WOT: 357 purchase, anyone have an opinion? Options

[TROJANMAN]

For a shotgun... Remmington 11-87 SPS ....light recoil, 26" barel

Pics and specs HERE

Mine has a Aim Point lazer sight on it....point the red dot, pull trigger

you have to aim a shotgun? (IMG:style_emoticons/default/lol2.gif)

[eeyore]

Unfortunately, a shotgun needs to be aimed. I ran though 5 boxes of shotshells this past weekend. It was a depressing reminder that a much more mental effort needs to applied to get proper hits than one would expect. At 20 feet, my cylinder bore / no choke 20" banger punches 2 inch wide holes in plywood. That doesn't come close to filling a hallway. I also took shots at a football sized chunk of firewood at 15 to 20 feet and missing quite a bit when I tried to speed up my shots (to simulate a stressful situation)

[TROJANMAN]

At 20 feet, my cylinder bore / no choke 20" banger punches 2 inch wide holes in plywood. That doesn't come close to filling a hallway.

ya, but how many people have 20' hallways?

[vortrex]

Have to admit...I don't like doing stuff half-assed. So maybe I will look at a short-barrel shotgun for home protection / LA riot duty, plus also think about two handguns for the wife and I to learn on.

So more follow-up questions...a. what is a good, reliable shotgun of this type and b. what is a good "chick gun" for the wife? I am leaning towards a 9/10mm or .40/.45 kind of thing for myself but she is a smaller person by quite a bit. Not timid or physically weak but still a .45ACP or certainly one of the magnums is probably way out of the question.

for her I would look at a glock 19 (9mm) in the sub compact or compact frame. my gf shot that fine for her first gun experience and she is 5'1" and 100lbs.

for shotguns, something cheap and reliable is a mossberg 500. get the shorter barrel model, all black, with a pistol grip. if you really want to go all out, get a benelli semi auto shotgun. the ultimate destruction machine. my friend just bought one and he can unload all the rounds before the first shell even hits the ground. the wife is not going to want to shoot a 12 gauge.

[banderson]

Do you really think your house is safer with a gun in it? Don't get me wrong, Guns are fun, and you should get one for fun. Home security is a good excuse.

I am sure that more people are killed in houses with guns than in houses without guns. (not including invaders)

[airsix]

At 20 feet, my cylinder bore / no choke 20" banger punches 2 inch wide holes in plywood.  That doesn't come close to filling a hallway.

ya, but how many people have 20' hallways?

His point is that the pattern spread gets bigger with increased distance. At point-blank the pattern is only .729 inch. At 20 feet it's spread out to 2 inches. Some people assume that you just have to point in the general direction to hit the target, which isn't the case.

-Ben M.

ps - barrel length, shot size, and choke (muzzle shape) affect pattern size/shape.

[MarkG]

At 20 feet, my cylinder bore / no choke 20" banger punches 2 inch wide holes in plywood.  That doesn't come close to filling a hallway.

ya, but how many people have 20' hallways?

His point is that the pattern spread gets bigger with increased distance. At point-blank the pattern is only .729 inch. At 20 feet it's spread out to 2 inches. Some people assume that you just have to point in the general direction to hit the target, which isn't the case.

-Ben M.

ps - barrel length, shot size, and choke (muzzle shape) affect pattern size/shape.

As to topic, I prefer a 6" Colt Python, which I carried when I was young and stupid and thought being a cop was fun.....

Shotgun spread can be a very dangerous thing ... San Jose Police lost an officer some years back when another officer about 40' away fired a 12 gauge at an armned suspect (who was trying to shoot the victim officer); suspect went down but so did the officer he was trying to shoot, who was about 10 feet to the side of the suspect. Cuaght a pellet in the femur artery just below his vest.

[eeyore]

I am sure that more people are killed in houses with guns than in houses without guns. (not including invaders)

Similarly, car owners are more likely to be killed in autmobile accidents than people who don't own cars. (Not counting roadkill). (IMG:style_emoticons/default/huh.gif)

[TROJANMAN]

for those of you who followed this thread, and are interested in purchasing a weapon............this webpage is the bomb. (no pun intended.) the retail stores that are listed on the web site cannot not even match their own prices listed on the web. (or at least not the local stores in denver). search for the gun you want by clicking on GUN LOCATOR. just FYI

[jimtab]

what about a .41 mag? Anything less than a .50 is probably just going to piss the bear off.

speaking as a person who grew up in Alaska with BIG bears....don't shoot AT the bear shoot 5 in the air to scare the bear then blow your brains out with the 6th....shooting at them just pisses them off and might change their mind about letting you live...Just my .02

[lagunero]

I bet if I started up a chainsaw in a dark hallway it would make just about anybody pee their pants....

(IMG:style_emoticons/default/laugh.gif) (IMG:style_emoticons/default/laugh.gif) (IMG:style_emoticons/default/laugh.gif) That is about the funniest thing I've heard on this board!! adding my dos pesos, I'd go the shotgun route with the MikeZ recommended "soft" ammo (also great for shoot outs on airplanes). Whatever you decide, study your weapon and practice, practice, practice, loading and unloading. Do a walk thru of your own home and go over "what ifs". Home Security systems are great deterrents and send help in case of entry. One of the downers of killing a human is the remorse you may have to deal with. Last but not least a scarecrow in the hallway for good measure (IMG:style_emoticons/default/laugh.gif)