Cheap handguns: What's your story?

[crebralfix]

I am curious about very low priced handguns. I have a Phoenix Arms HP22 that I purchased about 10 years ago for $99. It broke in less than 100 rounds (trigger no longer functions).

I have noticed some people talking about Hi-Points, Lorcins, and so forth.

What has been your experience with these really low priced handguns? No, I won't buy one...I like SIGs too much.

 

[possom813]

I bought an old Jennings .380, about the size of Bersa Thunder, at a gunshow for 65 bucks. I thought it was spiffy looking at the time. It fired 3 out of 5 without any stoppages. Accuracy wasn't great, IIRC it had a 9rd mag and out of 9 shots 1, maybe 2, bullets would hit a 5 gallon bucket at 10 feet.

My dad told me to tape a quarter to it and throw it in a lake, then go get my quarter. I ended up trading it plus 20 bucks to another guy for a case of 7.62X54 Czech. As far as I know he still has it.

-John

 

[thorazine]

My dad told me to tape a quarter to it and throw it in a lake, then go get my quarter.

What's the point of doing that? =/

 

[Old Fuff]

There is cheap, and then there is inexpensive. Cheap is junk. Inexpensive is another matter. There are a lot of good, but inexpensive used guns out there.

 

[SaxonPig]

I have $65 in this .38 Special Victory Model I got off GunBroker 5 years ago.



And I picked up this Model 14 on the same site for $100 about 18 months ago.



Is this what you mean by "cheap handguns?"

 

[White Horseradish]

I had a Hi-point compact 9mm. Bought it when I needed a gun in a hurry - was going on a trip with an invitation to a range day. Used it for a few range sessions, then bought more interesting guns. Never had any problems. Sold it to fund other stuff.

Cheapest gun I have is a FIE revolver I bought for $37. I just wanted to see if a $37 gun would even fire. I does, and is even fairly accurate.

 

[sfhogman]

My CZ52 was a little over $100 and worth every penny. It's a hoot to shoot, looks like a 1950's raygun and has a lockup system that's just fun to look at. Even the commie bakelite grips are sort of cool...

Jeff

 

[TAB]

my last purchuse cost me less then the fees need to legally buy it( delta elite)... worth every penny... of corse I've already spent more money on it...

 

[sandwich]

I have $65 in this .38 Special Victory Model I got off GunBroker 5 years ago.

And I picked up this Model 14 on the same site for $100 about 18 months ago.

Is this what you mean by "cheap handguns?"

Wow those are some good grabs Saxon. Nice purchases.

 

[Cannonball888]

When I was young and poor I had a new Jennings-22. The extractor broke the first time I shot it. I then had a chromed Raven .25 which worked allright. I then stepped up to a FIE Titan II (made by Tanfoglio which also makes the Witness) for $140 which I still own today.

 

[ranger58]

162 replies on the first Thread. you get what you pay for.

 

[AZAndy]

I'm a big fan of the FEG PA-63. A hundred bucks or so. It's light, shaped nicely, points well, and is more accurate than it has any right to be. 9X18 isn't the worst chambering I can think of. Perfectly suitable for carry, I think. I have two of them, and neither has ever had a failure of any kind.

 

[crebralfix]

SaxonPig won't be winning the lottery any time soon!

Please take note of the very first sentence of the post. SaxonPig certainly has made out...my Phoenix was an expensive mistake if you consider the cost of a Ruger MK II...that MK II cost $99 more....

Keep 'em coming!

 

[Okiecruffler]

My experience with the HP22 was exactly the opposite. Reliable and as accurate as the sights would let it be. Should have never traded it. Bought it for 79.95 and the target barrel for 24.95.
Bought a Davis 380 and on the 496th round a big hunk of the slide came off and left a groove in my cheek. IIRC I paid 79.95 for it too.

 

[biscuitninja]

CZ-52, 110, put in a new firing pin and a little bit of work. Its awsome to fire now, completely a great pistol. Not exactly tactical as it goes through just about anything regular. Makes a GREAT boom and a decent fireball, what else could you ask for!
-bix

 

[foghornl]

Had one of the snubby RG revolvers in .22LR Could NOT hit a 9" paper plate beyond 2 yards...yes, you read that correctly 6 feet away....no hits.

FIE knockoff of the Colt SAA-style .22 revolver {"Frontier Scout" was the Colt model IIRC} in .22LR/.22Mag. Sent almost as much lead downrange as sideways.

The RG-38 snubby .38Spl I have is a decent shooter...nothing spectacular, but OK

 

[lee n. field]

What has been your experience with these really low priced handguns?

Jennings J-22. $75, about 1993 or so. Constant failures to feed, fire, extract and eject. That about cover the whole cycle? Broke the extractor twice. Gave it away.

FIE .38 derringer. Free (found it in a place we moved into), about 1983 or so. I didn't find it too awful to shoot (contrary to gunboard hearsay). Extremely unsafe to carry with both chambers loaded. Dry firing chipped the firing pin flipper thing. Traded it and it's Bianchi leather holster for $30 store credit.

Next up the scale are the various Makarovs I've owned, which have been darn close to 100% reliable.

 

[DMZ]

Had one of the snubby RG revolvers in .22LR Could NOT hit a 9" paper plate beyond 2 yards...yes, you read that correctly 6 feet away....no hits.

I bought one when I turned 21 for $12. Same experience you had. The only way to hit anything with it was to have the muzzle in contact with the target.

 

[ldp4570]

Cheap?????

Price wise, that would include my Helwan (Copy of Beretta 951), CZ-82, and CZ-52. All three are excellent shooters. Neither was more than 195.00. No complaints!!!!

Sorry forgot my two little Beretta 950's in .22Short. one with the 2.5bbl and the other with the 3".

 

[The Bushmaster]

SaxonPig...No...Those are just good bargins on good handguns.

You get what you pay for in a new firearm. If you can buy a "cheap" firearm like SaxonPig...Then it's concidered a good deal...

 

[cmidkiff]

I bought a Phoenix .25acp at one time... Paid $25 for it used, shot half a box through it (it shot OK...) and broke a firing pin Factory sent me one... free of charge. I stuck it in the gun and sold it for $25.

Picked up a Russian Makarov for $99. Full flap holster, 2 mags, and a Russian instruction manual. Bought a set of rubber grips for it, seems like they were about $20, and shot it for several years. When 9x18 ammo got hard to come by, I sold the whole package at a gun show for $140.

Can't say I've been hurt by those cheap guns. Still, I pretty much stick to good name brands these days. They're much more fun to shoot, and I don't feel as if I'm taking a risk every time I pull the trigger.

 

[XDKingslayer]

My dad had a .25 Raven I think. It was either a Raven or a Jennings, your usual suspects...

We fired about two boxes through it on our first range trip without a problem. Went to the range the following weekend and I decided to shoot the .25. Put a magazine in it, pointed it down range and released the slide and BOOM!! Never touched the trigger, weapon was still on safe.

Ok. Didn't expect that. Dropped the magazine, unloaded the round from the chamber, disassembled the weapon and checked everything for breaks or cracks.

Put it back together, inserted the magazine, dropped the slide and BOOM!! Again, never touched the trigger, pistol was still on safe. Only did it when you dropped the slide. It would cycle the next round and be ready to go when you pulled the trigger.

It got to see the business end of a band saw...

 

[Anonymous Coward]

I've already told this story, but I never get tired of repeating it.

My first pistol was a Bryco 9mm. I didn't even get through the box of ammunition, hell, I couldn't even fire a string of more than three rounds without a malfunction. It jammed every way a pistol could -- stovepiping, failure to eject, double-feed -- and some ways I didn't think were possible.

The last straw came when the firing pin got stuck between the seal between the primer and the cartridge face. I was staring down at the pistol's action thinking that I was going to lose my sight if that firing pin slipped onto the primer. I contemplated digging a deep hole and throwing the gun into it.

After a lot of jiggling at arm's length, the unfired round came lose and the pistol was emptied. I took it back that instant. The shop gave me a complete refund, which is something they admitted they normally wouldn't do with any other pistol.

My next gun I bought from them was a Norinco Tokarev in 9mm. It jammed, was inaccurate and unpleasant to shoot, but at least it didn't threaten my life in the process.

 

[Kind of Blued]

What's the point of doing that? =/

While it may not necessarily be logical, it implies that more value is assigned to the quarter than the handgun, i.e. "That handgun is worth less than $.25"

I've never owned any cheap handguns. I do however, realize that I could come to trust a cheaper handgun enough to carry it after putting X,XXX rounds through it. When it comes to firearms, as silly as it may seem, I seldom desire to own handguns that I don't find visually appealing. This isn't to say that I don't want a couple Kel-Tecs for CC, but more so to say that cheap handguns tend to be ugly in my opinion.

 

[makarovnik]

Here's my personal experience:

Phoenix Arms Raven: $60 brand new OTD. Love it. Accurate and fires every time I pull the trigger. Keeper.

Phoenix Arms HP .22: Started out great but after 200 rounds nickel coating started chipping off barrel crown. It also developed a problem with trigger not resetting. Phoenix Arms couldn't seem to get it fixed so it went bye bye. I now know the reason the trigger stopped working is because of a wear spot inside one of the grip panels. If I had to do it again I would keep it and attach a small metal strip inside the grip panel to stop the wear problem.

Bryco J-380 (small one): $75 brand new OTD. Fired every time but the trigger pull was so hard for such a small pistol it was hard to hit anything. It also bit my hand and drew blood every time I fired it. It went bye bye.

Bryco T-380 (large one with adjustable sights): Love it. Very accurate, fired every time and was slim and good for carry. Keeper. I ordered and extra slide for $30 just in case the original cracked. After more than 800 rounds it's still going strong. No cracks.

Hi-Point C9: Love it. Keeper.

Hi-Point .45: Very top/front heavy and recoil is stout but it goes bang every time. Love it. Keeper.

Davis .380: Nice size although a bit fat. Basically a larger copy of the Raven. It went bang every time and accuracy was OK out to about 30ft. Sometimes it bit my hand unless I held on extra tight. Problem was the slide cracked after about 500 rounds. I sent it in, they replaced the slide, I test fired it then sold it.

Some SNS's are good and some not so good. Don't use +P ammo in them and buy a design where the slide has a lot of metal mass on the muzzle end of the slide. They use shock absorbers and stuff but that seems to be where they crack.

I am considering buying the newer Cobra P32. It is just like my older Davis but in the smaller caliber. I was concerned about the slide breaking again so I sent and email to the owner and he assured me he knew this used to be a weak point and that they had redesigned the slide to have more "meat" at the muzzle end and this is no longer a problem.

I also own some pretty nice/expensive handguns also. Rugers, Thompsons, Kahrs, Taurus, Walthers etc.