Firearms and being prepared, it's that sword Jesus told you to buy

I figure this will turn into a wide ranging and rousing discussion and it's one of the areas I am most suited to talk about. I have 23 years of expierence with firearms in a professional capacity and many more for personal pleasure. I love the subject and I'm quite passionate about the art of self defense with a firearm. I consider myself a Templar , a man of arms dedicated to Christ.

I have written tomes on the psychology of the good shoot, what I'd like to focus on in this thread is just the basics of firearms, what I've found works, what others like and simple suggestions on the most bang for the buck...(get it bang for the buck)

I'll make suggestions here and use terminology that I've been using for more than a life time. If it strikes you as harsh I'm sorry but this discussion should be about protecting your family and the easiest way to do that is to remove the threat quickly. If you were to hire my company to train you I would charge for this information but here it's free as I want as many of my brothers and sisters in Christ to be alive and happy as possible.

I will discuss ammo selection later it's very important and can be quite complex.

If you have the money I'd suggest 3 firearms. I'll cover additions and why after the basic 3 you should have.

1. A shotgun, pump or semi, 12 gauge preferred. Rationale: The shotgun is frankly, just really handy. It can be used for close quarters combat (refered to as CQB from now on) with slugs can reach out to 50 yards quite accurately, and can be used for hunting. Lastly it's devastating to a target with the right round a 1 shot drop is quite possible and quite quickly.

The basic 12 gauge pump shotgun is affordable, easy to maintain and easy to use. I say 12 gauge because it's the most common and as such ammo will be easier to find, trade for or liberate from bad guys.

2. A Handgun: they are for the most part concealable (please see your state for concealed carry laws and if you live in a communist state good luck) they tend to be light, easy to handle and comfortable for many sizes and ages of folks to use (though this depends on the cartridge used but let's go with the average for now)

A well built handgun is easy to maintain, comfortable in your hand and with proper care seldom if ever malfunctions. We will cover semi auto vs wheel guns later I'm trying to keep this first post flowing. You can use the proper handgun for self defense and hunting (though hunting with a handgun takes a much larger cartridge if you are to be a humane Hunter)

3. A Rifle, specifically a semi automatic, magazine fed rifle with a military heritage. I will cover other rifles to own and that will include bolt actions etc but remember this is just the first 3 that you should own.

Why a military heritage you ask? Well those rifles tend to have the most use and abuse in war time environments. They tend to be tough, easy to clean, have standard capacity 20 to 30 round magazines and be of a caliber that works well in bad situations. These rifles are multi purpose, durable and given the right cartridge have a long arm of authority.

The price ranges very but I'll always try to offer really affordable options but I do love the pricey toys as well.

I'll get into the whole AK/AR/FN FAL/M14/PTR 91 argument later...oh man does that turn into an argument. At this point I just want people to begin to think about the basics and not overwhelm them.

I'll be adding more nightly, I'm quite passionate about this and love teaching and learning about firearms. No matter how much you know or how good you are theres always more to learn and things to get better at.

Sabres out! Sabres ready!

Focus: The pump shotgun. I suggest people look into a DVD called the "The dynamic art of the shotgun" and practice, practice, practice. Get training if you can and become comfortable with your new 12 gauge eviction notice.

The pump shotgun, called a pump because you need to pump the action forward and back to load a new shell and expel a spent one. Many manufacturers make them and most are quite reasonable. The Mossberg 590A1 springs to mind. They hold between 5 and 9 cartridges and the ammo tends to be fairly cheap as well. You can spend between 300 and 1000 dollars on a pump shotgun depending on make and model and extra do dads like a saddle shell holder for easily accessible extra ammo.

Pumps are slower to load than magazine fed semi auto shotguns but are generally cheaper. Pumps also tend to be very very durable. I have yet to have one fail to eject a spent shell and rack another into the chamber.

Most manufacturers make great shotguns but I'd keep it to an American or European brand. They will be a bit more expensive but better made. My favorite pump is made by Bennelli but they also make a semi auto shogun I have used(that's a different story).

Shotguns are almost always used for up close and personal action. They are not very accurate past 50 yards unless you are very good with it or are using a very long barrel hunting variety with special ammunition but for our purposes we will keep your targets close this is a weapon meant to be used an an eviction notice not long range justice.

Which brings us to ammo.

The 3 types of ammo I suggest are 000 buck, 00 buck and number 4. Below you will see 2 shells the one on the left is 00 buck the right is 000. The 000 buck is bigger each piece of lead is almost the size of a 380 bullet and it's sending 8 down range at once. 00 buck is a bit smaller and will do fine if you can't find 000.
Lastly #4 I only mention this if you are worried about firing through a wall or door and maybe hitting a friendly. #4 doesn't have much "pass through" as such it's safer in an enclosed environment like a home where you might not have a choice about where you confront the intruder.

I'll cover a special shell called the slug in another article, it's very hard hitting but the recoil is substantial and it's not a cheap round especially in the buck and ball variety which has both a slug and buckshot in the same shell.

So that's a short piece on the pump shotgun, cheap, durable, easy to use. Cabelas usually has 000 buck shells for about 4 or 5 bucks for 10 rounds, the more you buy the cheaper it gets. I buy in the hundreds and my cost is about 20 to 25 cents a round.

Focus: The semi auto shotgun.
Below are 2 examples of the semi auto shotgun, one is magazine fed the other is tube fed. The tube fed semi auto works much like the pump shotgun but the semi auto feeds itself and ejects the spent shells as well. The shotgun on the top is the Vepr 12, an AK based, magazine fed shotgun and currently used by my company as the go to combat shotgun. The shotgun on the bottom is the tube fed semi auto Bennelli M4 which I also own and have used for quite some time.


Both the magazine and tube fed semi auto shotguns will fire as quickly as you can squeeze the trigger. The magazine fed shotgun however reloads much much faster. I can drop an empty magazine and have a fresh loaded magazine back in the shotgun and have it charged (ready to fire) in about 3 seconds.
The tube fed shotgun wil take between 15 and 30 seconds depending on number of shells and ease of feed. There are speed tube loaders used in 3 gun competitions that load very quickly but aren't really practical for combat/home defense situations.

There are other makes of semi auto shotguns available both magazine and tube fed for purchase but the magazine feed is just so nice to have that I can't see spending the cash and not having it. The Vepr 12 is just so you incredibly easy to use, it's based on the famous AK operating system which is almost un breakable and the recoil is mitigated by the gas system used by the AK to cycle (eject a spent shell, load a new shell and charge the weapon) this action soaks up much of the shells (kick) and makes it easier to fire and keep on target. Vepr 12's can be purchased for 800 dollars, magazines range from 15 bucks to 100 depending on make.

A good semi auto tube loading shotgun will cost between 400 dollars and 1600 depending on the manufacturer. But no magazines need to be purchased you just need to get very good at loading them quickly. There are a plethora of videos on YouTube about the Vepr 12 and the Benelli M4 and just about every other shotgun made. Both types of semi auto shotguns will fire all the usual types of shells, from slug and 000 buck to bird shot.

It's all about what you will feel comfortable with and what you want to spend. Watch as many videos on you tube as you can, read articles and reviews then get something that makes you happy and become proficient with it. Remember shotguns are not long range justice you are looking for a firearm that is the equivalent of a haymaker punch. It's for close in and personal situations.

As always if you have anything to add or questions to ask I love just talking about this stuff so jump right in and lend your voice to the conversation.

Do you think the village this woman lived in would have wanted rifles or paintball guns....

Focus: The handgun.
How do I keep this short and digestible....everyone has a different opinion on which is right and which is wrong and what caliber to get etc etc...it can be very confusing. I'll just explain the differences between the most common types, and give a few incites into how they work, what works and a few tricks.

The handgun on the top is my company's current issue 10mm Glock it's a magazine fed semi automatic pistol. Very durable, very easy to use, not really to expensive.
This version has a 5mW green laser and a 154 lumen flashlight. The semi auto handgun is currently the most popular and easy to find firearm on the market in terms of pistols. They have magazines that hold between 7 and 30+ rounds and tend to be affordable.

The semi auto handgun will fire a round every time the triggers is squeezed then cycle the spent casing out, load a fresh round in and cycle it's firing mechanism so that it's ready to fire again. This happens lightning fast and these guns can be fired quite accurately and quickly but ranges are limited unless you are very practiced and have the right handgun and ammo.

Glock, Smith&Wesson, Springfield, FNH etc all make fine hand guns. It's really all about what you need and how much you want to spend. You can get a perfectly acceptable quality made handgun for 400 dollars. Or you can spend 2000 on a custom job that's very pretty but can be just as fussy as a cheaper gun.

Handguns are the choice for concealed carry as they of course are small enough to hide (please consult your local laws regarding concealed carry and move to a non communist state if you need to) A lot of things in my life dictate that I carry a firearm at all times. And handguns are great for mobility and stealth.

There are a million varieties of handgun and and a dizzying variation of calibers (basically the size of the bullet in diameter)they fire. It all comes down to how much you can handle, what's comfortable, what will you actually carry or keep near your bed at night (please use sightless bedside gun safe it is finger activated and keeps children away from your bedtime handgun, it also doesn't use a light that hurts your night vision or make a sound that alerts anyone to your presence)

What caliber do I need 4th?....well one you will shoot first and foremost. It does you no good to buy a gun your afraid of. That being said I'll make a short list of what has worked for me and what I shy away from. I'll start from my least favorite to most favorite.
1: .380, afordable, small, light, easy to carry, weak weak weak. But a gun is better than no gun. Tend to come in small form factors for easy pocket or purse carry. Cheap to shoot, almost no recoil.

2: 9mm, adaquate but underwhelming. Easy recoil makes it easy to use. Large magazine capacitys are the norm though single stack (all the bullets sit on top of eachother in the magazine and make for a smaller form factor) but carry fewer rounds. Cheap ammunition and a plethora of various designs in both the gun and the ammunition. Very popular.

3: .40 S&W, not my favorite being that it was a round designed by committee for the FBI. Long story short the FBI needed a better round, the tested several kinds and decided on the 10mm (my favorite) but it was found that the 10mm was just to rambunctious for some of the desk jockeys at the FBI to qualify with it so they came up with the .40 which is a bad compromise in my opinion. Easy to shoot, low recoil, affordable, better than a 9mm in terms of ballistics but not that much, in fact some of the newer 9mm rounds have ballistics that are equal to or bette than the .40.

4: .45 an old friend and still a great round. Big, hard hitting, lots of energy gets transferred to the target. Lots of recoil, not easy to handle for some, not cheap to purchase as most .45s tend to be big and a bit better made. Ammunition is still fairly affordable. Number of rounds in a magazine is down compared to a 9mm unless you get a special combat oriented .45 like the FNH/FNX which has a 17 shot capacity, which is huge for a .45 but you need a big hand below is my FNX with a silencer.
Not cheap but very effective. This one sports a silencer, laser/flashlight combo and a red dot sight. This set up will cost 2000 plus dollars but is amazing to use and gives you an edge in close up fighting. Do you need this, probably not. If you can afford it and your serious about this then you can look into it but for most of us this is just a tool for professionals.

5. 10mm, I won't lie it's my favorite. I'll try to be fair about how I weigh the positives and negatives. The 10mm has the velocity of a not mentioned 357 magnum in a semi auto hand gun. Very impressive, with huge energy delivered to the target this round can be used to drop bears so 2 legged bad guys are not an issue.
These guns can be had cheaply like the 10mm Glock in the first pic for about 700 bucks it's the ammo that gets you. It's not cheap and it's hard to find but getting easier. The 10mm also offers large capacity magazines like the 9mm with my company's standard issue carrying 17. Lots of recoil, much like the .45 this is a handgun for a strong hand. But if you can master the 10mm round 1 hit will remove the threat.

Below is a picture of various caliber rounds and their effect on ballistic gelatin which is designed to mimic human flesh. It gives you some idea of what happens upon impact and how each round stacks up for penetration and cavity wounding. As always if you have any questions or want to join in please jump in and join us. I'll cover the good old fashioned wheel gun next and why they are still viable to carry (hint back up carry that doesn't jam)

Focus: The Revolver or wheel gun.

This is another kind of handgun, one of the oldest forms in use that are still viable. Below is a common 357 Magnum wheel gun.


The revolvers design is frankly....old. But that's not necessarily a bad thing because it's also robust, durable, simple and reliable. Also Revolvers fire the larger caliber ammunition you can use in a handgun like the S&W500 which is a monster round.

Revolvers are falling more and more into a specialty category these days of a hunting hand gun or a smaller caliber purse gun. You don't see them to often used as a primary carry weapon. This is because of the lack of rounds it can carry when loaded and the slower speed to reload. But sometimes weight can be a consideration and the larger revolvers that fire rounds like the .44 Magnum, and the aforementioned S&W500 are boat anchors compared to lightweight semi auto handguns.

You can buy a revolver in the smallish rounds like the 38 special or the 380 and they are very compact, easy to carry and recoil is negligible. The price is generally very affordable with the smaller revolvers at about the 200 to 400 range. Ammunition can range from a few dollars a box like the 380 or 38 Special to 50 a box or more for rounds like the S&W 500.

Revolvers can be very accurate, easy to shoot and easy to use without a lot of complex magazine loading issues. As mentioned before they are very reliable and quite hardy. The larger calibers like to .44 Magnum, the .50AE, the S&W 500 and the .454 Casull can all be used to hunt at or farther than 100 yards.

Reliability.....the number one reason I still carry one along with my 10mm Glock. I dual carry at all times, my main is a 10mm Glock but I also carry a 357 Magnum revolver. Why 4th would you do that? Quite simply revolvers don't jam, yes you just keep squeezing that trigger if you hit a round that a misfire. This gives me a back up for bad situations, as it's always faster to draw another weapon than it is to fix a misfire in a semi auto handgun. If I'm in a situation where my primary sidearm go's down with a jam or orther issue I drop it and grab my revolver, I now have 6 guaranteed shots that's will work.

As always if you have any questions, or input feel free to jump right in. Stay safe out there guys.

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Armoured said:

So, what do you do after the big collapse when you can't buy ammunition any more?

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This is what I do for a living, this is what I've done for most of my life. I generally don't buy my ammunition unless it's cheaper than I can make it. When I do buy it a pallet is the smallest amount.

If your question is how does one stock up so that they don't get caught low in a bad situation there are many things that go into that problem. I'd first reccomend the purchase of at least one firearm that uses very cheap ammunition like an AKM (most know it as the AK47) you can buy 1000 rounds for a little over 290 dollars. The Russian 7.62x54R round can be had for 230 dollars for a crate of almost 1700 rounds.

But a critical factor in this issue is where you live. I'm sure I'll get to the strategy of living in a safe place sooner or later but in North Idaho where I live I won't be needing thousands of rounds to keep the peace nor will any of my friends be running short.

In short I've never run out of ammo in the field no matter how bad the situation got, and I won't be running out when I have home field advantage.