The 1 Rifle, 1 Handgun Experiment. Ever try it?

What if I have to arm my less prepared neighbors?

It's rare someone (a shooter) sells a gun and doesn't regret it, unless it's been a problem gun. I can't imagine folks selling off everything just for the heck of it. You'll pay more for their replacements usually.

The minimalist concept does have a certain raw appeal to it -- the old "fear the one who only has one gun (or two), because he may know how to use it (or them)" thing...

However, I lack the will-power -- or serious inclination -- to do such a thing...


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No, nor would I want to. 1 handgun and 1 rifle wouldn't fulfill my desires.

Kinda hard to shoot trap and skeet with a handgun or rifle. .22 LR ain't all that great for self defense (better than harsh language, I guess). .30-06 gets expensive to shoot all the time.

So far this month, I've only shot my Remington 870, Ruger SR9, and my 30-06.

That being said, I've carried my J-Frame almost every day.

Could I live with only a handful of guns? Yea, probably.... but I don't think I'd have as much fun, and I like having a couple .22s and the AK for when I take people shooting for the first time.

Chris "the Kayak-Man" Johnson

I have not shot barely any rifles BUT If I had to choose,


M1a Scout.

Pistol is easy, 4" s&w 686.

I've seen threads dedicated to "what if you could only have one rifle and one pistol..."

But has anyone here ever ACTUALLY tried it? I'm not talking about buying your first gun and then buying others. I'm talking about divesting yourself of your entire existing collection, going down to one rifle and one pistol and living life that way for a while.

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No, but I have had "One rifle. one pistol and one shotgun."

Then I needed to send my KP90 back to Arizona and was left with no bedside handgun. It felt weird.

I went out & got an '82 vintage Taurus .357 wheelgun. Better!

While I don't have an extensive collection, everything was bought for a purpose (Some fall into the "sorta" category).

I have no desire to go back to "one" of anything. "Two is one, one is none."

Besides, everybody should own a 1911 in .45ACP and a .357 wheelgun.

If I had to, it would be simple enough.
An AR15 20", probably my Canadian C7A2 clone, and my Smith and Wesson Model 41 .22 LR pistol.
I would still need to add a shotgun and that would be my Mossberg 500 12 guage with smooth and rifled barrels.

For a few years I had a Maverick 88 12 gauge and a J frame 38 special.

I'm a college kid ($0 in the checking account was a regular occurance.) I survived with a Hi-Point carbine, Maverick 88, and Rossi .357 for over a year. It was rough...

Now that I have a decent paying internship... not anymore

I had a few rifles, one shotgun and a handgun and decided that I really had no need for all of them. Plus, I didn't even like 3 out of the 5 firearms I had anyway.

I sold and traded and now I only have my .22 rifle, 12 gauge shotgun and i just bought a .357 revolver. Sometime in the next few years I'll probably buy a centerfire rifle, but my shotgun makes due for now since I don't need to shoot more than 50 yards.

I would keep a revolver and a lever gun, both in .357 mag. We've all heard the old adage to buy .357 and shoot .38 for practice.

Shotgun would be nice, 12 or 20 gauge.

Of course, a .22 rifle-pistol combo would also be nice for real cheap practice and...here we go again.

ed

It's rare someone (a shooter) sells a gun and doesn't regret it, unless it's been a problem gun. I can't imagine folks selling off everything just for the heck of it. You'll pay more for their replacements usually.

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I have sold many and regretted selling none. I mainly shoot just one rifle and one handgun anyway.

My favorite combo is a glock 26 and keltec sub 2000. Uses the same ammo and larger mags.

My only gun for a long time, until I got older and started earning more money, was a .22 bolt action rifle, with eventually a decent scope. I could probably get by with that again, if I had to, since I'm not a big game hunter, and a .22 has proven itself well for harvesting squirrels and rabbits. I wouldn't feel defenseless using it for home defense, either, since I'm confident I can place a bullet where I want, at need.
I much prefer having a variety of tools to choose from, though.

I have not done the two-gun experiment, and I don't plan to given the parameters.

My first gun was a 12 gauge Mossberg 500 combo with a 28-inch vent rib barrel and a 24-inch cylinder bore slug barrel ... not a rifle or a handgun. I've since replaced the original slug barrel with a rifled barrel and added an 18.5-inch cylinder barrel for home defense. Although I do less shotgunning than either rifle or pistol shooting, I can't imagine ever giving up that first shotgun, especially as it was a gift from my wife and father-in-law. So I can't play.

I have seriously considered cutting my collection down to bare minimum, although I have never had the will to do it. My thought experiment has gotten me down to five or six, but no lower. It would be even harder now that I've gotten into black powder shooting.

I'll not likely ever become a two gun minimalist, but I'm trying to not add any new calibers. Striving instead to buy more in calibers that I already own.

Toaster said:

I'll not likely ever become a two gun minimalist, but I'm trying to not add any new calibers. Striving instead to buy more in calibers that I already own.

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+1

That is basically my philosophy...


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NO.

I sort of did it ... but I went down to one rifle, one pistol and one shotgun (as I'm an Upland Game Bird hunter).

Marlin 39A Golden
Beretta 92FS
Winchester 1200

I have no plans to do it again.