06-19-2012, 09:58 AM
If you just want to go to the range and plink, get a .22. Cheapest ammo out there. Recoil is negligible. If you are new to guns, it's a good starter size. Get the fundamentals down, then move up if you want to. Pick a size that YOU are comfortable with and go with it. I never heard of anyone who got shot say something along the lines of "He shot me with (fill in less than .45 caliber here) and I laughed it off."
If you have larger hands, get a larger size weapon. Comfort and fit matter. I personally like Smith and Wesson revolvers and Sig automatics. .45 is my personal choice.
If you're talking about home defense don't use a pistol. Get a shotgun, preferably 12 gauge (20 is good as well, but holds fewer pellets in the shell). Put .00 buckshot in it. You may or may not want low-recoil ammunition. At the short ranges inside your house a low-recoil load won't matter.
Don't get a pump, get a semi-auto. Semi-auto relieves you of having to hand crank in the next shell. Aredenaline is a bitch, and no one knows how they will react under fire. Save yourself this step so that you only need to keep pulling a trigger.
Alot of Rambos out there will always say, "I want them to hear the click-click of the pump and shit themselves". If someone has the stones to break into your home at night when you are likely there, they are also likely armed and won't give a shit about your noise. In fact, they will know exactly where you are when you do that. For the same reason I dislike putting a light on your home defense weapon.
You know your home, the intruder does not. Use that knowledge. Don't go looking for someone taking your TV downstairs. You probably needed a new TV anyway. The name of the game is ambush, not search and destroy. You know which walls to shoot through to hit different points in your house already, your intruder does not. Pretty much any weapon will go through 6 or so sheets of dry wall before stopping (higher caliber pistols and rifles can go through far more, including your neighbors house across the way). For this reason it's important for you to know who is home and where they may be.
Know your local laws. Not all states have a stand your ground type law (Georgia does).
If you have larger hands, get a larger size weapon. Comfort and fit matter. I personally like Smith and Wesson revolvers and Sig automatics. .45 is my personal choice.
If you're talking about home defense don't use a pistol. Get a shotgun, preferably 12 gauge (20 is good as well, but holds fewer pellets in the shell). Put .00 buckshot in it. You may or may not want low-recoil ammunition. At the short ranges inside your house a low-recoil load won't matter.
Don't get a pump, get a semi-auto. Semi-auto relieves you of having to hand crank in the next shell. Aredenaline is a bitch, and no one knows how they will react under fire. Save yourself this step so that you only need to keep pulling a trigger.
Alot of Rambos out there will always say, "I want them to hear the click-click of the pump and shit themselves". If someone has the stones to break into your home at night when you are likely there, they are also likely armed and won't give a shit about your noise. In fact, they will know exactly where you are when you do that. For the same reason I dislike putting a light on your home defense weapon.
You know your home, the intruder does not. Use that knowledge. Don't go looking for someone taking your TV downstairs. You probably needed a new TV anyway. The name of the game is ambush, not search and destroy. You know which walls to shoot through to hit different points in your house already, your intruder does not. Pretty much any weapon will go through 6 or so sheets of dry wall before stopping (higher caliber pistols and rifles can go through far more, including your neighbors house across the way). For this reason it's important for you to know who is home and where they may be.
Know your local laws. Not all states have a stand your ground type law (Georgia does).