Firearms... Carry? Sport? Collect? Protection?

Anyone own firearms? I have several pieces. My go to's have been .380, 20ga, 30-30, and .22LR. I do have a couple .25's and .410's, as well as a .222, but they are just incidental purchases or acquisitions. I shoot skeet and trap as well as target shooting. I have been mulling over a new purchase, and this will be the subject of my first post.

My carry weapon is a .380 ACP. I also have another .380 I use for home protection. After September 11, 2001, I went out to get some guns. I had grown up with guns and hunted and sported, but I moved to a more suburban setting and hadn't bought any. The Bersa Thunder .380 was suggested by the shop salesman and worked well and worked for me. It has been a great pistol and very reliable. I kept to .380 to keep the supply of ammo I had to purchase to a minimum. I will also say, when the ammo scare removed most of the ammo from the shelves, .380 was still on the shelf.

I am now looking for a 40 cal or a .357 mag. The round is a bit more powerful and the 40 cal is a cheaper round to buy than .380, and 40 cal was still on the shelf when other rounds were cleaned out. I think in the near future I am going to do a comparison of the .357 and .40.

Anyone have experience with either.

Anyone like to shoot?

I grew up hunting deer in NY with my dad’s Ithaca 20g. Now I own a dozen or more assorted shotguns and long rifles. Haven’t shot in a long while but had an interesting turn of events happened this past spring.
Tried my hand at bidding on an online storage unit auction. I followed and watched dozens of auctions, even bid on a few but always came up short. I finally snagged a half full 5x10 only 20 mins from me for $40. The contents barely filled my truck bed. Upon empting and sorting various totes and boxes, out popped a pistol hard case from inside a ladies purse. Inside, a nice Sig Sauer Kerz, loaded, with 100 rounds. After a short talk with my local Sheriff, and a long discussion with my wife,… let’s just say we’ve just picked up another expensive hobby.

Just an opinion:

I think i would lean more toward the .40 in a SHTF scenario.Was reading somewhere that one possible reason for the shortage of .22 ammo was that the arms manufacturers had shifted production over to the .40 cal in order to fulfill large government contracts.

That's a $hit ton of ammo sitting in government warehouses somewhere. There's bound to be some leakage out the back door if it all goes sideways someday. It might come available as black market or government surplus.

Demand for the .357 magnum isn't like that. It's a round that could get scarce if things get lean. You do have the option of chambering a .38 cal round in there but that's not really a popular round either anymore. Would be a helluva lot less kick if you were target shooting for fun though.

I guess it's all pro's and con's.

40 cal all day long. I got my wife and daughter both 40 cal and wouldnt go any different for self defense guns. Now if you just want something to target shoot with go with a 9mm. Ammo much cheaper. 380 I would never trust the jam fest of that caliber. I have yet to fire a 380 that didnt jam. Hope my 2 cents helps.

I finally picked up the 40 cal I was looking for. I was driving home and saw a sign spinner advertising a pawn shop that had guns guns guns. I stopped to see what they had and the guy wanted to sell me a Glock so bad. I said I had heard negative things about Glocks and asked if they had any Bersa's. He had a 40 cal Bersa Thunder. Nice looking piece, double stack mag 12 plus 1. They had $350 on it and I offered $275 and they put it away without even a counter offer. I went back two more times and offered $300 and they countered with $325. Well, I went back the other day and put 3 $100 bills with my CCP and the girl said she couldn't do the $300 but she would do the $325, but it was going up if I didn't take it then because the gun supply had dried up due to production issues regarding WooHooFloo. I gave her the other $25 and now have a nice piece. Looking forward to cycling a few rounds through it.

Yes.

I do not own a .40 pistol, but it is a good compromise between the 9 mm and a .45. You could not go wrong between the .40 and the 357 in my opinion. Each is special in their own way. You make a good point about availability of commercial ammo in lean times, but on the other side of coin is availability within the general population of ammo on the streets if we go to gun registration and ammo tracking. I cc 9mm for size and comfort. It lacks the punch of your .40, but is easier to control at my age.

I love to shoot and consider it part of my lifestyle. Because of my location and plenty of targets from scrapping I have the luxury of a shooting range literally from my porch.

Not sure how much info I would give out on internet about what guns and ammo I have considering the way things are going at present

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Originally Posted by mikeinreco

Not sure how much info I would give out on internet about what guns and ammo I have considering the way things are going at present

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The only information that I will share is the name of the lake I was on when I had that tragic boating accident.

It was Lake Texoma.

Or was it Tawakoni?

No, It was Lake Ray Hubbard... I think....

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Originally Posted by mikeinreco

Not sure how much info I would give out on internet about what guns and ammo I have considering the way things are going at present

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Yeah, I got ya. You are right, but this is a relatively private forum and the items are pretty generic items. Not worth a ton. It isn't like I am bragging about the Hope diamond.

Shot the .40 today. It is a great gun. Easy recoil. 12 yards I put all the shots in a circle as big as my palm. I was a little worried about buying from a pawn shop, but this is a sweet piece. Pretty much completes what I feel I need. I do have one more want, a 28ga O/U to shoot trap and skeet with

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Originally Posted by t00nces2

this is a relatively private forum

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NSA and/or other agencies are recording every forum on the internet, even (or especially) smaller and/or more niche ones. Everything on the internet is recorded and can be tied back to you. Never put anything on the internet you wouldn't say out-loud in the town square.


Not saying that anything here is an issue or a big deal... especially because there are tons of guns and ammo forums ... just sayin', we're all monitored and all have files on us, just a fact of life now a days

Don't alot of the posts here get "forwarded" to Facebook and Twitter

Also nothing posted here raised any concern just a warning in general

I heard some **tinfoil hat** types will only purchase firearms and ammunition with cash transactions.

Glad that I'm not that paranoid and I trust my government to always act in my best interest!

I doubt a post in the scrap metal forum will be my undoing re government suspecting firearm ownership when I had to get a background check prior to the sale.

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Originally Posted by auminer

I heard some **tinfoil hat** types will only purchase firearms and ammunition with cash transactions.

Glad that I'm not that paranoid and I trust my government to always act in my best interest!

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That is some of the best use of sarcasm I have seen around these parts

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Originally Posted by t00nces2

I doubt a post in the scrap metal forum will be my undoing re government suspecting firearm ownership when I had to get a background check prior to the sale.

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The way things are going I wouldn't doubt the government may begin to confiscate precious metals and firearms.......It has been done before and I wouldn't put it past them

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Originally Posted by mikeinreco

The way things are going I wouldn't doubt the government may begin to confiscate precious metals and firearms.......It has been done before and I wouldn't put it past them

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You are right, but that is a red line that a good portion of the US wouldn't allow. I think there are a significant portion of the people that would say that is too far.... and that isn't something that would be a polite discussion. The way I look at it, the government taking guns and gold is something that will end in death anyway.

I would say death for the citizen....we watched them raid a neighbors place for guns/ammunition they come hard and fast

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Originally Posted by mikeinreco

The way things are going I wouldn't doubt the government may begin to confiscate precious metals and firearms.......It has been done before and I wouldn't put it past them

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Ours did. NewZealand. After a shooting here.

There's a good Hunting culture here, Deer, pigs, ducks & goat. Possums & such as pests but even wallables ( small kangaroos, a introduced species )
Not that many people here would collect firearms & there's absolutely no chance of owning a firearm for defence purposes.

They called it a 'Buy back' lol at that, they never owned them in the first place. But whoever turned their guns over, got a market price for them, then they were destroyed. A lot of those owner's simply went back out & bought new complying firearms with those tax payer $$$.
At the same time, a lot of them were very collectable, or had precious memory's in them, or were simply not the sort of gun used for hunting.

Certain , yes I have to say it, but, military style guns were banned, anything semi automatic I think. Any gun with a magazine of over 3 or 4 shots I think.
So yeah, Grandad's Winchester pump Action .22 rimfire rifle was banned...
Tracer ammunition too, sadly because it was a good source of cheap ammo from Finland.
ex military expired tracers were imported, the projectile taken out & replaced with a copper jacket hunting projectile.

Stupidly this 'buy back' only took guns off the Law abiding citizens. The illegal owner's of guns could not get the $ for them unless they got a licensed owner to give them up for them. And we have no idea how many formally legal firearms got hidden away too.

I think it was all a bit of a knee jerk reaction since the real reason the gunman got his guns was because of a botched up application process that should have raised many red flags at different stages.
I certainly don't feel any safer now.
At the same time, I don't own any firearms & don't have a need for them. The NZ laws were adequate beforehand, it's just that the proper procedure for application was not followed up & this was the result.

Heard a story about a newspaper that published the names and addresses of all conceal carry permit holders in a county. One person identified posted a sign in his yard admitting he had a permit and stated that his neighbors did not. Which homes do you think were broken into?

I agree with mikeinreco that one should be careful with the information they share on the internet.

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Originally Posted by mikeinreco

I would say death for the citizen....we watched them raid a neighbors place for guns/ammunition they come hard and fast

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It would be death either way. Just because you give up your gun does not mean they won't kill you. Ask a German Jew, if you can find one.

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Originally Posted by Patriot76

Heard a story about a newspaper that published the names and addresses of all conceal carry permit holders in a county. One person identified posted a sign in his yard admitting he had a permit and stated that his neighbors did not. Which homes do you think were broken into?

I agree with mikeinreco that one should be careful with the information they share on the internet.

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Yes. I am careful. I have not given any deep dark secret. There will always be something to worry about. The very fact you post means there is a computer and electronics to steal from inside your home.

Don't take anything I post the wrong way only helpful reminders.........I don't know you personally and I'm sure you are an upstanding citizen but many a criminal have been apprehended by posting on facebook/internet/forums etc......I'm not saying you are a criminal or even close to one just strange times and hopefully this forum can stay off the radar as usual

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Originally Posted by mikeinreco

Don't take anything I post the wrong way only helpful reminders.........I don't know you personally and I'm sure you are an upstanding citizen but many a criminal have been apprehended by posting on facebook/internet/forums etc......I'm not saying you are a criminal or even close to one just strange times and hopefully this forum can stay off the radar as usual

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I figure here, I am mostly amongst friends. I am also going to say, you would be better off and safer to just boost a car. If you steal my wallet, you will only find 3 $100 bills.... and they all need to be paid by the end of the month.

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Originally Posted by mikeinreco

Not sure how much info I would give out on internet about what guns and ammo I have considering the way things are going at present

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I just want to clarify my statement above. I think one should be careful with the information a person posts, but I am not afraid to talk about guns and ammo especially with the way things are going at present. All the talk about defunding police, the idea that a limited number of people believe they have a right to remove historical statues, and the idea that it is safe to participate in protests but we cannot go to a football game makes me question our sanity. We have not had one statue vandalized in South Dakota or Wyoming. In addition to Mt Rushmore and Crazy Horse Monuments we have a park with a statue of every president in Rapid City. We do have some radical groups here, but they are smart enough to know that the guns per capita is very high in these two states.

An added note, there are three things I dread involving my mom. I do not look forward to taking her car away, putting her in a nursing home, and the last one I will never try to do and that is take her guns away. I might take her ammo though.

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Originally Posted by Patriot76

I just want to clarify my statement above. I think one should be careful with the information a person posts, but I am not afraid to talk about guns and ammo especially with the way things are going at present. All the talk about defunding police, the idea that a limited number of people believe they have a right to remove historical statues, and the idea that it is safe to participate in protests but we cannot go to a football game makes me question our sanity. We have not had one statue vandalized in South Dakota or Wyoming. In addition to Mt Rushmore and Crazy Horse Monuments we have a park with a statue of every president in Rapid City. We do have some radical groups here, but they are smart enough to know that the guns per capita is very high in these two states.

An added note, there are three things I dread involving my mom. I do not look forward to taking her car away, putting her in a nursing home, and the last one I will never try to do and that is take her guns away. I might take her ammo though.

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Mama would just pistol whip them!