Cheapest handgun you would trust for defense...

[Gun Master]

In this case, not only are Ruger .22LR autos the cheapest guns I would bet my life on, if I could only have one handgun in my bugout bag, it would be a Ruger .22LR auto (preferably a Mark II). When I go to a range, I put clip after clip through these guns without a hiccup! Not only are they inexpensive, they're reliable and ammo is both inexpensive and effective for use against human adversaries. They can put an impressive amount of lead in the air in a short period of time and being shot with a .22LR round is both painful and surprisingly lethal. And of course no one who's sane would want to want to get shot with one. (My dad grew up in the country and was so poor he had to use a .22LR for everything. He carried his rifle with him two miles to school, where he'd leave it at the office. After school, he'd carry it home and shoot squirrels and other game for supper. They called the diminutive round "the doctor's nightmare" because a .22LR bullet could go in one place and end up almost anywhere. And without X-Rays, the exploratory surgery alone could kill you.)

I've heard many pundits say that the .22LR round simply lacks stopping power, but I used to collect stories of people who used it for self defense. And though I'm sure all rounds fail at some point, I was surprised by how many people died from just one or two hits from a .22LR. Heck, I was even surprised by the success of the tiny .25ACP round, which I would really hate to bet my life on! But though I expected to see many failures in news accounts, I kept seeing successes. But I have to admit the vast majority of these were in the intended victim's home, on the victim's turf. I'm sure it wouldn't have been so successful in a dark alley with a crackhead bad guy.



But I do have more faith than I perhaps should in the .22LR. As I've recounted elsewhere, I knew a guy who came very close to dying when he was hit by a .22LR round fired by a kid from just over a mile away, who, with a friend, had stopped their car to test fire an auto pistol. The police never caught either of them, but found the ejected cases and were able to find some witnesses. Even from that distance, the guy who was shot said he felt like he was stung in the back by a large wasp. He was on a ladder and passed out trying to call 911. He woke up in a hospital and the doctor told him he had come very close to death. So I have a lot of faith in a .22LR pistol, or rifle. When one can put eleven rounds in the air in about four seconds, that would get my attention. If one needed a gun for the trail or for camping or for going cross country alone, I'd look for a good, used .357 revolver.

But in the house, a .22LR auto is fine. You can buy a lot of ammo for just a little.

I liked your post. It made me think about Gregory Peck with his Colt Woodsman in the movie "Cape Fear".

 

[Deanimator]

The cheapest handgun I own is a late '40s, early '50s vintage S&W M&P revolver I bought from R.M. Vivas and son. It's a 4" .38 Special that came from a race track in NY. Supposedly, it might have been an ex-NYPD gun.

It's got large areas of finish missing, but it's slicker than Bill Clinton hitting on a fat girl. I would absolutely trust my life to it. I bought it to practice DA revolver shooting, along with the Ed McGivern book.

I'm not sure that I have $200 in the purchase, including a timing job.

 

[Drail]

The cheapest handgun I would carry would be an older Taurus (AFTER I had gone through it carefully) or a Charter Bulldog. No semi autos at all. Moving up the scale I would go for an older S&W or Ruger SP 101. Considering new guns - there isn't much out there IMO.

 

[Deanimator]

If I wanted a cheap semi-auto, I'd get a Walther P-1, Egyptian Beretta Brigadier clone, 9x19mm Tokarev clone, or a used Rock Island or Norinco M1911.

For a little more, you could get a new Rock Island or Sarsilmaz, or a police surplus Glock.

I wouldn't touch a Hi Point with a ten foot pole. A guy brought a couple of them to the club one night. I don't think he got three consecutive rounds without a failure to feed.

 

[mavracer]

I've run across several great deals on the used market, several from a particular vender at the local gun show circuit, he's always got some good police trades and all kinds of handguns in less than perfect cosmetic condition. I usually don't buy the real cheap stuff off his table but to give an idea of deals available I bought a nice P239 with functional night sights in good condition with 4 factory Sig mags for under 500.

 

[TarDevil]

A friend gave me a Bryco 48, 'cause it wouldn't fire. I replaced the firing pin for 10 bucks (I think) and it has been 100% reliable since...accurate too, I might add.

 

[Gun Master]

No offense intended. But, do you have a death wish ? Man, that's a very dangerous gun !
Go online to Bryco Arms. It has injured others, and IMHO, could be life-threatening !
Please reconsider and get rid of that gun !

 

[TarDevil]

No offense intended. But, do you have a death wish ? Man, that's a very dangerous gun !
Go online to Bryco Arms. It has injured others, and IMHO, could be life-threatening !
Please reconsider and get rid of that gun !

I've read some of the same stories, but also read numerous accounts of the gun doing exactly as mine. Early I noticed the extractor pin would work itself loose. I reset it and hasn't had an issue since.
It doesn't get shot a lot and NEVER carry for SD. Strictly some target shooting.

 

[Confederate]

I liked your post. It made me think about Gregory Peck with his Colt Woodsman in the movie "Cape Fear."

I need to catch that one. I've heard of it, but I've never seen it.

You look at one of those little rounds and you just can't believe it could throw a 40gr bullet a mile (out of an auto pistol, no less) and almost kill someone. And actually, this fellow would have died if he hadn't gotten to the hospital in time.

Thanks!

 

[Legionnaire]

I carried a Kel-Tec P11 for years.
Picked up a second-hand Ruger SP101 for $250 a few years ago; that one's still in the rotation.
And within the last year I picked up a second-hand but mint condition Charter Arms Bulldog .44 spl, also for $250.
If on a budget, I would definitely look second-hand.

 

[MedWheeler]

^^ I picked up a stainless Charter Arms Undercover 38, circa 1985, last spring for $189 ( plus tax and NICS.) I didn't even know they were made in stainless back then. It supplements two others I already own, the one I bought in 1987 the day I was sworn in onto "the job", and my dad's, made in 1966, which I inherited in 2010.

 

[Gun Master]

Please make sure if it "don't work", you can return it and get your money back (or whatever you can accept).
I've been fortunate (I don't believe in dumb luck) buying online from reputable dealers (or other), so far.

 

[gbran]

Please make sure if it "don't work", you can return it and get your money back (or whatever you can accept).
I've been fortunate (I don't believe in dumb luck) buying online from reputable dealers (or other), so far.

As far as cheap, I gotta go with the Bulgie Mak. I recently paid north of $800 for a Kahr P380 jam-o-matic. My 3rd Kahr and my 2nd jammer. You'd think I'd learn.

 

[webrx]

I have a $200 LCP I carry in my pocket all the time. Not because it is cheap, but because it is reliable, light weight, and so easy to conceal and carry that it is always easy to take it with me.

Better the gun you have then the one in the truck.

d

 

[Kaeto]

Cheapest handgun I would trust for self defense?

Either one of these. I paid $50 for one and $45 for the other and they have never failed to fire.

 

[Gun Master]

OK, great!
They're H&R top break, but what are the barrel length and caliber?

 

[Kaeto]

3 " barrels and .38 S&W caliber.

 

[Gun Master]

3 " barrels and .38 S&W caliber.

I thought so.
Cool !!!

Is the mainspring under the grips a flat spring or a coil spring ?
Do you know when they were manufactured ?
Thanks.

 

[Kaeto]

They are flat springs and were made in the 1930s

 

[Hanzo581]

This was easy.

http://grabagun.com/smith-wesson-sd9ve-9mm-16rd-4-dt-fs-2mags.html

 

[Traffer]

I have a Norinco 213. People tend to put them down but check them out. Very reliable, easy to handle. Thin. Will handle any +p or +p+ ammo. They feel good in the hand and are accurate. Down side is they are a bit big. Pretty heavy, and people will ridicule you if you pull one out.

 

[Traffer]

Oh by the way I paid $100 for my Norinco 213 about a year ago.

 

[Hokie_PhD]

Any gun that I can take to the range and that's reliable I'll consider as a a conceal carry gun.

After that it's got to be something I'll actually carry.

In my case that was the PF9. Mine has been excellent.

Since then I've added a XDS 45 as a daily carry gun but I wouldn't classify it as "cheap". So now I carry it unless I'm wearing dress clothes. Then I go back to the PF9

 

[Tallball]

I am not sure of the cost of my Norinco 213, since I traded a couple of low-value pistols that I didn't want for it, but it sure goes bang every time.

My Russian commercial Makarov in 380acp cost $89 almost 30 years ago and has yet to malfunction.

I got a Tanfoglio (CZ clone) 45acp for just $250 the other week. It shoots like a champ and looks like it had barely been fired.

My FEG Hungarian High Power clone cost me $200 at a gun show in the late 1980's. It has been an outstanding pistol for me ever since I bought it.

I got a Beretta 84, a CZ-83, and a Tanfoglio 9mm that had all been shot a fair amount for around $300 apiece on Gunbroker. They have a LOT of life left in them. A LOT, as in probably tens of thousands of rounds.

My Star Super B had barely been fired and cost $200 plus shipping and FFL. It is so solid I guarantee it will last much longer than I will.

I would trust any of them better than a much more expensive handgun. An expensive custom pistol is designed for tight tolerances and precise accuracy. A service pistol is designed to go bang every time even if it used by an idiot in filthy conditions.

I am not saying that I would prefer a Bryco or Jiminez or whatever for SD. But there are a lot of good milsurp and police turn-in pistols out there that are more reliable and enduring than much more expensive brand-new alternatives.

To go OP, I have shot a lot of rifles in my life, but none is more accurate than my Swedish Mauser made in 1906. It cost me $99.

 

[Berger.Fan222]

To me, the picture is bigger than going bang every time. Even with cheap guns, you can usually find a combination of gun and ammo to work together reliably.

But since I don't really trust a combo of gun and ammo to work together reliably until firing many hundreds of rounds, and I'm not really satisfied with MY abilities with a gun until thousands of rounds of training, the cost of the handgun is really insignificant when compared with the cost of ammunition and training to bring me to a level I'd like to be.

How many of those cheap guns will even make it to 5000 rounds? 10,000?