I used on source because Buds has a good variety and you can find what you are looking for in a couple of minutes. I can spend about 10 minutes online and beat Buds prices nearly every time. I've bought 5 new guns this year but only a couple from Buds because I found better prices or they were available locally for a better price and they were immediately available. I bought 3 affordable revolvers this year alone and have accumulated 5 (one was a gift and another used) within the last 10 months which means I seriously shopped. How many have you bought in that time period?Osborne, those prices came from one and only one source. I didn't cherry pick, I just took what i could easily obtain and gave the true prices from those sources. I spent about an hour putting the post together to tell the true story as best as I could determine it from the perspective of some guy who could just walk into an average store that he has near home or easily find online. That took a lot of work for someone who was stuck on a couch with a migraine. I probably should have picked other places and different guns. I hoped that it would help.
Yes, a Smith .38 cost more than a rough rider. In this case, value isn't getting a gun for the price of a box of cigars. It's getting a gun for the price of a better box of cigars and maybe getting a better or more worthwhile product for a better price. I've got to stop now. I don't want switch the focus to only what I think because everyone has a right to express their their thoughts without someone shouting him down.
Well saidLook at a revolver and examine all of the machined surfaces. Look at a plastic pistol and see the simple work.
A revolver's cylinder has 6 boreholes, six locking notches, six precision tabs to rotate the thing, ejection star, machined trigger assembly with a half dozen parts, steel frame and barrel, etc...
A Metal framed pistol is just as complex to make, with hammer, frame, slide, etc but they are made in greater volume.
When you buy a plastic framed pistol you get essentially a steel slide and barrel with a few steel parts that are fitted to a plastic frame that was cast around some components and the rest of it is put together by robots. (probably).
The glock can cost as little as $500 because it is cheap to make and the company wants to sell millions of them. It worked.
The 1911 and other steel frame handguns, if you buy a quality 9mm about in the quality range of a glock will cost you in the range of $800 to even $1,200
You can buy a revolver, a smith in .357 magnum for about $800.
An aluminum frame revolver can be had for less than the price of a glock. $400 dollar range.
A revolver can be a bargain. They are not more expensive than a high end pistol. I can get a boxed pair of vaquero .357s for about $1,700. A super redhawk alaskan for $1,000. A S&W 629 classic .44 magnum sells for $900.
A rather ordinary 1911 at the same place goes for $1,000. Upper scale 1911s with some custom features will cost well into the $2,000. and up range.
Don't look at an M&P and compare it to a steel framed revolver, or even a steel framed pistol. It's apples to prunes.
I picked up a 67-1 and 686-1 in the last few weeks for about the equivalent on a Gen5 19 for each. There are deals to be had out there for them.I can only say that I like my glock because it fits well to my needs and fits my hands. It's a better fit for me than the others I looked at. Yep, it made someone a lot of money, and it cost me more than alternatives, but in the end I got what I paid for. I could have saved money but I wouldn't have had the satisfaction of a gun that really works well for me.
I wish that I could pick up a K frame for a few hundred.