Please weigh in--do you trust these clones with your life?

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I have an FEG Hi-power (PJK9HP) and other than putting a combat extended safty on it and a houge monogrip I'd stake my life on it. Clips are cheap and have been in production since 1935. Try THAT with a witness.

The 380 FEG Walther copy is a neat little gun (Paid like $115 for mine) But the alloy frame IS SOFT and the springs are pretty stout (mainspring and da trigger pull). I would NOT recommend this one for a novice with low hand strength. But I carry mine backpacking a lot.

The Norinco 45's I've seen were ALL GOOD, like the 1991a1 its a return to the basics... you can customize it all you want. In FACT I think you'd be hard pressed to find a Norinco 1911 in colorado for LESS than a new colt 1991a1.

As far as keeping somthing in the nightstand.. remember an auto has a safty, springs in the mag that can wear, and a mainspring that can wear. revolvers don't lay around with thier springs under stress. They require less maintenance to be "sure to fire". So a decent revolver (new or used) in 38/357 would be a great bet.

Whatever you get prctice practice practice.


Dr.Rob
 
If this is your first gun I would recommend a .357 Mag. revolver by S&W. Ruger, or Colt depending on your preferences. The main reasons being reliability, versatility, and ease of operation. You have a wide choice of ammo in .38 Special and .357 Magnum. You mentioned a wife and her problems with certain handguns. The revolver is easliy learned by a novice and easlily used in high stress situations (point and pull trigger at close range). I would recommend you research the .357 and then decide. It will serve you well for the rest of your life. By the way if quick reloads are a concern look at some of the speedloaders available today. Ammo capacity a concern, S&W and Taurus both make 6, 7, and 8 shot revolvers. Whatever you choose, good luck and good shooting.
 
A FireStorm (Llama) .45ACP is what's on my headboard right now. :-)
 
I would certainly trust my life to my FEG HP clone. I've owned it 7 months, put about 1,000 rounds through it, and find it reliable and accurate. Points well, easy to handle, trigger pull is decent with the Browning mag (polished where the mag safety hits it.) Makes the bullets go where I want 'em to go. What's not to trust?
 
Gwinny, just get a used .40 cal Glock and be done with it. There will be no wondering if it will do the job - it will, if you do yours. fwiw.
 
I'll have to chime in as well. In spite of my screen name I'm not going to reccommend a Makarov right off the bat. I recently bought a used .357 Ruger Security Six - and think that something similar would be ideal as a first or only gun used for home defense. They are rugged, accurate and there are no safeties to worry about in a critical moment. A while back there was one of those "real life" video programs that showed a store owner being robbed. The robber had a snubbie revolver the store owner some kind of semi-auto (poor quality video cam) - it was a chaotic situation with the store owner pulling his gun and the robber retreating and firing. The store owner never got off a shot until the bad guy was out the door. It wasn't for lack of trying though. He just had trouble operating his gun under stress. You could keep a DA semi auto with one in the chamber and the safety off, but a revolver is much simpler in my opinion. I own all types of guns and fortunately live in an area where I don't feel the need to keep any of them loaded in the house, but if I ever do want one loaded by the nightstand it will be the Ruger - I trust it.
 
Didn't you win a Glock 17 in a raffle and wasn't that pistol shipped to you? Load your Glock with 115 grs JHP and you'll be very well prtected.

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So many pistols, so little money.
 
I have the Arcus. It's almost as accurate as my Kimber. Well made, got a 2 tone one with one highcap and one ten round mag out the door for $250. I'd shoot it against a browning any day. Great gun for the money.
 
Looks like a pretty old thread got some life breathed into it...

With regard to the Astra A-100, I've got one that has performed flawlessly through several boxes of 9mm ammo in all flavors. Never a misfire or failure to feed.

It's not the most accurate gun I own and I wouldn't try to drive nails with it, but at 30 feet on in, it's got an instinctive point and shoot feel to it that puts all 17 of it's high cap rounds into the center torso of the silhouette. No sight aiming--just pick the weapon up off of the bench and start blasting and every shot goes somewhere in the center area.

Will that do for self defense? If it ain't surgical precision that you're looking for, the Astra A-100 will do the job just fine. It's "point and shoot" feel reminds me a whole bunch of my Beretta Cougar even though the Astra is a Sig-clone.



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Take the long way home...
 
This is an old topic, beofre the days of MrBlonde. But, I felt like inserting my opinion here. It all comes down to how much are you willing to pay to protect yourself, and your family. Its either paying big bucks for something thats been proven to be a great gun, or take a long shot on one of those clones that maybe you can prove to be a great gun. I heard that you got a P220, Sigs are great guns. You payed bi bucks for a great gun that will be great for you. But for the price you payed, you could have bought two great guns, but I would rather have the one proven great gun, then two maybe great guns, you made the right choice.



[This message has been edited by MrBlonde (edited July 15, 2000).]
 
Makarov is really reliable and well made. It's also a proven design -- a clone of the Walther PP. About $150 these days retail, less if you shop.

The down side is that the Makarov 9mm is not the most powerful ammo in the world. Slightly better than .380 ACP, but .380 ACP is marginal for defense.

I just purchased an Ex. condition S&W Mod. 10 in 38 Spc, bull barrel, ported, custom grips for $175 retail shop. It's designed for +P ammo and built on the same frame as the .357 magnum Mod. 10. You can probably find a used Mod. 10 in .357 mag. for around $200 in very good to excellent condition.

Ruger semi-autos are rugged, reliable, and you can get one in 45 ACP or 40 S&W. An excellent "house gun" The Ruger double action revolvers are also excellent.

A quality gun is a good investment. Prices go up on them and resale value is high. Also, they're readily taken in trade or sold.

Cheap guns, clones, "corner cutters" are cheaply made with inferior alloys and poorly fitted parts, hard to resell, not desired in trade, and don't hold value. They're not reliable.

Consider this: If you own a medium-sized car $100 is roughly equivalent to three tanks of gasoline. $100 on a quality firearm that costs $300, $350 is neglegible over time. Over time you'll have a quality firearm that is reliable and retains it's value.

In your desired price range you can find a mediocre semi-auto or a really fine (REALLY fine!) revolver. A mediocre semi-auto will jam on you. Revolvers just don't jam, ever.

I have a NEW Springfield 1911 that ran $600 or so. And a $175 used S&W revolver. The revolver is MUCH more reliable.
 
I would trust two off them.The norinco 1911 clone.Astra A-75 or 100.
Bob

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Age and deceit will overcome youth and speed.
I'm old and deceitful.
 
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