Buddy Wants to Start Shooting and Carrying

[Handloader109]

Right now, either get lucky or wait 6 months. If he's worried about his home, you can easily find a 20 or 12 gauge shotgun and there's plenty of shotgun ammo around. largest birdshot you can find... Old pump would be fine. But handgun ammo? not so much

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[FergusonTO35]

I have often wondered if waterfowl steel would make good defensive rounds.

[Chemoman]

i and my wife each have a ruger lcr. mine is 38 special and my wifes is 22 mag. easy to shoot, not much recoil and very accurate. will get the job done with a well placed shot. two holsters are needed for each gun. one magnetic on to be placed next to ones knee when driving. it attaches to the trasnmission cover inside the car. the other holster goes in a purse or on a belt on a hip or a big coat pocket. ruger lcr, he wont go wrong. when i was in a denver hosp a while back for cancer treatment one of my nurses was a 35 year old single female who loved to walk the trails in the near by mountains. she was staled by a mountain lion and only by the grace of God got away from it. i recommended a ruger lcr in any cal. she could find in denver. she did and now carries it in her pack when she walks the trails each week. she is from the deep south and well aquainted with guns, just wanted a accurate reliable easy to use one. found that in the ruger lcr.

[ddixie884]

I agree that the LCR is a real sleeper. Light for what it will do and reasonably priced. I bought several for truck guns and they do nicely in a console.......

[Baltimoreed]

He doesn’t need to buy new. Look for police turn ins which are usually carried a lot but shot little. The lowly .38 spcl revolver is always a good place to start. Cheap to reload for, easy to shoot, everyone builds them- spend a little on a Taurus, Rossi, Ruger or a lot on a Smith or Colt, a variety of grip sizes and materials, a variety of ammo from plinker-target to defensive +P. The simplest manual of arms, no double feeds or safety to forget to disengage. Easy to qualify with whenever he does his ccw class. I have more .45 revolvers but .38s are second.

[Gunslinger1911]

All good advice, also bad time to "get into shooting".
Sounds like you are on the right track; instruction, shoot different guns - see what he likes.

Be careful on the loading stuff. We make it look easy, it's not.
I've been at it 45 + years, I still have a brain fart occasionally.
I had a buddy at work, wanted to get into reloading (smart guy, anal retentive on the job)
Showed him what reloading was about on my equip, he listened to me on what to buy, (Lee turret used as a single stage at first).
We went shooting later - 1 in 10 were squibs; he wasn't paying attention to the powder drop portion.
On the other hand, fella marries my daughter (master machinist), likes my ammo (he's a shooter - daughter chose well). Showed him the workings of reloading, he found a deal (MAJOR DEAL) on a NIB Dillon 650 with all the extras. We are talking $3000 worth for $1500
There is not another person that I would advise to buy a 650 right off the bat.
Took him 3 weeks to produce his first fully loaded round. - CONSTANT calls, txts and Emails during that time.

Dang I got long winded !
All I'm saying is, everyone is different, do your best to instruct him, don't be afraid to say "no, you shouldn't do ......."

I admire everyone who takes the time to bring new blood into the sport.

[jonp]

How many non gun owners are surprised that they can't order on line and have guns and ammo delivered to their home by their postman the next day..........

How many just can't believe they couldn't walk into a gunstore and walk out with a pistol in quite a number of states? After all, it's what they have been told by the MSM and Democrats what with the gunshow loophole and all. I hear them at every gunshow arguing with dealers over this.