i got a new shotgun....pics...few general questions

so yeah...my new 12 guage...well, its used but new to me.
first time ive ever bought a gun...
been getting nervous lately with the way things have been popping off.

i think i got it for a song. i would rather not say the brand because i know people here are passionate about their guns...its an import.
i paid $170 with tax for the shotgun, a box of shells, and the trigger lock.

went pretty smooth. i thought the name check would take a while but it was fast.
filled out a form, he made a call and got the approval.

so the questions

now that i know it is painless i am thinking about getting a couple more weapons for the house.
at least 1 pistol, maybe a couple.
maybe another shotgun.

i dont have any brand and calibers in mind..im going to start looking into it.

my question really is what are some good places to buy online? i know i can do it and have it sent to the place i just bought this. thats a service he offers..
you know like ebay for guns?

if not an auction style just an online supplier that has a variety of makes and models?
is it best to look at each manufacturer separately?

id like to come across a nice online catalogue.......

thanks in advance

I got no idea of a place to buy online, have you tried gun shows?

Anyways I got a shotgun story. My dad always wanted a pump action one like yours, when he finally bought one he got a 7 shot one, at home he tried it and only 2 rounds enter so he went mad to the store to see what's goin on and the guy just open it and remove a small wooden stick, my old man in shame asked why was that and the guy told him the gun was from US and some states don't allow to sell shotguns with more than 2 shell capacity, so the makers just put the stick to limit the capacity in the store and that makes them legal

One of those things wise people do to bend the law

Try Buds gun shop, or my personal favorite gunbroker.com. Congrats and good luck.

That's scary. Just looking at the books on your bookshelf Prozac and guns not a good mix, maybe you will read Cake Wreaks, I hope you have a lockable gun cabinet. A pistol is a lot more comfortable under your pillow than that killing machine. Good luck feeling safe. Take care

originally posted by: Nickn3
Try Buds gun shop, or my personal favorite gunbroker.com. Congrats and good luck.

I'm a Gun Dealer myself.

That being said a lot of times i can find better prices on gunsamerica.com than my wholesale dealer price.

Gunbroker isn't bad but gunsamerica seems to have the most competition hence the great pricing.

Any other questions feel free to ask.

reply to: Grovit
congratulations on your newly acquired firearm. ..I hold the strong opinion that guns should not be bought online. ..especially handguns ...furthermore
there are way more laws regarding the sales of handguns that might get in the way....All legalities a side I personally prefer to hold and "check" the weapon out and make sure it's comfortable and in good mechanical order before any purchase. ..

Grovit,

Ok so two of the places I check out first are J&G Sales and Aim Surplus. Both of these sell a pretty wide selection of weapons from surplus, used, and police trade in guns, to brand new guns from a massive variety of very reputable companies.

Now if I was going to buy a brand new pistol right now... Grand Power P1 Mk 7 Compact I'd buy this pistol at TWICE this price and be HAPPY to pay that! This brand is up and coming, and to give you an idea, once this batch at these prices are gone the next distributor will be DOUBLING IF NOT TRIPLING THE PRICE! And the reality is they are worth it.

Ok now here's my caveat though... Pistols are crap for home defense. My second Caveat is if you have the budget for it buy TWO of whatever pistol you settle on. Here's why...

1. If at all possible get a CCW: Guns can only save your life if they are loaded, on your person, and legally possessed. Having a CCW makes this more likely to be your situation.

2. You are in more danger from your own pistol than the bad guy if you aren't comfortable and competent with it: Now this being said, there's only one way to get competent with a firearm. PRACTICE! Especially if you're a relatively new shooter you should not be buying ammunition in under 500 round lots. This is also why I am advocating the grand power. In theory you can afford two of them for less than the price of one pistol from a more well known brand... (Honestly under a thousand dollars you aren't finding anything that comes close to equaling grand powers in my personal experience.)

3. All this practice will eventually take it's toll on your practice gun: One of the first rules of CCW is buy something that goes bang every time NO MATTER WHAT! Ideally this means you more or less put not many more than the recommended break in rounds through the designated carry gun while letting the other copy take the load of your training regimen. (IN addition once you figure out which actual self defense ammunition the practice gun likes you should run several magazines of this ammunition through your actual carry gun including some hard rapid fire drills, because occasionally different guns of the same make and model will not be as happy with the same ammunition.) On this note also you really do want to take your carry gun magazines to the range once or twice just to get the springs broken in properly reducing the chance of odd misfeeds.

Now here's my final reason for recommending the grand power compact and in 9mm. I'm thinking by some of your questions you are a relatively new shooter. If that is the case a compact pistol is all the smaller I'd go even if it does limit your carry position options because as a new shooter the compact pistols will be easier for you to manage recoil AND shoot with acceptable levels of accuracy in a high stress situation! Also 9x19 ammunition in standard 115 grain Full Metal Jacket is about the cheapest handgun ammo available currently. That's a good thing considering you're going to want to budget for like 1500 rounds of 115 grain FMJ of which you should shoot 80% of it before you start hunting for your designated defensive load. This will give you a level of comfort with your pistol that many shooters sadly do not have.

Many people will try to tell you that 9mm is not enough knockdown power or etc. Truthfully though, the difference in total energy between ANY of the major rounds is pretty negligeble. On top of that though test after test that have been done scientifically say that shot placement counts for more than ANY OTHER FACTOR out of pistol caliber weapons! In addition though 9mm being on the milder end of the recoil spectrum gives you a much greater chance at snapping off a second third and fourth shot much quicker and in a MUCH MORE CONTROLLED FASHION than other options. This counts for a huge amount considering the likelihood of you hitting and disabling an opponent on the first shot is basically zero!

Ok Now onto ordering firearms online. Like the guy at the shop said you can in fact do so and have the resulting purchase shipped to the dealer at which point he'll do the transfer paperwork and background check for you for a fee between 15 and 50 dollars per transfer or firearm depending on the dealer. (If it's more than this you should find another transfer option which can easily be done by going to gunbroker.com and using their FFL finder link which will give you a list of FFL's in your local area that covers their hours, fee schedule, and other relevant details including what they stock and any things they will or will not do.)

There are several sites that collect and list active promotions in a blog style format that will help you find the best deals on a gun once you have narrowed down what you want. In addition there are quite a few sites that collate the best deals on popular makes and models which I do not know off hand. However a good start is to peruse the links section on the side of the main page at The Firearm Blog

However if you are feeling overwhelmed and kind of want some help narrowing some stuff down, feel free to write a post sort of telling us sages of the semiautomatic that hang out here in this subforum what your wants, needs, and etc are and I'm sure one of us will have some advice that at least gets you headed in the right direction.

a reply to: Indigent

This is not actually why the stick is in there....

It has to do with the capacity limits for certain types of hunting you can do with a shotgun. If it was a state law hard and fast about capacity limits no way that would fly.

Highfreq:

I couldn't disagree with you more strongly! For one Guns are NOT SOLD ONLINE! And the only people that believe they are are people who believe the lies people who don't want you having ANY GUNS constantly spout! You cannot just put in your visa number and have a gun shipped to your house.... Matter of fact that's been illegal since several years BEFORE ARPANET first came online! (Arpanet being the government and academic only precursor to the internet we have today... yes that's right online gun sales were illegal before ARPANET.... SUCK IT NANCY YOU FRIGGIN LIAR!! A sale like that has been illegal since the gun control act of 1968.... so yeah)

Now that being said... what you CAN do is find a dealer in your area who will do a transfer for you for a nominal fee. AT this point you can call up and start the process of ordering a firearm from an online retailer and most of the time they will take your card info but they DO NOT BILL IT until you have the dealer you wish to run the transfer through fax the retailer his info including licensing information. At this point your card gets billed.... but that in NO WAY MAKES THE GUN YOURS. Once the gun physically arrives at your gun dealer's legal location of business they call you and you go in and fill out all the standard background check paperwork et cetera AND pay your background check fee AND THE TRANSFER FEE....

Guess what though?

You've spent all the money so the gun is yours now right?

WRONG

If you do not for some reason pass the background check and the dealer is told not to transfer you the weapon depending on both dealers policies you can be out anything from a minimum of 25% of the TOTAL cash you have outlayed up to this point to ALL OF IT!!!

Yes that's right folks some dealers won't even let you essentially get someone else to buy the gun so you don't lose your money and instead they KEEP the gun in the name of crime prevention! (And or greed but whatever *shrugs shoulders*)

So yeah.... No such thing as online gun sales guys....

Now onto point two which is JUST AS INVALID

Many online retailers actually have MUCH BETTER return policies than brick and mortar gun shops, including on used guns! (especially on used guns actually considering most brick and mortar shops are skeevy D bags that would sell their own mother and think a refund is when they trick someone into paying twice for something!) Whereas online retailers at the very least spell their policies out very clearly, but even then since they live and die by feedback tend to allow some wiggle room even if they technically don't have to.

On new guns though this matters not at all however because if you have a problem it's the manufacturer not the LGS you bought it at that deals with it! (sometimes well sometimes horribly depending on who it is lol)

What this all adds up to though.... is a situation where only a fool shops at brick and mortars 90% of the time.... Why should I spend a 40% OR MORE premium to get treated worse and have a VASTLY inferior selection to choose from?

So yeah .... couldn't disagree with you more. The reality is most local gun shops are over priced, unfriendly, and have a bad selection. Whereas online you can pay less, get more, get treated better, and have more money to buy ammo!

a reply to: roguetechie

I can't imagine a hunter that is required to use 2 rounds and be cheap enough to buy a pump action and not a double barrel.

Anyways that's what the guy told my dad and I like the tale

a reply to: Grovit

Congrats on your purchase... That weapon can use slugs that could take down a bear all the way to shot shells for birds... I would recommend you purchase some different shot shells types and go shoot them through your new purchase. Different people have different recoil tolerances.. Very helpful if you know someone who is a real shooter and not some armchair expert who can give you a few pointers on the operation of your new purchase and care/cleaning etc etc..

Buds guns has been running some advertisements and every now and then there really are some good deals... Centerfire systems is also a good place to check stuff out... again congrats; stay safe..

a reply to: Cloudbuster

thanks for the replies to everyone...

edit"
misread
why is prozac nation a scary book to have?


no lockable cab

if i get more guns then i will. i have a trigger lock on the shotgun

originally posted by: highfreq
reply to: Grovit
congratulations on your newly acquired firearm. ..I hold the strong opinion that guns should not be bought online. ..especially handguns ...furthermore
there are way more laws regarding the sales of handguns that might get in the way....All legalities a side I personally prefer to hold and "check" the weapon out and make sure it's comfortable and in good mechanical order before any purchase. ..

Don't fall for the anti-gunners rhetoric.

Guns can be bought online, but the weapons have to be shipped to a Federal Firearms Licensed Dealer. After the gun is delivered the FFL dealer will do the paperwork and sometimes an instant background check. If all checks out and there is no waiting period, the original purchaser can receive the gun. This usually costs $25 to $50 in addition to the gun purchase.

As far as holding and checking out the gun, you could go to Wal-Mart to hold it or even a rental range to hold and fire the weapon. YMMV.

The book is not scary , but Prozac is. And guns are scary., a reply to: Grovit

a reply to: Grovit

Buy nothing "on-line" untill you have an idea of what you're dealing with.

From your OP, I see you're a novice in firearms.(nothing wrong with that) and don't know much.

You need to shoot as many guns as you can before you even think about buying more...

I'm gonna stop, to much to type from my phone. I have good serious advive, but I need a keyboard. I'll be back in a while.

you likely know already but do not ever point it at anything or anyone unless you are gonna pull the trigger. and if you kill an animal you must eat it.

a reply to: Grovit

I'd like to say I think you've done a wise thing here. A household with zero guns is a terrible idea, and you could do a lot worse than a pump-action 12. Just the sound of it being cycled is a great scare tactic, and plenty of boom if it comes to that.

Incidentally, you're one of my favorite new members here. Welcome to ATS.

Nothing quite like the sound of a pump action shot gun.....tends to make people think twice when they hear it.

I'll finish where KawRider9 stopped. It's best to get some hands on experience with any gun before you buy. Shotguns are somewhat simple by comparison to some hand guns and AR's. That said I suggest hitting up your local shooting range and trying a few of the guns the range has for you to rent. The one by my house has well over 300 guns to choose from.

I have bought most of my guns online. Gunbroker.com works well and CheaperThanDirt.com is good with excellent customer service.
Hopes this helps, and enjoy your new firearm.

a reply to: Indigent

Hi all. Long time lurker, first time poster.

Actually roguetechie is correct. Here in Iowa we call them Duck Plugs because you are limited to 3 shells for ducks. It's 1 in the chamber and 2 in the tube.

originally posted by: Urantia1111
a reply to: Grovit

I'd like to say I think you've done a wise thing here. A household with zero guns is a terrible idea, and you could do a lot worse than a pump-action 12. Just the sound of it being cycled is a great scare tactic, and plenty of boom if it comes to that.

Incidentally, you're one of my favorite new members here. Welcome to ATS.

thanks my friend.

im not a total newb with guns.

first time i have ever purchased my own.
used to shoot with my dad and uncles back in the day.
been a long time though.

i feel better having it in the house.
the world is getting crazy you know...

also, to the long lecture about buying online

i know that..
i talked to the dude that ran the shop i was at today. i know they have to be transferred to him or another dealer.

he had a nice little selection of long guns and pistols.

i just want to be able to look online where there is pretty much anything i can think of.
compare prices and read reviews and such.

i will say im not into it for the sport of it...
just not big on shooting in general.

if i do get a pistol i will go to the range every so often just to stay familiar with it and keep the pistol in working order. other than that it will be locked up.
im not one to go to the range all the time. i dont want to carry.

this is strictly a home protection thing.

thats as far as it goes for me...