Welcome to my blog covering what IMO should be your first firearm purchases.
More to come on guns, cars, golf, investments, and lifestyle choices!
If you haven’t seen Part 1 check out my other blog post to find out what we think is the first firearm you should buy when starting out and why.
Continuing on where we left off, the people this is intended for is those who are just starting out in purchasing firearms. Whether that be a college student living on their own (How I got started), just moving out of the parents house (with no passed down firearms), or even a new found love for the finer things in life that go boom.
Again, the criteria that we looked at for these options are the usual; cost, accuracy, reliability, purpose, and ease of use. I hope that you all understand that I cannot tailor this article to abide by all states in this glorious country. If you live in any of the more restrictive/ or “less American” states, then the particular recommendations may not apply but the fundamentals should still hold true. I would like to give two options for each purchase, one being a budget minded option while the other is a “standard/high” quality option.
Where we left off was first purchasing a good 9mm pistol that could serve as a nightstand gun, daily carry, truck gun, range gun and basic home defense firearm. My theory to a handgun at home is only to buy us time to get to the closest shotgun or rifle during a home defense situation.
Our choice for the second firearm one should be no surprise as it is a shotgun! The roles we intend for this firearm to fulfill is mainly home defense with the occasional hunting. At this point we are assuming a person has followed our first step and only owns a pistol. Having a shotgun as your second purchase provides the owner with many benefits over going another route. Shotguns have a wide range of ammunition to choose from like bird shot, buck shot and slugs. They also come in different gauges to suite the situation or user. 12 gauge to 20 gauge is what we are recommending and here’s why. 12 gauge ammunition is some of the most readily available ammunition out there. One could make a trip to their local Walmart or purchase online depending on your state laws. 12 gauge has a huge “hype” associated with it that leaves the other options less desired primarily due to being uninformed. 16 and 20 gauge shotguns are more than adequate and potentially more beneficial if you are a smaller frame male or female. The reduced recoil of this ammunition provides ease of use and easier follow-on techniques. Lets face it, as cool as a bigger gun will always be, if the user hates shooting it they won’t practice with it at the range or may become too disoriented when using it making follow-on shooting difficult. These firearms come in all shapes and sizes so lets talk options.
The “Ole Grand Pappies Shotgun”- a double barrel coach shotgun is a two she’ll capacity shotgun with barrels that are side by side. It is also referred to as a “side by side” or Coach shotgun. These Shotguns generally have two triggers, one to fire each barrel but as times change so do the firearms. Low capacity rules this out for our choice.
The Classy “Trap and Skeet Shotgun”- the Over Under or O/U shotgun is commonly used for either Trap shooting , Skeet shooting , and bird hunting. It is a two barrel shotgun with barrels that sit on top of one another. This provides more or a center of aim to impact rather than the side by side. At distances they would commonly be used for they are both adequate in accuracy. These Shotguns can be considered some of the most accurate Shotguns on the market and range anywhere from $600 to higher thousands. Again, low capacity rules this out as our choice.
The Semi Automatic- These Shotguns are typically single barrel and use a different type of action that allows for follow-on shots without any action of the user. Upon firing the empty shell will be extracted and a new she’ll will be chambered on its own. This type of shotgun provides many benefits like increased tube magazine capacity, speed, accuracy, a good reliability.
The only thing that negates this from being our choice in shotguns is the fact then when you have more automated moving pieces in a “machine” the chances of it failing are increased. This primarily comes into play in regards to the cycling of the shells.
So, what is our choice for the next firearm to purchase? In our opinion, the Pump Shotgun is the answer.
The Pump Shotgun- These types of shotguns can easily be referred to as “Ole Reliable”. Besides the Semi Automatic action it provides the same benefits to the user to include tube magazine capacity, accuracy, speed (with practice), and overall ease of use. The shotgun is operated with you use of a forend that is racked to the rear by the user which ejects the spent shell and pushed forward by the user which chambers a new shell. These firearms are easy to use, cheaper than previous options and provide great reliability. Reliability is out matched by the coach and O/U but for the trade off of capacity we gladly make it. The aftermarket support for these Shotguns is much larger than other options since they are geared towards home defense a lot of times. These Shotguns can be witted with pistol grips, forends, lights, red dot sights, a shell holder, and the whole shebang if it fits your needs.
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What two options do we recommend? That would be the Mossberg 500 and it’s money savings brother, the Maverick 88. With very little difference in the two they are both able to interchange mostly all parts except the safety which are in two different places.. The Mossberg 500 is made in the U.S. while the Maverick 88 is assembled in Mexico. More details below.
The Mossberg 500/590- New you can find this shotgun for $270-$430 depending on the variant. This shotgun has a 5 + 1 shell capacity with a 28″ vent ribbed barrel and options for a shorter barrel or both in a combo deal. 18.5″ barrels can be had for around $150 to make it better suited for home defense or you can purchase the Pursuader version for around $360. This shot Guns are out of the box ready and will take up to It’s made in America! Sometimes that’s good enough of a reason over the other. Aftermarket support is almost insane for these “Go To” home defense shotguns.
The Maverick 88- New you can find this shotgun for $200-$220. This is a 5 + 1 shotgun that can come with a 20″ barrel ready for home defense right out of the box for around $200 new. It has a blued finish and accepts up to a 3″ shell like the Mossberg. These savings will allow for additional shells and some accessories to be purchased for the same price as its U.S. made brother. Aftermarket support is the same as the Mossberg 500 as the parts are interchangeable.
Comment below on your thoughts and what you think the 3rd firearm to buy will be.
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