What's a good rifle for someone who has never shot a gun before?

Most rifles will be too powerful for indoor use. Unless you want to go .22, but I don't recommend that. You need to take into account what's inside your house and what's outside. If you're in condo with a shared wall, you could shoot right into your neighbor's living space. You can even do that if you're in a single family detached house. Rifle bullets travel a lot farther than pistol bullets or shot.

Consider a shotgun instead....

 

If you really want to start with a rifle, I'd suggest a .22lr from Ruger, Marlin, CZ or other major manufacturer. You can spend $10 on ammo and shoot for half a day. Great way to practice and hone your skills for something bigger in the future. A .22lr would not be an ideal home defense weapon, it's training tool to learn the proper skills.

For home defense, especially for a new shooter, a shotgun is hard to beat. You will still need to practice using it. Loaded with the right ammo, a shotgun will be the right tool for the job. For specific models, I always advise a Remington 870, or Mossberg 500. Sort of the Ford and Chevy pickup of firearms. They can be used to hunt birds to big game and then reloaded/reconfigured for protection purposes.

Best advise is to practice, practice, practice...

 

Shoot several rifles that your INSTRUCTOR will bring to your training class. That will give you a better idea of what suits your purposes. Rifles are not generally thought of as personal protection firearms.

 

Ok lets look at this first. Before I start telling you what to get.

Rifles are not very good for home defence. They are either way over powered or under powered their is really no in between ground here. Rifle cartridges are much faster than pistol rounds. Also most rifle bullets are meant to penetrate into game animals. Penetration is not something you want a lot of in a CQB situation. Plus unless you want to get a class III rifle they are going to be a bit unwieldy in a house. About the only place you can get away with a rifle for a HD gun is if you live out in the stick and own a lot of land.

 

If you're looking for a rifle to learn to shoot with, I'd get a Savage 93 in .17HMR. Accurate, inexpensive and loads of fun to shoot. Just get a Mossberg 500 or a Maverick 88 for home defense.

 

I have to disagree with the philosophy of rifles being TOO POWERFUL for HD use. Yes a .30-06 with 150 gr M-2 FMJ's will penetrate far too much for HD use. 7.62 X 39 steel core FMJ's will penetrate too much for HD use. A good reliable .223 (AR-15) loaded with light (55 gr or lighter) hollow points will penetrate less than a 9mm handgun. I have seen several people shot with light HP's in the chest from an AR and none had an exit wound. The bullet will fragment and stay in the body.
Everyone seems to use 5.56 mm FMJ's as their basis for condemning the .223. We are not in the Military and do not have to use such ammo. There are a number of very good rounds available for .223/5.56 rifles that would be perfectly appropriate for HD use.

WTS, I prefer a 12 ga pump loaded with buckshot for HD use.

 

a maverick 88 short bbl. is perfect. load it with birdshot , it will take care of the bad guy with out goin through the walls and hurting someone else.

 

Why do you want a rifle and not a handgun?

 

Get a cheap shotgun for home defense, then get a .22 handgun or rifle for range fun. Ammo is plentiful, cheap, and most importantly, the recoil is minimal.

The last thing you want is to get a hand cannon, fire it, get scared of your own gun and end up flinching before every shot. I know guys that flex their "gun muscles" by going out and buying a .45 caliber, then going to the range and they keep shooting the paper silhouette in the family jewels.

Get a shotty for home defense (Maverick 88, Mossberg 500, Remington 870), and a couple of 22's to learn. Look at some Rugers... They are 100% reliable, inexpensive and tons of fun. A Ruger 22/45 makes a good pistol and a Ruger 10/22 makes an AWESOME rifle. Not as pretty or fancy as some, but when you need it to go BANG, it will.

 

not exactly true there. alot of pros will tell you its not the weapon being used but the ammo as well as knowledge on how to use the weapon, but mpo would to get a shotgun or handgun for the first time gun owner for home defence

 

Mosin Nagant 7.62x54R... Just kidding! You'd probably never go near a rifle again. Seriously, I agree that a shotgun and a handgun make a nice HD package.

 

In northern MN the neighbors often had "things" a bit heavier. Living on rural Southern Mn, most friends find the .22 or a .410 or 20 ga. appropriate for a first line of "go to gun".
Those persons who are gun people usually have a short gun of the .357, .45 or 9mm persuasion somewhere close.

 

i personally dont think a 9mm is a good selfdefence round, too many cons go with it, such as overpenetration, if shooting hollows clothing can pack in thus not letting the bullet to expand as designed also they dont have that high of a one shot kill ratio compared to the forty's or .45's. impo

 

What bgeddes said.

A shotgun hands down. The mere thought of a gun battle in a dark house with a shotgun involved is scary. The guy armed with the shotgun could pretty much just fire from the hip and destroy anyone in the way.

As far as shooting it outside goes; skeet is awesome fun and builds skill.

 

A bit off the original question...
Something else to keep in mind on this, to some degree, the larger size a weapon is (length of a rifle vs. length of a handgun), the easier it is for an attacker to grab it and unarm the defender, if at close quarters. Myself, I prefer a handgun for in the house, for ease of maneuverability, close range, control, etc...main thing, practice with whatever you have. Also, in general, society says if the attacker is not an immediate threat, that is, inside the house coming at you, you may be subject to arrest if you defend yourself...your laws may vary; therefore, a handgun would have plenty of range for defensive purposes. In general, unfortunately, society says its NOT OK to pick off a known bad guy at 300 meters BEFORE he causes harm...

...Random thoughts, just throwing them out there...

 

sgtdeath posted:

That statement may ring true in regards to handguns, but carbines, with their longer barrels, will give the 9mm a higher velocity than a pistol ever will. This will give the 9mm some extra knockdown power. If you're worried about the hollowpoints "clogging up" on you, then get the new Hornady defense ammo that takes care of that. A 9mm carbine will do it's job rather nicely in my opinion.

With that said, you can find carbines in many different calibers that will dwarf the 9mm in performance (i.e. .45 ACP, .40, .357 Mag, .44 Mag).

Have you tried a lever-action rifle yet? This is the icon of the American west, and is still one of the most popular rifles today. For Example, you can get a .357 Mag lever action rifle, and later you can get a .357 Mag pistol. One of the best setups to have is a rifle and pistol that share the same ammo.

 

bernie:
The idea behind your comment about "picking off a known bad guy at 300 meters" or such, is why I always ask the question "why does a self-defense rifle need to be accurate past 50-100 yards (i.e. SKS versu AR-15)"?
Criminals seem to avoid revealing a hostile intention at such a distance, but I could easily be mistaken, being always in or near cities.

But back to handguns, shotguns, SKS 'Paratroopers'..

 

I find this site a pretty good read with regards to hollow point expansion and penetration:

The Box O' Truth #8 - The Rags O' Truth - Page 1

I am sure most of you will have come across it before.

As for the whole home defense thing... It is illigal in Australia to shoot somone, unless they are about to shoot you, but then it begs the question, why were two men with loaded firearms doing in the first place? This is unfortunately the way my country thinks.

If I COULD have something for home defence it would be a pump action 12 guage loaded with OO buckshot, as well as a Glock 17 (I've always found them reliable) loaded with speer gold dots.

 

You may want to take a look at the Beretta storm...it comes in 9mm,40 cal and 45....it is a carbine...easy to handle...40cal has 17 round mag and the mag fit Berettas 40 cal storm handgun...bought one and my wife loves it for back up home defense...Good Luck