Quality Sub $500 Handguns

I would rather have fewer really good quality guns rather than several lower quality guns.

Figure out what you want to do with your guns... Hunting, competition, plinking, etc. Then hunt for good bargains on guns that will suit your needs.

OK, I think I see what you mean. Maybe Canik? Or maybe as suggested above a used sig or glock?

I bought a 1995 HK USP 45 for $499, came with 2 10 round mags. Barely used.

The wife and I bought a couple of Witness (Tanfoglio) pistols a few years ago (she got a 9, I got a 40), and they have been a couple of our favorites ever since. I now have 7 Witness pistols, from the poly frame up to the Stock II. The poly frame guns are a great value, can be picked up for ~$300 each. Basically a copy of a CZ. If you get the full size 45, it comes with 10 round mags.

For right around $500+/-, I'd go with these that I've found to be my favorites to own and shoot among the 25 or so handguns I've had. Except for the CZ, they would have to be used because they don't make 'em like that anymore. Really.

22 LR: Browning Medalist or Belgium Challenger
9 mm: CZ 75 family of guns, take your pick; I like the 85 Combat or the SP-01.
357/38 Revolver: Smith & Wesson pre-lock 586 or 686

a lot of C&R pistols would fit the bill.

1) S.A.M. or ATI 1911A1 GI military model in .45ACP or 9mm. Well regarded, reliable, and durable.
2) Pietta 1873 SAA in .45 Colt, .44-40, or .357 magnum. Well-made, though the trigger/bolt spring might break. (++ Music wire replacement aftermarket)
3) Ditto on Browning Challenger. One of the best .22 pistols ever made.
(Fired several thousand rounds through a Browning Medallist, which differs only in having a heavy barrel, large target stock, and large target sights.)

S&W Shields version 1.0 are dirt cheap now that the 2.0 version has been out a while. You can get brand new 9mm and 40 1,0 versions for $250-270. I picked up a Shield PC 9mm with tritium night sights last week at Cabelas for $399. Mag capacity of 7+1 and 8+1 in 9mm.

I wouldn’t buy pistols just because they were cheap if I didn’t think I may actually want them at some point.

That said I might speed up things I planned to buy but didn’t have a timeline or the cash comfortably at hand. There are a lot of nice pistols out there for cheapish prices.

Since we don’t know what you have exactly I’ll start with some generic suggestions:
1. A Glock 22. You can convert to 9mm and .357 easily so you get a lot of mileage from it. After that it’s only a little harder to make it a .22.
1a. Any pistol you think you might NEED for a specific purpose: HD gun, pocket gun etc.
2. A used .357 revolver of good quality can be had for about $500. A smith or ruger is reasonable.
3. Grab a .22 pistol, any ruger is solid or the MP.
4. After that it’s really up to you. Decent new pistols under $500 would include Caniks, smith MPs, the SD series smiths, charter revolvers, rugers, and Springfields. There are also used options

If you’ve had your eye on something for a little while grab it now before you leave and save yourself a little hassle.

Many people in European nations have to deal with that kind of situation, where every new gun requires a permit. One solution, somewhat popular there, is to pick a serialized frame that can accept different slide/barrel combos to be multiple calibers. Then you can sink money into making that frame (especially the trigger) as good as you want, and buy different top ends to shoot different cartridges/have different sights/different lengths.

To be clear, I am unfamiliar with HI law and don't know whether there would be some other obstacle to this approach, but it's one that works in some places that make getting each additional firearm very burdensome. And having one very nice pistol with several different top ends sounds better to me than having a drawer full of commodity-grade pistols that have a lot of paperwork to keep with each of them.

There are so many good sub $500 handguns available that it's hard to go into detail. Go to kingsfirearmsonline.com for instance. They sell police trade-in Glocks, Smiths, Sigs, etc. None of them cost $500. I got my S&W M&P 45acp from them for $229 plus $15 shipping. It came with the box, the spare grips, and three magazines. It looked like it had barely been shot.

The Glock 22 is another nice one. I got mine for under $300 barely used. For $196 (free shipping) I got a 9mm conversion barrel and magazine. Now it's also a G17 whenever I feel like spending two minutes changing out the parts.

The Ruger P series are highly under-rated. I got "one of each", a 9mm, 40, and 45acp, from Gunbroker in the past year for around $200 apiece.

The Star BM's are very nice smaller-sized 1911's in 9mm that are going for $150 lately. They are former Spanish police pistols. Mine is a very nice pistol, though I paid over $200 for it six months or so ago. My friend got one for $149 recently that appeared to be unissued. I think she got it from CDNN.

There are tons of good deals out there. You just have to look around.

Get yourself some police trade-in Glocks. Can hardly go wrong there.

OR you could stock up on BP replicas

Don't bother with pocket guns, I don't believe HI has issued a carry permit in years.

Speedo66 said:

Don't bother with pocket guns, I don't believe HI has issued a carry permit in years.

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Looking into it I found that for the year 2016 they issued 0 carry permits...and the permits are only good for 1 year so Hawaii had exactly nobody in the state outside law enforcement able to legally carry.

0.

HI is really bizarre about carrying. As a retired LEO I looked into the HR218 thing there. They require anybody carrying under HR218 to register with the local police within 3 days of arriving. What? Federal law does not require that, says you can carry anywhere unrestricted, no registering necessary. Federal law no doubt prevails, but who wants to be the test case?

If you reside there, they insist you use only one service OK'd by them to re-qualify you to state police level as required annually by Federal law, and it's pricey. I have a feeling HI rewards them for failing people. Federal law says anyone qualified to be a police firearms instructor in the state is OK, but again, who wants to be the test case?

I bought my model 28 for $250.00. Oh wait, that was in 1987. Never mind.

Refurbished LEO trade-in Sig p229, around $450 out the door, had it for 15 years now, shoots great



Here's one on GB for $350:

https://www.classicfirearms.com/sig...ertified-pre-owned-law-enforcement-trade-ins/

The Refurbishing is $85 from Sig:

https://www.sigsauer.com/custom-shop/

The S&W M&P 2.0's can be had for less than $500. Gun prices are really good right now there are a ton of options. You might want to start watching gun.deals & browsing gunbroker regularly. There is really no telling what you might find.

S&W Shield. $350. 8 rounds.

I've been harping the virtues of the SAR9 (SAR9BL) for the past few months. You can find them for well under $300 online with a little searching.
It's a 17 round 9mm made in Turkey that's hard to beat, especially for the money. As far as aesthetics and ergonomics go, it's like a G17 slide atop a VP9 frame. They have replaceable back straps and palm swells much like the VP9 as well. I find them to fit the hand wonderfully and the adjustable aspect lets you really dial it in.

I was so impressed with the first that I bought a 2nd. The 2nd is just as reliable and accurate as the first. The only caveat is they will come with ambidextrous manual safeties... something I'd prefer not to have on a striker-fire pistol. It was required for import. Other than that, I'd call them close to perfect for a duty sized handgun.

Guns Midwest has them for $256 + Shipping which is an insane price.

https://www.gunsmidwest.com/sar-usa-sar9bl-sar9-blk-9mm-17r.html]

Here's a decent review from American Rifleman of the pistol.
https://www.americanrifleman.org/articles/2018/5/31/tested-sarsilmaz-sar9-pistol/

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Snowdog said:

I've been harping the virtues of the SAR9 (SAR9BL) for the past few months. You can find them for well under $300 online with a little searching.

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I have a SAR K2 in 45 that I really like. It is a CZ pattern gun.

Under $500 gun store prices or online prices?

Really, really need to narrow down the criteria.

Quick search on Bud's Gun's website showed 1402 handguns available priced between $300 and $500.

I'll second the Canik brand for very solid pistols at a great price.
Some of my best buys were top tier brands, (Hk, Sig, Beretta, etc.) from the used market. Just have to be at the right place at the right time.

Snowdog said:

I've been harping the virtues of the SAR9 (SAR9BL) for the past few months. You can find them for well under $300 online with a little searching.
It's a 17 round 9mm made in Turkey that's hard to beat, especially for the money. As far as aesthetics and ergonomics go, it's like a G17 slide atop a VP9 frame. They have replaceable back straps and palm swells much like the VP9 as well. I find them to fit the hand wonderfully and the adjustable aspect lets you really dial it in.

I was so impressed with the first that I bought a 2nd. The 2nd is just as reliable and accurate as the first. The only caveat is they will come with ambidextrous manual safeties... something I'd prefer not to have on a striker-fire pistol. It was required for import. Other than that, I'd call them close to perfect for a duty sized handgun.

Guns Midwest has them for $256 + Shipping which is an insane price.

https://www.gunsmidwest.com/sar-usa-sar9bl-sar9-blk-9mm-17r.html]

Here's a decent review from American Rifleman of the pistol.
https://www.americanrifleman.org/articles/2018/5/31/tested-sarsilmaz-sar9-pistol/

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Looks like a very nice gun, especially for the price. I am a Ruger fan, at least use to be. But given the choice of the Sar vs Ruger Security9, I would jump on the Sar all day long. A lot of gun for the money. I would be interested in one in 45,cal if they make one.

Update, now you got me interested. Saw this video and very impressive. Like the all steel chassis.
By the way, this young man did a great review!
No wonder why this CZ clone is sold out every where.