Llama .38 super, good deal?

[Amy]

I was at one of my customer gun stores checking to see if they needed any more bullets, and had just done an impulse buy of a Garand, when I spotted a Llama .38 super in very fine condition, and asked to see it.

Good steel, not the crap you see on some autos nowadays, and they had the original box for it, cardboard, two mags, and it's on consignment there for $300.

Should I do it? I'd like to havea .38 super, and the price is right.

Amy

 

[azrael]

Amy,
I would pass...Ya might wanna try a Witness

I have just heard to many bad things about Llama's to ever buy one

 

[thereisnospoon]

Witness 38 Super

Amy,

I agree...I have never heard anyone like their Llama after a few hundred rounds.

I owned a .38 Super Witness...I used it to compete in IDPA and it worked flawlessly out of the box. I bought it BRAND NEW for $289.00...including EEAs Wonder finish, which was awesome.

Hope you enjoy whichever way you go!

Spoon

 

[larry starling]

Pass on the Llama Amy, I would suggest you try and find a Colt in .38 super! of coarse im a little biased!

 

[mrhuckins]

Definatly pass on the Llama. I have never met anyone who likes their Llama, and they usually have a hard time selling them after they decide that they don't like them. Which is probably why the gun store is selling it on consignment. They probably don't want to get stuck with a gun they can't sell.

 

[Lone Star]

Spanish handguns vary in quality of metallurgy, and Llamas weren't as good as Stars or Astras, anyway.

If you MUST have a Super, save up for a Colt or find one of the rare SIG P-220's in that chambering.

Frankly, it won't do too much in the real world that a 9mm won't acomplish about as well. If you need more, get a .357 SIG.

Lone Star

 

[wally]

Price seems high for a used Llama. Most Llamas are under $250 new at gun shows here -- they mostly sit.

Horge has posted details of the Star, Astra collapse and how they've been ultimately taken over by Llama. If its one of the newer guns made by the "new" company that appears to be what in the US would be called an "employee buyout" might be worth taking a chance on.

OTOH for an inexpensive .38 super, take a look at the RIA. I don't like the chrome plating, but Armscor will sell you a 9mm Barrel as well so you can shoot cheap ammo in it. Reports over on 1911forum.com are that it works well. Anyone know how the .38 Super grip compares to the .45ACP in length and thickness? I want a single stack, full size 1911 in 9mm but I don't want to pay $650+ for the Springfield and Kimber models. Armscor has a 1911-A2 9mm widebody which I have and like (report to follow later today or tomorrow) but I still want a single stack with the same grip as the .45ACP 1911, in the meantime, I make do with my Star BM.

--wally.

 

[win71]

old llama

I don't know how they are now but the used one I bought in 1965 was the biggest pain in the neck weapon I ever owned. Hadn't thought much about it untill I read your post and can't remember what I did with mine. I do know I only kept it for a couple years though. Come to think of it I did live near the Pacific ocean at the time.

Ron

 

[WhoKnowsWho]

Rock Island Armory also markets a .38 Super, http://www.gunweek.com/2004/feature0301.html

I have seen a few good comments about Llama, but generally, all comments have been bad. And the ones I have handled didn't seem to be anything to write home about. Rock Island stuff seems extremely good for the price. But the .38 Super is a bit hard to find. The shop had a chrome one for about a week, they said they normally don't keep them in the case too long, nor are they able to get many of them in.

If you can find it, it should be around or less than $400 new.

 

[HSMITH]

Free is too much to pay for a Llama.........

 

[Moonclip]

That is at the high end of what I would pay for a Llama so chambered. Llamas, and Spanish handguns in general can be quite good, to me they just seem like Taurus in where the QC varies too much from gun to gun.

I have a 9mm para version of the gun you are mentioning circa 1984 mfg. Gun refuses to feed any type of hollowpoint, even Remington. Gun functions flawlessly with 9mm ball though and seems as accurate as my Sig Sauer P225.

My 2003 made 380acp Llama is pretty much flawless and feeds hollowpoints too. Had a 45acp Llama and admittidly it sucked. Delaers around here tend to price Llamas in 38super high, maybe because we have a large Mexican population in my area and that caliber is admired in Mexican culture. I have seen 38super Llamas priced at $380 and $500!

But they do tend to sit a long time in the case at that price. Dealer has P220 in 38super for $750 but unfortunately I can't afford it right now. By the end of the year I will be getting a Colt1911 in 38super of some sort though.

I may add a Llama or a RIA too if I find one at a good price. I have a case of 38super ammo I got from KY imports for 5.99 a box of 50(Armscor)! At that price I should have got more but 1000 rounds for I gun I don't even own yet is enough I guess.

 

[Ala Dan]

Greeting's All-

Gee whiz Amy my friend,

for a minute I thought you were in Alabama, as our gun shop took in a
Llama .38 Super on trade last Thursday. We weren't interested in the
re-sale value, as we will sell it to one of our wholesale dealer's. The
person trading the gun in kept it in pristine condition; but its still a
Llama. They are a "hit or miss" proposition at best. I could not and
would not trust MY bacon to one of these things, sorry!

 

[chevrofreak]

Be positive its a .38 Super and not a 9mm largo.

 

[Navy joe]

My motto is "I wouldn't spit on a Llama" For cheap .38 super you could try the Witness, I don't know about Rock Island, filipino 1911s are a crapshoot quality wise, at least my Chuck Daly was. Springfield has made one, in nickel no less, I guess my mom hasn't told me I'm part hispanic because I like the look of it.