I’ve been down a lot lately. Headed to bass pro shops today to pick out a handgun

[prototypian]

I live in a state with lots of guns and liberal gun laws in the USA. We have lots of available ammo and guns and I want to buy a handgun. I have plenty of disposable income and no criminal history. There is a massive hunting and fishing store near me with acres of sporting goods including a whole section with guns. In our state one doesn't even need a license to purchase one. I plan to go in as an enthusiast looking to get a gun for self defense and buy one for a few hundred dollars along with ammunition. I want to get familiar with how the gun works and then eventually have the strength to pull the trigger. I have no idea what size or level of gun to buy. When I was younger I was in Boy Scouts and we shot BB guns, 22 guns and shotguns for shooting merit badges. But I know those are either under powered or dramatically messy. Does anyone have any recommendations for the caliber of gun one would buy as a handgun to ensure that a future self headshot would be fatal?

 

[MatrixPrisoner]

Congrats on having an easy means. I hope it all goes well for you. We all have to stare death in face one day, whether we like it or not.

 

[Illegal Preclear]

I scream inwardly with raw jealousy every time I hear about someone who is able to buy a gun. I'm still stuck with hanging as my method unless I can find a way to obtain one. But enough about my gun envy.

Sewer-slide with a gun 101: You can certainly do the job with a regular handgun, BUT it's always better to use a shotgun or spring for my personal favorite - the Magnum. Ever see the Budd Dwyer video? He used a .357 Magnum. He was dead before his body even hit the floor. Painless. And a fun little blood waterfall comes out your nose! A shotgun is considered the gold standard for firearm suicide, but I just feel like a Magnum lends you more control due to it being less cumbersome than a shotgun.

A handgun is doable, I've ever seen a video of a guy successfully ending himself with a Derringer, but why take a chance if you have the choice of higher firepower?

Most importantly: ALWAYS put the barrel in your mouth, pointed upward to the back of your skull, NEVER at the side of your head - that's how you wind up blowing your face off and surviving.

 

[Kbeau]

So you'd do a .357 Magnum? What type of bullet, the hollow point? I too live in the land of endless guns but don't have one yet. Won't say a peep of "suicide" to anyone lest I lose my right to buy a gun. I'm partial towards nitrogen/an exit bag, although I can see myself worrying if it will really work and then just shooting myself on CTB day

 

[roommate]

Hope you never have to use it though :)

 

[Jack_Nimble]

While possible. It's most rare to survive a gunshot to the head. Caliber and bullet type isn't that important so long as it is aimed right and big enough. I wouldn't go below 9mm but a properly aimed .22 would surely do the job. Gun in mouth aimed upward at a 45 degree angle. The bigger the better obviously but nothing one needs to really research.

 

[F@#$]

.357 magnum or .44 magnum would be my choice of pistol.

 

[particularrodent]

There is a massive hunting and fishing store near me with acres of sporting goods including a whole section with guns.

do you perchance plan to visit the fabled Bass Pro Shop Pyramid

 

[L'absent]

.357 magnum or .44 magnum would be my choice of pistol.

Between a .357 Magnum and a .44 Magnum shot to the palate, lethality is practically guaranteed in both cases. The difference lies in the devastation: the .357 Magnum has a kinetic energy between 500 and 900 joules, while the .44 Magnum reaches between 900 and 1600 joules, almost double. This means that the .357 can be lethal in 95-99% of cases, but there have been rare survivors with extreme brain damage. The .44, on the other hand, eliminates any chance of survival: with its devastating impact, the skull ceases to be a container and becomes a crime scene. Without immediate medical assistance, both have a 100% lethality rate within minutes, but with the .44, no one would probably even bother checking for a pulse.

 

[prototypian]

I bought one. A charter arms Pittbull that shoots 0.40 smith and Wesson cartridges. I also bought a box of the bullets. The sales guy was completely nice and I said it's is my first gun and that I wanted "stopping power and something that I could use to practice shooting with. I even get a free hour at the bass pro range since I bought it there. I didn't buy anything else. It came with a nylon pouch.

I suppose I'll go over there today and practice loading and shooting it at the targets.

 

[locked*n*loaded]

Understanding you're adverse to extreme "mess", I still would have opted for a 12ga shotgun if this were my method.

 

[prototypian]

somehow I think my kids and family stumbling into my home office with a shotgun blast would scar them more than my death in general

 

[prototypian]

I went and practiced today. To be hinest I don't like shooting or the noise or the kick of the gun. The bullets seem compact and heavy like a machined bolt or small brass knob from an old dresser. It's hard to believe something so small contains enough potential energy to tear apart a human head. The targets can be round or shaped like a person and the bullets get from the gun to the target so fast it doesn't even register from the kick of the gun to the hole in the target. I'm a terrible shot but I don't think my purposes have a lot of accurate aiming necessary. The Bass Pro range guys taught me how to load the bullets into the revolver chambers which there are 5 on this gun. They also showed me some safety parts like it has a lever that prevents it from firing if the hammer is down. I learned to cock the hammer back so that the trigger fires the bullet and if you fire it this way it doesn't take much effort to pull the trigger. Pulling the trigger with the hammer down takes more force. I also learned the direction the revolver indexes and how to ensure that the bullet lines up correctly if you only have one in it. I figure a couple more practice times and I'll feel really comfortable with the thing.

The bullets are surprisingly cheap at about 35 cents apiece when bought from bass pro shops and I can just buy them in a box. I can even walk through the store with the gun in its pouch unloaded after they inspect it and tag it at the front of the store. It's very surreal having the thing for many reasons from wanting to commit suicide to just knowing a gadget this small is this powerful and this easy to obtain.