Is there a good gun BBS like PPOT out there?
 

I know some of the people on PPOT are not big gun fans but I have some questions about ammo and I don't want to waste bandwidth here with a thread spinning off into political rantings.

Anyone have a good gun BBS they can recommend?

Thanks

Oddly enough, most gun threads do not get political here if they are technical/educational in nature. In fact, they never do. So fire away!



(Bad choice of words). ;)

There are a bunch - some more general and some very targeted (LOL) - what is your particular interest or brand preference?

Since I notice you're in SoCal -

http://www.calguns.net/calgunforum/index.php

Some of you may noticed in another thread I just purchase a home defense shotgun.

I have a 9mm auto that is my primary home defense weapon, I plan on getting a .357 revolver that I can use as the primary because I think it is a better choice for that use.

The 12 gauge shotgun is an emergency/last resort weapon in the event of a natural disaster and intended to be used outdoors to defend family/friends/neighbors.

The question is what is the best ammo for that use (20" Remington 870 12 Ga).

And anytime anyone mentions guns and Calif. the Cali haters can't resist throwing in a few jabs (wait for it... it will come)

What is the expected distance you will be engaging targets with the 12 ga? What are the types of expected targets? What kind of cover might the expected targets have access to? Do you want to kill or disable?

Thanks for the link Chris, I will be wasting many hours there. :D

I'm thinking in the event of a massive earthquake and a Katrina type situation where gangs of bad guys are robbing/raping/murdering and I had to defend my neighborhood.

Seeing as I would only pull this firearm in dire emergency and only use it in a life threating situation (I feel odd saying this) a kill would be the desired result. It also would most likely be used outdoors at a range where I and/or people near me were fearing for our lives, say zero to twenty five feet. Depending on the number of attachers and how aggressive they are maybe fifty to one hundred feet.

Ideally holding a short barrel shotgun will discourage any bad guys from approaching me and friends/family however if you are going to have the firearm I believe it is best to know how to use it. Including having the best ammo for the situation.

There are a lot of options. 2 1/2" low recoil/tactical buckshot. 3" magnum 00 buck. #6 birdshot. Slugs. I'd get some of each :)

Re. your .357 mag, if you want another place to waste tons of time (lots of high-quality pics and info) -
http://smith-wessonforum.com/eve

In a riot situation, a SG can be a good weapon. Predators always seek the weakest, most defenseless victims possible and armed citizens don't make that cut. They will either cut and run at the sight of a gun barrel pointing at them, (ideally), or if necessary, you drop one guy with a fatal shot and the rest tend to vamoosh. Or so I've heard.

This one is pretty decent:
http://www.thefiringline.com/forums/index.php

The FBI studies show that Single O is the best self defense round. It penetrates like a .38. Most of the light loads (bird shot, etc) do not penetrate the human body enough to be effective. Higher than Single O over-penetrates

What RB said and also throw in some slugs just for good measure. OO works well for people, and slugs are excellent for stopping vehicles.

What... no sabots!?!

The info about 00 is what I was thinking about, it is famous for being THE defense round I just wanted to make sure what I had heard was true.

I have several boxes of birdshot I will have to add some 00 to that.

Obviously a rifled barrel is going to be more accurate with slugs, is it OK to shoot slugs with a smooth bore?

Best I've found so far is: http://www.canadiangunnutz.com/forum/index.php

LOTS of stuff going on, and seems to be THE Canadian gun forum.

0 or 00 buck for the 20ga, with a good dose of slugs(preferably saboted) for "just in case".

For the 9mm pistol 115gr 9mm +P Cor-bon is probably as good as you can get(especially if you don't want excessive penetration- which you don't). It's what i use.

In .357 magnum the 125gr SJHP(fed, win, rem. any of them is fine) is the undisputed king for self defense use.

In case you're bored already, here are a few more forums for ya.

http://www.thehighroad.org/
http://sigforum.com
http://glocktalk.com/forums/
http://www.thefiringline.com/forums/
http://www.ar15.com/

00 is great up close (0-25yds), 0 buck will work on soft targets to 100 yds. You do not need a rifled barrel to shoot slugs accurately. Buy a selection and test with them, you will find a brand and load that will do 100 yd 6-10" groups no problem. Your real problem is sighting accurately at 50-75+ yards. When you need a hit, a miss sucks big time. A rifled barrel will allow you to fire 00 &0 buck as well as slugs. The big advantage is that it has rifle sights on it.

Given those three options, I would select the the 12 ga. as my first pick for home defense too. If you are "getting" a .357 for home defense, why not go with a .45 ACP (or .40) instead? Much more controllable (less recoil) and better all the way around imo, unless you specifically want a revolver.

Until a .45 shows up :)