Which to buy?

Since you ask....Glock 30 is probably the most practical and probably 50x more likely to be relied on in a SD event. On the other hand AR's are back on the chopping block and $500 is a giveaway price, even if its a budget build like a PSA or Del-ton those have jumped way up in price and AR's in general have become harder to find and expensive. Personally I'd probably buy the AR out of priority. The Glock is likely going to be available for a hot minute.

Another thing to consider is ammo. If you're friend has ammo to sell along with em I might go with whichever one he has more ammo for. Neither gun will do you any good without ammo. But if ammo isn't a concern I'd go with the AR. But, just gonna change direction one more time, if you weren't planning on buying guns in the future and were just trying to decide on one gun indefinitely, I'd probably go with the Glock. I'd have to write alot more to explain my whole thought process but maybe you get the idea..

After much contemplation, I have decided you should get the Glock.

Lol

Before you buy a subcompact carry pistol in 45 ACP, you should try shooting one. It's more difficult to control muzzle flip than a 9mm, 40SW, or 357 Sig.

AR is a beautiful platform and the price is right. Seems like a better bargain than the G30.

Not a fan of the Glock 30 but the home built AR would make me a bit nervous (no disrespect to your friend or his gun building expertise). If there are no other options available I would go with the Glock 30. If it's not to your liking then maybe pass on this deal right now in the hope that something else will come along.

He passed on both.

Your logic seems solid, mate.

Easy to fall into the "I need to buy" Vs "I NEED".

In an effort to avoid accumulation syndrome I would sit down and write a list of wants/needs, exactly what you want.

If a good local deal pops up on something you actually know you really want and /or fulfils an actual need (self defense, etc) then you know you should jump on it!

But sometimes there is just a great deal that pops up, and if you can nothing wrong with grabbing a smoking deal (someone selling an old Smith revolver for last decades prices etc).

500 isn't a great deal for either of those imo, I'm not enamored of either platform. I don't like to logic of "in before ban".

Defeatist, weak, great for you.. What about your kids, future of your country? Better to allocate those resources to fight now (500 sent to current efforts /lobbyists in Washington currently fighting any bans).

If we loose here that's it. There's no where else. The rest of western democracy has already been disarmed.

IMO the worst time to panic and buy something is when everyone else is panicing. As stated in the post above step back and look at all your options take your time to look at all available options make a plan and follow it. Your reasons and thoughts are valid and your plan going forward is solid. Also what is my best choice might not even be on your list for many reasons. The more input others give help you in your final choice. I will often change my mind about what I want many times before an actual purchase. One of my mantras is "If it's ment to be it will happen".

AR. You can fix anything obsolete on it with modern parts whenever you want to.

G30 is pretty much obsolete now. Almost nobody carries one. If it was a Glock 35/22/23/41/48, then I would have said Glock.

Buy both - give him the $500 and offer to pay the $500 balance over time. You have both at a decent price, he has sold both, he has $500 cash - everyone wins.

Haven't shot the Glock 30, but I typically stay away from big rounds in small frame. Just not my cup of tea.

As for the AR, I suppose it would depend on the parts he built it with. Were they quality? New or second-hand? That being said it is a good price and who knows where the market and legislation may go.

if i had 500.00 to spend i would shop until i was sure what i wanted and put a little with it and buy new, i just purchased a sig 365 xl for 600.00

Bears4deblife89 said:

had to say. whats the part list on the AR15?

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If you want to build one as opposed to buying one, you need to start with the lower reciever. That is the part that you need to buy from a gun dealer and pass a background check. In our state you must have a permit to buy a pistol to buy that part which is a more extensive background check. Once you have that you can buy a kit online. DEL-TON has high quality kits on line starting at $450. That's what I would do if I wanted another AR. Or some more advance builders are very selective about what parts they use. It depends on what you want it for. You will need an optic sight with that kit as well or a compatible rear sight as it comes with a front sight.

Charlie Martinez said:

Thanks to everyone for their input.
I chose to pass on both.

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Good for you.

Never buy a gun that you are not eager/excited to own. If you have to ask which one, you don’t want either one bad enough.

Charlie Martinez said:

Thanks to everyone for their input.
I chose to pass on both. The Glock 30 is nice but I live in a warm area where bulky clothing is never needed and the thick grip isn't as convenient to CC as I want. I believe I'll be looking at the Kahr CW 45 until I find a good used one. It has less capacity than the Glock 30 but it's thinner grip makes it much more concealable.
As far as the AR-15, I passed on it because it's not as practical for home defense in the suburbs as my Marlin 1894 in 44 Magnum or my Remington 870.

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J-Bar said:

Good for you.

Never buy a gun that you are not eager/excited to own. If you have to ask which one, you don’t want either one bad enough.

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I agree! No point in buying just for the sake of buying, especially if you're not too jazzed about either. If you trust that your buddy knows his stuff the AR is probably a safe bet, but I'll confess that just for myself I'm not a big fan of "Frankenguns" or parts-guns. In theory everything should snap together but unless you understand the inner workings of the rifle and have the full parts list it's hard to know if the gun will hold up. Again, probably it will but the resale value of a Frankengun isn't as good either if you decide to move it along down the road.

Might as well save your cash for something you'll use more. A 5 shot .357 isn't a bad CCW gun by any means! And it sounds like you have the home defense gun thing nailed down.

Certainly something you will have to decide for yourself, but if it were me I'd say go with the Glock, due to its portability its more likely to be with you should you encounter trouble. The AR is superior in wounding, capacity, accuracy, etc but it all counts for nothing if it's at your house while you're getting shiv'd at the gas pump, mall parking lot, etc... of course you could cart your AR around with you if you choose, and it's legal, but from a practical standpoint the Glock is the "better", more sensible first buy.

Then there is also the consideration of which you'd prefer to shoot. Honestly I love my AR, love shooting my AR, but I enjoy shooting my carry gun (glocks) more than pretty much anything.... I'd buy them both, but if I had to choose one, it would be the Glock. I think quite literally, if I was forced to choose one gun to own, it would be my carry gun (glock).

I would try to get the AR too though, but any centerfire rifle/shotgun will generally do exceedingly better than a handgun in self defense. The handgun is just more practical, in most cases. Jmo

Eta: at the time of my writing, I didn't realize you had updated and passed on the sale.