apart from BOC, where can i get a 2 foot bottle of argoshield for a mig welder? or do i have no choice but to go through BOC?

i have tried welding with CO2 but not enough to see how good/bad it is - i understand its possible to get a 2 foot bottle from pubs etc, and its generally more easily obtainable as apposed to argoshield.

How bad would you say using CO2 is compared to argonshield? still useable? only i have plenty of welding experience at work with argoshield, but would like to get a reasonably powerful home mig welder and maybe use CO2

opinions appreciated!