Kevin links to The Warren’s series on what kind of guns should a person starting a collection acquire. Kevin also offers his suggestions. I have compiled my suggestions below but bare in mind I haven’t completed my own collection.

A while back (circa 1997) SayUncle had a firearm collection of around 20 guns. I moved from my hometown to Knoxville into a rental house that was not in the safest of neighborhoods. Much to the disdain of anti-gun folks, I sold off my collection (without doing background checks), except for two handguns, out of fear they’d get stolen at my new residence. I had no place to store them. I kept the two handguns (I sold one a while back) until finishing graduate school and now that I am a suburbanite, I am replenishing my collection. Also, I am a very functional sort of guy. I don’t collect antiques or fancy thingamabobs. It’s about function, utility, and toughness. At a minimum, my collection will look like this (and it would be my recommendation to a novice collector starting out – even in order of importance):

Combat Handgun: The absolute first purchase. This gun should be in a respectable caliber (preferably 45) and reliable. Many fine options available for this:

SigArms P220: Sig makes the finest handguns and are my personal preference.
H&K USP: Also, excellent handguns that come in a variety of configurations.
Glock: Some folks love them and some hate them. I think they feel clunky and are ugly. But these guns are reliable and are very easy for beginners to operate. And they’re darn near indestructible.
1911: The old reliable. Combat proven for decades and easy to operate.

SHTF: This is the gun you should have for when the shit hits the fan. I am, of course, reminded of the LA riots and seeing the Korean shop owners with their SKS and AK47 variants on the rooftops of their shops keeping looters at bay (total side note: funny how the LAPD was captured on video running from the riots. But after it was over, the LAPD got brave and went back to arrest these shop owners). This gun should be reliable, easy to use, and be in a military caliber. Good choices are:

Any AK variant: Cheap, reliable, easy to get. ‘Nuff said.
FNFAL: Expensive but worth it.
AR15: Scalable (models range in price from $500 – $5,000) and military standard.

Shotgun: A shotgun can substitute for a SHTF gun pretty well. I recommend pump action because the distinctive Ka-sheenk sound made when pumped is one of the scariest sounds in the world. A shotgun is also good for hunting doves, rabbits, and squirrels. As for a brand, there are so many variants depending on price range. Remington makes many models at varying price ranges.

Compact Handgun: This is the gun you will carry. Each of the combat handguns mentioned above comes in a compact version and all are excellent. In fact, the compact handguns mentioned can substitute for your combat handgun. That is unless you’re going for a pocket gun, which is not a substitute for a combat handgun. A SigArms P229 (which I have), and many others can pinch-hit as both.

Hunting Rifle: A rifle for bagging game. Savage model 10 series are great as are many fine Remington products.

Plinker (Rifle): A small caliber rifle, such as a 22. I prefer semi-autos such as the Ruger 10/22. My current plinker is actually a Crosman 1077 semi-automatic pellet rifle (I wanted something I could shoot in the backyard). Any .22, .17, or pellet rifle would work. This rifle is good for practicing as the ammo is cheap. It’s also good for getting critters off your property.

And if I had to choose only one gun? I’ve addressed that already.

Posted in uncategorized on August 18th, 2003 by SayUncle | RSS 2.0 |