Talk to me about GUNS

[Leta]

This is timely for me. We have no guns here- DH technically owns some, but they are at his parents' house 500 miles away.

We live in town, so we have no need for one here and now, but we are looking very seriously at moving out to the country in the spring, and I think we will probably end up needing one there.

We have bears here, lots of them, and they wander across human habitation pretty frequently. I've never heard of anyone here being killed or even harmed by a bear, but they get after livestock. I don't think I want to be packing adequate firepower to blow a bear away, though, so I'm thinking instead of a giant gun we'll just get a couple of giant guardian dogs, Pyrs or Maremmas. That's what all the dairy farmers have (in addition to Blue Heelers or Border Collies for herding). Local wisdom has it that one Pyr will chase off a bear, and two can take down a bear. To be fair, our bears are small, around 800# for the males.

But even if we solve the bear/wolf/coyote problem with guardian dogs, our venison source is drying up, so I think DH might need a hunting gun. I am really against the idea of a handgun because we have small children and I don't want the responsibility, but I do like the idea of being able to take care of racoons in the chicken coop, or a cottonmouth. Lots to think about.

Leta, 800 pounds is a very rare and super large bear. Usually a grizzly. That is about the size of a smaller full size cow!
In Alaska, a large black bear is at the very most, 500 pounds, but more typically, 300.

BB, you are absolutely right. I'm not sure where my brain was- the bear my uncle-in-law got was 180#, which is what I intended to write, and it came out 800# for some unknown reason.

Back to your regularly scheduled thread.

 

[Toulle]

Let me assume you have a semi-rural place in the lower 48, and not a whole lot of experience with guns. I also guess you aren't going to take up deer hunting this year. You also are very unlikely to want to sink a whole boatload of money into guns. If these guesses are way off, sorry no offense intended.[/b] No, you're right on here with the exception of hunting. DH is going out this year with some guys this year to learn how. I told him if he didn't learn to hunt, I would and he could stay home with the kids while I was gone. It seems it motivated him.

I thank you very much for the suggestions on guns. I have shot some of what you have suggested, but that was pre-military days for me, so that was.....oh, lemme see.....back when wooly mammoths we common and I need to approach them like I have never had any experience with them.

Oh yeah, sorry. I did see that about you being in the military and that you are in PA earlier in this thread, only forgot.

 

[Toulle]

I love my 12gauge. Don't have any trouble with the kick. Trap shooting all afternoon with my Mossberg 500 with it doesn't bother me. My 30.06 Remington 700 deer hunting rifle on the other hand is getting replaced with a .308 soon. I just don't shoot it enough to get good enough for deer hunting, because I end up flinching and that's a NOT GOOD VERY BAD THING when shooting.

As for the 22 rifle - I agree. I even had a friend who is a serious pacifist and new age flake who we dragged along kicking and screaming to the gun range (actually she wanted to come to get over her fear of guns) who decided after an afternoon of shooting the 22 rifle we loaned her, that "it's kinda meditative".

Whatever you get, get something that you can take out to the range and have fun with. The more you use it, the more comfortable you'll feel if you ever need it. Don't just get something and leave it sitting locked up in a safe or whatever and gathering dust.

Yes, but aren't you shooting rather light loads at trap, like #8? I was shooting slugs and 00 out of my Remington 870 exp, and it really was ringing my bell. I used to have a Remington 870 wingmaster, and a Win 1200, as well as a Mossberg at various times. I don't recall them beating me up like this one does. Anyway, I put an aftermarket recoil pad on it and that calmed it down a good bit.

It is still a bit rough, though, and the whole point is that the amount of recoil in Q would be really off-putting to an inexperienced shooter.

Case in point is DD. She shot the shotgun twice. First time from the shoulder, 2d time from the hip. She lost her grip on it and it went flying. Really. After that she refuses to shoot it again. Must take after her mother....

She is also a case in point about what we are talking about 22s. She shot a few rounds out of one of mine, then turned and said with a grin "this is just a big bb gun!"
I gave her what was left in the 100rd box, around 90rd, and sat back to watch. She went through the whole box inside an hour. Never mind hitting anything, she was just spraying the general area where the targets were. But, she had a good time and a bit of training.

 

[Toulle]

THE VERY BEST GUN....... is the one you have with you when the need arises.


I am going to spout off about the one thing that irritates the snot outta me.........trigger locks! That is about THE most worthless, time consuming, waste of money that anyone ever legislated, patented and produced, period, end of subject. Every firearm that I purchase that HAS a trigger lock, first thing I do is unlock it, second thing is THROW AWAY THE KEY!

First off, if you have children, TEACH THEM HOW TO HANDLE A FIREARM SAFELY,TEACH THEM HOW TO HANDLE A FIREARM SAFELY,TEACH THEM HOW TO HANDLE A FIREARM SAFELY!! THEN get a gun safe AND USE IT. Did I mention TEACH THEM HOW TO HANDLE A FIREARM SAFELY?? If you have idiot relatives that you don't trust around a loaded firearm, then keep your gun on your person and under your control or in the gun safe. No need for a trigger lock and it thins out the idiot relatives hanging around looking for a handout.
I could NEVER understand WHY, on Gods green earth, you would want to lock up JUST the gun trigger AT NIGHT, yet leave the firearm laying next to the bed?? Around here, night time is when most of the SH'sTF, and, if someone is breaking into my house, I damn sure don't want to waste time trying to find the key to a lock so I can shoot the SOB. Safeties were invented to help stop accidental discharges. Click the safety off and the firearm is HOT. Keep your finger OFF the trigger until your ready to shoot and keep the gun pointed in a safe direction at all times. NEVER point a gun, loaded or unloaded at ANYTHING unless you intend to kill it. Simple BASIC safety rules. Every gun I own that is NOT in the gun safe, is loaded, has a round IN THE PIPE and the safety engaged, with the exception of my Glocks.
To my way of thinking, an unloaded or a locked firearm without a key, is basically just a club and pretty much useless.
Third........if you are so unsure of your ability to control a trigger, or the rest of the firearm for that matter, that you think you NEED a trigger lock, then you have no business handling a firearm in the first place.

OK...rant off.

Yeah I don't see the point in those either.
My only guess is, after a few successful lawsuits against gun manufacturers (they were successful, weren't they?) these things were added as some sort of CYA liability issue. "We provided a trigger lock! It's SKR8PN's fault if he took it off and shot something...." Never mind that gun safety should be the responsibility of the owner in the first place.
And we do agree for sure on the concepts of teaching firearm safety to kids.

 

[The Old Ram-Australia]

G'day someone made mention of Jack Russell's,if you go to the Old Rams journal you will see some photo's and a story about Jenny's JR "Tom the rabbit hunter".....My God ,you people are "armed" to the teeth.........................T.O.R.............................................

 

[gettinaclue]

G'day someone made mention of Jack Russell's,if you go to the Old Rams journal you will see some photo's and a story about Jenny's JR "Tom the rabbit hunter".....My God ,you people are "armed" to the teeth.........................T.O.R.............................................

LOL I guess it must seem that way.