I rather like the original idea, but it may not be so practical here in Jersey.
Don't get me started. Move to a free state, brother. Absent that, better to be judged by 12, etc...
Oh I've made sure I have enough to arm all the adults. Once. Unfortunately I don't have enough spares to have extras to stash.
This is one example of a general problem- stocking emergency gear. You have top grade front-line gear, but only one set that you expect to have on you (it's expensive). What gear do you use to bulk out the numbers you need to build kits, that might never get used? It needs to be cheap enough that you can buy several of everything and that it won't hurt you for it to be lost or stolen (and you don't want to have all your funds tied up in something you may never use). On the flip side, it needs to be good enough to get you through an emergency, because when you need it you're going to NEED it.
Maybe we're just jaded, but your villainy is not particularly impressive. -Ennesby
If you know what you're doing, you're not learning anything. -Unknown
Sanity is the process by which you continually adjust your beliefs so they are predictively sound. -esr
Well if you all you have is $400 I would say the Hi Point or if you can find a beater S&W .38 that was nickeled and then it peeled off. Still shoots, just looks like crap. Bought a few of those. That or a used Rossi revolver, those work fine.
This is from a guy with guns everywhere, mostly a bit more expensive. I would say get a real caliber, the Nagant is impractical and ammo is around a dollar a round, if you can find it. To convert you are spending more money perhaps $50-100, It's a total waste of money for a marginal gun with an over 20 pound double action.
So, under your very tight guidelines I would say Hi-Point wins for availability or the odd used revolver at the pawn shop.
I would just get $100-150 12 gauges and leave them everywhere, it is the most cost effective.
Winner of the prestigious Автомат Калашникова образца 1947 года award for excellence in rural travel.
CZ 82s are still widely available for $200. If you can't solve your problem with 12+1 rounds of 9x18 hollowpoints, you need an elephant gun or an A-10.
Makarovs and the Hungarian PA-63 are good choices if you can find them. Anything Comblock-produced is going to be built like a tank, and while 9x18 is not an ideal defensive caliber it is certainly adequate.
I've found Nagant ammo for $35/50. The original military load was equivalent to a standard .38 Special, which ain't great but not bad.
I would not want to go after two big, pissed-off rapists with a single-action .22 revolver. I'd take my sword first (ok I'd take both, but hey).
The Kel-Tec and Ruger (and Taurus and...) pocket .380 plastic fantastics are cheap, fire an adequate caliber and easy to hide. Bersa Thunder .380s are only a little more, and significantly easier to shoot.
J&G also has Tokarevs for $200 at the moment. Store them in Condition 3 and they're perfectly safe. On the other hand I am not sure 7.62x25 is the best choice for an amateur for inside-the-house use. THey are quite loud and flashy, and overpenetration is a potential problem.
There is, of course, always the option of using Mosin-Nagants for home defense... not ideal, but cheap, reliable, and certainly not lacking in stopping power...
EDIT:
Two other options also occurred to me:
The cheap-ish pistol caliber carbines from Kel-Tec and Hi-Point. Ugly as sin, but cost little more than their handguns and are far easier to shoot and have more stopping power.
Cheap semi-auto .22 rifles, particularly the Marlin 60 (used) and the newer Mossberg Plinkster. .22 rimfire from a handgun is not great for self defense, but dumping 10 CCI Stingers into your target's chest and head in under two seconds is another matter entirely, the next best thing to a 12-gauge load of buckshot. And they're cheap, can be had for around $100. Ammo is cheap too.
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In the past, I have had good luck here getting inexpensive ex-police revolvers (a S&W Mod. 64 for 150 euro / US$ 180 - I would have bought a bunch of those, had I had the funds at the time...), and used pump action shotguns (100 euro each). You might see "Arminius" brand revolvers cheap in the US - those are klunky, but the mechanics are German-made and they work.
You need to be patient and keep your eyes and ears open to get the deals when they come around.
Personally, I gouldn't go for a Nagant revolver - the trigger pull is so heavy, I would be concerned about being able to use it effectively.
blackeagle603 wrote:any centerfire Ruger revolver. SA or DA. Old Security and Speed Sixes, Blackhawks can be had cheap.
That's the route we went, although that was not the intention at the time. But there are DA Ruger .357s or SA Vaqueros in .45 Colt stashed throughout the house. All bought second-hand, usually from a private seller. I think the most expensive one cost $250.
If the first rule is "have a gun", I think we're set.
But there ain't many troubles that a man caint fix, with seven hundred dollars and a thirty ought six." Lindy Cooper Wisdom
I really like the idea of hidey guns, but that's not an option for me with two rugrats and another on the way. For a family that can be trusted to have them around and that stores them such that they have confidence that visitors will never get into them, it's a decent idea. Something like the newer compact pistol lock boxes that have combo locks on them comes to mind.
"Unattended children will be given an espresso and a puppy"
CombatController wrote:, the Nagant is impractical and ammo is around a dollar a round, if you can find it. To convert you are spending more money perhaps $50-100,
Wow!
I saw some canned com-bloc pistol ammo that was cheap cheap at the last show. Obviously not for the Nagant.
