That pistol which you hate to love!

I can't say "I hate to love". It's more like "I hate that I find it useful".

That honor would go to my Taurus TCP732 in .32ACP.

It was $200.00 new, but I had to fix the false trigger reset problem, it wouldn't cycle certain .32 ACP ammo, and gave light strikes to other ammo, all was a pisser. I also converted the 6 round magazine to a 7 round magazine with internal parts from an NAA Guardian magazine, but that made the last round hold open non-functional on that magazine (which I willingly accept).

With the parts and time I have in this gun, plus the holster wear on the slide, I really can't give this gun away.

So, as long as I have plenty of boxes of the ammo that work in this gun (S&B 73 grain FMJ), at least the gun is useful.

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I'm kind of ashamed, but they've been great. I have 3 Taurus PT111 G2's. One is bone stock, the others have upgrade sights, etc. Fun little gun and cheap enough to play with and not worry about hurting it.

hemiram said:

I'm kind of ashamed, but they've been great. I have 3 Taurus PT111 G2's. One is bone stock, the others have upgrade sights, etc. Fun little gun and cheap enough to play with and not worry about hurting it.

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Taurus's reputation has a checkered past -- ups and downs over the years. But they really got these PT111 G2 pistols right. One of my buddies really gave me some sideways looks when I told him I bought myself one for my birthday. But that gun is as reliable as the trigger take-up is long! I'm very impressed with it, but still don't talk too much at the gun range about my main carry gun being a Taurus. Especially when I'm shooting my Wilson Combat!

Mine would be a HP22 from phoenix arms. Never failed once. I put soo many rounds thru it. I love it.

I guess it would be my 1st Heritage 22LR/22WMR combo that i purchased.

This one is the so called case hardened "Johnny Boy" and it's ugly as home made sin. The frame makes it look terrible but at the time it was $160 NIB and i already knew several people that owned them and they were surprisingly accurate. This thing shoots amazing and has ran piles of ammo and has never had a problem, other than being cheap and ugly. I even put some checkered cocobola grips and an engraved cylinder on it to try and make it look better but, nah. It's just ugly......... but I love it.

I did a full action and trigger job on it and made a trigger stop for it, customized the sights, and put the grips and cylinder on it like it was a fancy gun but its just and ugly Heritage. Fits me nice though. Don't laugh plz

Mine would be a Bulgarian Makarov that I bought nearly twenty years ago at a gun show for near nothing. I shot it and loved it immediately even though it was a communist block weapon. I told my brothers about it and they didn't think much of them. I carried it as my CCW for many years. One day they were at my house and we were shooting various firearms and I brought out the Mak and cranked off a few into the target and one of my brothers wife was watching and asked what kind of gun is that and can I shoot it? Sure, it's the old sidearm of the Warsaw Pact in most of their armies during the Cold War. She shot it and loved it. Then my brothers shot it and the next thing you know they both had one and the one sister-in-law has gone from an ambivalent about guns to a dedicated CCW chick and her husband has bought her the S&W bodyguard and other firearms but she routinely goes back to the little Bulgarian Mak her husband bought after shooting mine. If she shoots a new pistol she always compares it to her Mak, good as, like or no where good as her Mak. So mine would be the Makarov, followed up by the SKS rifle.

Amen on the SKS! I literally overpaid for my Chinese one in the 1990's... $149 before they became dirt cheap. It was my go-to brush hunting rifle for many years. It suffered tremendous amounts of abuse; the stock is all dinged up and the barrel is scratched. But it's never malfunctioned, the trigger is excellent, and it's amazingly accurate. If there were no deer by mid-morning, I would shoot squirrels with it to have something to bring home for breakfast. Back when my eyes were good and my hands were steady, it was relatively easy to pick them out of oak trees with iron sights.

Another vote for the Phoenix Arms HP22a. Fun gun. Accurate and fun to shoot. It also looks and feels like a quality gun.

I’m not ashamed of it at all, but I hate to love my PPK/s. It’s heavy, has an awful double action trigger, and has a felt recoil much greater than a .380 has a right to.

But it is very reliable, very accurate in single action, very good to look at (in my eyes), and fits my hand beautifully.

AR pistol. Always hated the stupid things but ended up building one as a truck gun, now I really like everything about it except for the caliber. I'm seriously considering rebarreling to 10mm, but hate to spend the money on a blowback bcg.

I too have a bizarre affection to the Makarov pistol - I mean, it has the ergonomics of a brick, it's mechanics are so cost effectively built that it hurts me just by looking at them, it has that unpleasant (for me, as a citizen of an ex-iron curtain country) commie gun feel, but I do enjoy shooting it.

P.S Well, for a magazine or two. After that I tell to myself: "Now, now - grow up, throw away that commie junk and go get your real guns"...

TN Outlaw

Don't want it to seem like I'm looking down on your "Johnny Boy" revolver but when I saw it the first thing that came to mind had something to do with a silk purse and a sow's ear. Nothing personal; just my first reaction. As long as your happy with it, then I'm happy for you.

Hi Point CF380

Bought it because it was cheap. Did not expect much, but it's like the Energizer Bunny. It just keeps going and going and going. I don't remember a single malfunction and it's accurate to boot!

I have a Kel-Tex PF9 that I have a love/hate relationship. It was the first pistol that I bought. I got if because it was the smallest 9mm at the time.

The pluses are the tiny size and I can shoot it well.

The minuses are it has an awful trigger and it’s not fun to shoot.

Did I mention it’s small and the first pistol I bought.

Love/hate it.

bannockburn said:

I'm with Tallball: it would have to be my P3AT. I got it, after resisting the idea for a number of years, because I really wanted the smallest, lightest .380 out there (pure pocket carry), and the P3AT was it. It won't win any beauty contests, has a heavy, never will be smooth, trigger, pretty much non-existent sights, more sharp edges than a drawer filled with knives, and a finish that can only be compared to a well used, wartime issued surplus rifle. Only have one or two photos of it and rarely even mention it when discussing other .380s I own. But it still works every time I use it and it is extremely concealable 24/7. What's there not to love!

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Agreed, except mine is a P32. I chose it because it holds one more round and locks open after the last shot. To hijack an old joke, carrying a Kel-Tec is liking riding a motor scooter: it's fun, but you don't want your friends to see you doing it ...

I hate loving revolvers. I feel like they’re objectively worse than almost all autos, but there’s a cool factor about them that I like.

larryh1108 said:

Another vote for the Phoenix Arms HP22a. Fun gun. Accurate and fun to shoot. It also looks and feels like a quality gun.
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Yet another big Vote for the Phoenix HPA. 22.cal. Pretty sad when a cheap low cost gun out shoots others that cost as much as 4 times the cost of the Phoenix. Liked it so much bought another just to have double the fun. (Guess that means I get two votes)

I would have entered my Ruger LC9S here due to the absurdly long trigger pull, but I had that fixed with a trigger kit. Now I love to love it.

bannockburn said:

TN Outlaw

Don't want it to seem like I'm looking down on your "Johnny Boy" revolver but when I saw it the first thing that came to mind had something to do with a silk purse and a sow's ear. Nothing personal; just my first reaction. As long as your happy with it, then I'm happy for you.

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It's ugly as any pistol I've ever seen. No offense taken at all.

I've had several guns over the years and as I've gotten older I've upgraded my cheaper (and ugly) guns to a nicer collection but I can't bring myself to get rid of this Heritage. Some of the shots I've made with it are astonishing to me. It actually spoiled me to the point of thinking when I bought more expensive revolvers they would be able to shoot that good or better for sure but I learned it was just a shooter. With 36gr WWB bulk at that. Hard to beat a cheap knock about pistol that shoots cheap bulk amazingly well. .......its just hard to look at

I'll never get rid of the ugly duckling.

Having thought about this for a few more seconds, I’m saying HRR 22lr. The finish is nice for the first 30-45 seconds, but after that it fades to a dull gray that’s not even very consistent. The reason I like it though is that it’s cheap, functional, and best of all it has a simple safety. It’s perfect for teaching a youngster because if you call for safety they can put a cocked single action revolver on safe, lower the hammer without risking a ND, and continue on their merry way. With similar other guns (single six for example) the only really safe way to drop a hammer is to shoot the round, but you can’t necessarily do that if the adult has called for safety due to something down range. Now you are either transitioning a cocked loaded single action, or trusting a youngster to manipulate the gun to safely thumb the hammer down. No bueno. Flip the safety switch and hand me the gun is much easier.

HiPoint c9. But can’t argue with its reliability, accuracy, and can’t throw brass in my face.

Zendude said:

HiPoint c9. But can’t argue with its reliability, accuracy, and can’t throw brass in my face.

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I keep hearing so many comments of the HiPoint that are alway's basically very positive. Interesting that they are advertised to shoot Plus P ammo. I read that they use a zinc metal similar to the Phoenix, but use Stainless steel at the Stress Points. A very Smart Move. Look at some of the higher cost firearms arms out there that do the same.

Take the Ruger LCP. They will go down like a cheap lawn chair when any substantial amount of ammo is shot downrange with these guns. The will crack frames and grips. I have always advocated that Ruger should make the guns with steel inserts, at the stress points. Ruger now sells the Security 9 a low cost firearm for home defense. I own neither, but given the choice from what I have seen so far, I would not hesitate to to with the High Point. I have shot one and they are mild to shoot. My brother has had owned for years and the dang gun just keeps on trucking.

ApacheCoTodd said:

"Surplus" market before the boom was lowered on it.View attachment 790933

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hers mine i pickup a a pawn shop a year ago

larryh1108 said:

Another vote for the Phoenix Arms HP22a. Fun gun. Accurate and fun to shoot. It also looks and feels like a quality gun.
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heres mine i got the satin look paid 120$ for it i think

Robbins290 said:

Mine would be a HP22 from phoenix arms. Never failed once. I put soo many rounds thru it. I love it.

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the first 20 rounds i had a few jams i buff out the feed ramp and never had any jams yet put a few hundred rounds of 22s threw it so far
beaware with hot rounds +p like i heard of frame cracks with them