Recommendation? just got a shotgun

Oh my, may as well just get an ap on your phone and play the sound.

Or maybe who ever it is just starts cranking rounds at the direction of the sound of you racking the shotgun.

Honestly, if it's an intruder or bad guy in your home, should notice or hear nothing when you go from 3 to 1 and bang.
JMO though.

And most of the people I've spoke to after someone pointed a gun at them couldn't tell the difference between an Ak and a glenfield, it's usually just a huge gun or a rifle.

JMO. Oops, JME, "E for experience".
 
eveled said:
True if they’re looking down the barrels. But the sound of a pump shotgun can scare them even in the dark.
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That scary sound also makes you a target in the dark for your adversary. All targets aren't visual.--KV
 
Rollercoaster said:
Semi auto no NFA stamp required
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That’d be a good shotgun for home defense, but a terrible first shotgun. Without a stock you’d have a lot tougher time learning the recoil.

Ammo can be a big factor for shotguns, as others have stated 2 3/4’s is a good starting point. Moving up to 3 isn’t really that much of a leap, but you definitely want to get used to the gun first. 2 3/4’s would help with that.

Even dropping down to a 20 gauge doesn’t automatically mean it’d be easier to shoot. My first shotgun was a youth 20 gauge break action that kicked more than any 12 gauge I’ve shot because of how lightweight it was. If you didn’t keep it against your shoulder, you’d be bruised up very quickly.

Nowadays I keep a standard Mossberg 500 handy, mostly for skunks and porcupines, though.
 
I used shotguns for small game hunting and eventually stopped small game hunting. I use 22's for that now IF I decide to get back into small game hunting. The shotguns departed and replaced with stuff I was more interested in. But I do have a Remington 870 Police with a full wood stock for mostly possible home defense. I have never particularly enjoyed shooting shotguns.

I have a Henry Mare's Leg..... fun to play with, but that is about it. Try to avoid gimmicky firearms unless you just have lots of money to spread around.
 
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ONEBIGBOWIE said:
would have bought one if it wasn't a handgun.
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I understand. My 22 Mare's Leg would be a lot of fun rabbit hunting with dogs. Actually, it is a blast with a 22 handgun. It makes it harder as I just got tired of "press trigger" and dead rabbit with a shotgun. I really didn't care if I got the rabbit at all frankly. Never got into turkey hunting although if I did, a another shot gun would probably appear in my accumulation but I could get by with the 870 I have for a while.

When I was your age, I wanted many guns. I couldn't afford much and it was only after I got out of college that I began buying guns beyond the two I owned as a teen (a 22 rifle and 243 rifle for deer hunting). I have been known to buy as many as five guns in a single day back when gun shows were good. Many of those, I sold down the road like folks do here with knives after owning for a couple months and shooting them. Now, I don't even bother with gun shows and only go to knife shows.
 
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They make some short 12Ga rounds that are perfect for a break action shotgun. Real easy to shoot.

Dash over to Cheaper than Dirt and search for "Mini and Short Shells" and you'll see some.

I like double guns. Stoeger makes one called the "Double Defense" that I'm gonna pick up one of these days.

Have fun with it.
 
A lever action 22 is a ton of fun.

Just an FYI here, most 22 rimfires should not be dry fired. Doing so can damage the gun. The manual should say whether or not it's OK. It usually isn't.
 
Your going to have a ton of fun with that .22 while learning all you need to know about being newish to firearms.
Those Henry’s are great guns and that lever action will scratch that old cowboy itch.

.22 is cheap right now but ammo prices run in cycles and we’re only one scare from it getting really expensive and hard to find again. My advice to you is to try out a few different brands, notably CCI, Aguila, and whatever floats your boat as long as it’s not the “ Golden Bullet “, the lube on those really messes up the action. Probably not an issue for your lever gun but still messy.
Find out which one is most accurate in your gun and buy it by the thousands if you can do it, even if it’s $5-10 a pay check, stock up.
Shooting .22’s is so much fun that you’ll eat up ammo fast and having a stockpile will insulate you from the next scare and keep you from having to run to the store to get ammonia when you get time to shoot, hoping that they have the brand that you’re sighted in for.
You can buy in bulk online for a price that usually kills the local store.
Believe it or not, Walmart is great when it comes to ammo prices. Meijer isn’t too bad either but most gun store or sporting goods stores will be over priced.

Try your rifle at 25 yards and work your way out as you improve.

I don’t know about where you live but in Michigan we can buy a pistol at 18 years old as long as it’s second hand, not new from store. Check into it, you may be able to get your mares leg sooner than you think.

Congrats on the new firearms and please be safe and careful.
A tremendous amount of people are killed by the .22 every year, please give it the respect it deserves, it sure isn’t a BB gun.

Shoot up some fruit and water jugs for fun to get an idea of just how tough that little bullet is.
 
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I agree on starting with light loads. Especially your first gun. Personally, before I got sick, I kept my Remington 887 nitro mag loaded with 3" 00 buck. It was a baby compared to my 1957 Remington model 760 in .308.
 
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