Budget Guns and Self Defense

[fireside44]

I asked about a Taurus PT92 here on thr the other day and was told all Taurus' were junk. I think someone even brought up the "how much is your life worth" comment. It seems to some people Taurus, Rossi. etc will always be junk regardless of what real world experiences demonstrate. People take a couple failures and magnify them. The internet doesn't help with that either when you can Google any gun model followed by "fail" and find horror stories about your favorite weapon.

Just repeat dumb stuff you hear or are taught I guess even though it is wildly exaggerated. Reminds me of the dumb rumors you'd hear in gun shops in the 90s. You can't hit anything with a cheap chinese AK, junk. Plastic guns, junk. MIM, junk. AR, unreliable junk. Hillary hole Smith's, junk. Not a three screw Blackhawk, junk. Commie guns, junk. Oh and you can sneak a Glock past a metal detector!

 

[94045]

To me, it’s not about price. It’s about how it is made, how it feels, the reputation of the company, and the utility.

There may be more, but 3 gun makers come to mind that I absolutely won’t own even though there are many proponents.

Case in point, Keltec, people seem to love them or hate them. While some of them teeter on my scale of cheap vs. quality, the utility wins over, not the price. I must be one lucky sumbuck, I have at least 6 and have never had a problem with any of them. And some have really been shot a lot, and I mean A LOT!

For 15 years I carried a Keltec P11. Again not for price, but for utility. I could afford anything better , I had Wilsons, Colts , and a Les Baer. But 25 years ago pocket rockets were nonexistent. Why a pocket rocket? I live in Texas and my dress was business, but rarely wore a jacket. 10 rounds of firepower in a lightweight gun is perfect for business slacks, and it did not cause my pants to be lopsided.
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One other company followed suit after the P11, but it is one of those craptacular companies. Fast forward 23-24 years later and Sig comes out with the 365 and everyone is suddenly a fanboy of a 10 round pocket rocket like it is revolutionary. Granted, I would pick the Sig over the Keltec any day. My point is that Keltec had a great idea and utility for Me which won me over, not the price.

FWIW, I retired the Keltec when I discovered the Rohrbaugh in 2006. Since Rohrbaugh’s are no longer made, I may go with either a 365 , Hellcat, or XDS.
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I have not had the chance to work with the XDS yet. You can also see why the Rohrbaugh is touted as the smallest and lightest pocket nine.

Keltec - The P32 seems to be decent. The others are kind of hit and miss.

Rohrbaugh - I believe Remington builds a .380 based on it.

I haven't really played with a Rohrbaugh but the Sig 938 seems pretty tiny compared to my P365.

 

[Reinz]

Keltec - The P32 seems to be decent. The others are kind of hit and miss.

Rohrbaugh - I believe Remington builds a .380 based on it.

I haven't really played with a Rohrbaugh but the Sig 938 seems pretty tiny compared to my P365.

I have a few of the 32s and a 3AT, again due to utility. Those are my basketball shorts guns. The only guns that I can carry in those shorts without the shorts dropping to my knees. I include the Ruger LCP in that last statement since they basically copied Keltec.

Remington bought out Rohrbaugh but did not produce the R9. Probably because it is Not a gun for the inexperienced.

 

[94045]

I have a few of the 32s and a 3AT, again due to utility. Those are my basketball shorts guns. The only guns that I can carry in those shorts without the shorts dropping to my knees. I include the Ruger LCP in that last statement since they basically copied Keltec.

Remington bought out Rohrbaugh but did not produce the R9. Probably because it is Not a gun for the inexperienced.

I thought the RM380 was based on the .380 version of the R9?

 

[Reinz]

I thought the RM380 was based on the .380 version of the R9?

It is. The only difference between the R9 and R380 is the barrel, recoil spring, and mag. I’m not 100 % on the slide. I think they are the same, and a weaker recoil spring is all that was need to manage slide speed. The R9 slide does not have much mass.

 

[Mike J]

I had a Kel-Tec P-11. It was okay. The finish wasn't great, when I got it the magazines wouldn't drop free (easily enough remedied), I got a metal mag catch from a guy at KTOG. It was small light easy to carry & accurate once I got used to the heavy trigger. I decided I wanted something else & a friend has it now it worked though. I do seem to remember that it didn't like aluminum cased ammunition (wouldn't eject it). Once I learned that I didn't shoot aluminum cased ammunition in it any more.

I would say the same thing about the Taurus PT111G2 I had I didn't like the finish or the trigger. It did work though & was a good gun for the money.

There are nicer guns available now for not much more money. It just really depends on what is important to a person. It isn't my place to criticize someone elses choice though.