Looking for first gun

Yeah, my plan is to go with Federal AE for range use and get something for home defense and just leave it in one of the mags.

Has anyone used the cheaper sites in this list?

http://ammoseek.com/?from=resultspa...5&mfg=5&keywords=&sortby=price&.submit=Search


$15 for 50 rounds seems good, but the reviews on the site are terrible. It's hard trying to find a reputable place and keep the prices down. LuckyGunner is the first site I've checked that has good reviews, they're at $16.75 a box.
 
jfindon said:
Yeah, my plan is to go with Federal AE for range use and get something for home defense and just leave it in one of the mags.

Has anyone used the cheaper sites in this list?

http://ammoseek.com/?from=resultspa...5&mfg=5&keywords=&sortby=price&.submit=Search


$15 for 50 rounds seems good, but the reviews on the site are terrible. It's hard trying to find a reputable place and keep the prices down. LuckyGunner is the first site I've checked that has good reviews, they're at $16.75 a box.
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Shop at www.ammoman.com and be done with it. That site is highly rated and often recommended. I've purchased from them a lot in the past before I got into reloading ammo. $15 bucks for 50 rounds works out to be 30 cents around. The cheapest .40 on ammoman is 29.9 cents a round and you get free shipping. http://www.ammoman.com/webstore_40.htm for .40.
www.ammunitiontogo.com is good too but they charge shipping.

Save yourself the tax and shipping and buy in bulk from ammoman is my recommendation. And if you think 1000 round lots is too much, than go check Walmart. You won't find much cheaper locally than Walmart. Their prices are often better than online vendors.
 
jfindon said:
Yeah, my plan is to go with Federal AE for range use and get something for home defense and just leave it in one of the mags.

Has anyone used the cheaper sites in this list?

http://ammoseek.com/?from=resultspa...5&mfg=5&keywords=&sortby=price&.submit=Search


$15 for 50 rounds seems good, but the reviews on the site are terrible. It's hard trying to find a reputable place and keep the prices down. LuckyGunner is the first site I've checked that has good reviews, they're at $16.75 a box.
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I understand your desire to be frugal, but don't be too frugal when it comes to the actual self defense rounds you will depend on. With a Glock, it will most likely eat anything you put in it (my 19 takes everything I have ever tried), but once you settle on a self defense, hollow point you like, plan on shooting a few boxes of it to verify that YOUR gun likes it... and yes, that's going to cost you a bit but it's worth it (critical and necessary). Once you settle on your carry ammo, test the gun vigorously with it, then shoot whatever you want for practice. But STILL... plan on shooting your "good stuff" a bit every year to ensure it "behaves" the way you want it to over time as the gun is broken in.

Your actual choice of loaded self defense ammo is no place to scrimp.
 
I thought about going to Walmart after seeing it was going to cost me $12-14 to ship four boxes of ammo.

I may do the bulk purchases down the road, but just starting out I can't rationalize spending another $300 on top of a $569 purchase so quickly, so I'll stop by Walmart today and see what they have.
 
timcsaw said:
I understand your desire to be frugal, but don't be too frugal when it comes to the actual self defense rounds you will depend on. With a Glock, it will most likely eat anything you put in it (my 19 takes everything I have ever tried), but once you settle on a self defense, hollow point you like, plan on shooting a few boxes of it to verify that YOUR gun likes it... and yes, that's going to cost you a bit but it's worth it (critical and necessary). Once you settle on your carry ammo, test the gun vigorously with it, then shoot whatever you want for practice. But STILL... plan on shooting your "good stuff" a bit every year to ensure it "behaves" the way you want it to over time as the gun is broken in.

Your actual choice of loaded self defense ammo is no place to scrimp.
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I didn't mean to imply I'd buy self defense ammo and put it in a mag without ever firing it, but what you outline is exactly what I had in my head. Right now though I just need to buy the cheapest I can, get the most experience I can, and feel competent with a firearm. Enough so that I will be comfortable if it ever comes down to using it in self defense, that is.

Thanks.
 
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jfindon said:
I didn't mean to imply I'd buy self defense ammo and put it in a mag without ever firing it, but what you outline is exactly what I had in my head. Right now though I just need to buy the cheapest I can, get the most experience I can, and feel competent with a firearm. Enough so that I will be comfortable if it ever comes down to using it in self defense, that is.

Thanks.
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I'd thought (and hoped) that that was what you were thinking, but I think you understand that I wanted to check. Sounds like you are on a very good track to becoming proficient and you've done a great job of forward thinking. Now go on, and have some fun!:)

Best regards,
Tim
 
Yep, I understand :) Thanks again.

Still need to find some sort of safe... the only one I have seen that has no negative reviews is the Fort Knox handgun safe. More than I wanted to spend, but if that's what it takes to get something reliable then so be it. It's more for keeping anyone from getting a hold of it when I'm out of the house since I won't be carrying initially.
 
Fingerprint recognizer safe. Can be programmed to hold up to 10 prints IIRC, so it can recognize you and the wife (if you're married) and needs only a few seconds to read your print and open. Can be done in pitch black.
I would recommend having a bright, (~80 lumens) reliable single mode light where it's easily accessable. Surefire G2X Tactical is a good one.
Also make sure you have good night sights (maybe tritium). Burglars operate best when standard Glock irons don't work at all, at night.
Standard procedure with this setup is to go for the light with your non dominant hand and flash the perp in the face to temporarily stun him. While he's stunned you get the gun ready. Order him out/ on the ground, don't let him know you have a weapon. if he fails to comply, and you feel that life and limb are in danger, warn him that you have a gun. Shooting is the absolute last resort. If you can get him to leave with just a whack to the forehead with the light bezel, good.
Practice, practice, practice.

Disclaimer: I'm by no means a self defense instructor, I just know procedure.
Check with a defense instructor if possible.
 
I was going to stay away from anything electronic because they can fail... I've read many things about how you can open biometric safes if you don't wipe the scanner off, and I don't really want to worry about batteries and/or power outages. Honestly right now I was planning on leaving it in the Glock case in my closet while I'm home, and when I'm out, put a gun lock on it at the very least. I don't think most burglars bring a pair of cutters to cut a gun lock off. I just can't seem to find a safe right now that I'm 100% happy with, even the Fort Knox doesn't sit well with me simply because every combination is out here on the Internet. If you're gone for 4 hours and a burglar knows anything about the Simplex locking system they can get in it.

On the light front I'm covered, I can stun the hell out of someone with my Fenix TK35 (820 lumens max). I planned on getting the Trijicon sights as my first upgrade, but I was in the process of researching those and the Meprolights.
 
Stopped by Walmart today, they had a 100rd box of WWB for $32 so I picked one up. Comes out cheaper than any deal I've seen online once you add the shipping, so I'll just stick with this I guess.

r8f4pi.jpg


Now I'm invested and I have to get the gun :D
 
Seems like you're pretty much covered.
Do you plan on stunning the perp long enough to get to the closet/get the gun unlocked?
 
thatotherguy said:
Seems like you're pretty much covered.
Do you plan on stunning the perp long enough to get to the closet/get the gun unlocked?
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Well if they're in my room, chances are I won't have enough time to get to my closet. By the time someone is in my room and waking me up I'm not sure how I'd manage to buy enough time to get anything ready. I do know that the light on full power will blind someone as long as they're looking at it, but I don't really know what the best action would be in the event of someone being in your face the second you wake up. Doesn't seem like very good odds.

You can supposedly open the Fort Knox in seconds, but I still don't like knowing that anyone can open it if they have enough time.
 
I personally am a heavy sleeper, and still wake up whenever someone opens my door or windows.
IMO if it's defending your life, get them off you by gouging the eyes and kicking the groin. That should buy you enough time to get to a weapon, in this case a flashlight. Use the light as a kuboton. Get them as far away as possible, and if possible go for the gun.
If you are interested, there are wedges you can put under a door that, when disturbed, let off a freakishly loud alarm.
 
thatotherguy said:
I personally am a heavy sleeper, and still wake up whenever someone opens my door or windows.
IMO if it's defending your life, get them off you by gouging the eyes and kicking the groin. That should buy you enough time to get to a weapon, in this case a flashlight. Use the light as a kuboton. Get them as far away as possible, and if possible go for the gun.
If you are interested, there are wedges you can put under a door that, when disturbed, let off a freakishly loud alarm.
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I'm a pretty light sleeper, and my door/room/house in general is pretty damn noisy. You can't walk around downstairs without setting off all sorts of creaks and groans, and my door is obnoxiously loud. I'd likely be awake just from hearing them get in, but you never know. At any rate, I have my flashlight within arm's reach so I would at least have that ready. I'm sure I'd have enough time to at least kick them in the groin and get them in the lovely Muay Thai plumb to knee them in the face, but of course it's totally different when it's actually happening. All I can do is be as prepared as possible in the unlikely event.

Interesting about the door wedges, didn't know they made such a thing. I'll check them out.
 
Security wedges- neat tools. Look reasonably normal, push the door a half an inch SHREEEEEEEEEKKKKK. Don't have one myself, but have tested one out a few years back. Loud enough to wake Rip Van Winkle.

Heck, haven't seen em in a while, don;t know if they even still make em.
 
jfindon said:
Stopped by Walmart today, they had a 100rd box of WWB for $32 so I picked one up. Comes out cheaper than any deal I've seen online once you add the shipping, so I'll just stick with this I guess.

r8f4pi.jpg


Now I'm invested and I have to get the gun :D
Click to expand...

That's not cheaper than 299 delivered for 1000 rounds from the link I posted above.
 
harkamus said:
That's not cheaper than 299 delivered for 1000 rounds from the link I posted above.
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No, but as said, I don't want to spend $300 on top of the $570 gun right off the bat. Buying in bulk is a better deal, but I'm not ready to do it right now.
 
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