Here’s an article I wrote twenty years ago for this blog’s host, Backwoods Home magazine.
It’s still relevant today, although the mentioned prices have gone up significantly. There’s one exception to that, though. With the trend toward 9mm pistols pre-cut to mount optical sights, there are a lot of 9mm, .45, and particularly .40 S&W caliber semi-automatic pistols that have been traded in by police departments and are selling for bargain prices in the $300-400 range, like the Gen3 Glock 22 .40 in the photo.
To tag onto that last sentence a little bit regarding .40 Short&Weak, some .40 Glocks can accept Glock 9mm barrels and magazines. This was especially useful during the stupid 1994 AWB before it rightfully expired. On that point, MANY .40 cal mags of a number of makes and models can hold 9mm rounds, with minor or no modifications necessary to feed well.
If you do your research, it’s a smart way to make sure you have a seriously modular gun or two in your arsenal, whether you live in rural conditions or elsewhere.
I have a 9mm barrel for my old G22. I did buy some G17 mags and use it for training. I some cases, you need a new extractor for proper functioning but I have not had that problem.
The best thing of late has been the loosening of restrictions on suppressors. Having a can on your defensive rifle, deer rifle or .22 sure makes them easier on the ears. With the coming elimination of the $200 tax and, hopefully, the end of the NFA it will be even better.
Plenty of cheap Sig P320s on the market, if you feel lucky. Well, do ya punk?
Yeah, our local pawn shop has at least 20 of them, all colors, under $400 apiece. I bought a .38 instead…
For years my only firearm was a “Coast-to-Coast” branded Mossberg 12-gauge. I took everything from pheasants to ducks and geese, and with Foster-type slugs I could take deer (if they were less than about 40 yards away).
I still think it’s the most versatile firearm in the world, and will be the last one I part with.
My second one was a Ruger 10/22, and it’s my belief that a good, reliable .22LR is the second-most versatile firearm available.
In later years I went with a Savage 110 in .30-06 as a “do-it-all” large-caliber rifle, and I’m still of the opinion that a bolt gun in .30-06 will take any big game (except maybe grizzly) in the lower-48.
All of the firearms listed in the article are excellent rural living tools that will serve quite well too for suburban folks who occasionally venture out into the wilds.
My first “real” gun was a practically bomb proof .22LR Remington 511X Scoremaster that my dad bought for me in the mid-1960s. It’s still in my possession and shoots minute-of-squirrel just like when new.