Firearms Under $300

In addition to your weekly spending plan, there will be a few large purchases to consider. One of these is the acquisition of weapons.

Simply put, any disaster is going to place you in danger of attack. Desperate people who have not prepared will resort to theft, robbery, even assault and murder, in order to obtain needed supplies. A crisis also limits the ability of police to provide adequate protection. A breakdown in public order, even a temporary one, provides an opportunity for persons inclined to break the law to do so without consequence.

I firmly believe personal protection should be a consideration even under normal, "civilized" conditions. The issue of personal protection becomes magnified under crisis conditions.

So, we come to the subject of firearms. A firearm is the most expedient means of personal protection.

(Note for the gun folks reading this: I am attempting to simplify the subject for the benefit of those with little or no knowledge. If you'd like to have a more technical discussion, feel free to email me!)

First, let's consider what sort of firearms are best-suited for the personal protection role. Common hunting firearms typically have very long barrels and limited ammunition capacity. We want a short weapon which is easy to maneuver within the confines of one's home, and sufficient ammunition capacity to engage multiple assailants.

Additionally, many common sporting weapons are "repeaters", in other words, the action must be operated manually for each shot (such as bolt-action, lever-action, and pump-action types). Given the fast nature of a violent assault, the need to work the action between shots may be a hinderance. This is less of a handicap with a pump-action shotgun than with other types of repeaters, since multiple shots are rarely needed to stop each aggressor. Otherwise, we want to consider semiautomatic firearms, as well as double-action revolvers, which fire a shot with each press of the trigger.

Second, let's consider caliber. A firearm "suitable for self-defense" should have sufficient "stopping power" (Note to the gun folks: I am normally loathe to use that term) for the purpose. On the other end of this spectrum, if one lives in a densely-populated area (as I do), many rifle calibers may have "too much" penetrating power, enough to pass through an adversary and an exterior wall of your home, and may endanger your neighbors.

Also, I'm going to omit rifles for another reason: Semiautomatic rifles have other incidental costs, such as magazines, which will drive them up in cost well above our $300 limit. There are a few exceptions, such as the excellent Yugoslavian SKS- but for a novice shooter, the SKS can pose other problems (which I may address in another post).

Third, we must consider the cost of ammuntion. Many military surplus firearms are sold cheaply, simply for the fact that ammunition for them is rare and expensive. We should stick to commonly-available calibers.

Last, and most important, is reliability. Purchasing a firearm with a reputation for reliability is crucial. If it isn't reliable to bet your life on, it isn't suitable for saving your life. Verify the reliability of your firearm by firing 200-300 rounds through it. If it doesn't malfunction, you're good to go.

Using these criteria, we will look at a number of firearms within our $300 price point. Note that this list is by no means comprehensive, nor is the information provided all-inclusive. I will break this down into two posts: Handguns and Shotguns.

Also, a note on pricing: I will frequently cite internet prices. It's against the law for internet or mail order dealers to sell directly to the public. These dealers must transfer the firearm to your local dealer. Internet prices do not include transfer fees and shipping. You will need to find a local dealer to complete an internet transaction.