Sandwich- I purchased my Bersa .380 from GM back in 06 for $230. When I went in there to cancel the layaway today the duo tone model, like I have, was 270 and the black and gold was $300!
I have that same Duo Tone model, and bought it at around the same time as you (Fall 2006), for the same price. Great little gun, isn't it? Anyway, they are running $270 there now? That's a real bargain compared to here, where the same gun goes for $300. No kidding. My jaw almost hit the floor. And the CC Bersa with 9 shots goes for $350 here. It is absolutely nuts.
On the other side of that, one I sold it back unfired because it was a dumb impulse purchase (Taurus PT-22) and I had a Colt Sistema that I only paid $266 for stolen. I only got to fire it once and it was stolen a week later!!!! I was pissed. I had done a search on the serial and found out it was manufactured in 1952! Thought that was neat. I haven't been able to find one since.
I see, it makes more sense now. How did the Sistema get stolen (I would be pissed too)?
Credit cards......I can't even mention those.....geez....I think my credit score just went down from me even typing those words....
I'm lucky, I only have one, and I am still able to make payments on it, but I am sinking fast...I wonder what raising kids in an apartment will be like...
They were also having a clearance sale on firearms, although I didn't even take the time to look at anything. I was mostly just talking to my 'associates' at Gander Mountain. It's funny, the people I talk to there on a normal basis are knowledgeable (sp? Too lazy to check) about firearms. But there are some let's say gun dolts there.
You are right, some people at Gander know guns. But at least here, most don't. Maybe you just have better Gander Mountains over there. The best was when I asked the clerk I was buying my P95 from if it came with 15 rounds magazines (as it should). He said they only came with 10 round mags (even though the tag clearly said "2 15rd magazines"). We took out the magazine and looked at it, and he still insisted that was 10 rounds. I guess he's never seen a double stack magazine before. After the manager (who was very nice) put 15 rounds into the magazine, the guy shut his mouth. And I wasn't even trying to be a smartass. I just wanted to make sure I was getting what I paid for.
I should mention, I tend to be long winded, especially about things that piss me off. That's why I try to not talk about Gander Mountain.
I had one gun 'expert' there tell my girlfriend that she should probably only be looking at 9mm or .380 because anything larger than that would probably be too much for her to shoot. Her reply "I have no problem shooting pistol grip shotguns so I'm sure I could handle it". 'Expert' "Err...umm...well".... That was hilarious.
Lol how red did his face turn after that? I wish I could have seen that. Isn't it nice that some gun experts at Gander Mountain feed in to the stereotype that women can't handle powerful calibers? To be fair though, it isn't limited to Gander Mountain. What gun did she choose by the way?
But yeah, sorry for being so longwinded and I appreciate the help!
Sorry for being so longwinded as well, and I am glad that I could help out a little bit. One suggestion though, as another poster mentioned, have you thought about a Glock 19? Another suggestion also might be a Ruger P89, P95 or a SR9. All of the Rugers are heavy, but good guns. The P89 has a reputation of having great accuracy, but it is really heavy. The P95, which I have, is a value gun. If you have $500, you might want to look at the Glock. Also, are you limited to 9mm, or are you interested in other calibers too?
Let us know what you decide by the way.