Rack up another vote for the good old work horse, the Mossberg 500A 12ga. 18.5" is the legal minimum for a shotgun. You can also look into the 590 which has a 20" barrel and holds 9 rounds in the under barrel magazine tube which is as long as the barrel.
I am fond of Sig and H&K as my personal carry weapon is a H&K USP 40. But those are pretty expensive ($700+ new). Glock would probably be my next choice for balancing proven reliability with low cost. I'm also a proponent of hand gun calibers that start with a 4 or 357, though the 9mm is by no means a bad round. The .40 is particular effective because it balances the mass, momentum, and bore diameter of the .45 ACP with the high velocity and magazine capacity of the 9mm. It is the jack of all trades, master of none, to quote someone. A good all around general purpose and serious medium bore round.
A side note on the .40 is that it has one of the highest one shot stop rates in law enforcement for the same reason the .357 magnum is regarded as the best man stopper in the world: the flat nose causes a crush (as opposed to stretch) cavity that creates a large open wound channel on both sides instead of gently pushing aside and stretching tissues that later return to original position. Think of pushing a sharp spike through a brick of cheese (which seals up when you remove it) versus a blunt squared off dowel ?
Of course we are talking FMJ rounds; this unique feature of the .40 is removed when considering JHP.
I?ve also seen what .40 rounds do to 1/4? thick steel plate, and even if someone was wearing body armor they are going to feel it (2" diameter crater deformations from half to one full inch deep). But that is what the AR-10 is for (like AR-15 or M-16 but in the manly .308 caliber that can actually knock something over)
As another side note, DO NOT USE A RIFLE AS A FIRST CHOICE CLOSE QUARTERS HOME DEFENSE GUN! Even the smallest rifle round (with the exception of the .223 / 5.56mm which pretty much vaporizes on impact) will easily over penetrate the bad guy like he wasn't even there and go right on through your exterior walls; and still have much more power than a hand gun round!! In other words you could easily kill a bystander down the street, or even a family member on the other side of the house, destroy property, ie: the things you are trying to prevent in the first place!! The old mil surplus rifles you are talking about are even MORE powerful (.30-06, 7.62x54R, 6.5x55mm, 8mm mauser, etc) than a common .308 or .223. Not to mention maneuverability, time between shots if its a bolt action, and serviceability.
Personally I have one of everything, and once you get your first gun you are going to want them all, trust me on this. Just my thoughts; as always the best gun to get is the one that YOU can hit your target with consistently, whatever brand and caliber that may be (9mm MINIMUM hopefully).
Oh yeah, the handgun used by the US Military is the M9 otherwise known as the Beretta 92FS 9mm. Nice gun but a bit large and bulky for a 9mm in my opinion. But it does have a larger 5" barrel (most semi autos are 4 to 4.5") which helps some people aim better (the further the front and rear sights are apart and the smaller they are, the more precisely you can aim) not to mention the longer barrel will get the most out of the high preassure 9mm round, and recoild is more easily controlled due to the larger gun having a more forward moment of inertia, etc.
I am fond of Sig and H&K as my personal carry weapon is a H&K USP 40. But those are pretty expensive ($700+ new). Glock would probably be my next choice for balancing proven reliability with low cost. I'm also a proponent of hand gun calibers that start with a 4 or 357, though the 9mm is by no means a bad round. The .40 is particular effective because it balances the mass, momentum, and bore diameter of the .45 ACP with the high velocity and magazine capacity of the 9mm. It is the jack of all trades, master of none, to quote someone. A good all around general purpose and serious medium bore round.
A side note on the .40 is that it has one of the highest one shot stop rates in law enforcement for the same reason the .357 magnum is regarded as the best man stopper in the world: the flat nose causes a crush (as opposed to stretch) cavity that creates a large open wound channel on both sides instead of gently pushing aside and stretching tissues that later return to original position. Think of pushing a sharp spike through a brick of cheese (which seals up when you remove it) versus a blunt squared off dowel ?
Of course we are talking FMJ rounds; this unique feature of the .40 is removed when considering JHP.
I?ve also seen what .40 rounds do to 1/4? thick steel plate, and even if someone was wearing body armor they are going to feel it (2" diameter crater deformations from half to one full inch deep). But that is what the AR-10 is for (like AR-15 or M-16 but in the manly .308 caliber that can actually knock something over)
As another side note, DO NOT USE A RIFLE AS A FIRST CHOICE CLOSE QUARTERS HOME DEFENSE GUN! Even the smallest rifle round (with the exception of the .223 / 5.56mm which pretty much vaporizes on impact) will easily over penetrate the bad guy like he wasn't even there and go right on through your exterior walls; and still have much more power than a hand gun round!! In other words you could easily kill a bystander down the street, or even a family member on the other side of the house, destroy property, ie: the things you are trying to prevent in the first place!! The old mil surplus rifles you are talking about are even MORE powerful (.30-06, 7.62x54R, 6.5x55mm, 8mm mauser, etc) than a common .308 or .223. Not to mention maneuverability, time between shots if its a bolt action, and serviceability.
Personally I have one of everything, and once you get your first gun you are going to want them all, trust me on this. Just my thoughts; as always the best gun to get is the one that YOU can hit your target with consistently, whatever brand and caliber that may be (9mm MINIMUM hopefully).
Oh yeah, the handgun used by the US Military is the M9 otherwise known as the Beretta 92FS 9mm. Nice gun but a bit large and bulky for a 9mm in my opinion. But it does have a larger 5" barrel (most semi autos are 4 to 4.5") which helps some people aim better (the further the front and rear sights are apart and the smaller they are, the more precisely you can aim) not to mention the longer barrel will get the most out of the high preassure 9mm round, and recoild is more easily controlled due to the larger gun having a more forward moment of inertia, etc.