The Coli Buyer's Guide - Home and Personal Defense on a Budget
As a gun owner, you have a responsibility to shoot a gun before you buy it. To get the fit, to get the feel, to see if you can overcome the recoil, etc. Guns are like shoes, and people's hands are like feet. Different sizes, shapes, bends, etc. Just like some people can't rock Chuck Taylors or some Nikes or Adidas cause they have flat feet, wide feet, high arches etc., guns are exactly the same. You can't buy guns off looks alone. You really have to analyze what you need and what's good for you. Try to go to a local gun store and see how some options feel in your hand, then
find a range that rents out guns and try out the ones you thought felt nice.
RIFLES
Unless you live in a slave state, buy an AR-15 in 5.56 NATO/.223 Rem.
+ Ammo is reasonably priced
+ Parts are common
+ Reliable magazines like the
PMAG M2/M3 and USGI are affordable
+ Knowledge on how to maintain and modify them is widespread
+ Easiest to use gun for women, children, the elderly, or the disabled
+/- Some models, usually marked as "optics ready," don't come with sights
+/- If you need sights the
MBUS is a good option, Vortex and Primary Arms make cheap red dots
Palmetto State Armory PA-15 - $350-450
+ Cheap, works well enough
+ Pick whatever mid length rifle you like best
+ You can save more money by buying the upper and lower separately
+/- You can save even more money by building the lower, the only uncommon tools you need are a set of punches and a $10 castle nut wrench
Smith & Wesson M&P15 /
Ruger AR-556 - $450-550
+ Better fit and finish and quality control than PSA
+ Easier to customize the upper
- Generally a little overpriced
.22 LR semi-auto:
+ Large capacity magazines are common and cheap
+ Ammo is the cheapest kind you can buy
- Ammo is the first thing to be hoarded during shortages, driving prices up
- Very underpowered for defensive purposes, but...
+ Most people don't like being shot
Marlin 795 - $150
Mossberg 702 - $150
Ruger 10/22 - $250
For slave states:
Ruger PC Carbine - 9mm - $500
+ Reliable, great backpack gun
+ Ammo is reasonably priced
- Less powerful than an AR-15
+/- Uses pistol ammo, which you can't buy until you're 21
Savage Axis XP - .308 Win, also comes in .223 Rem - $300
+ Comes in a package with a scope
+ You can take the scope off and put a red dot on
+ .308 model is more powerful than an AR-15
- Bolt-action, not semi-auto
- Magazine only holds four rounds
- Magazines are expensive
PISTOLS
Nothing fancy, just a striker fired semi-auto 9mm. There's plenty of good options that aren't on this list.
+ Ammo is reasonably priced
+ Okay for home defense, great for concealed carry
+ Easy manual of arms, you pull the trigger and it goes bang
- The smaller and lighter the gun, the harder it is to shoot well
- Need a holster to carry safely
+/- Have to be 21 to buy
+/- Some states require a license to own and/or or have severe restrictions on carrying
Hi-Point C9 - $150
Ruger LCP v1, used - $175
Ruger EC9s - $250
Taurus G2C - $250
Smith & Wesson M&P9 Shield - $300
Ruger Security 9 - $350
Glock
17/
19, used or factory rebuilt - $350-400
Smith & Wesson M&P9, used - $350-400
Smith & Wesson M&P9 Shield EZ, also comes in
.380 ACP - $375
+ Great for women, the disabled, the elderly, or anyone who can't rack the slide or load the mag on other automatics
REVOLVERS
+ Reliable
+ Often found used in good condition
+ .38 has manageable recoil
+ Can be carried without a holster
+ Easy for women to load and carry, but...
- Not so easy to shoot
- Only five rounds capacity
- Slow to reload
- Short barrel means lots of noise and muzzle flash
Ruger LCR - $350
Smith & Wesson 442 - $400
SHOTGUNS
If you can't get an AR-15 or a handgun, get a pump-action 12-gauge shotgun. When looking for shotguns, it pays to check local pawn shops and gun stores. Old hunting shotguns are sold off for the low to these stores who in turn flip them them at low prices. Big box retailers like Wal-Mart, Bass Pro, Cabela's, Scheels and Academy also sell a wide variety of shotguns. In most areas, you can find quality shotguns for $200 or less easily.
+ Can change out the barrel for hunting or shooting sports
+ Powaful Impak!
- Needs more strength and skill to use than an AR-15
- Low ammo capacity
- Buckshot and slugs are expensive, defensive ammo is very expensive
- Ammo is bulky
Mossberg Maverick 88 Security - $200
Mossberg 500 - $350
Remington 870, used and made before 2007 - $350
Midland Arms Backpack - $150
+/- Only buy if you're on a super tight budget, this is the cheapest gun I can recommend in good conscience
+ Extremely light, fits in a backpack
- Only holds a single round at a time, will need to practice reloads especially under high stress situations
GUNS TO AVOID
- Saturday night specials - Bryco, Cobra, Davis, Jennings, Jiminez, Lorcin, Phoenix, Raven, RG, Rohm, Sundance - low quality and dangerous, banned in some states
- Magazine-fed shotguns - at these price points you won't be able to find one that works well
- USA-made AK-47s - same
- Remington 870s made after 2007 - poor quality control after Remington changed ownership
- Military surplus like the Mosin or SKS - prices have risen a lot, ammo is getting harder to find, available guns are in poor condition
- Cheap Turkish shotguns
AMMO
Rifles - FMJ is cheaper but has worse terminal effects and can overpenetrate. If you're buying for defense, consider
hollow points or
bonded soft points, but they're quite expensive and you need to test it out to make sure it feels reliably. 5.56 NATO ammo can't be safely fired in a rifle marked .223 Rem, but a 5.56 marked rifle can fire both types.
Pistols - FMJ is fine for training. Quality defensive ammo like
Federal HST or
Speer Gold Dot is expensive, but well worth it. Try to get the 50 round law enforcement boxes, not the 20 round civilian boxes. It's the same product, just much less expensive. Make sure to test out a box or two before carrying it.
Shotguns - Buy #00 or #1 buckshot for defense. Some ranges, especially indoor ones will only let you shoot slugs. Avoid birdshot unless you're planning on being attacked by tiny birds.
OTHER THINGS YOU'LL NEED
- Cleaning supplies - a brush, a jag, a rod, patches, solvents, oils, etc. You can get cheap kits at Wal-Mart or most sporting goods stores. The minimum I'd go with is a rod and jag, a bottle of
CLP or
Ballistol, and some old cut up cotton shirts.
- Safety glasses
- Ear protection - Avoid foam earplugs.
Howard Leight Impact Sports are a nice budget choice and are much comfier.
- Holster for a pistol. Avoid one size fits all cloth holsters.
- Consider a flashlight for a home defense gun, and maybe a mount if it's a long gun. Avoid cheap Chinese lights, the
TLR-1 HL is a good option. Just like with guns, you really get what you pay for here and a lot of budget lights can't hold up to the stresses of gunfire.
- Training - the NRA has a site for the
basics of firearm handling, the USCCA
offers classes, and some academies have free courses on YouTube.
Project Appleseed is a great way to get marksmanship training.
- A safe if you have children. Small safes, like the ones with a biometric reader are useless against thieves or determined teenagers but will keep a young child out. There's a great buyer's guide
here.
WHERE TO BUY
To buy a gun online, you need to visit a local store ("FFL") and ask them to send a copy of their license to the store you're buying from. The FFL will do a background check on you and charge you for the transfer, $15-25 is typical in most areas.
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gun.deals is a free search tool where stores can submit prices for guns they carry. It can also be used for accessories, parts, medical gear, etc. and comes with an alert tool that can email you when something you're looking for falls below a certain price. A lot of stores that buy listings here don't actually carry inventory though, they just drop ship from their distributor.
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AmmoSeek is a free search tool that crawls the Internet for the best prices on ammo. Watch out for the listings all the way at the top, these stores usually charge a lot for shipping. Ammo is almost always going to be cheaper at a local gun store since they won't charge you for shipping.
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GunBroker is the eBay of guns, be sure to check here for what you want before you buy it elsewhere.
(6'3", big and tall), so I assume I have some leeway on what I can carry comfortably. Any suggestions? Also, interested in suppressors.
i would just go with whatever you shoot best, like you said you don't really have to worry about gun dimensions especially if you're a heavier breh
