Cheap handguns: What's your story?

[Valkman]

I bought an old Jennings .380, about the size of Bersa Thunder, at a gunshow for 65 bucks.

I had one of them - POS that wouldn't shoot a mag full without jamming. It was stolen, and I hope the guy that stole had to use it and it jammed on him.

My next cheapest was a Russian Mak for $100 many years ago. Still have it, great gun!

 

[CajunBass]

I've never bought a "cheap" gun. I had a few that were inexpensive though.

A Hi-Point C-9, 9mm. Good gun. It's malfunctioned a few times, but overall it works. As accurate as I can shoot it anyway. Probably more accurate than I can shoot it to tell you the truth.

I had a Bulgarian Makarov. I sold it recently, but only because I didn't shoot it. I ran 500 or so rounds through it, and that thing was scary accurate. Never malfunctioned that I remember.

I did have Squires-Bingham 22 rifle that I paid $49.00 for at K-Mart years ago. Good little rifle. It probably jammed a few times, it's been a long time since I shot it. My son has it now, but it was well worth the money.

 

[mainebear]

For a cheap handgun example, I bought a Heritage rough rider. That thing was next to impossible to use. Wouldn't hit a groundhog at 15 feet. Cartridges backed out of cylinder when held upright. bye bye Heritage.

For an inexpensive handgun. Bought a Colt 1903 in 32 ACP for $80.00. Came with a free box of ammo too. Of course that was in 1974. Carried that gun for 32 years. Still have it. Replaced it with a Kel-Tec P3-AT. Nice little cheap gun. $259.00

 

[Big Boomer]

Back in 94-95 picked this up for $60. My (now passed away) best friend was going to hock it at a pawn shop for needed cash. I gave him the option of buying it back, but he let me keep it. It's my most treasured firearm of my collection.

 

[Z71]

I've owned a numer of cheap pistols, and some expensive ones that should have been cheap 'cause they were a POS!

I walked into a quick stop/hardware/gunstore in a neigboring town years ago, and saw a Jennings J-22 for something like $69 new. What the hey, I bought it. Little sucker worked great. Didn't own it two days and sold it for $80!

Had an RG .22 revolver. Primitive version, had to pull the cylinder and use the cylinder pin to clear the chambers. It actually shot quite accurate, wasn't too bad at all except it was a primitive hunk of junk.

Somehow(don't remember for sure) aquired a Raven .25 auto, couldn't get it to reliably go into battery. Worked OK otherwise. It was well used and I think the recoil spring may have been spent.

Bought a brandnew RG .22 cowboy looking revolver. Was a horrid piece of junk! Had a cylinder/barrel gap as wide as a dime is thick. Was LOUD, because of the gap I guess. Leaded the barrel bad with just a few shots and required lots of cleaning. I got where I just carried a section of .22 caliber cleaning reod to poke the lead from the barrel every few cylinders full of shooting. I think I could have built a better .22 with a drill press and a flat file!

Picked up another Jennings J-22 at a gunshow. wasn't too bad either. Although this one would only reliably function with CCI Stingers? I still have it somewhere.

I saw lots of complaints about the Jennings J-22 in the above posts, and I believe you fellows. Don't know why my J-22 pistols always worked pretty decent. Probably just didn't shoot it enough to destroy them. Seriously, the J-22 I still own works great with Stingers, never busted a extractor or anything.


The little primitive RG revolver I owned that shot so good was an anomaly! I knew it then, because a friend had a slightly fancier version and it was the poorest shooting pistol I had ever seen.

You get what you pay for, hopefully. I started a new job in 1989, making fair money. Got my first paycheck and went and bought myself an Auto-Ordinance 1911A1 .45 auto. Should be a good gun huh? Yeah right! It was crap too. Fired one box of factory ball ammo and the gun had peened itself over to where it couldn't be field stripped! About had a fight to get the dealer to take it back! The dealers gunsmith had to use a soft mallet and drive it apart to see what happened. Frame had peened over to where it wouldn't allow the barrel to get out of the slot inside the frame. Almost like they forgot to harden the frame on that particular gun.

Just because they cost a lot don't mean they shouldn't be cheap!

 

[Clipper]

Wife's HP-22 has been an amazing, accurate pistol, and she loves it. Her Gen1 P3AT has been perfect from day one.
My Gen1 P3AT needed a trip home, but has been faultless since. My PF-9 has been perfect since day one.

 

[wyocarp]

I too bought a Raven Arms .25 when I was a teenager (that's another story). I shot it some then. Had a shoulder holster made for it. My son every once in a while likes to plink with it now almost 30 years later. I wouldn't buy a cheap gun now for love nor money but I wouldn't sell that one because of it's history.

 

[GaryP]

I purchased a NIB Sterling SS M302 .22LR Semi Auto in the late 1970's for plinking with my young Son. Some call these POS, Junk, Cheap, etc. I like to call mine inexpensive. It went bang every time the trigger was squeezed as long as it was cleaned every 100 to 150 rounds. It was also reasonably accurate out to 10 - 15 yards. My Son and I put thousands of rounds through it over a 5 year period with no breakages. I wish I still had it!

 

[annielulu]

I bought a Lorcin .22 on Gunbroker one night when I just started collecting firearms. Kind of a nice looking gun. Took it to the range. You can never tell how or when it would work right. The only thing you can count on working is the first chambered round, after that it might fire all the rounds ok, or it might start acting up, failing to go into battery, fte, etc.

It's pretty accurate when it does work though, so I brought it to my gunsmith to get it working right. I hate a gun that doesn't work right.

A few days later he said there was nothing he could do to make it right. I don't think he wanted to mess with it. Now it just sits on my closet shelf until I figure out what to do with it.

Well, at least I have a "Saturday Night Special" to show my friends. I think I'll keep my Glock 36 as my regular carry gun.

 

[45Broomhandle]

Another Side To This "CHEAP" Coin

Back in 1953 there was a new, really cheap single-shot .22rf pistol advertised in the American Rifleman for $19.95. It was on the market for only a year. Less than 600 were made, MAYBE fewer than 400. No one is really sure of the total production.

Twenty-two years later, Gun Digest ran an article about post-war single-shot .22rf pistols. In the write-up on this little gem, even its originator was quoted as outlining its shortcomings. It was a POS from the get-go.

It was called the S-M Sporter, co-designed with WHB Smith by Sydney Manson, Pres of the company. It was manufactured in Springfield, Mass. and marketed through a company in Alexandria, VA.

Obviously a lot of those few guns aren't around today. Many are probably at the bottom of various lakes, rivers, and landfills around this country.

For a collector of such old cheapies - like myself - this kind of track record makes them EXTREMELY hard to find. Couple of months ago one came up for sale in a nationwide auction. Neither the auctioneer nor the consignee had any idea what they were selling, and they admitted it.

Someone BESIDES ME knew what it was! I ended up having to pay nearly $500 for that $20 gun!

My point is, there is cheap, and then there's CHEAP! Today's POS may be tomorrow's blue-chip investment. So don't sell the cheapies short! I love 'em. Below is pic of the POS mentioned above. It is in near new condition.

Best regards ~ ~ ~ 45Broomhandle

 

[cz75bdneos22]

davis p-380 bought it in the 90's at a pawn shop, still have it somewhere..
hi-point 9mm have not fired it yet..