Bored again ...

[Sasquatch]

Guns. And not whether you like them or you fear them.

I got to fire a full-auto Thompson and a full-auto PPSh at a gun range in Atlanta a couple weeks ago, and today I learned that somebody I know got a shotgun for their birthday, so I figured what the hell, I'll make a thread about 'em.

Have you ever fired any guns? What kinds? Was it at a range, or an open piece of land, or while hunting? Do you own any? What is your favorite of the ones you own or have fired? What's your favorite firearm in general?

[Disclaimer: Video games, paintball, Airsoft, and BB/Pellet guns don't count.]

[Rhaps]

I think the world would be awesome if we didn't need to protect ourselves with guns, but since the world isn't a safe place, I find them to be quite enjoyable.

Personally, I was given a simple 12-gauge pump-action shotgun when I was 12. It's licensed in my name, but it's kept along with my father's guns, out of my reach. My grandfather thought it was an excellent idea, and my mother did not, but nonetheless, my Dad taught me how to shoot it, so it was my first. The next thing I shot was his Smith and Wesson .45 police special. After that I got to use a .22 rifle, so I've shot every genre but machine and long distance, and assault.

My father himself has assembled a 'family' of weapons. His side arm is still the .45, but the .22 has been replaced with a semi-automatic AR-15 (He knows how to make it full-auto, but doesn't feel like he'll ever need it). To finish it up, he recently bought a marine-grade Shotgun with some Flachette and Magnesium rounds. I forgot what brand of shotgun, all I know is that it can be submerged in water, thrown on the ground, left in the rain, anything, and still come up ready to go.

Edit: Forgot to include where. Everything I've shot has been in my backyard. Call it redneck, call it dumb, but when you've got an acre of land, why bother driving an hour to the nearest shooting range?

Also, I know I haven't gotten to use it yet, but I'm pretty sure the AR-15 will be a personal favourite of mine when and if I get to use it. I love assault rifles for that nice blending of power, accuracy, and range.

[RamesesII]

My old folks own a Vanguard .22 250 it's a nice rifle it has a bit of kick to it nothing that can be handled though, I have both shot this for target practice and hunting. It has a synthetic stock which makes it lighter from memory than a wood stock and is a bolt action.

They also have a little .22 rifle which is sleek, my old man got it second hand stripped it down polished it and sanded and re-varnished the stock and it looks pretty decent now.
It was my preferred gun, same as before target practice and hunting are both the situations for this gun, but this one I have taken down the most pests with, it is easy to use bolt action with open iron sights.

They also have a couple shotguns but I'm not that fluent with shotguns and I haven't shot either of them.

I hope to get my gun license in the near future but it's is finding someone with a property that will allow me to use it that will be the problem.

[Heartless Angel]

I hunt a couple times a year, and every great once in a while will shoot Trap with my dad and a couple of his friends. I own a shotgun, nothing terribly fancy, Browning 20 gauge semi auto. I'm not the best shot in the world, but I usually do alright. I've also got a little 22 cal rifle and a handgun, but those never really get used. I used to use em to shoot stationary targets when I was younger and my dad was trying to get me into guns. I never got into em nearly as much as him, but I'll still go out and shoot now and then.

[Sasquatch]

I actually just got another yesterday. There was a gun show in town and I went down to look through what was there (I have a few on my list, but they're not high priorities in my budget), and I found a decent deal on something I've wanted for a while. Bolt-actions are fun to shoot, and good for target and position reacquisition, but usually fire rounds that aren't the cheapest, so I was looking for a little .22lr bolt-action. I found a Savage Mark II with a scope, nice little plinker, for a decent price, so I picked that up. Most rifle rounds are $.30-$.50 per round, and with .22, it's easy to find a box of 500 or 550 for twenty bucks.

Also, I know I haven't gotten to use it yet, but I'm pretty sure the AR-15 will be a personal favourite of mine when and if I get to use it. I love assault rifles for that nice blending of power, accuracy, and range.

Technically ... an AR15 isn't an assault rifle, as it has no selectable rate of fire. I have a few that most people think of as "assault rifles", but actual assault rifles have a selectable rate of fire and are rare to find in the civilian world. For example, an M16 is an assault rifle because it can fire in semi-automatic or three-round-burst mode (or, for the M16A1s, full-auto), but an AR15 is not an assault rifle because it can only fire in semi-automatic.

One cool thing about the AUG is that it is only selectable between "fire" and "safe", and the semi/full-auto is controlled by how far the trigger is depressed. But again, anything that fires more than one bullet per squeeze of the trigger is illegal without going through extra screening to get a special license, registering it with a local police office, etc.

I hope to get my gun license in the near future but it's is finding someone with a property that will allow me to use it that will be the problem.

Are you talking about a hunting license, or do you live somewhere that requires you to have a gun license?

[Rowan]

I wish I could own a handgun. Colt 1911. .45 would be my choice, such a sexy gun. But here in Australia, one cannot simply own a handgun. If you work in security then you may own one, but it must be kept in a safe (or some form of locker) and you have to keep bullets in a seperate room of the place where your weapon is. In some states, a I believe the gun must be dissasembled in different parts of the house. In a way, this is a good thing since we have hardly any murders by guns etc, in other words I think having guns made legal would increase the amount of murders and deaths.

I'd like to fire a gun someday, and I believe that I will.

[Rhaps]

Technically ... an AR15 isn't an assault rifle, as it has no selectable rate of fire. I have a few that most people think of as "assault rifles", but actual assault rifles have a selectable rate of fire and are rare to find in the civilian world. For example, an M16 is an assault rifle because it can fire in semi-automatic or three-round-burst mode (or, for the M16A1s, full-auto), but an AR15 is not an assault rifle because it can only fire in semi-automatic.

Oh thanks! I didn't know the difference, actually. I always just assumed if it were semi-auto and a rifle, that made it an Assault Rifle. Guess that's a sort of dumb thinking pattern though.

If I may ask, what category does an AR15 fall under?

[OnOneRyder]

Shotgun's, assault rifles, hand guns, and a c6 machine gun.

I intend to purchase a shotgun for home defense. A handgun may be considered more ideal to some but it has drawbacks, first being a Canadian there are more hoops to go through and second a hand gun poses more of a risk for my neighbours. Shot will usually be stopped by the first wall it contacts if not slowed to non-lethal velocities while the bullet from a modern hand gun will go much much further.

[RamesesII]

Are you talking about a hunting license, or do you live somewhere that requires you to have a gun license?

No I live in Australia we need a license to own a gun full stop and it is compulsory to register every gun you have. And depending on what type you need a valid reason to own that gun for example if you buy a rifle you need to show evidence that you would be using it on a property or you need to join a shooting range club etc.

I wish I could own a handgun. Colt 1911. .45 would be my choice, such a sexy gun. But here in Australia, one cannot simply own a handgun. If you work in security then you may own one, but it must be kept in a safe (or some form of locker) and you have to keep bullets in a seperate room of the place where your weapon is. In some states, a I believe the gun must be dissasembled in different parts of the house. In a way, this is a good thing since we have hardly any murders by guns etc, in other words I think having guns made legal would increase the amount of murders and deaths.

I'd like to fire a gun someday, and I believe that I will.

The gun needs to be in a lockable cabinet of sturdy construction that is bolted or adequately fastened to a wall or floor, I think you can store ammunition in the same cabinet but the firing mechanism for example the bolt of a rifle has to be locked away separate to the ammunition and the gun preferably in a inconspicuous place.

I don't know what it is for handguns I have no interest or time for handguns I find them vulgar and unskilful I much prefer bolt action rifles, greater distance which gives you more variables when using for target practice.

I have to correct myself though I have shot a shotgun, my partners great uncle runs clay shots at his place and I have had a go at that it was fun but I couldn't tell you what type of shot gun it was.

[Josh_R]

I love really don't fear them at all. I have had guns waved in my face, fired at, all that good shit, and they don't bother me.

I have fired many a gun in my life. From my several hunting rifles, my favorite being Remington model R-15 450 Bushmaster. Love it. I carry a Sig Sauer P220R Compact on me everywhere I go. I have never actually had to use it on someone, and I hope I never have to, but it is nice to have it there.

While in the Marines I was trained how to use a M4A1. Probably one of the best guns I have ever had the privilege of shooting in my life.

[Sasquatch]

Colt 1911. .45 would be my choice, such a sexy gun.

Ain't they? That's another on my list. While in Afghanistan, we had a chance to get a great deal on a Para Ordnance double-stacked match 1911, but the guy leading the charge to get that deal ended up screwing the pooch and we couldn't get back into it. There are some things I don't like about the 1911 (mainly the low mag capacity and big extended thumb guard), but the gun itself is reliable and accurate, not to mention iconic.

In some states, a I believe the gun must be dissasembled in different parts of the house.

What's the point of owning a firearm if you can't defend your family or home with it?

In a way, this is a good thing since we have hardly any murders by guns etc, in other words I think having guns made legal would increase the amount of murders and deaths.

I never understood that line of thought, honestly. People who would commit murders don't care if they own or use an illegal weapon. Even in the United States, where there are almost as many guns as there are people, an extremely small majority of crimes committed with firearms are done with legally-owned firearms.

Of course, that's just my opinion, too -- I think that, if everybody had a gun (or if nobody knew who did or didn't have a gun), we'd be a lot more polite. No mugger would pull a knife on an old lady to steal her purse, or a man to steal his walled, or a young lady to steal her innocence, if they knew that they stood a good chance of getting shot for it. But I digress.

Oh thanks! I didn't know the difference, actually. I always just assumed if it were semi-auto and a rifle, that made it an Assault Rifle. Guess that's a sort of dumb thinking pattern though.

If I may ask, what category does an AR15 fall under?

It's not dumb, most people think like that. Mainly because media, movies, politics, etc. all try to relate "assault weapons" to "scary-looking guns". An AR15 is simply a semi-automatic rifle. Rifles with a full-auto or burst function aren't civilian-legal without additional permits (in America, at least -- I don't know about other countries' firearms laws), including even more extensive background checks, continual registration, etc. The AK47s, ARs, etc. we can get may be similar, but they are not the same as their military versions.

Shotgun's, assault rifles, hand guns, and a c6 machine gun.

Where'd you fire a C6?

I intend to purchase a shotgun for home defense. A handgun may be considered more ideal to some but it has drawbacks, first being a Canadian there are more hoops to go through and second a hand gun poses more of a risk for my neighbours.

Good call. They do make more frangible bullets now that are designed to not make it through walls, but a shotgun with small shot would do just fine. It may be a little harder to handle, but you don't have to be as accurate, you won't have to worry about over-penetration, and just the classic sound of a pump-action shotgun will more than likely be more than enough to scare away an intruder.

Most of the time when a firearm is used for civilian defense, it doesn't even need to be fired. The sight or sound of it will scare away most intruders or attackers -- once somebody knows that you have the means and the will to defend yourself with lethal force, they usually don't stick around too long. The one time I've had to use a firearm to defend myself as a civilian, I didn't fire one round.

[seanb]

My dad has a Browning B-80 semi automatic shotgun. Its gorgeous, and is very comfortable to shoot. They have stopped making them actually. I've shot it loads of times, rabbit/duck hunting when I was younger. He also has a .22 rifle there as well, quite a cheap model though.
My little brother has a side-by-side shotgun too,.. can't remember the name, but it's a russian gun.

[NeoAquarius12]

I sell ammo all day. That's my job. I don't sell guns. Just ammo. At the prestigious Wal-Mart in Newburgh, NY. It's a fairly exciting place! (HIGHEST Crime rate per capita in all the US for more than one consecutive year!)

I have never shot a gun, although I do plan on it at some point. It just seems like fun.

[Michael Swayne]

Dad has five 12-gauge shotguns and .22 single-shot revolver (I just went to gun safe and checked). Dad used to have an AK-47, but the police kept it when they raided the house a few years ago. They originally had taken all of them, but I got the shotguns and the revolver back after the legal proceedings ended. I had to get a gun license and take conceal/carry lessons to do it. Anyway, the AK was a beautiful gun. I was never allowed to shoot it, but I watched Dad a couple times.

Anyway, I can shoot pretty well. You get plenty of practice here in Southern Ohio. I don't like to shoot guns, but I will if necessary (necessary being home defense or hunting for food). I prefer bows and throwing knives. Archery and throwing are an wonderful art compared to shooting.

*Since they don't count, I waited until the end of the post. I also have an air pistol, and a BB gun. Dad accidentally shot himself in the leg with the air pistol. It was quite funny (for everyone except him).

[Rowan]

Arsenal Firearms proudly presents the AF2011-A1 “Second Century”: The world’s first and only double-barrel semi-automatic handgun. A true innovation in shooting stuff.

[Maridia]

Only firearm I own is a Remington 1911 R1. Fired it at the range once so far. I haven't had alot of extra cash to burn so had to go with a friend who was already signed up.

I bought it after I first got my permit last year cause of how customizable it is. That's really my thing in life. If you are going to do something you have to make it your own. And the 1911 can be changed in a million different ways to accommodate yourself. So far I changed the thumb safety, the grips, and slide release. The last one was a definite since I have short thumbs I couldn't get a good handle on it. I've heard to change the springs around and also get good mags. Not just the stock ones I have. But all in due time.

MA has a list of handguns you can purchase here. It's not a big list. Like I originally wanted to get an HK45. But you can't get them here. The only HK you could buy is pre ban. Which the HK45 wasn't around then anyway. And yeah overall it's a rough state but you either deal with it or move.

I have my CCW permit, got it last winter. I have a good holster but the belt I have sucks real bad. I honestly need to have more money before I can say it's an honest hobby of mine. I mean I love them, read up on them. With limited funding it's a tough thing to do. Ammo, range, equipment, it adds up quickly.