New handgun purchase

[RT66DOC]

Ditto what KRS said.



I have several guns I bought used for that same reason.



Winchester 94. 30-30 WIN. Pre-1954. My John Wayne rifle.



Winchester Model 12. 12 GA. (1920's? Did they make them in the '20s?) 30 inch barrel with full length rib. A great trap gun.



Swedish Mauser - WAFFENFABRIK MAUSER OBERNDORF A/N 1899. 6. 5 Swede cal. Bought in '96. Had never been fired. Has been fired since '96 I really like this rifle.



Enfield No. 4 MK2 (F). British. Piece of history.



Springfield 1911. . 45 ACP Another piece of history.



Daisy BB Gun. 1894 Winchester copy. For my grandkids (Yea, right)



Colt SAA. 22LR Collector's "Kansas Series Cow Towns - Dodge City" Gold Plated / Ivory Grips. Four clicks when you cock the hammer and also for my grandkids - someday - maybe when I'm dead, right. I didn't buy this as an investment, I bought it because I just wanted it and I got it for 200 bucks in its little wooden green velvet-lined presentation case. BTW, Green velvet goes very nice with the gold.



Jeez, even my social gun for around the house is a Winchester 1300 Defender 12 GA 18 inch bbl all black. Not old, not historic, but it's a Winchester and well suited to its purpose.

 

[Gordon Maney]

I would suggest, given what you describe as your combined goals, that if you only had one handgun, you would do really well with a Smith & Wesson 686 (stainless), . 357 Magnum revolver with a 4 inch barrel.



It is simple, reliable, accurate, and you can, if you wish, do a lot of your practice shooting with . 38 spl.



Later you can add some pistols if you want. One value of a revolver is that in an emergency, a novice can pick it up and make it function without much analysis. A pistol, to someone like that, may not be workable.