Price point buyer

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Magnuumpwr

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I accompanied a coworker to Academy for his first handgun purchase. His price point was $350 plus tax. His first choice was a Smith & Wesson SD9VE at $330, I advised against it. Next he asked about a Taurus 709 Slim to which I suggested a Sig Sauer P250 in 40 cal. Both guns were priced at $349.99. He purchased the Sig. I am aware of the trigger funks of the Smith, have no experience with any of the specific models. However, I do own a couple Taurus guns and several Sigs. My personal favorite is Sig and was wondering if I let my preference cause him to buy the wrong gun? In my defense, I also wanted to buy one but it was the only one in stock.
 
Probably pointed him down the right road. The s&w guns work now, but the issues with the pre "VE" guns cause the values to be lower and they get less respect than they should. Taurus makes some fine autos, but the polymer frame guns typically aren't them. There are great ones, there are crappy ones, kinda a crap shoot. The sig seems to be the most consistently decent gun of the bunch, and for the money he did good. I think he made a good choice with your assistance.
 
I would have recommended the other two choices. The S&W SD has a great reputation, and the Taurus pocket pistols are among the best.

My ultimate choice of the 3 mentioned would have been the S&W. And 9mm for sure, before .40 S&W, because of ammo availability and cost, plus a much nicer recoil.
 
Good recommendation on your part and choice on your friend's.

The P250 is one of most underrated models from top tier mfr. The S&W SD's are decent guns but doesn't have true DAO. The P250 will give the user double strike capability. The modular design of the P250 gives the owner options; change frame/slide and/or even caliber.

As for the Taurus 709 . . . you really can't compare full-sized options against a pocket pistol.
 
Probably a reasonable choice if so limited. I would have gone with the S&W, but he might end up happy with the SIG. I wouldn't have suggested the Taurus by a considerable margin.

(Truthfully I'd have encouraged him to wait a month and save up another $100 to grab a deal on something else. Certain Glocks and S&W M&Ps or xDs can often be had below $500 when sales come around.)
 
Why did he want you to come with him? Obvious answer: Because he wanted the benefit of you're knowledge and experience. So that's exactly what he got.

You may find others here who would have picked a different option, but that doesn't mean the advise you offered was wrong. There is nothing wrong with the final pick, and without you he might have done much worse.

So frankly, I wouldn't worry about it.
 
WestKentuky
The s&w guns work now, but the issues with the pre "VE" guns cause the values to be lower and they get less respect than they should.
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. This is what I was afraid of, remembering the problem but not the correction. This probably happens more often than not. To the others, thank you for your responses.
 
My personal favorite is Sig and was wondering if I let my preference cause him to buy the wrong gun?
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I was in a simliar situation when I went to a shop with a buddy looking for a piece to take hiking. Cougars are known to eat people so he decided it was time to have some protection. I steered him into a Ruger SP101 but he was not familiar guns and asked if the Ruger was a quality gun. I told him 'if you don't like it, I'll give you what you paid for it plus $25'.

Bottom line: Suggest a gun you would use for the same reason as your buddy's.
 
I've gine with several friends for their first purchase. I make them hold everything and then tell them to buy the one that fits their hand best. There really isn't too many BAD guns on the market. So long as you stay away from a jiminez you'll be fine.
 
My Taurus Slim felt good when I held it in my hand, and it worked just fine, but my monster size fingers just didn't get along with the trigger very well so I traded it for something else.

My S&W sd40ve has never malfunctioned. The trigger is so-so, but overall it's an okay pistol.

My FiL bought my MiL a SIG 250. It is a VERY nice pistol and she LOVES it.

So, from my personal point of view, any of the three would probably have been okay, but you helped him get the best one of the three, IMHO.
 
Sunday I took him out to get familiar with it. He was disappointed that the POI is lower than his POA. To keep him from being discouraged, I explained why it was happening and demonstrated what it the gun could do. I give him a snap cap and told him to practice sight picture while working the trigger. Without fear of booming or recoil he could see the barrel dip before the hammer strike. Also told him to keep practicing using the snap cap after clearing gun with cap loaded in mag by itself. Planning to get him ready to practice failure drills, later, using caps mixed in with live ammo. On a side note, that gun has one sweet trigger pull!!
 
The s&w guns work now, but the issues with the pre "VE" guns cause the values to be lower and they get less respect than they should.
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This is what I was afraid of, remembering the problem but not the correction. This probably happens more often than not. To the others, thank you for your responses.
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Y'all are confusing the SD with the Sigma. The Sigma "evolved" into the SD because they never could overcome the stigma of the pre-VE Sigma and poor support of it from the previous management.

They look quite alike but I believe the SD needs its own magazine, IMHO would have been smarter to make it use M&P mags giving S&W a nice up sell opportunity down the road, or use Sigma mags so current Sigma owners might like buying one for the trigger upgrade.

The Sigma trigger also gets an undeserved bad rap. Sure it sucks compared to a Glock or M&P but it was designed to be a revolver replacement, compare its trigger to typical modern factory DA revolver, Kahr, or Glock with "New York" trigger, and its in the same ballpark.
 
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They look quite alike but I believe the SD needs its own magazine, IMHO would have been smarter to make it use M&P mags giving S&W a nice up sell opportunity down the road, or use Sigma mags so current Sigma owners might like buying one for the trigger upgrade.
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The SD and Sigma take the same magazine. The basepad is different on the SD and I've noticed that when you use a mag that has the old Sigma basepad the mags are a tad more difficult to seat in the gun, but they still work just fine. For my SD I've got two SD mags that came with the gun and 3 Sigma mags.

In general the SD isn't a bad gun. IMHO the stock trigger is improved over the Sigma, but compared to most other guns it still lacks a lot. I put in the Apex replacement trigger and spring kit for it though and that truly transforms it into a really nice trigger.
The pull weight is still suited towards a "duty" gun (5-5.5 lbs or so) but it drastically shortens the pre and over travels and makes it a lot crisper.

Only major annoyance I have with mine is that the .40 mags rattle when fully loaded. Not sure if the 9mm ones do this but its really, really, incredibly, super-insanely annoying to me :).
 
The SD and Sigma take the same magazine. The basepad is different on the SD and I've noticed that when you use a mag that has the old Sigma basepad the mags are a tad more difficult to seat in the gun, but they still work just fine.
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Thanks that is good to know, I've seen SD and Sigma mags listed separately and thus assumed there were more differences than just the basepad.
 
I'd have gone with the S&W. .40 is too much for most people to master without more practice than most people get.
 
Magnuumpwr said:
WestKentuky . This is what I was afraid of, remembering the problem but not the correction. This probably happens more often than not. To the others, thank you for your responses.
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The value of the SD9VE is exactly why I suggested it for a buddy of mine. $350 for a duty sized gun with 15+1 capacity is perfect for the role he intended, which was home defense and maybe CC later on.


My EDC is the Taurus 709, but $349.99 is about $75 too high. While I like the gun, I'd have passed at that price point as well.

But the Sig, while I have no knowledge of it firsthand, has a reputation that precedes it. Given that they were all at the same price point, I'd have suggested the Sig, then the S&W and Taurus tying for second. But I'd also have suggested the 9mm as well, over the .40, but that's just personal caliber bias.
 
Don't know enough about the Sig or S&W, but my brother and sister-in-law asked me my opinion about a compact carry gun and I gave it to them. They ignored my recommendations and went with the Taurus 709 with the "adjustable" sights. My SiL then did the responsible thing and went to a NRA instructor to get training and practice but couldn't get a decent group to save her life. The NRA instructor couldn't figure it out either.

Finally, they were able to visit with me and I took her to the range to try to figure out the problem. After letting her shoot it some, I asked if I could try it. I shot to a strange point of impact also and finally looked at the sights. The sights were adjusted terribly, so it was shooting waaaay off from point of aim. The screw head was so small, I didn't have the correct size screwdriver with me, so we called it a day after finally diagnosing the problem.

Fast forward to a year or so later and my brother brings the pistol to get adjusted. We work on adjusting the sights and can't get it to group worth a flip. After messing with it for a while, we finally realize the sights aren't really adjustable because it doesn't stay in place. I (guiltily) felt vindicated because I had advised them against the Taurus. Don't know if the model you showed your friend had the adjustable sights, but if so, glad he didn't pick the Taurus. My experience proves to me it's junk. The sights were completely cheaply made and untrustworthy.
 
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