# Decisions, Decisions



## Randyk47 (Jul 27, 2012)

Greetings! Just signed up for this forum, hopefully I've found the place to at least help me make some decisions.

First of all I'm, for all practical purposes, new to the handgun, actually potential, ownership arena. Actually even as I sit here I'm trying to figure out how best to describe where we are without writing too long of a post. Here's the situation. Several years ago we inherited a sizable gun collection from my late father-in-law. The estate decided to sell off most of the weapons as neither my wife or her sister had much interest in the various rifles, shotguns, and handguns their father had acquired over the years. The end of that story is that we only have two handguns, a Smith and Wesson 38 and a Browning 22-LR Medalist target pistol, left over from the collection. The other weapon we have is my wife's Browning Superposed 410 skeet shotgun. It was actually her shotgun that got me started to thinking about what exactly we ought to do concerning weapons in our house. The shotgun hasn't been fired in years, certainly not in the 14 years we've been married, and I actually came across it, still in its original presentation box, just last week while cleaning out a closet. It's in excellent condition but a bit gummed up so I took it to a local gunsmith to be checked out and cleaned. My initial reaction upon finding it was it was kind of silly to have the shotgun and either not use it or not maintain it. My wife's reaction was a bit different as her father had given her the shotgun so she could start competing with them back in the 70's when her father and mother were ranked skeet and trap shooters. He even went as far as to have the shotgun specially engraved for her. It's one of the few things she has left that connect her with her father so the notion of selling it is not a great option. Anyhow.....probably too much about that.

So here I am thinking we either ought to get rid of the two handguns or learn how to use and maintain them. The 38 is probably OK to keep as a home defense weapon and the 22 would be a great "plinking" weapon but we don't live in an area where we could just walk out back doordoor and shot tin cans/targets. The gun shop where I took my wife's shotgun suggested that I might want to bring the two handguns in and see what their worth, if anything, and look at getting a more serious home defense weapon. My wife is supportive of that, unlike me she grew up with guns so having them around the house is not an issue. She also agrees that if we decide to keep or get rid of what we have or buy a better weapon we ought to learn how to use it. Kind of gets me to my/our decisions. Get rid of all of them, or at least the handguns? Keep just the 38? Trade the 38 and 22 in and get a good 9MM/40/45 handgun? What am I not considering? Am I just wrong headed about this in the first place and have no business thinking about home defense? Should add that if we do keep or get another gun we're going to do it right and get the proper training. I'm taking kind of a "use it or lose it" approach. 

The gun shop owner says he'll walk us through gun selection and basic training. Obviously he's in the gun business and supports handguns for home defense so it's not like I expect him to throw his hands up in horror and tell us to get rid of everything. The shop is considered the best, or at least one of the best in the area, so it's not exactly like buying from a pawnshop. My gut feeling is that it's at least worth investing some time and take it from there. Wrong headed????


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## berettabone (Jan 23, 2012)

Sounds like you're on the right track to me....throw in some shooting/ defense lessons, and I think you're on the path to some fun and protection.


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## goNYG (Apr 4, 2012)

Some cents --> First, if you have firearms in the house, you MUST learn how to operate, maintain and store them safely. If you can't/won't commit to that, get rid of everything. No stuffing them in the back of the closet. Second, go SHOOT the firearms that you have to see if you like using them, you may find you like using them or you may not but you'll never know unless you SHOOT them. This will likely make your decision for you whether to keep them or not. Finally, there is nothing stopping you from keeping them and buying ADDITIONAL firearms that are more suited for HD, doesn't have to be one or the other. There is nothing wrong in owning AS MANY guns as you have purposes for those guns, from HD to CCW to remembering a departed loved one. Determine your needs/wants and own the guns to satisfy those.


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## Randyk47 (Jul 27, 2012)

Thanks for the replies. I just got off the phone with the guy who is storing the two handguns....he helped us arrange getting the collection legally moved from Tennessee to Texas. He's got no problem with keeping them since he has purpose-built walk-in gun room/safe in his house but agrees it's probably time we do something. He suggested that we might want to pick up at least the 22 Cal and take it to a range to see, as suggested here, if we even like shooting. His one caveat was that the Browning Medalist looked to be "brand new" and probably hadn't had more than a clip or two through it. It's a complete boxed set with all the tools, weights, etc. It was actually a prize my late mother-in-law won in a trap shoot and they just kept it around and apparently rarely if ever used it. His thought was that if we seriously thought we'd get rid of it, at least in terms of a trade-in, it would be better not to use it. Funny thing is that over the phone I mentioned we were thinking about a new handgun and I can't say he jumped right up and volunteered to let us try any of his. :mrgreen:


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## chessail77 (Mar 15, 2011)

Keep the shotgun and revolver for as long as it takes to get some training and safety courses, then decide....JJ


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## Randyk47 (Jul 27, 2012)

Just an update. Picked up Mrs. K's shotgun yesterday and bought a S&W 9MM M&P for Mrs. K and a Sig Sauer P229 Elite for me. Traded the Browning Medalist 22-LR for almost an across the board exchange for the Sig and sold the Colt 38 for parts. Turned out the Colt had some timing issues and it would have cost about the same to fix it as it was worth but since it was in excellent condition otherwise it was worth $200 for parts. We will keep the shotgun though the store wanted it and made a pretty substantial offer. Mrs. K is too connected to it to consider selling it right now.


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## rex (Jan 27, 2012)

Sounds like you're heading in the right direction.I would have kept the Browning for investment reasons but that's besides the point.

In this day and political climate,you did good.Practice and become proficient with them,the way things are going you may just need them to save your lives unless we get a hold on our government and crime.


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## Bisley (Aug 24, 2008)

You picked very good self defense handguns, so you may be getting good advice. Take some instruction and start shooting, a lot. By the time you become somewhat proficient with your handguns, you will likely have answered all of your questions. Good luck.


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## chessail77 (Mar 15, 2011)

Congrats ....sounds like you made a good deal and some great choices, watch out you don't get the SIGness and buy many more....JJ


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## Randyk47 (Jul 27, 2012)

The gun shop is already working with us to arrange first basic training and then getting our carry licenses in the next few weeks. Funny thing was that we went into the shop yesterday Mrs. K wasn't sure about getting another handgun for herself. Part of that was that we didn't know that the 38 wasn't working quite like it should and her thought was to keep it for her personal weapon. Once we found out it was "broken" to the point where the gunsmith recommended it not be fired she started really looking for her own gun. The Sig was just a bit too large for her but she really liked the feel of the S&W compact so we walked out with both. She told me later she wants to start shooting regularly again and didn't want to go to the range and just sit there watching me and waiting her turn. :watching:


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