Reading the OP’s post he said “ban state (10 rounds)” so, not knowing CT’s laws I assumed he meant standard capacity magazines were banned. Hence, I recommended an AR with 10 round magazines. But if AR’s are in fact banned then that is a whole different story. At that point I would defer to a pump shotgun for HD.
If I lived in CA or NJ, I would run a Mini 14 or an M1A for a long gun. An AR has to be so mutilated there as to not be worth it.
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You can find a tactial lever action for decent prices, I was just looking at a Henry with Magpul furniture this morning for about $1200. A 30-30, 44mag or 357 has a ton of options as far as ammo, and you can mount a light and Dot on it quite easily.
A lot of people have mentioned the RXM on this post as well, I have about 3k rounds through mine, and while I find myself a CZ guy, I really like that I have previous mags and holsters from an old Gen3 Glock 19 so it was an easy transition for me, I really do like the gun for the $400 and think its totally worth it.
I forget how convoluted and tricky our restrictions are compared to almost everywhere else. Given those restrictions and what’s been suggested here, I’ve come up with a few legal options all very different:
- Tactical shotgun like the mossberg 590A or the Beretta A300. Upside is a lot of stopping power within the 10-round limit. Downside is that it requires a lot more training to be effective under stress, I’ve heard, and if I shoot it inside I worry that I’ll be flash banging myself
2 - 5.56 rifle like the mini-14. Main drawback is that I’ve hear those mags are harder to reload with under stress. And there’s the noise/disorientation issue.
3 - PCC like the Ruger PC Carbine. This is where I’m leaning, mostly based on the fact that it seems like the one a new shooter is least likely to screw up with under pressure. Downside is that 10 rounds in 9mm is not a lot of stopping power compared to the other 2.
I appreciate all in the recommendations and input here. It sounds like given the restrictions in my state, there’s no one, good, obvious option. The other thing is that based on what y’all have said, what I’m really asking is “what should I get for my first gun?”, which takes the pressure off somewhat. Based on that, I’m leaning toward the PCC. I’ve heard they’re a lot of fun to shoot so it’s more likely I’ll actually practice.
If I decide I need more gun, I can get more pieces later. With any luck some of those restrictions may get overturned in the next year, maybe.
If you shoot anything inside you’re not going to be a happy camper from a noise standpoint, muzzle flash indoors is probably not a big deal if it’s daytime or you have a light on the gun. Plus you know where the light switches are in your house!
If a shotgun isn’t your preference and a neutered capacity PCC isn’t your cup of tea….
.44 Magnum or .357 Magnum out of a 16.1” barrel is a hell of a lot more effective than a 9mm is going to be. With careful ammo selection you can do a lot of stuff with it.
All ready to add a scout light and a good red dot sight. Just ditch the muzzle brake.
That Dark Series lever action in either 44 or .357 with a nice RDS or LPVO would be a very good option… Then get a revolver in the same caliber too…
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Speaking of time to gain access and control…
What’s the plan for so-called “safe storage” of this long gun? According to law, it must be kept in a locked container, on your person, or in such close proximity that it’s the equivalent of being on person.
Another PCC possibility - and one that won’t look so scary to the CT folks - might be the Henry carbine. H27 Homesteader Carbine | Henry Repeating Arms
9mm not the best option in some people’s minds - the theory is that if you are going to have to mess with a rifle then you might as well have the advantage of a rifle caliber. But one advantage here is that if you ever buy a 9mm handgun then you are not adding another caliber to the supply list.
I know nothing about the Henry and I do not know anyone who actually has one.
CoalDragger mentioned a shotgun or a lever action. Some other members have mentioned these options as well. The shotgun has limited capacity but hard to beat for putting down an opponent. One problem though is finding a range to practice with the way you would want to for HD type use - a lot of ranges are not set up for tactical training. That said, a lot of shotgun usage (in my opinion) boils down to the manual of arms / handling skills. I used to shoot 3-gun matches and a lot of people struggled with reloading.
The Mossberg 590 is a good choice in a pump, and the 500 is really not bad either. I think the 500 has a thinner barrel and a plastic trigger housing, but honestly most of us would never wear either these out. The Berretta A300 has gotten good reviews, but you might also look at the Mossberg 940 Tactical model, which is similar.
The lever action option appeals to a lot of folks. Either .357 or .44 would give you more power than a 9mm. I guess the biggest question for HD is how smooth the action is. Some of the guns tuned for Cowboy Action Shooting might be worth looking at - I manipulated a Taylor & Co. 1873 at the NRA show once and it seemed pretty impressive.
Despite your favoring a long gun for your first weapon, I think StainlessSteelRat is not insane to suggest a good revolver - but needs to be a quality one like a GP100 or a Colt, or a S&W but I hate the trigger lock that most of them have, You can get the GP100 in a 7 round model, and honestly, I think I might prefer that to 11 rounds of 9mm. And a double-action revolver might help train you to slow down your shots and aim better - people with semi-autos often resort to a mag dump. Such a gun would also pair nicely with a .357 lever-action. These guns are not cheap however. But quality guns can last for decades, so think of them as a long-term investment. Get a 4 or 6 inch model unless you intend to carry outside the home.
So, what you have seen here is lots of competing advice - all of which sounded reasonable to the person who offered it. The thing to remember is that guns are tools, and they have different purposes. Hammers are not the ideal way to drive screws, and screwdrivers are useless for driving nails. Open end wrenches fit where a ratchet might not, but ratchets are much quicker in many situations.
Which is meant to say, there is no single gun that solves all your problems. Which is why most of us here have multiple weapons - rifles, shotguns, and pistols.
Oh, and JSB offered good advice about finding a range with rentals so that you can try out some things. No one would buy a car without test driving the model, but a lot of guns get bought without the buyer ever having shot that type of weapon.
Good luck on your search and keep us in the loop.
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Mossberg is a solid choice. I’ve owned a 500 for 40 years with an untold number of rounds through it from birdshot to 1 ounce slugs and it has never missed a beat. The only repair was to replace the cracked plastic safety lever with a metal one. I have an 18.5 inch barrel and a 30 inch barrel so it has filled both self defense and hunting roles (took several deer with when I was young).
I had to do the exact some repair to mine. Like most shotguns, it did not get shot much until I started shooting 3-gun in 2002, and the safety broke a few years later - by which time the gun was probably 25 years old - so might have been age as much as use.
The gunsmith replaced it with a metal safety which also has a larger profile and is much more tactical. I assume the 590 has the metal safety to go with the metal trigger guard. If price is not a problem that could be the better choice.
One of the members mentioned the Remington 870, which would be almost the default choice a couple of decades back, but not sure where those are on the spectrum now after the Remington bankruptcy.
On the off chance that the OP is a lefty, then the Mossberg is better suited.
For semi-autos I really like the way my Mossberg 940 Tactical handles, but have really only shot it once at the range so far, so not a fair test. Hope to shoot a match with it at some point. Not sure where the semis fit into the CT ban though.
If duty-sized handguns and ARs are off the table, my A300 Patrol has been excellent so far but I wouldn’t feel bad about using my Marlin SBL 357 lever gun topped with an Aimpoint Micro either.
Reading all the choices and rationale must be head-spinning for a newbie.
I’ve got a safe full of firearms in all forms and standard calibers. Most of them don’t do much but hold down the safe. The firearm that’ll most likely be used if ever I need to defend myself with deadly force won’t be locked in a safe, staged somewhere in the house where I’m not, at home while I’m out and about… on and on. It’ll be the firearm on person where and when needed, or resting on the nightstand.
LCP .380 slips in the pocket when I get dressed in the morning and stays there till bedtime. Glop resides on the nightstand.
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I have available to me semiautomatic pistols, revolvers, shotguns (pump and auto), ARs, AKs, leverguns and full power battle rifles like M1A’s, HK91s etc. I also have the training and confidence in the martial applications of all the above. All have their own unique advantages and disadvantages, but if I were to ever need to use a firearm for their intended purpose, be it home defense, self protection on the street, full on anarchy/SHTF and could beam any weapon into my hands at the moment of need it would be hands down an AR-15.
People often ask why AR15s are so regularly recommended for home defense. Amy Swearer explains it before Congress extremely well, this whole video is worth watching but go to minute mark 3:30 for the nuts and bolts behind the why…
Something else to consider about carbine training, often times class curriculum requires a handgun as well for weapon transitions. So you may as suck it up and get a pistol too.
Unfortunately the OP lives in a ban state.
You could recommend a flamethrower and it would be just as impractical from a legal perspective.
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Are they completely banned or simply limited to 10 round magazines? If it is the latter then it remains the same, I’ll take a 10 rounds in an AR over 10 rounds in a pistol or shotgun. If ARs are completely banned and unavailable to the OP then that probably should have been stated in the first post and/or thread title. But hey I don’t give a crap I’ll make anything work and as stated have many other options…
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FYI, the 590 and 500 both have same thickness of barrels, plastic trigger guards and safeties. The primary difference is the magazine tube configuration—the 500 uses a closed-end tube where the barrel screws into the end, while the 590 has an open-end tube with a clean-out cap.
The 590A1 is the model that was built to meet U.S. Military Mil-Spec 3443 requirements and features a noticeably thicker, heavy-walled barrel, metal trigger guard and safety. A primary reason for this spec was to prevent barrels being dented from being banged against bulkheads onboard ships.
BTW I have broken a 590
In CT they are banned.
Get a Mini-14 with a Wood stock. They shoot well and are easy to maintain.
If you ever need to use it, a jury is much more prone to
view it as a “Hunting” rifle and not as an evil black gun.
Use only Ruger Magazines for it for reliability. For home defense, use soft-point cartridges.
The most important thing Make 100% sure that you are mentally prepared to have to kill someone.
Nobody wants to kill someone, but shooting to wound or a warning shot will indeed get YOU killed.
Note: When I lived in NY, my home defense gun was a Mini-14.
Nobody thought twice about it becuse It look s like a hunting rifle.
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@Harryy - How easy/hard was it to put on things like a light and optics?
I looked at the mini-14 early on but initially decided against it because I read somewhere the “rock and lock” method required to load the magazines was not good in a stressful situation. But then I’ve also read that it’s extremely unusual for a civilian to reload (even if they should) in a self defense situation, which has me giving the mini-14 a second look over something like a 9mm PCC.
Based on the feedback here, it looks like my 2 practical choices for long guns are:
- A ranch-style rifle in 5.56 like the mini 14; or
- A tactical shotgun like the Beretta A300 Patrol or Mossberg 940
One extremely frustrating side effect of the convoluted gun laws in my state is that they make any attempt at using large bodies of research, real world outcomes, and expert recommendations useless. A study or body of evidence showing a PCC is a highly effective defense weapon over something like a shotgun isn’t directly applicable to my situation because the study was on folks with normal capacity mags, not 10 rounds.
Anyway, I appreciate everyone’s input here. I’m learning a lot as I go and will be looking to rent some different guns at the range shortly to get a better idea of what may and may not work for me.
A red dot and a light on a Mini-14 are quite do-able.
As for reloads, they won’t be as easy in a Mini-14 as an AR but that does not matter because you’re not getting an AR under current laws.
Your solution is to train on reloading the Mini-14 to a high enough skill level that it is a subconscious level task.
The same is true of a shotgun, if you go that route learning to feed it single rounds after running the mag empty is something you’ll need to train on.
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