I got my first handgun in the mid 1980's. I own dozens of them. Thinking of paying $500 for a handgun makes me want to cry. I paid between $200-$300 for most of mine.
Used is good. If it was a quality firearm in the first place and wasn't abused, it should still work just fine. Military surplus is very good. I have yet to get a lemon military surplus firearm, including rifles and handguns. Must of them were "carried often and shot little".
There is no magical handgun. If it fits your hand pretty well, has a decent trigger, and goes bang every time you squeeze the trigger, it's an okay handgun. I have owned or shot pretty near all of them. IMHO, most are just fine.
If you look at places like CDI sales on Gunbroker, J&G, AIM, etc. you can find perfectly good Berettas, S&W, Glocks, whatever, that were used by the police or military and sold as surplus. Some of the ones I have gotten weren't even actually used. You can easily find a perfectly good handgun that way for less than $300.
Everyone can do what they want. It's all good. But it's unnecessary to over-analyze or spend a ton of money, IMHO. Like the other poster said, it's the first handgun, not the final or only handgun.
Used is good. If it was a quality firearm in the first place and wasn't abused, it should still work just fine. Military surplus is very good. I have yet to get a lemon military surplus firearm, including rifles and handguns. Must of them were "carried often and shot little".
There is no magical handgun. If it fits your hand pretty well, has a decent trigger, and goes bang every time you squeeze the trigger, it's an okay handgun. I have owned or shot pretty near all of them. IMHO, most are just fine.
If you look at places like CDI sales on Gunbroker, J&G, AIM, etc. you can find perfectly good Berettas, S&W, Glocks, whatever, that were used by the police or military and sold as surplus. Some of the ones I have gotten weren't even actually used. You can easily find a perfectly good handgun that way for less than $300.
Everyone can do what they want. It's all good. But it's unnecessary to over-analyze or spend a ton of money, IMHO. Like the other poster said, it's the first handgun, not the final or only handgun.