Advice on Firearm Purchase

[Evil-Twin]

here is my opinion... I've been doing this for over 50 + of my 70 years of life.
I read your opening post... it seems you have X amount of money to spend... and you want to spend it all right now... as a 50 year carry veteran and a combat veteran., I would offer you my advice..
I would look at my highest priority.. then my second..
I would only purchase One defensive carry weapon... I would spend the next six months getting use to it... so that you can operate it proficiently without the confusions of another defensive hand gun...
as a diversion, I would choose something for my second priority... like some plinking or target shooting with a 22 rifle. I would not spend all my money on impulse buying.. learning one or two guns is a years commitment.. so in a year, you might find that what you thought you wanted now , might change a year from now once you get involved. Just some input from a long time shooter.

 

[pksc_bp]

Look at it this way....long rifles just don't cut it for self/home defence....I've been shooting them for 60 yrs., I'm a big fan but that's just the way it is. You don't seem interested in hunting....but the .223 is a good varmint gun, the .308 is big game....get a good shotgun in 16 or 20 ga. or one of the pistols.
.38 is good, .357 is being a show-off....it's a lot of pistol. A 1911 .45 is a good handgun and will blow a hole through your assailant and your house !

Evil-twin has just given you some good advice.....

 

[Evil-Twin]

As far as a defensive carry. I practice every week to keep my edge... and I've been practicing for over 50 years... Do I have it perfected...??? you never have it perfected..
Carry for personal protection is very serious business... If you take personal carry for any other reason ... then you wont survive an actual attack. when I said learning a EDC is a years commitment... its actually a life time commitment.... all the other hand guns and long guns are no where near the serious nature of a personal defense weapon... it boils down to how well you and your weapon will react in the 15 or 20 seconds that a mugging or robbery will impact your life.. IM 70 years old, a combat Veteran ( 22 months ), and experienced in two civilian life threatening altercations. IM still here after 70 years so my perspective is the actual realities of taking a life and surviving.

 

[Evil-Twin]

Personal protection training is much like a major league Baseball player taking batting practice every day.. These guys are professionals at their craft.. they get paid millions of dollars because they are the best of the best.. But being at the top of their game, does not make them a perfect hitting machine, when they step up to the plate..
You can only hope that you have taken enough batting practice when its your turn to step up to the plate ( mugging or robbery ).. Hope you can see the ball,( see it coming, surrounding awareness ) hit the ball, ( be accurate and effective ) hard enough to put it out... ( personally, I swing a heavy bat [ 45 ACP]... I don't use a whiffle ball bat to try and hit a home run )

 

[Aleous]

Thank you all for your replies and advice, they have helped very much. I have decided on the following:

Savage Axis II XP 308
PSA AR-15 223/5.56
Maverick 88 12g
Rock Island Armory Tactical 45acp

Please tell me all what you think about my choice. I believe along with my 9mm handgun and 22 lr rifle this should cover all my bases when it comes to firearms. I probably do come off as wanting to make a purchase as soon as possible and that is due to living in California where the political climate to buying and owning firearms is becoming increasingly cloudy. I do have separate budgets for safety/training classes, accessories, and ammo.

 

[leadcounsel]

Thank you all for your replies and advice, they have helped very much. I have decided on the following:

Savage Axis II XP 308
PSA AR-15 223/5.56
Maverick 88 12g
Rock Island Armory Tactical 45acp

Please tell me all what you think about my choice. I believe along with my 9mm handgun and 22 lr rifle this should cover all my bases when it comes to firearms. I probably do come off as wanting to make a purchase as soon as possible and that is due to living in California where the political climate to buying and owning firearms is becoming increasingly cloudy. I do have separate budgets for safety/training classes, accessories, and ammo.

I think it's an excellent setup.

I'd spread out the gun purchases to different FFLs or over time so you don't end up on any watch lists! Two handguns within 5 days from the same FFL puts you on the radar.

 

[boatdoc173]

best advice I ever heard in a gun store--

"Buy one of each"---LOL

 

[Lord Teapot]

i have both of those guns. in keeping with your low price points, add an r870 express ($300), an m&p15 ($600), and a ruger american 30-06 ($350) to fill out the 5 niches of gun ownership.

you already have plinking/small game and a self defense sidearm

the r870 is for hunting birds, the ar15 is for crowd control, and the ruger is for big game.

edit: nevermind looks like you already decided, and filled the 3 niches you were missing, so its all good.

 

[Aleous]

I think it's an excellent setup.

I'd spread out the gun purchases to different FFLs or over time so you don't end up on any watch lists! Two handguns within 5 days from the same FFL puts you on the radar.

I live in CA so it's one handgun every 30 days. Was going to go pick up my first two that I ordered, wait the 30 days then buy the other four.

 

[tacxted]

Aleous, I'll explain my thought process. Like you I thought carefully about each purchase and did much research.

What was my number one criteria?

How many units or units of that type have been sold, and is there a large parts/accessory market?

If yes the next question was if I can get it in one of the most popularly or common calibers.

These two questions ruled out a lot for me.

I also listed the thinks I want to do with my firearms, I wanted to,
Hunt
Target shoot
Self defense
Run and gun/tactical drills

And then I narrowedy list to cover these things with as few guns as possible.

It worked for me, good luck.

 

[AKMtnRunner]

Acquiring guns should be like acquiring ex girlfriends. We learn so much about what we want and don't want, and it's best done one at a time.

 

[djont57]

Acquiring guns should be like acquiring ex girlfriends. We learn so much about what we want and don't want, and it's best done one at a time.

This belongs in someone's signature.

 

[loadedround]

Your choice of firearms is a very personal decision that you have to consider carefully since advice is cheap and not always correct. Having said that, I would suggest you first consider one of the many AR15's available. My first choice would be a Ruger AR556. It is well made, inexpensive and can be modified anyway you chose. As others have stated, it is the firearm of choice in is unstable political environment.

 

[BSA1]

I’m a bit confused. You said you have made your choices but then ask what we think if them.

Savage Axis II XP 308 – My choice is the Savage Hog Hunter as it has iron sights. I don't trust scopes 100% and having a set of irons is desirable. I came close to buying one this winter but ended up drinking the AR kool-aid. But it is still on my short list and for the right price when I have the money in pocket one will be coming home with me.

PSA AR-15 223/5.56 – Seems hard to pick a bad name brand factory AR. I'm doing my first one the hard way by building my own but I will also never get rid it. (Well except one of my kids will probably claim it after it is done in which case I'll have to build another one).

Maverick 88 12g – My choice is the Remington 870 Express as it is easy to buy a second barrel in a different length thus covering self-defense and hunting with a easy barrel swap.

Rock Island Armory Tactical 45acp – As commented it is a classic but it has several limitations. It is heavy, it is big, it has a kick all of which make mine range guns. I don’t play in IPSC and IDPA so they stay in the safe most of the time.

You have been given a lot of good advice the best of which is not to buy your guns all at once but space your purchases out to give yourself time to get experience with shooting. On the other hand trading, selling and buying firearms can be fun and rewarding. Go with what you think you like and ignore what others like myself prefer.

 

[bannockburn]

Aleous

All decent choices, though being more of handgun fan than a rifleman I would have opted for the GP100 over the Axis II XP308.

 

[jeff-10]

That said, I'd go with the AR because none of the others will be affected by an AWB.

Some of the worst advice I think you can give a new gun owner is "better buy it now because they are going to ban it..." If I listened to that, who knows how many plastic handguns and rifles I would own now that I have very little interest in. Not to mentioned none were banned and all, including the magazines, are cheaper now than ever. That advice was similar to the "buy now or be priced out forever" advice realtors were giving new home buyers pre-2005.

That being said, I am not sure of the OP's background but an AR style rifle offers a lot of value for the money. I can't think of any firearm that has had so much time and energy dumped into it perfecting it. Not to mention the modularity.

Personally I would recommend holding off on more purchases until you shot your two new firearms quite a bit. Then you could determine what you want next. I always like to space out my purchases so I can enjoy them more.

 

[leadcounsel]

Some of the worst advice I think you can give a new gun owner is "better buy it now because they are going to ban it..." If I listened to that, who knows how many plastic handguns and rifles I would own now that I have very little interest in. Not to mentioned none were banned and all, including the magazines, are cheaper now than ever. That advice was similar to the "buy now or be priced out forever" advice realtors were giving new home buyers pre-2005.

Panic buying at market highs is stupid. If you didn't need it before when it was cheap, you won't need it for double the price. Now is a buying opportunity to buy cheap and stack deep. Buying now when the price of most guns and magazines have probably never been lower for modern desirable stuff... that's a different story. By comparison, in 2001 I bought my first AR 15 on sale for $900, and they were usually over $1K. It came with a 10 round magazine. Now, that same rifle is about $600 and 30 round mags can be found for $10. Same with other main platforms. Right now we are experiencing the golden era of crazy cheap guns and mags.

At some point in the future we are guaranteed to have another mass shooting, more talk of AWB, and prices will do like they did in 1994, 2008, and 2012... SPIKE and triple overnight. The day Sandy Hook happened, I bought a dozen $5 AK47 mags. I wish I had bought $5000 worth. The next week they were easily $30 each, and sold out everywhere.

 

[Zaydok Allen]

IMO everyone should have a good solid revolver, a bolt action to reach out and touch a critter, and a good semiauto.

I don't really care about AR15's.

 

[old lady new shooter]

"I'd spread out the gun purchases to different FFLs or over time so you don't end up on any watch lists! Two handguns within 5 days from the same FFL puts you on the radar."

I think we *legally* have to wait 30 days between purchases here.

 

[JohnBiltz]

If you are operating on generous but limited funds spending it all on weapons is the wrong way to go. I will also say it is a joy to buy a new gun and researching it for me at least is half the fun. If it was me I would get the AR and a few thousand rounds of ammo and ten magazines. Then shoot the hell out of it. Somewhere in you second case of a thousand rounds of ammo you are going to know what long gun you want next. I will also point out that the guns came back before the ammo did. The ammo shortage lasted long after there were guns on the shelves. An AR does a pretty good job of covering the 7.62 and shotgun capabilities unless you are going to hunt with them. The last category I would fill would be the 7.62 unless you are going to hunt or compete with it. I would be looking for a carry gun somewhere in there as well. A carry gun is a working gun. You should fill that need before you worry about a want.