Of course, it does. Deals on used guns notwithstanding. Cheap guns are made with cheap materials.
Not that expensive materials are any guaranty that that gun will work. The most expensive gun I ever
owned was a total piece of crap, and is thankfully gone. The cheaper ones are also gone.
I’m sorry but the fact that your Kel Tec has made it through a staggering 250 rounds is not inspiring me
to run out and pick one up. And your Taurus has a lifetime guarantee because it needs one.
I’m sorry, but it costs money to manufacture a quality firearm with quality materials. It just does.
The thing is that many of, if not most of the lower cost guns being listed by posters in this thread were in fact made to a high degree of quality.
Makarov's, CZ-52's and CZ-83's, Tokarev's, Hungarian PA-63's, Polish Radom P-64's, vintage S&W revolvers and the Turkish made CZ-75 clones (the majority of which are manufactured in Turkish military and police arsenals) and inspired pistols are or were all made to a very high standard. Many of the pistols are just considered obsolete because they've been replaced by other higher capacity pistols with better sights, lighter in weight, are capable of attaching a light and are just low in price because they're being sold as surplus. Others are factory over-run's to generate cash for that country or company, in some cases the pistol is still currently issued and is completely modern in design and materials. They're just less in price to produce because labor costs in Eastern Europe, Turkey and Brazil are considerably less then in North America, Europe or in Australia/New Zealand.
Some of the surplus and overrun pistols listed above I've shot the living crap out of simply because I was able to afford considerably more ammo because the price of the pistol was so low. No issues at all out of any of the ones I listed.
I haven't seen anyone in this thread list any '
Ring of Fire' pistols save for an AMT and which was pretty much the cream of the crop as far as the pistols produced in that locale are concerned.
So in my opinion its not quite as bad as you're making it. There are a multitude of reasons why some pistols of high quality are listed for less in price. Pistols priced for < $300 doesn't automatically = junk.
Q : Do I believe that any of the pistols listed above (CZ-52's, CZ-83's, Tokarev's, Turkish pistols like the Tri-Star C-100's ... etc) are the exact equal/modern equivalent to a Sig, a Walther, a CZ, a Browning, Glock, a Beretta, an H&K or most of the other current defensive pistol designs that cost 2 to 3 times as much or that those current and Western European and North American have no design features that give the shooter more options?
A : No, I totally don't. The current crop of pistols produced in the West are almost all using materials that make the pistol lighter, that recoil less, that make the sights easier to see, that in some cases allow a WML to be attached, that make the trigger a little less in weight and more crisp and sometimes more capable of functioning in more extreme conditions than the surplus or Eastern European or Turkish pistols are.
However like one poster stated very well : Many of the pistols listed get the individual in question armed right then with a reliable pistol. Right that very minute and the only delay might be if NICS delays them at the store after they fill out the 4473 (or they don't live in TX where having a CHL substitutes for the background check.
They aren't having to follow the suggestions of posters who are unquestionably in a better financial situation and wait to become armed (when those posters wouldn't wait themselves) until they can afford to purchase a more modern pistol at a later date. Sometimes people with very little in the way of cash need to arm themselves NOW.
That's especially important if the end-user in question lives in a high crime area and/or is potentially being stalked by a former intimate partner.
Just saying ... pistols which cost less than $300 aren't all junk.
Many times they're used, the design of the pistol and the materials used are somewhat dated and in some cases the finish isn't as good as a brand new Western manufactured pistol, but they'll work reliably and launch projectiles accurately.