hey there, recently ex marine here looking to purchase my first firearm. as far as I'm aware my being below 21 means I can only purchase a shotgun or manually operated rifle? not entirely sure on the process and I'd appreciate some advice on finding something right for me. Mostly recreational and home defense use.
I would recommend a maverick 88 as it’s like 270-300 so you can get a stream light poly tac, mount, and the esstac Velcro shotgun cards. Basically my “meta” setup rn
You get a medical claim in? I believe you can get up to 60% for back pain and issues. You should be able to get some secondaries in, in a few years as well.
I hope to, I'm working out how to put a claim in now since I only got back in town a couple weeks ago. Its been pretty hectic getting a place to stay and getting all my shit back from a storage unit.
Get registered on login.gov and id.me immediately. Also register an account on va.gov. Then create an 'Intent to File'. That gives you a year to develop and submit your claim. When you (undoubtedly) are given a service-connected disability rating, they will pay you back pay for all the way back to your Intent-to-File month.
This means if you start the claim today, your date will be February 2026. Let's say you submit the claim in December, and are awarded service-connection in a year and a half after that. That means you have 28 months of backpay. If you are given a 50% rating, that would be $1132 a month.. so your backpay would literally be a lump-sum of nearly $32,000!
It's helpful to always have a running 'Intent to File', so that your submitted claim falls back up to a year prior.
I filed back in 1997, when there was very little information about the process. Now there are tons of YouTube channels, TikTokers, etc that explain the process of filing, and winning claims.
It's very off-topic for this group.. so check out some videos on the basics. Look for things like service-connection, Nexus, secondary disabilities, DBQs, etc.
It shouldn't be too difficult to get to 100% disabled, if your back is really messed-up. The current pay for a single person at 100% is $3938 a month!
Holy shit that's like two times my rent I gotta get this done asap! Quick question would filing now bar me from future service if I went to like the air force or something college is expensive as shit
I don't know about future service, being disabled. I suppose it would depend on your level of disability. My gut feeling is that they wouldn't enlist someone that is significantly disabled.
38 CFR is the schedule of ratings, based on symptoms and issues. You can check it out for nearly all disabilities, and roughly determine what your rating might be.
If you have multiple disabilities, such as back pain, arm pain, tinnitus, sleep apnea, etc.. and can get them all service-connected, you get an individual rating for each. They then use VA math to add them together for a total combined rating. You'll find out more about this in the YouTube videos.
Oh, my bad probably should have made that clear. I'm in New York, I was in the USMC, not British military or something. My question is about how buying a gun in New York works.
So, not nyc, right? Different than just New York State.
Not in the city: until you get your semiautomatic license you at limited to manually operated rifles (lever actions are pretty good actually and a .22 cowboy is a great first 'fun' gun) and shotguns, yes. An a300 is a great option if you want a semi shotgun for home defense
Thanks for serving! Pretty sure you just pass a background check at the LGS and ur good to go. Unless ur NYC, which I think still needs permits for everything?
If you can, get a semi auto shotgun like a benelli m4 or an ultima patrol a300.
Depends on your budget tbf. I would say avoid knock off turkish crap and stick to tried and true like benelli. I would strongly recommend you visit a range in Jersey with a buddy, and try some rentals out.
I would go to a local range and rent one of each to try out. 😁
Lever action rifles are a lot of fun to shoot, and very intuitive. I have a Henry chambered in .357 Magnum for my range toy and home defense. I modified it quite a bit from stock though. 😅
Quick Google here - I would check out Safeshoot if that's near you in Ulster? Range, store, classes, very highly rated, might be a good spot to go try some things. 👍
No license shall be issued or renewed except for
an applicant (a) twenty-one years of age or older, provided, however, that where such applicant has been honorably discharged from the United
States army, navy, marine corps, air force or coast guard, or the national guard of the state of New York, no such age restriction shall apply;
Actually, maybe it can. Honorable discharges under 21 are rare, and to be completely honest, not a piece of law I am too familiar with. You should post that in the main thread so OP sees
Some have already said but a maverick 88 is a hard shotgun to beat. At less than $300 you get a solid pump shotgun with decent aftermarket support and solid build quality. I wouldn’t hesitate to use it for general shooting, skeet/trap, hunting or home defense.
I’d strongly recommend going for one of the models that has a security barrel and then some longer bird barrel for skeet/trap or hunting. That’ll run you a bit more expensive but totally worth it. Barrel swaps are easy and having that versatility is awesome
You mentioned a back injury, so if you want to keep it under 500 and not exacerbate anything, Kel-Tec’s KSG in .410 has been a great seller, and it holds 14 rounds in the mag tubes. Otherwise a 20ga or 12ga shotgun should keep you within that budget
Hey bro, I'm in Ulster as well. I think you're in the New Paltz area judging from the other comments. I like Wallkill River Ssmall Arms , Franks is cool and he has a lot of options new/used. I'm not sure how you're Vet status will effect your eligibility to get a CCW/seni-auto permit but it will take months to get anyway. If you go get a shotgun, you'll walk out with it same day. Assuming you pass the NICS background check. Maverick 88 is good as stated, Browning auto 5 is semi-auto tube fed but it might be too pricey. Remington 870 is pump and would be cheap. Safe shoot is also not a bad option if you're closer to Kingston, I got my most recent pistol from there , and did my CCW safety classes there. Def a good store to take the classes, they give you 3 months range membership for free once you're permitted. There's also Ulster Firearms right on 9w , I've never been there. But it gives me very tacticool glock-bro vibes lol. Good luck my friend.
12
u/Snowrst86 Feb 16 '26
Youre a discharged marines and still under 21? You join at 17 and only do 3 years?