Guns & Ammo for Dummies

What do you want to protect yourself from?

Get a Phased-Plasma Rifle in the 40-Watt Range

Get a Phased-Plasma Rifle in the 40-Watt Range

12ga. A 12ga kicks harder, but the ammo is easy to find. Although I'm not sure I'd recommend a pump. Especially for a woman. A semi auto would be better, less complicated, but more expensive. You'll want one with a short barrel. Shortest legal length is 18in barrel, and the shotgun must be 26 inches in overall length. Learn how to aim, not just point, the gun.

If you are looking for a handgun, I'd recommend the venerable .38 Smith and Wesson revolver, or a .380 automatic. Bersa makes a nice economical one.

A shotgun loaded with slugs can be used effectively out to 100 yds or so with practice.

If you want more reach than that, I'd suggest a bolt action rifle in .308 caliber. The variety available means you could pay anywhere from ~$150 for a surplus rifle to literally 10's of 1000's for a custom piece.

Get a Phased-Plasma Rifle in the 40-Watt Range


I know what a shotgun is and the reasons people say to get one. I don't what the thing you're talking about is, pr how much it costs.


Anyone reading this thread, Omega recommended a bokk, in another thread, that sounds worth reading:

Unintended Consequences, by John Ross. Looks like something everyone concerned with rights should read.

First (or only) gun should be a .22 rifle. Learn to shoot first! Shotgun patterns do not spread sufficiently to preclude basic aiming skills at personal defense range.

I stringly suggest you start with a Ruger 10/22 rifle. Ammo is cheap and more available than ANY other ammo & costs much less as well. Arm chair Rambo recommendations are useless for beginners.

12ga. A 12ga kicks harder, but the ammo is easy to find. Although I'm not sure I'd recommend a pump. Especially for a woman. A semi auto would be better, less complicated, but more expensive. You'll want one with a short barrel. Shortest legal length is 18in barrel, and the shotgun must be 26 inches in overall length. Learn how to aim, not just point, the gun.

If you are looking for a handgun, I'd recommend the venerable .38 Smith and Wesson revolver, or a .380 automatic. Bersa makes a nice economical one.


So, 12ga is the more common ammo and that's why you recommend it? The pump, I assume, is required prior to each shot, so takes longer to deliver several shots? How many shots can a semi automatic deliver before doing whatever it is you have to do again (pump something?)?

A shot gun shoots shells with pellets that scatter, right? Where as a rifle shoots a bullet, correct?

Whatever I get, I don't want any gun registration bullshit. Are the rules at gun shows different than in a store, and what about buying used, as you suggested? What are the rules?

I'm sure I could go in the city and pick anything on the street, but GOD knows if it may have been used in a crime. I see that as a drawback, in that respect.

First (or only) gun should be a .22 rifle. Learn to shoot first! Shotgun patterns do not spread sufficiently to preclude basic aiming skills at personal defense range.

I stringly suggest you start with a Ruger 10/22 rifle. Ammo is cheap and more available than ANY other ammo & costs much less as well. Arm chair Rambo recommendations are useless for beginners.

12ga. A 12ga kicks harder, but the ammo is easy to find. Although I'm not sure I'd recommend a pump. Especially for a woman. A semi auto would be better, less complicated, but more expensive. You'll want one with a short barrel. Shortest legal length is 18in barrel, and the shotgun must be 26 inches in overall length. Learn how to aim, not just point, the gun.

If you are looking for a handgun, I'd recommend the venerable .38 Smith and Wesson revolver, or a .380 automatic. Bersa makes a nice economical one.


So, 12ga is the more common ammo and that's why you recommend it? The pump, I assume, is required prior to each shot, so takes longer to deliver several shots? How many shots can a semi automatic deliver before doing whatever it is you have to do again (pump something?)?

12ga. A 12ga kicks harder, but the ammo is easy to find. Although I'm not sure I'd recommend a pump. Especially for a woman. A semi auto would be better, less complicated, but more expensive. You'll want one with a short barrel. Shortest legal length is 18in barrel, and the shotgun must be 26 inches in overall length. Learn how to aim, not just point, the gun.

If you are looking for a handgun, I'd recommend the venerable .38 Smith and Wesson revolver, or a .380 automatic. Bersa makes a nice economical one.


So, 12ga is the more common ammo and that's why you recommend it? The pump, I assume, is required prior to each shot, so takes longer to deliver several shots? How many shots can a semi automatic deliver before doing whatever it is you have to do again (pump something?)?


12ga is a very common caliber. I'll go out on a limb and say the most common shotgun caliber. You can get shells that contain lead pellets of various sizes. All the way from shot pellets intended for birds to one solid lump of lead intended as a large animal killer. For self defense purposes, 00 buck is one of the most common. Smaller buckshot, or sometimes large bird shot, is occasionally recommended for people who live in apartment buildings or have other neighbors living nearby. Shotgun pellets that are large might shoot THRU a wall and kill someone you didn't intend to shoot.

A pump shotgun requires a manual hand operated action on the weapons foregrip. You pull back on the foregrip, and the shell is ejected. It requires you coordinate yourself to make a second shot. For a new person unfamiliar with guns, you might want to go the more simple route of having a semi automatic shotgun. You load the shells, pull back on the charging handle to load the shell, then pull the trigger to fire. You don't have to worry about pumping the foregrip to eject the shell because a semi-automatic does that for you...because it is..well...automatic.

There ought to be some videos on Youtube that could illustrate the difference between semi automatic shotguns and pump.

A shot gun shoots shells with pellets that scatter, right? Where as a rifle shoots a bullet, correct?

Basically, yes. Though a shotgun can also fire 'slugs' which are just really big bullets.


Whatever I get, I don't want any gun registration bullshit. Are the rules at gun shows different than in a store, and what about buying used, as you suggested? What are the rules?

I'm sure I could go in the city and pick anything on the street, but GOD knows if it may have been used in a crime. I see that as a drawback, in that respect.

There is no registration per se, but buying from a licensed dealer means you will have to pass a criminal background check. This means filling out a questionaire, and then the dealer calls in your info to the NICS system which confirms or denies you depending on whether you have any felony convictions.

The only way around that is to make a "Face to Face" purchase from a private individual. Most states require those private transactions to be reported, but I don't think the majority of them are.

A shotgun loaded with slugs can be used effectively out to 100 yds or so with practice.

If you want more reach than that, I'd suggest a bolt action rifle in .308 caliber. The variety available means you could pay anywhere from ~$150 for a surplus rifle to literally 10's of 1000's for a custom piece.



A shot gun shoots shells with pellets that scatter, right? Where as a rifle shoots a bullet, correct?

Whatever I get, I don't want any gun registration bullshit. Are the rules at gun shows different than in a store, and what about buying used, as you suggested? What are the rules?

I'm sure I could go in the city and pick anything on the street, but GOD knows if it may have been used in a crime. I see that as a drawback, in that respect.

First (or only) gun should be a .22 rifle. Learn to shoot first! Shotgun patterns do not spread sufficiently to preclude basic aiming skills at personal defense range.

I stringly suggest you start with a Ruger 10/22 rifle. Ammo is cheap and more available than ANY other ammo & costs much less as well. Arm chair Rambo recommendations are useless for beginners.


Actually that's very good advice. But the lady said she only wanted to buy one gun. Better she learn on what she'll use if she intends to keep it.

Learning to shoot a rifle proficiently takes time, and money. My best recommendation for learning to shoot a rifle is get a Ruger 10/22 in .22, put a decent scope on it, and knock yourself out shooting .22 ammo for about 12 bucks per 500 rounds. Once you master that, move up to a decent caliber.

I can easily put someones eye out and kill them at 100 yards with a decent .22.

Food for thought.

12ga. A 12ga kicks harder, but the ammo is easy to find. Although I'm not sure I'd recommend a pump. Especially for a woman. A semi auto would be better, less complicated, but more expensive. You'll want one with a short barrel. Shortest legal length is 18in barrel, and the shotgun must be 26 inches in overall length. Learn how to aim, not just point, the gun.

If you are looking for a handgun, I'd recommend the venerable .38 Smith and Wesson revolver, or a .380 automatic. Bersa makes a nice economical one.


So, 12ga is the more common ammo and that's why you recommend it? The pump, I assume, is required prior to each shot, so takes longer to deliver several shots? How many shots can a semi automatic deliver before doing whatever it is you have to do again (pump something?)?


12ga is a very common caliber. I'll go out on a limb and say the most common shotgun caliber. You can get shells that contain lead pellets of various sizes. All the way from shot pellets intended for birds to one solid lump of lead intended as a large animal killer. For self defense purposes, 00 buck is one of the most common. Smaller buckshot, or sometimes large bird shot, is occasionally recommended for people who live in apartment buildings or have other neighbors living nearby. Shotgun pellets that are large might shoot THRU a wall and kill someone you didn't intend to shoot.

A pump shotgun requires a manual hand operated action on the weapons foregrip. You pull back on the foregrip, and the shell is ejected. It requires you coordinate yourself to make a second shot. For a new person unfamiliar with guns, you might want to go the more simple route of having a semi automatic shotgun. You load the shells, pull back on the charging handle to load the shell, then pull the trigger to fire. You don't have to worry about pumping the foregrip to eject the shell because a semi-automatic does that for you...because it is..well...automatic.

There ought to be some videos on Youtube that could illustrate the difference between semi automatic shotguns and pump.


Yeah, I wouldn't want to shoot anyone innocent! I can see why shotguns are prefered for homw protection. I think that guy in Taxas who just smoked those two burglers used a shotgun, so I assume they do the trick.

From your description, the semi sounds fatser and easier. I'm also not all that strong.

At this point, I'm thinking everyone needs THREE guns. One shotgun for the house, a handgun for easy carrying, and a rifle for if TSHTF. The first two sound the easiest to decide upon. It's rifle that I would have the most questions about.

12ga. A 12ga kicks harder, but the ammo is easy to find. Although I'm not sure I'd recommend a pump. Especially for a woman. A semi auto would be better, less complicated, but more expensive. You'll want one with a short barrel. Shortest legal length is 18in barrel, and the shotgun must be 26 inches in overall length. Learn how to aim, not just point, the gun.

If you are looking for a handgun, I'd recommend the venerable .38 Smith and Wesson revolver, or a .380 automatic. Bersa makes a nice economical one.


So, 12ga is the more common ammo and that's why you recommend it? The pump, I assume, is required prior to each shot, so takes longer to deliver several shots? How many shots can a semi automatic deliver before doing whatever it is you have to do again (pump something?)?

I can empty a pump shotgun just as fast as a semiauto with well-aimed shots. Practice, and you'll get fast too. Plus, with a pump you get 2 benefits over a semi: first, misfires are much more quickly cleared, and second, NOTHING sounds as scary as a pump being worked behind your back. Even just imagining that sound behind me sends chills up my spine!

If you're a shorter woman, stick with a 20 gauge youth model, either remington or mossberg. If you're taller, go with the 12. With enough practice you can learn to handle the recoil of the 12. 2 cases in point: the new Maryland state record black bear was just killed by a 22-y-o female art student with a 7mm ultra mag, and I know a 5'4" lady that used to hunt geese with a 3.5" 10 gauge double barrel.

If you prefer a rifle, stick to a dirt-common caliber like .308 or .30-06, or even .223. Remington makes a great pump as well as excellent boltguns, and both are worth mounting scopes on.

Or, for something REALLY interesting and useful, get a 1911 .45 auto, and one of the carbine conversion kits - pistol for carry and home defense, carbine kit for mid-range (less than 200) yards.

Final consideration: if you want to have something easily accessorized, low recoil, light, short, and handy, get an AR-15. There are multiple companies that make it with a 16.5" lightweight barrel, folding stock, as well as mounting points for multiple devices - scopes, lights, lasers. A little pricier, but can be had for under $900 in basic configuration. You didn't mention what state you're in,

Correct if I'm wrong, but shotguns don't require registration, do they, just handguns and rifles? Also, I suspose it varies in states? If my state is not the most privacy oriented but a neigboring state is better, is it legal to but in the neighboring state and bring it back in a car?