Hey I say as long as that is what you want to do and know what you are getting yourself into, I say go for it. The military is a totally different type of lifestyle, but it can be a lot of fun as well. Meet a lot of great people and travel places you may not have done on your own. As it was already said you could retire by the age of 45. After that you still have enough time to put into another 20 years somewhere else and get a double retirement.
When I was in the Marines everybody had a lot of respect for the Navy docs. I think they will also give you money for your student loans you already have as well as give you money for furthering your education if you so wish.
After you get out, unless you get a Big Chicken Dinner, I guarantee you will always get bonus points over other applicants for being prior military.
DO NOT trust recruiters. I say again, do not trust recruiters. I'm not bashing them, but their job is to get you to sign that dotted line by just about any means necessary. My advise would be not to sign anything until you have triple checked everything from multiple sources.
I had a friend in MCT that had two, not one but two, BS's and he wasn't sure what he wanted to do in the Marines so his recruiter sold him on going open contract stating that with his education the Marines would put him somewhere to utilize him the best. He ended up a cook.
I scored a 94 on my ASVAB and my recruiter was doing back flips saying I could do anything I wanted in the Marines. I told him I wanted to be an aircraft mechanic. He told me there were no openings at the time, which I found out later was not true. I then said I wanted to be an MP, to which he said I couldn't because I had a couple of misdemeanors on my record, which I found out later I could have got a waiver for. So much for being able to do anything I want. I told him I didn't know then what I wanted to do and again a recruiter told me I should go open contract and the Marines would put where I could be best utilized with my scores. Stupidly I did, but I got really lucky. We were all sitting around the MEPS station the morning we were shipping off to Paris Island when a SSgt came out calling for me. I was thinking to myself what the hell did I do? He told me to follow him, that the MstSgt wanted to talk to me. At this point I'm really sweating bullets and trying to figure what on earth this could be about. We get to his office and I'm told to report to the MstSgt, so I do. He stands up from behind his desk and yells at me loud enough for everyone at the other end of the long hallway where we just came from could hear this conversation:
MstSgt: Are you
retarded?
Me: Sir?
MstSgt: Don't call me sir, I work for a living. (my first one of those
)
Me: Sorry MstSgt, no I am not retarded.
MstSgt: Did you really score a 94 on your ASVAB?
Me: Yes MstSgt.
MstSgt: Then why the
are you going open contract? Do you want to be a cook or a grunt?
Me: No I do not MstSgt.
MstSgt: Alright then, I'm signing you up for Electronics and Calibrations.
MstSgt: You will thank me later dummy.
Which I did many, many times and I only regret that I never got the chance to thank him personally. I ended up a
2841 and I really liked it. I did however end up in a grunt unit, 6Th Marines ND Mar Div. Can't complain though because I also ended up a motorcycle courier in the field and we went to the field a lot.
Bottom line is do not sign anything until you are absolutely positive you know what it is and have it in writing.
As far as the guns, let someone you really trust keep them until you get to your duty station. You said you have a friend you trust that much and I wouldn't think it would be a burden especially if you say he can get some playing time with them. I'm pretty sure officers can have private guns on base housing, but yes you will have to register them. However, I doubt you will get base housing for a while if you want it at all, so you can keep them in your house off base.
Best of luck and keep us updated. I'm sure there are plenty of vets here that would give you some great advise via email or PM.
Shawn