Nice. I have a 1942 M38 Mosin Nagant. Our home defense weapon is a Ruger P6000 .357 mag.

I want to expand on this a bit, and dispel a couple of myths.

Your best bet for home defense ammo (if you insist a gun is the way to go) is rat shot for at least the first few rounds. It'* like a shotgun shell, but made in short rifle and pistol calibers. Better chance of limited penetration and much lowered chance of killing someone.

And, remember, just because someone breaks into your house you do not have the right to shoot them. No more than the cops can shoot an unarmed person who broke into the local liquor store. If you're going to pull the trigger, you better be ready and able to prove someone'* life or limb was in immenent danger. The whole idea of "if they're inside, they're a target" is a myth that plenty of people have served time due to.

Think about it, people have successfully sued because they broke into someone'* house and hurt themselves. Sad as it is, if you shoot an unarmed person, and they get a good attorney, you're screwed.

Have fun with the new weapon, but please don't even jokingly call it a toy. I know how you meant it, but even that little suggestion in the back of your brain could potentially sneak forward and cause an accident. But, the AK is a great rifle to fire. Nice and smooth. Felt like even less kick than my good ol' M-16. And just really cool looking!!

I agree with Ed. My defense gun of choice is a 60'* vintage Colt Detective Special in .38 with semi-wadcutter hollow points. I read an article about bullet travel in a home defense setting and the semi-wad cutters were recommended.

Personally my favorite all around caliber is .45 long colt. I have a nice *&W Model 25 in 45LC and love it. I own two classic .45 autos that are near and dear, but I'm not a fan of using an automatic as a "desk drawer" gun. I don't trust a clip that'* been under pressure 99% of the time. The revolver works every time.

I'd take heed to Bill comment about what could happen to you if you and to use it. It'* a crazy world the criminals and sue the homeowner for breaking into the house.

Just my 2 cents.

That is a fine looking piece you've got will. I love it'* dark look.

I was able to get out to the range on the 4th before I started a million home improvement projects. The range was totally empty to my surprise, so I had it to myself. First couple trigger pulls worried me, as one round stovepiped and a failure to fire. But then she was running like a diesel with no further problems. It was pretty fun to fire.

Thanks I will look into this in the future.

I thought I'd bring this thread out from the dead as it was mine to start with. I have since broadened my arsenal with a few other guns. I've added a Remington 597 and a Walther P22 as my primary plinking guns. A Remington 870 serves as both a home defense gun and a pheasant gun to be used after my brother returns from Iraq. And finally, I have a 9mm Stoeger Cougar for both home defense and plinking duty. I'd still like to add a revolver and a lever gun in the near future. A little further in the future I plan on moving out of Iowa and into a more more gun-friendly state with a shall-issue concealed carry law (needing a permit to buy a handgun and having the county sheriff decide he doesn't want many concealed weapon permits chaps my ***.)

dang, got a bunch of gunslingers in here.

i myself have a 12 gauge with rubber bullets,
a 15th century katana that hangs over my bed,
and a 22 year old recurve bow, 55lb

lucky ive never had to use either on a robber,
those rubber bullets suck to get shot with.

When my father passed away last April, I got his collection of about 14 guns, including a *&W 686 .357 Mag w/6" barrel. I don't have it in my possession at the moment, because I am not 21 and don't need that legal trouble. The rest of the collection consisted of shotguns and assortments of .22s and .22 mags. I've been around guns since I was about 6, and I've been trying to pass the information onto my friends who show an interest, simply because there'* way too many young adults out there who have no idea how to handle a weapon. Just because you think it isn't loaded, doesn't mean there could be a round in there waiting to go off.

I have a friend who bought, what I believe is an M91 Mosin Nagant. It was his first gun, and it shot 7.62x54 ammunition. That'* somewhere around 300 fps slower than a 30-06 round, if I remember correctly. He was 18, now 19, and had tons of fun with the gun. I took him up to the shooting range and took him through all the ropes on how to use a gun. Always treat as if it were loaded, always keeps the bolt open when others are downrange as a courtesy and safety, aim low, try to keep the gun pointed at the ground and away from your feet, blah blah so on and so forth. Later on, he bought something similar to an m4 (it shot .223 rounds), and decided to sell it a few months later and buy a laptop). I was very comfortable around him and handling weapons.

In October, he began having problems with the neighbor across the street from his parents house. The neighbor was somewhat mentally handicapped, and while my friend wasn't at the house, the neighbor came over and started pounding on his parent'* front door trying to get in. His dad, being 6'6" and 365 lbs, answered the door. The guy continued freaking out, until he tried to force himself in. My friend'* dad then shoved him out into the front yard and told him to go back home. He didn't listen, and came charging at my friend'* dad. Needless to say, a body slam pretty much took care of the guy until the cops got there.

It happened once again, and my friend was with me at my house, and his mom was all alone at the house. I raced over to his house on the other side of town to find the guy across the street, being calmed down by his care taker. My friend just started flipping out and yelling at the mentally retarded guy, blurting random things that he has a high powered military rifle and is not afraid to shoot it. At the time, he was trying to get in the Air Force. I kind of explained to him that'* not the kind of stuff you want to say to him. Cops came a casual 30 minutes later and settled everything. I don't think the handicapped guy is at that residence any longer.

However, my friend now carries a 7.62x54 round in the sling of his gun in his bedroom for 'self protection'. For the life of me, he will not listen to me when I say LAWSUIT and LETHAL. He has it stuck in his mind that if somebody enters that house, he'* going for his M91 instead of his father'* .22 pistol in the room across the hall. He doesn't understand the capabilities of the bullet, and how many houses that could possibly travel through. I told him that the only way he'* not going to get sued over that rifle is if he uses the butt of that rifle to knock the guy down.

What kind of trouble do you think he could get into if he decided to use that M91 as a self defense weapon? He just bought an SKS assault rifle that shoots 7.62x39 rounds. I haven't yet seen that gun, but I really wish he would have held off on that until he matures his mind a bit.

Depending on how your house or apartment is built, even a 9mm is too much. They have a nasty reputation for over-penetration. And in your attacker'* case, this is why you should choose your ammo carefully or pick another caliber. If it over-penetrates, you hit something else beyond your target, and it never transfers it'* full energy to the target. A waste of energy.

A 380 (9mm short for some) is a better home defense caliber than a 9mm. This assumes, of course, that you actually hit your target, but if you miss, the 380 won't go through as many walls. It'* simply a 2mm shorter case. (it'* actually 9mm diameter).

Personally, I still, and always will, prefer the large-caliber slow freight train that will simply flatten whatever it hits and throw it back a couple feet.

There are actual statistics out there that prove those shooting the larger calibers have to pull the trigger less often in crisis situations. There'* something 'calming' to your attacker when they realize the hole in the end of that thing is nearly half an inch.

I must respectfully disagree with your statement will that 9mm will penetrate more than larger calibers like the 45acp. I've been doing a lot of researching into the subject and I find the this is not true. Using modern JHP bullets, the penetration of handgun rounds is typically very similiar, with the larger, heavier calibers have slightly more. The main advantage of going with a larger caliber is the fact that it opens up a larger wound channel making it more likely that it will hit a vital organ, artery, or nerve on the perp. This would mean that you might be able to stop the attacker with fewer shots. On the flip side, with all the adrenaline going through your system while being attacked could prove difficult to make well placed shots. In which case, I like the idea of having 16rnds rather than 8 or 9 with a 45. This is part of my reasoning in choosing a 9mm, as well as with the price of FMJ I can shoot twice as much 9mm as 45 so I get more practice for my dollar.