Hi-power clone: too invested!

[Marvinash]

Hi-power clone

Yeah, I would have, at least gotten my wife to buy one.
This is CA where the gov.t worries that we'll spend all our money at once (and not have any for laterl - it's for your own good, children!)
At any rate, I asked my dealer to order one after three glowing write-ups in the journals.
They said it weighs slightly more than most P-35s of it's size, because the steel is forged so densely (wt./volume = density.
It was $250.00. At that same time, I'd seen Brownings going for $700.00!
(if I talk about browning too long, I go into my Citorii rant. I used to use one to shoot trap....forget it, forget it, forget it forget it)

 

[Prosser]

Close. They are afraid they won't have a chance to tax/steal your money...

 

[Marvinash]

Too much invested

Besiides hi-powerS, I've also invested too much in a Colt 1903 (.32 cal.) because I bought a .380ACP barrel with two .380ACP mags before I asked what it would cost to fit so I could shoot either cal. by changing barrels (for all those situations where I'm shooting, say,.380cal, but I discern the occasion really calls for .32cal - now I can just change barrels instead of being unprepared)

Have you ever heard your wife scream, "You want to buy another WHAT?"

 

[Marvinash]

Last one: too much invested.

The hardest upgrade I've ever pursued, it's been the pearl grips for my Star Model B 9mm. It's not just 'Pulp Fiction", this gun is popular in movies where they have to have the gun shooting and cycling for several rounds
Appently, 45ACPs don't work well with bank adaptors
Ace grips quoted me $200.00 for custom made grips. I finally decide to cal them and just do it. They told me they didn't do custom anymore. I go to gun show, scour Shotgun News, I'm registered with GunBroker.com - I 'm even on their instant email notification...I've tried Sanen in Spain...
The whole cast of "The Wild Bunch" carried them in pearl. They exist.

 

[Prosser]

Pikers.
Anyone want to guess what a .500 Linebaugh Maximum, based on a Ruger
.357 Maximum, with custom grips, trigger, presentation blue,etc. runs?


Work by Jack Huntington, Advanced Gunsmithing.

 

[PabloJ]

A lot more then new Freedom Arms Model 83.

 

[Prosser]

Your right. The OP's gun is just fine, and, is not over invested, unlike the above. On the otherhand, there are less then 200 of the above guns out there, so, there is something of a collector's/shooters issue with them that might justify the investment.

 

[KodiakBeer]

If anyone is interested, a batch of Israeli police contract FN Hi Powers was just imported. They are selling on Gunbroker and GunsAmerica starting at about $380. They won't be there long...

Ages range from 1948 to 1998. They mostly have the ugly black enamel finish, but would be good candidates for customization - or just ugly shooters!

http://www.gunbroker.com/Auction/SellerAuctions.aspx?User=1006271

 

[Marvinash]

Over-invested

I almost hope those FNs aren't on the CA legal list (yes, friends, in the nanny-state of CA the manufa/importer has to qualify their model to get on a 'legal-to-sell list)
Taurus has quit trying, which eliminates their 1911 and every new model introduced since
Ah, but if the FNs aren't legal here, I won't have to lay in bed figuring out if I would buy one at the cost of going without water & elec. for a month or so.

Prosser: want to trade one of those for a hi-power?

 

[Prosser]

HMMM. Wonder which is more effective:
a 525 grain LFN, .512" caliber, at 1350-1550 fps or
a 147 grain HP at 1200 fps, in 9MM?
Let's see, 147 goes into 525 nearly 4 times. Can you shoot 700 grain bullets at 1100 fps out of your Hi-Power.

Enough kidding. I don't see how those guns can qualify, unless they are C&R, and some of the older ones would make it, I think.

Now our Attorney General, who set firearms rights back about 50 years while in office, is our governor:banghead:

 

[Marvinash]

CA governor

From election results to polls, Dems seem to have learned not to talk too much about gun laws...give them time.

After the Iranian election results, the news showed a mass of Iranian citizens shaking ther fists. Someone twittered Chris Mathews that it was a shame those people didn't have a 2nd Amendment.
With righteous indignation, he sneered, "Yeah, pal! That would be great - give guns to those angry people! What are you, nuts?"

He didn't read anymore twitters- probably got flooded with reminders of how he got the right to sit there and say something that ignorant.

 

[Marvinash]

Howard J: I keep looking at that picture, and there's a switch on the frame below the spot that should show a safety switch.
A 2 lbs. trigger on a hi-power isn't possible, given it's original design. Is that one of the double-action 'upgrades' that followed?

 

[Marvinash]

Stop me before i spend again

My son is convinced that the highest quality guns in the world are made in Bulgaria and Brazil (Rossi/Taurus).
I bought a six shot, snub-nose .357 Rossi (R461) brand new for just over $200.00. I have to admit I love the little gun; holding it, shooting it (unusually easy for quick point shooting)- I tried some .357mags, but it's just too much for such a little gun, but loud; if you're into 'loud' - you'll love it.
I used to 'pull tail' on a 175mm-don't nobody talk to me about 'loud'!!
At any rate, the gun would be beautiful with a Robar NP3 matte-nickel finish, but that costs over $300.00
I can afford to do it, but that doesn't mean I should.
Convince me that it's a stupid thing to do! I imagine that gun in that platinum-looking finish, and I start breathing heavy. It's a 'Jones' I can't kick...I need help (according to my wife).!

 

[MrWesson]

Those Arcus pistols may be alot of things but in a world with glocks,Xd's,M&P's how dare someone call it ugly .

I think they look pretty good.

 

[Gordon]

Sam Jackson used a chrome Star 9mm in that picture BTW !

 

[Marvinash]

A chrome Star 9mm. That's what I said.

 

[Prosser]

There is a whole world of guys that take base guns, like 500 dollar Rugers, and spend a MINIMUM of 1300 dollars to have it customized, accurized, etc. and that 1300 isn't including the 500 for the base gun. So, by that standard, the OP is certainly NOT over invested.

 

[Marvinash]

Op

Point taken, thank you, but what does OP mean?

On an unrelated note, I heard that the pending restriction on buying online, out of state ammo has been frozen pending appeal in the state senate.
I hope so, but I've still been spending all I can spare at Wideners Shooting & Reloading. tN. Their prices and selection are good, and they don't gouge you on Shipping the way Cheaper than Dirt does.

 

[Prosser]

OP= Original Poster
Thanks for the hint on the supplier.

I've spent a few thousand bucks with Gary Reeder's loader, Andy, at CPE. Not to mention a ton of .500 JRH from Jack Huntington.

I may take my time, go down to the law library, and do some research on such stuff.
Between that, and smogging a car in Kali, you have so many Con Law issues it might keep someone with a J.D. happy, and filing suits for years...

 

[Zach S]

I wouldnt put that much in an Arcus. But I cant say much...

I have an AMT Hardballer rebuilt into a dedicated rimfire 1911. Total cost including purchase, and the rebuild several years later, is around $650...

I'm the same way with cars. I have a $100 Mercury Zephyr that I'm putting Maximum Motorsports suspension on...

 

[larryh1108]

Having "too much" in any gun you own is subjective, at best. If you buy a gun to resell then you may have too much in it. If you buy a gun, any gun, and put money into it for your own personal benefits (function, appearance, etc.) then you are not putting too much into it. You're not fixing it up to sell it. You're fixing it up for your own taste and use. You can't put a "too much" price tag on that.

I can buy a $300 1911 and "upgrade" the heck out of it. I can put another $500 (easy) into it and have a really nice, customized 1911 for $800 that may be "worth" $400 on the open market. I can buy an $800 1911 and accessorize it like the cheaper one and have (basically) the same gun with a nice logo on it for $1300 and it's worth $800. I can buy a $1500 1911 that may already be "fixed up" to your personal specs but has a custom name on it. The end result is 3 guns (after the mods) that all shoot remarkably well and look awesome but are worth anywhere from $400 to $1500. Which one is too much?

Shooters may appreciate in value over decades but the short term says that a gun will depreciate in value if you wish to get out of it. They are not investments. Collector guns are different but guns are personal and accessories are personal and we can't put a $$ price tag on it if we love it, shoot it, shoot it well and depend on it to save our lives, if needed. One man's pearl grips are another man's hand carved grips from his grandfather's old barn. To each his own. There are no "spent too much" on our own, private needs. We spend it because we wish too, not to make a profit.

 

[Marvinash]

Oh yeah?

Tell that to Les Bauer