I am picking up a new shotgun and a pistol this week and wonder what your thoughts are. Shotgun is a Mossberg 500 with 28 and 18 1/2 inch barrels so I have that area covered. Down to the pistol and what caliber to get. I lean towards the 45 for greater knockdown power.
Personally, I went with .40cal S&W for my most of my pistols. (A couple of my ultra-concealed carry pistols are .380′s. ) A Glock 23 or a 40 xdm fits my hand best. And the .40 definitely has more stopping power than your average 9mm. Then depending on the round the .40S&W can compare favorably to the .45cal.
Mary B I just did a long post to answer your question but probably goofed up posting it. Send an email to Doc and he will give u my phone number so we can talk about this subject. I’ll ping doc and email to let him know that’s ok A few SD readers have my call number to discuss matters in more detail
I don’t let my number go out, I get to many crank calls the way it is. Not that I don’t trust you but I don’t know you…
@helper cc @AGXIIK. I had the same problem as AG12K. Are our posts ending up in some caching error in cyberspace?
@uglydog and @agxiik – your posts got flagged by our spam system. I’m going to unspam them so they will appear.
Copy that Mary B. Helper will move my long post to the forum. 40 cal can be a good alernative I never tried one out. With so much invested in 9mm and 45 cal, plus ammo, the 40 did get on my radar. I have a couple of 380, Sig and Ruger, are great for deep carry and very good for the up close and personal. As Doctor Piazza says at Front Site. “Any gun will do if you do”.
My gun dealer (small local guy, works out of a pole barn on his farm site) just got in some Hi Points. Told him I would bite and try one out. 45acp with a lifetime no questions asked warranty, drop it and break something? It gets fixed. Best part is price $149. Some say they are junk but the reviews I see all say the same ugly, heavy, reliable once tuned and broken in.
Mary B I’ve never seen a 45 cal selling for $150 If the dealer is reputable he will let you test drive the gun for both handling and ability to handle sustained fire. If this gun works, take it to a gun smith to get their opinion. If they think it is a usable firearm then have that person do a smith job to make sure all parts function together effectively. Cheap guns are generally not milled and polished to close tolerances so they need to be broken in. 45 cals pack a real punch and can be hard to handle. A 9mm can be easier to keep on target, the ammo is half as costly as 45 and magazines contain more ammo. I have 5 9mms and 5 45s of various manufacturers collected over decades. I never sell a gun so they collect like old luggage. They’re as different as a chevy to a mercedes. Some are 50 years old and all work. I like both but carry the 9mm almost exclusively and practice with it. The 45 cal is my winter gun and I call it my bear whistle. We have 400 pounders in the neighborhood.
Hi Point has been around quite awhile. They are 100% US made and have great customer service. My dealer will let me bring it back if it doesn’t work but so far he said every one he has sold has worked fine. Hi Points are polymer frame with a cast slide assembly and a standard steel barrel/receiver. No they aren’t fine machined but for the price I can smooth out a few rough spots myself if I need to. Everyone who has one says polish the feed ramp so that will be on the list.
I am having issues with coyotes and want knock down and stay down, had 3 or 4 in the yard the last time I came in from my observatory with one trailing me about 10 feet away. Very unafraid even after I tagged one with the 22lr.
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This reply was modified 7 months, 3 weeks ago by
MaryB.
Had a highpoint when they first came out. Not Impressed. Poor Precision, dicey Quality.
I would spend a few more (or alot!) bucks and get something better.
Just my 2oz Worth!
AT ONE POINT THESE PEOPLE ARE TO REMOVED .FROM POSITIONS THAT DESTORY US..IMO
odd place to post that Silver dagger LOL
What your looking for is reliability, unadulterated reliability. You can now buy Winchester model 12`s at a reasonable price. Solid machined steel, seven shot capacity, and with a full choke, dinner plate size pattern at 25 yards. It just don`t get no better. The choke in most shotguns occurs in the last 1.5 inches of barrel. In a model 12 the choke begins 4 inches from the end of the barrel. The model 12 doesn`t digest steel shot very well, due to the choke construction. Thats why the price is down on these beautifully engineered and built weapons.
Just compare construction to anything, and I mean anything on the market for 5 X the price. Nothing comes close
Picked up the Mossberg today, came with a bonus pistol grip that wasn’t mentioned in the online description. Doubt I will use it but never know. Got to shoot several clips from the Hi Point 45acp and 9mm. Decided to go with the 9. Fits my hand better and is a LOT lighter which my carpal tunnel liked. Lighter recoil helped too. Now to try the various hollow points to find one that works well in it. Can’t pick up the pistol until next week, town cop hasn’t finished my paperwork for the purchase permit. He has until next wed then I get it no matter what he says.
The pistol is mainly for plinking and critter control in my backyard, have a couple coyotes that are getting to brave and they need to be run off or killed. I ran an entire box of 50 through the Hi Point today without a single glitch so I would say pretty reliable. And that was straight out of the box without cleaning the manufacturing gunk off. Get it home, clean it and give it a proper oiling will work wonders.
Some of us can’t afford high end guns so we make due with what we can afford, that $400 price difference will go to buying a little more silver every month!
Good post. I too have been researching of late with intent to buy both hand and shot guns. Mary, please let us know how the mossberg feels when fired. The pistol grip intrigues me however, would it allow the shotgun to be fired from the hip position. I have back and neck issues so unfortunately cannot fire more than a few times at standard shoulder position.
Regarding the coyotes, have you thought of bear spray? Read an article yesterday where a 91 yr old grandmother chase away a group (13) of armed youths with the stuff! Never used myself but might be worth having some around.
Good deal, MaryB!
The HP I had was also a 9mm, early, early model, (first year) and it jammed occasionally.
Apparently, it’s a better gun now. How is the grouping? It was in a saucer size for me, but
once it was high left, then low right, then finally I got it low right repeatedly, but still moved around.
More input please, I might try it again, killer price, if it’s better now. Glad you like it!
PS: is there a tac mount rail?
No rail which is the downer but there is a trigger mount laser available for it. Fit and finish was good, not what you see on a highly machined pistol but not sloppy either. Nothing loose either. I won’t comment on grouping, first time I have shot a pistol in 10 years so all I can say is I got all 50 on the target!
The pistol grip for the mossberg replaces the stock and is only for hip firing. I ran a box of 10 00 buck thru it today and it handles nice. Reminded me I have a torn rotator cuffs on the right and left shoulders 
bit sore but nothing a nice padded vest won’t help. Used the 18 1/2 inch barrel and at 25 yards it patterned very nice and repetitive.
Hi Mary B Congratulations on your acquisitions The 9mm and 12 gauge are just about the most ideal situation you can get. With your pistol you should buy 10 magazines. http://www.cheaperthandirt.com or sportsmansguide.com are my two favorite places to buy accessories and ammo They sometimes have great sales for the cheaper unreloadable steel case pistol ammo Try the Limbsaver shoulder pad to protect your sensitive shoulder area. You can buy lower power OO shells as you need them I use my 12 gauge exclusively for home defense so ammo and its costs are mostly moot. I have to admit that I like 3 in magnum shells for their ‘big bang’ effect but all that noise is pretty meaningless.
A 22 cal rifle is the last part of the arsenal that rounds out the home armament. Ammo is cheap, power is good and you can do alot of plinking.
I forget about the lazer. Crimson trace works well. They will probably cost more that the gun itself. A good tactical flashlight on the shotgun is wise. A bright one strobe feature is a good idea.
There is no “right” and “wrong” generalization when it comes to the 9mm vs. 45ACP debate. Mary, you hit on one of the most important points for you – recoil. If it ends up being that shooting 9mm in your hands feels most comfortable and you’re better able to shoot that gun, that’s the gun for you. End of story.
9mm Glocks have 33 round mags as an option. Holding that in one’s hand is like an Uzi pistol in semi-auto. With the right rounds in the clip, no one in their right mind would dis that 9mm option. Keep an eye on the lookout for a Glock if you end up really liking 9mm. You might want to upgrade at some point.
Agreed, Crimson trace is a good option. The handgun will be more streamlined too vs. having a box-like unit attached to the pistol. The streamlined form factor tends to work better for women, generally speaking. I have a Glock 26 9mm with a Crimson trace grip. Works great. I also have a Glock 21 with a powerful Surefile laser/flashlight combo that I prefer. That little light is astoundingly powerful and the laser is almost two times more bright than Crimson trace, which makes a difference in daylight.
When it comes to any gun option, the best way to go is see if you can experiment with options before you buy.
Have a Ruger 10/22 and a bunch of the 25 round clips, couple thousand rounds of ammo for it because I like to plink with it I have a very small budget each month to divide between PM’s and firearms/ammo so getting the most I can for little is the way I have to go. Glocks are way out of my price range.
I Plan on getting 4 or 5 of the 10 round mags for the Hi Point, it shot well, no jams and I have been reading up on a few mods that are simple and make it better. 600 grit sandpaper and a little time can really smooth out the feed ramp for one.
Sounds good, Mary. Glad to see that you are getting your firearms and ammo preps in hand.
I also have a Mossy 500 and it is a good close-in defense weapon. Mine has the 18.5″ barrel with a Modified choke, IIRC. I use Fiocchi ammo in it and prefer the 2.75″ shells loaded with #4 buck. Each round has 27 of these good sized pellets and should be good on both human and animal varmints.
My favorite carry gun is a Colt Combat Commander with 4.5″ barrel and 7 round magazine. I bought this gun way back when and paid $239 for it, so you know that I have had it a while. It’s reasonably accurate for a short barreled auto and I can shoot it pretty well, thanks to much practice. I am used to shooting .44 mag, .41 mag (my favorite all around gun / cartridge combo), and .357 mag, so after shooting those for a while, the recoil of the .45 seems minimal.
Recently, I got a new Ruger LC9 pistol. It is my hide-out gun and is very concealable. I traded an old Virginian Dragoon .44 mag pistol for it and 2 mags, so getting a gun that I would use in exchange for one that I wasn’t using seemed a good trade. I like the little Ruger a lot but the trigger pull is LONG. Will have to do something about that. There is a kit available that will help this a lot. Even without the kit, I am still shooting 4-5″ groups at 25 yards off-hand. This is not as good as I can do with the .45 but is still respectable for a small pistol of this type and accurate enough for most close combat situations.
What I need now is a decent .22 rifle for plinking and small game hunting. We have blue grouse in this area that are absolutely delicious and hunting them with a .22 is legal. Might get one of those AR-7 survival rifles if I can find one. I like that it breaks down into a small package for storage or putting in a back-pack.
@ Ed_B
Just dropped an LC9 w/laser into Lay-A-Way! Should have it out in a month, give or take. Know where to get an extended clip for that baby? RUGER is laying low with the extended clips & Sandy Hook. Limited availability.
Great weapon, I’d just like a bigger clip. 7 standard.
Good luck finding an extended clip anywhere online, they have been bought up along with anything that resembles an assault weapon. 400+ rounds through the Hi Point and only one FTF, close look and that one had a wrinkle in the brass that kept it from going in the chamber. 2 inch groups at 25 yards when I am shooting good. Impressed with the Hi Points and they have made changes to bring up the quality.
Ever hear of a Hi Point Carbine, Mary?
Just saw it, 16″ barrel. 9mm, 40 & 45 cal. $285
http://dailycaller.com/2012/03/15/6-home-defense-carbines-5-are-not-ars
Pretty Neat Concept! I might get one for another Rifle, my son (the Marine) wants a .45 so we could share ammo with that beastie :D
Glad you like your HP, sounds like they got the reliability down pat!
Yup I have had the 9mm version on order since the beginning of November, just asked if he could get the 45 easier.
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