what's out there for cheap but reliable pieces?

TruthTellers said:
I won't claim to be an expert, but I know a thing or five about cheap guns.

Under $125:

Raven .25 ACP. Haven't been made in almost 30 years, but they are not the dumpster fire people make them out to be. Look for serial numbers under 1 million, this means they were older models that I believe were better made.

Of all the "Ring of Fire" pistols, I think the Ravens are the best. Are they great guns? No, the sights aren't great, the trigger isn't great, the safety just blocks the trigger, it doesn't stop the firing pin... but I've only had one FTE with it and that was on the last round of a magazine. 6 rounds of .25 isn't much, but so long as you shoot for the head, face, and neck, it's going to have an effect.

There's also 6 shot, .22 LR only Heritage revolvers you can get for $100 on Black Friday.

Under $200:

Used Ruger 9E, used LCP, Hi Points, used SCCY's, Heritage .22 Magnum, H&R .32's, Pietta black powder percussion revolvers.

I know you said no to Hi Points, but for home defense guns and not carry guns, they're fine. Great warranty, anything wrong, send it in, Hi Point fixes it and sends you a new magazine for your troubles.

The Heritage revolvers, I would go for a 9 shot model if you can find them in that price range. They're becoming tough to find apparently, not many places have them in stock. Lot of changes have happened with Heritage since Taurus bought them and I honestly don't think those changes have been for the better.

H&R .32 S&W Long revolvers are for some reason common on gunbroker and the prices are about $50+ lower than they were this time last year. Is .32 a stopper? No, but it's better than .22, .25, and .32 ACP.

Black powder revolvers... these are mostly going to be brass framed, but sometimes Cabela's has sales on 1858 steel frames for $200. Yes, you'll have to buy powder, bullets, primers, and lube or lubed wads, but you can also make some of those things to lower the cost.

Are they effective? Yup, when I hit the steel at 50 yards, it hits pretty hard. Maybe not .45 Colt levels hard, but the cool thing is for another $240, you can get a conversion cylinder and shoot cartridges from them.

After $200, you get into your usual suspects. Ruger's EC9s is CHEAP, used LC9s can be found for CHEAP, and they're not bad guns.

Armscor .38 revolvers are fine, they won't ever win a beauty contest, but they'll work. I think used Charter Arms revolvers made before 1990 are exceptional and, so long as it's not a .22 LR, you can get them for under $300. I scored a .357 Charter for $250 and the trigger is so smooth and light... man, it blows away any Ruger SP101.

I think everyone else has covered what's pretty good for over $200.
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Classic Firearms, for one.
 
For the record, I've had more issues with new guns than used guns.
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Same with me...but you've got to know how to look over a used gun, and determine if it's just holster/drawer cosmetic wear, or something more serious.

In 50+ years of buying both new and used handguns, I've only sent one back and that was a new S&W M-25 back in the late '70's. Smith was sending them out with cylinder throats that measured 0.458"+- with a bbl. groove dia. of 0.452"...it didn't group, it patterned! The guys in the service dept. were apologetic but couldn't change the manuf. specs.

Rod
 
PeteH said:
Glocks are 400-500 brand new, no contest. I Love'em.
GarandTd said:
Love'em or not, there's lots of great 4-500 dollar guns out there, but none of them fit the under $300 "cheap" criteria.
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+1, but I do have a pertinent suggestion: Used Glock in .45 GAP (37/38/39) or possibly .357 SIG (31/32/33). I've seen a few of both under $300, more of the former than the latter. One was a nearly unfired G38 for $275 that I'm still kicking myself for not buying. :(

The issue with either suggestion is future ammo availability, particularly in .45 GAP if the few large LE agencies that use it were to drop it. I would only recommend embracing this cartridge if you know (or are willing to learn) how to handload, and you're prepared to hoard brass and carefully police your ejected cases at the range!
 
Paid $420 for a Glock 23, $230 OTD for a Shield 9mm and $280 for a Kahr CW380. I’ll never see those prices again!:(
 
Without the FFL fee included Recoil Gunworks is selling Gen3 G22 police trade in for $299.

M&P 40 full size trade ins can be had for even less at some places.

For new I'd probably go with the Zastava Tok. I'm probably going to get one with my tax money in 9mm.

Sent from my SM-G930R4 using Tapatalk
 
I picked up my Taurus PT111G2 at DE Guns for under 200 shipped. The PT709 is under 300 as well.. Both spit out everything I have fed them
 
HistoryJunky said:
For new I'd probably go with the Zastava Tok.
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Allow me to paraphrase a few complaints about Zastava Toks that I've culled from past threads.
  • Trigger pull weight and quality differs pretty drastically between individual examples. Try before you buy if possible.
  • Lots of sharp edges inside the frame and slide; Zastava evidently does not expend much (if any) effort to tumble or deburr the pistols. Keep Band-Aids® handy when cleaning!
  • Consistent reports that the pistols hit below POA, a difficult problem to remedy due to the already very tall and chisel-like rear sight.
  • The underlying Tokarev design has neither a firing pin block nor an intertial firing pin like a pre-Series 80 M1911; it's basically designed to be carried in Condition 3 and is NOT drop-safe in Condition 2.* Condition 1 carry is theoretically safe, but you have to use the Zastava's somewhat awkward slide-mounted up-for-fire thumb safety.
*FOOTNOTE: Some Tok fans argue that the very stout half-cock notch serves as a Condition 2 safety device. I'm not convinced. YMMV.

IMHO most pistols suggested in this thread are better values unless you absolutely insist upon having a brand-new 9mm that's absolutely as thin as possible, and even if this were the case, I would personally haunt my local retailers and see who's clearing out the now-discontinued S&W Shield 9mm "M1.0;" there are bound to be some deals popping up out there.
 
^ Tokarevs are not carry guns, they're range guns and maybe home defense guns. If I had one stashed in a drawer, it'd have a loaded magazine in it, but an empty chamber.
 
Tokarevs are not carry guns, they're range guns and maybe home defense guns.
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I would posit that they are just collectors' pistols and range toys at this point (Zastava or otherwise). The Tokarevs are well-made (if a bit rough-looking), reliable, and have great history, but time has long since passed the design (and the cartridge) by as the most intelligent choice for self defense.
 
Taurus PT-111 Generation 2, 9mm medium frame, striker-fired pistol with 12 round magazine. Universally available under $300, occasionally under $200.

Long, clunky trigger pull, but otherwise serviceable. Owners on their user group (Taurusarmed.net) are generally pleased with reliability and performance.

Additional factory magazines available for reasonable price. Can also use certain SIG magazines. After market recoil spring assembly is available for about $35 to smooth out operations even further.
 
They're ugly and heavy, but for all the knocks on Hi-Points they actually do run. There's a reason it's the gat of choice in the hood.
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IME, they work if you feed them FMJ ..... commonly accepted self defense ammo (JHP) will choke them every time.

IMO, the reason these guns are popular in the hood is the same reason FMJ is popular in the hood: it's the cheapest thing that goes bang!



As for Tokarevs not being "Carry Guns" ..... I'd much rather have a Toke that reliably feeds HP ammo than something that costs the same or less that does not, and is more concealable and accurate, to boot! If it's gotta be under $300, it's going to be a Tokarev copy, for me. YMMV.
 
carguychris said:
Allow me to paraphrase a few complaints about Zastava Toks that I've culled from past threads.
  • Trigger pull weight and quality differs pretty drastically between individual examples. Try before you buy if possible.
  • Lots of sharp edges inside the frame and slide; Zastava evidently does not expend much (if any) effort to tumble or deburr the pistols. Keep Band-Aids[emoji768] handy when cleaning!
  • Consistent reports that the pistols hit below POA, a difficult problem to remedy due to the already very tall and chisel-like rear sight.
  • The underlying Tokarev design has neither a firing pin block nor an intertial firing pin like a pre-Series 80 M1911; it's basically designed to be carried in Condition 3 and is NOT drop-safe in Condition 2.* Condition 1 carry is theoretically safe, but you have to use the Zastava's somewhat awkward slide-mounted up-for-fire thumb safety.
*FOOTNOTE: Some Tok fans argue that the very stout half-cock notch serves as a Condition 2 safety device. I'm not convinced. YMMV.

IMHO most pistols suggested in this thread are better values unless you absolutely insist upon having a brand-new 9mm that's absolutely as thin as possible, and even if this were the case, I would personally haunt my local retailers and see who's clearing out the now-discontinued S&W Shield 9mm "M1.0;" there are bound to be some deals popping up out there.
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Yeah I have read about them quite a bit. I have wanted one for awhile.

The first pistol I ever fired was a Norinco 213 9mm Tokarev. I loved that gun. I love the thinness of the Tok as well. I personally wouldn't carry one because I have more suitable guns for that. I would probably stash it in a drawer and shoot it at the range.

Sent from my SM-G930R4 using Tapatalk
 
Picked up a new "updated" Beretta Pico for $160 last year. Absolutely reliable with HPs and accurate with the factory sights. Liked it so much I bought another and retired my LCPs.
 
hdwhit said:
Taurus PT-111 Generation 2, 9mm medium frame, striker-fired pistol with 12 round magazine. Universally available under $300, occasionally under $200.

Long, clunky trigger pull, but otherwise serviceable. Owners on their user group (Taurusarmed.net) are generally pleased with reliability and performance.

Additional factory magazines available for reasonable price. Can also use certain SIG magazines. After market recoil spring assembly is available for about $35 to smooth out operations even further.
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Recoil spring assemblies are about 25usd shipped. The trigger...hit or miss, make sure you get one that doesn't have a false "wall" (caused by the safety blade). Otherwise a slightly complicated trigger swap can be done in a couple of hours with tools for 25usd.

Cabelas has been running these on and off for 199usd, I've seem them also for 179usd in the past.

The shield is a better out of box pistol but I doubt you'll find those for 205usd again, but they do sometimes come up for just under 300usd.
 
Jennings J22..... First shot reliable with mine. After that it's anyone's guess re further shots or a jam. Nice ones can be had for $80 +/-. .... J22 the classic "Saturday Night Special."

.02. David. :D
 
Spend a little time shopping CDNN's website, or J&G Sales website and it very rapidly becomes apparent that it is possible to get a quality firearm--even a new one--for under $300. You can even get under $200 if you're willing to be flexible.
 
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