.22 is a good choice very cheap to shoot and available almost anywhere and 12 is a good choice for home defense i would go with a 20 gauge or a .410 maybe i would be worried about over penetration(going through walls and if its into other rooms where other people might be) especially if your gonna use buck shot with it. but its up to you either way. i would try and stick with name brand weapons and check out gunbroker.com its like ebay but with guns and all you have to do is get them sent to someone or some place with and ffl for shipping.

 

www.armslist.com Has both dealer and private party sales.

 

For a beginner I'd do a Ruger 10/22 - while not quite as accurate as a bolt action it's plenty accurate enough, reliable as hell and there are probably more parts/accessories out there for it than all other .22s combined.

Then get you a shotgun, a pump would be fine to start and the Remington 870 is about like the Ruger 10/22 in that the aftermarket is flooded with parts & accessories. Mossberg 500 would be worth looking at too.

In the case of all three, they aren't the absolute lowest cost but they are still VERY affordable.

With a .22 and a 12 gauge pump you'll be set to do everything from plinking/target shooting to hunting small game, birds, and even mid/large game if you buy a slug barrel for the shotgun...

 

For home defense I prefer handguns rated for +P loads loaded up with high quality jacketed hollow points (Cor-Bon or Federal Hydrashok). The biggest reason: Take up your shotgun, and turn a corner toward your dominant hand (right for most of us) as if you're about to pop an armed intruder whose greatest desire is to shoot first if he sees you're armed. You'll see what I mean. There are quite a few other, very good reasons for my preference but that one alone ought to convince most.

 

For the 12ga I gotta a maverick 88 pump, very good gun for the money I'd recomend that. Lots of parts/accessories for them as well. Also have a 12ga side by side coach gun, that would be a decent home defense gun as it is pretty short. I'm also thinkin about a handgun for home defense, thinkin .45 1911 is the way to go on that

 

Yeah but if you have a pump shotgun and you rack a shell an intruder will hear it from three rooms away and be back out the window as fast as he can get back through it! Very little chance of getting shot in those circumstances, LOL...

 

I guess that depends upon if he's smart enough to act in his own best interest.

I had a guy try to force entry into my home who was undeterred by watching me rack the slide on my pistol and show it to him in profile -- in profile because my policy is that if you see my face behind the muzzle, you're shot. Twice. The guy hollered through the door, "That fkin gun doesn't scare me! You could have ten fkin guns and it wouldn't scare me!". What a fool. If he'd come into the house he'd have taken at least two to the chest. I snatched the phone away from my immobile, worthless, and now ex-wife to dial 911 and tell them that depending upon how long it took to get there they could either save the guy's life or tote his carcass, and when he realized I was on the phone he bolted.

I was about ten feet from the door and off to one side so that if the clown gained entry he'd have to change direction to come at me, buying me time enough to double tap if I was quick about it. He surely would have been moving fast, and I don't know that with even a legally short shotgun I'd have been able to track his movement accurately enough to make the only shot I'd get count.

Nah, give me a handgun for home defense. I'll let the old lady pump the scattergun, and if that doesn't scare the guy away I'll handle the rest while she hides.

 

The problem I find (and I am a certified handgun and hunter safety instructor) is that those untrained or at least who do not take their handgun to the range is not proficient enough to reliably take out an intruder - especially when you factor in panic and adrenaline. Now I keep a handgun beside my bed, but the average person really needs a scattergun to defend themselves. It's hard to say how someone will handle a panic situation and MANY have lost their lives because they did not have a round chambered and/or they did not think of or fumbled with the safety on a semi auto handgun. For this reason I strongly recommend a revolver to a novice for CC and/or self defense - point and shoot simplicity.

But unless you are prepared to become proficient with a handgun (and I believe it's EVERY gun owner's responsibility to do so) then all things considered, I still believe a shotgun is best for home defense. Now you sound like a shooter and someone who is very comfortable with a handgun, so in your case and mine as well, yeah, but we are talking about the novice/average person here...

 

In those terms, I have to almost agree. A person who won't take the time to become proficient with the firearms he's got shouldn't keep them in the home at all. Too many corpses have been made by accident already and I really don't want to know any more of them than I already do. Most folks are probably better off escaping through the window than engaging through the door.

Just for the sake of rounding out the discussion, I don't like scatterguns for home defense for these specific reasons:

1. They're unwieldy, as in my turning a corner into your dominant hand example. There are just too many scenarios in which you've got to make a big target of yourself to get the scattergun into position.
2. It takes considerably longer to get off the second shot with a shotgun. If the other guy is inclined to shoot back you've got to get that second shot off before he recovers from your first -- especially if you missed him.
3. You can't hold a flashlight and a shotgun at the same time, and mounting a light on your scattergun gives the intruder a target that you're standing behind. I'd rather hold a flashlight away from my body (to the side) so if he shoots at it the worst he can do is disable the arm I'm not shooting with anyway. Never mind that I don't know whether or not I could effectively continue after being shot in my hand or arm.
4. If your intruder attacks and gets within arm's reach, the shotgun is worse than worthless. You can't afford to relinquish control of it, but if he's that close you can't do anything else with your hands but try to keep control of it. In that case, with any long gun you're VSF.

I just don't like those problematic limitations at all.

If I were talking to a neighbor who wanted a home defense weapon, I'd try to steer him or her toward a .38 Special with a four inch barrel and a box of Cor-Bon +P JHP's, kept handy with an empty hole under the hammer and the safety off (and covered with electrical tape so it stays off). Maneuverable, not too exciting for effective use in the dark, just about fool proof for a grab and go situation, with enough oomph that one well placed shot (good luck!) would do the trick, but not so much risk of overpenetration making a mess of the wallpaper. A weekend at the range should get a guy emptying all five out of a wheel gun into a salad plate at 20 feet in about three and a half seconds -- anyone that won't stop isn't stoppable anyway. The next two or three weekends should get him close to that with his off hand (starting with a .22 to get the hand/eye coordination down), and a couple hours every couple of months should keep him proficient enough. It just ain't that hard to do, except for those whose "wrong" hands are destined to be forever merely decorative.

I like shotguns for shooting birds and skeet, but for up close and personal I prefer to keep a handgun. I could be wrong... it's happened before.

 

.38 special for home defense? A slug that will poke thru engine blocks??? What? You hate his neighbors? One of which, is you, and your family??

A short barrelled, multi-shot shotgun is actually best. Semi-auto, or pump, with a cut off stock, and loaded with small shot. Something that won't penetrate two layers of sheet rock. So, if you have to fire in the direction of one of your families rooms..... you don't have to worry about killing them... Any hand gun will poke holes most of the way thru your house, and some will even do the neighbors house...... Unless you live in a brick house... or, your neighbors do.....

I don't carry a flashlight either. All that does is advertise your presence, and give the bad guy something to shoot at. If HE is carrying a flashlight, you will find him very easy to see. Also leaves both hands free to handle your weapon. After all, if you are in bed, then, it's dark, and YOUR eyes are ALREADY adjusted to the low light.

Besides, sometimes the psychological impact of hearing the action of a pump shotgun, is all it takes to make mr. intruder into mr. ican'tgetoutofherefastenough.