speaking of guns....

[amazondoc]

Hey Jim --

I love your avatar! Did you ever see the commercial with a pet skunk that ran on PBS for awhile?? That was a great commercial!

 

[flip9109]

no, i have too look for it

 

[amazondoc]

You can see it here:

It was part of a "Be More" campaign. This one was "Be More...Open-Minded". You go through the commercial thinking this is a Dangerous Wild Animal Invading A House.....and then you find out something different.

 

[flip9109]

OMG I love it. thanks for posting that.

I'm suprised that your post didn't get swamped with antigun replies. not that I'm complaining.

 

[amazondoc]

I may be one of the most anti-gun people frequenting this board.

 

[Oblio13]

Suppressors ("Silencers", if you've been TBH*) are legal in Tennessee. You can practice and/or do whatever needs to be done without disturbing either your neighbors or your chickens. And they're just plain fun.

These are all .22's, the loudest of them sounds about like a hand clap:

*Trained By Hollywood

 

[thornberryvillage]

Far as I'm concerned every house, much less farm situation, needs three guns:

For"up close and personal" if I get surprised by a predator, two or four legged, a serious handgun. I like my .40 semi auto.

For a situation with a bit of distance because I WAS paying attention, I have a 12 ga with buckshot.

For long range defense if it's ever needed, my WinMag 300 will allow me toseriously "reach out and touch someone". I know from personal expirience it will put venison in the freezer at 750 yards.

Bob

 

[Davaroo]

Bob echoes my sentiments exactly. A .300 Mag strikes me as a bit much, but you'll never want for power.

 

[gila_dog]

Since kids and close neighbors aren't a concern then your options are more numerous. I still think a shotgun is the best all around home and livestock defence weapon. But I would add a good .22 rifle to the arsenal. Since you aren't familiar with guns you have a lot of learning to do. Both knowledge (safety and operation) and physical training. It takes a lot of practice to become comfortable, competent, and effective with a "long" gun like a rifle or shotgun. If you start off with a .22 rifle you can learn all your lessons cheaply (a 550 round box of .22 ammo costs about $10 at Walmart) and without taking a lot of punishment from the recoil of a shotgun or high powered rifle. I would suggest going to the library and checking out a couple of books on rifle marksmanship. Especially pay attention to the chapter on safety. If you can find a competent instructor that would be great. But just because a guy is a good shooter doesn't make him a good teacher. In fact a lot of guys are into a macho trip about guns and will spend most of their time trying to impress you with how cool they are, and how bad-a$$ their guns are, etc. rather than teaching you anything useful. And it's very important to learn to do things right from the very beginning. The things you learn (or teach yourself) the first couple of times at the range will become your habits. Try to learn good habits from the start.

A gun is just a tool. Being "anti-gun" is like being anti shovel or anti computer.

 

[flip9109]

all guns are easy to become good with at the range. but shooting under fire or when nervous is very differnt and imposible to practice. if your very calm and not personally under attack a 22lr is great I can be accurate at 250yrd with a 22lr but there are a lot of factors to consider at long range, wind, drop, target movement the weight of the particular round your using. shot guns at 40yrds are going to cover a 3ft area. and again every round that misses hits somthing somwhere. if it's that much of a threat the recoil is the least of your worries. OTOH if you access to a real rifle range 22's are a ton of fun but when it counts, a tiny shake even a 16th of inch off can be a couple ft of target at 100yrds. find a place where you can go and try a few.
my mother is 65 years old 5ft tall and shoots a 20ga stoger coach gun. it's sooooo cute I shoot it on handed like a pistol. look up stoger coach guns and tale a look. they are bettween $250 and $400.


it's a shame your so far away I'd be happy to let you shoot a variety of guns so you can feel and see the differances.