapo if they come knocking. It is shockingly easy to shoot. Recoil is negligible.
it might still be worth considering if everything is limited to 10 round mags, as making all 10 count becomes critical and anything with multiple points of contact is going to be easier to get proficient enough with
For home defense, I don't want to worry about aiming too carefully or over-penetration. So this, with 1st round being bird shot. Or shit - you can get some bean bag rounds if you really want.
btw it's OK, I'm already on lists. And it's just flippant bullshit.
I guess we have differing views on defense. You want to be lethal. I simply wish to change the power dynamic
legally, the presence of a firearm constitutes lethal force on the part of whomever is presumably defending their home
i am simply not giving the bad advice of legally presenting lethal force to an assailant while not actually having practical lethal force to employ
it's cool though, your legal name isn't on any documentation of proficiency that gets turned in to the state so you can get away with offering incorrect and wrong-headed information about guns to people
no stupid questions, right? Friend who was set on not being alive gave all her pews over to my daughter who stored them at my house friend felt better and sold all but two those are still at my house because friend often wants to not be alive quite often How do i tell what kind they are if iwant to get ammo? is all .22 the same that way? I have no idea.
generally, the manufacturer and caliber will be marked on the firearm itself not all ammo is the same, even within a given specification of caliber; there's stuff like +P or high velocity (or subsonic) that are basically more or less than standard pressure loadings to get more or less velocity out of the bullets
if you post a bit of info on what you have, i'm sure that most people regularly in this thread can help track down what it is obviously don't post anything that seems like a serial number
good on your daughter for being a good friend and holding stuff!
