The Game: $300 Carry Gun

Area shop had the Ruger EC9 for $219.95, first gen Shield for $279.95. Both decent CC guns.

The Walther PK380 is reliable, easy to shoot, and generally available for under 300.

I got my .45 Shield for $299. I think I got it on sale because it has the manual safety. Big whoop, I don't mind. Solid gun, two magazines of two sizes, .45 acp.

As I have said before, I think it may have been the gun buy of 2019 for me. Close second would be the 590a1, but the Shield feels like a gun that I will actually carry for years, will be easy to maintain, has good market support (if not quite as much as it's slightly smaller 9/40 brothers), and just shoots well in my hands.

I would say it has been a disproportionate value for $300 compared to other purchases I have made.

As for real pocket pistols... are LCP's available for that price? If not, then probably the original Kel-Tec is.

For a small 9mm, the Taurus G2C is easy to find for less than that price.

The CZ7 compact copy made by SAR of Turkey is easy to find at that price.

Full-sized pistols by Canik, or the SW9VDE (or w/e it's called) by S&W are often under $300.

In a snub revolver, Taurus Model 85's are normally less than that.

Those are all pistols that I own or used to own and found to be reliable.

Taurus G2c, way under $300

You can make a long list of good pistols under $300 dollars now and that is a good thing .

My choice would be a PPS LE .

2 Sccy cpx1 with safety. New York reload, or double fist it. Talk about a blaze of glory...

Seriously I would buy 2 Pistols and I’m probably going to do just that when I get tax refund. Keltec p32 for extremely light carry and a SCCY with safety for normal carry situations. That size gun seems optimal, the price is good, and I really just don’t feel right without a manual safety. I get the thought process where people consider them a deathwish switch, but I just can’t get past it mentally.

Ruger SR9c, easy

Ruger LCP in .380. Can be had for $215 new here.

Or, the Charter Arms Undercover High Polish S.S. in .38 Special for $300 here. For when I hate buying extra magazines for new gun purchases.

Shield 9, and move on.

You can't beat a Shield for the price/quality combo right now, and it's a great carry pistol. I have an old original version and it's been great. It gives up some rounds to the Hellcat and 365 but that will probably never make a difference, and it has a very solid track record at this point.

The best and the worst have been mentioned in this thread. The Best is the Ruger SR9C by far... and the worst by far is the Taurus G2C.

JR24 said:

Ruger SR9c, easy

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FL-NC said:

Shield 9, and move on.

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One of these two would be my answer.

I'd also submit the LC9s.

To Win, buy a used M&P Shield (or better, an M&P full-size) for $250ish.

IMHO, buying a new gun is often a lot like buying a new car: a luxury for either the rich or thoughtless. The world is brimming with folks who bought a cool looking Tupperware pistol and got bored before finishing the second box of ammo.

Canik TP9SF ONE.

18 rounds of 9mm, magazines are inexpensive, very decent trigger out of the box, good sights.

IMHO it's almost impossible to beat this deal.

edwardware said:

To Win, buy a used M&P Shield (or better, an M&P full-size) for $250ish.

IMHO, buying a new gun is often a lot like buying a new car: a luxury for either the rich or thoughtless. The world is brimming with folks who bought a cool looking Tupperware pistol and got bored before finishing the second box of ammo.

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And plenty bought a cheap Tupperware and didn't even make it through the first box.

Your point?

JR24 said:

Your point?

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Right there at the top. . .

edwardware said:

To Win, buy a used M&P. . .

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Buy used, especially under price constraint.

edwardware said:

Right there at the top. . .


Buy used, especially under price constraint.

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Gotcha

Kahr CM9 is going for $235 right now, excellent CC firearm. The one thing that gets under my skin about it is that it only comes with one mag.

I'm gonna cheat: grab the Ruger P89 I've already owned since I was 21.

Holster: $60
Belt $75
LTC class $75
License fee $40

$0 for the gun & $250 gets every thing else I need.

Shield in (mm, 250 new. Wiggle room for ammo.

This question is time based. Right now one could pick up a cpo 320, used 226 or 229, beretta px4 or 92. glock 22,23,27, even a USP. Anything in 40. 5 years ago none of those would be close to 300 dollars. I'd pick a 27 at the moment but that's just what I carry. Anything above would work, just quite large.

Jonesy814 said:

Area shop had the Ruger EC9 for $219.95, first gen Shield for $279.95. Both decent CC guns.

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Both outstanding bargains.

edwardware said:

To Win, buy a used M&P Shield (or better, an M&P full-size) for $250ish.

IMHO, buying a new gun is often a lot like buying a new car: a luxury for either the rich or thoughtless. The world is brimming with folks who bought a cool looking Tupperware pistol and got bored before finishing the second box of ammo.

Click to expand...

When a Shield was $400 this makes sense, but at $259-280 for a new one, buying used is tough. I see used LC9s for $200 but people still want $250 for a used Shield. New gets you a warranty