So, my first gun. All this time I've wanted a .380 for its size and ease of concealment, but some last minute advice steered me towards something a little bigger. Settled on a Smith&Wesson M&P Shield 9mm. Not too big, not too small, feels just right. That said, I don't know what the fuck to do with this thing. Home defense mainly, *maybe* some CCW tho I make it a point to not find myself in risky situations, gonna be a range gun more than anything else. I've got a home safe picked out already, Vaultek with the keypad (no Bluetooth or fingerprint, the less tech the better I think). Other than that, what would you pros recommend? Holster, mods, best ammo for the dollar?
For CCW get a Alien Gear Cloak Tuck For ammo get Hornady Critical Defense For plinking ammo buy the cheapest brass case ammo you can, stay away from bi metal or steel case rounds.
You cannot go wrong with Winchester white box for range ammo. Everyone carries it though I have found Walmart is as cheap as anyone. If you can get 9mm ammo for less than $.25 a round then you are doing well. Also, do not let anyone tell you different, range ammo will work just fine as a defensive round.
I shoot that stuff in my Glock 17 all the time. But, given that it's 31 years old and has something like 30,000 rounds through it, I'm trying to wear it out enough that I have to get a new barrel. At least for now, I can keep a mag within the 9 ring at 15 meters.
This. No one likes getting shot. It's not like a hollow point will stop them but a FMJ won't. Or they're gonna have a thought process like "well, I was gonna kill him, but since he shot me with a defensive round instead of a range round I guess I won't. He means business."
Yep... the key is to develop muscle memory and raw instincts by putting thousands of rounds onto targets... and it makes no sense to change shit up once you leave the range, because it might not feed the same, or not do something else exactly the same... and it's not like you're going up against body armor and need special AP rounds or something. Hell, more often than not it's the sound that gets them to leave. I can't imagine anything is more terrifying for a thief who just broke into your house than the racking of a slug into a pump-action shotgun.
When you go to the range, shoot the ammo you're gonna carry (or keep in your gun when it's at your safe at home). Or rather, keep in your gun what you shoot at the range. You know exactly how it feels and shoots and when that gun goes off you don't want there to be any surprises, anything that feels anything other than second nature. Also, while practice aiming and stuff is important, practice picking it up and shooting one hand, off hand, from a holster. Do something to get your heart rate up then shoot. In the event you do have to use it for protection, you are not gonna get ideal circumstances, nevermind time to aim. There's a reason cops and people in self defense situations empty their clip during an encounter-- you cannot afford to wait and see if your round hit it's target after each shot, especially if that target is actively trying to kill you.
Depending on where you are comfortable carrying on your body, there are a lot of options out there. If you are an appendix-carry person, I recommend T.Rex Arms https://trex-arms.com/product-category/holsters/ . For self or home defense ammo I carry 230 grain hydra-shok JHPs made by Federal. A good place to go for ammo, at least when I was buying, was https://www.wholesalehunter.com/Home - it's been a few years since I stocked up, so there may be better competition out there now. One recommendation in terms of mods would be to get a weapon light mounted on the bottom of your Shield. They come in handy as most home defense would be a night-time scenario. They are bright and you can set it to strobe which will really fuck someone up who means you harm in the dark. Both Surefire and Streamlight make sturdy weapon lights.
Finished up making some grips for the Buckmark. These are made from claro walnut, the next set for carrying around in the woods will be English walnut. I am actually going to make a pile of grips for these things now. This is what they looked like in full gloss before I buffed the finish down to a semi-gloss. I like buffing down gloss finishes over just starting with semi-gloss finish for maximum clarity.
Excellent work, as always, Kato. I just picked up a judge public defender. The first thing I need to do is find a bigger grip for it. I'm excited about this pistol though.
Smarter Every Day just did a very cool segment on suppressors... super slow mo footage of blowing them up with a .308, etc.
Tractor Supply has a fire rated 40 gun on sale for Black Friday, $150 off MSRP. $549. I just bought one, good size for the money. https://www.tractorsupply.com/tsc/product/cannon-ts593445-minute-fire-rated-safe?cm_vc=-10005
Absolutely. I took part in an informal class last year year and the instructor had us doing stuff like shooting one handed with the non-dominant hand as well as shooting and reloading on the move. Sometimes timed, sometimes not. Very rarely did we just stand still with perfect stance and shoot. The pressure of moving and knowing he was timing us added a degree of more realistic difficulty. It was a great confidence builder, especially seeing how many shots I could place while moving, reloading, etc.
Our sons don't know it, but they'e getting shotguns for Christmas. Our 13 year old is small for his age so I got him a Mossburg Maverick 20 ga. youth model. As he grows we can get a bigger stock for it. The 15 year old is getting a Remington 870 20 ga. I'm not so sure how much he'll want to hunt but I figure if he doesn't I can always use it. The 13 year old is a natural marksman. Almost scary how good he is. We'll see how he does with grouse and rabbits this Winter.
The shit my father-in-law buys... I've posted about him before on this thread, here's his latest bonehead move involving guns. For nearly a year he made payments on an antique shotgun to give to my son. That's not surprising, he would finance a cheeseburger if he could. I finally got my hands on it and try to figure out what it is. There is no manufacturer's markings on it. Red flag, that. So, I start researching the proof marks. It turns out to be a Belgian "hardware" gun with Damascus barrels, it's downright dangerous to shoot with modern shells and worth a small fraction of what he probably paid for it. My wife just wants to pull the firing pins and store it, it does look pretty. I don't want to miss this teachable moment so that maybe he stops buying shitty firearms. I swear, if the man had $2,000 to spend on a gun, he'd buy ten $200 guns instead of getting something fit to own. Or he'd spend that $2,000 on something worth $200 because he's ignorant. He drives me crazy. I've bought several guns from him, the few times he has had something decent to sell, pay below market value and they go straight to the gunsmith to replace any worn or abused parts. Here's a photo of a failed Damascus barrel.
Those barrels are terrible for failure, there is a study done somewhere that tested high end laminated barrels and they still had a high rate of failure. No way I’d shoot one, modern ammo or not.
I probably read that article in the last couple of days. By some guy named Bell, I believe? This is not one of the high end guns. I won't shoot it either. I tried to post a photo of a failed barrel but don't think it showed up. Also, I'd feel responsible if I sold it and someone got hurt, so I'll disable it and store it. I'm still holding on to two old revolvers that are worn out, out of time and not safe to shoot. I'd heard of Damascus barrels and the dangers, but never really had the need to research them further. Shitty old guns that aren't worth the dust they collect are not my thing. I'm kinda pissed at him. What if I hadn't figured out what it was before he turned it over to my kid? I'm going to have to lay down some rules for the man to follow.