What gun/guns have you been reluctant to buy that turned out to be your favorite?

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Glocks.

I always respected them, but have also understood that they were simply one of many "right answers". It took the Sandy Hook + Clackamas Town Center (I live in the Portland metro area) fallout and magazine shortage for me to actually buy one. I've since bought another, then traded the first one in for a Gen 4 version of the same thing. I really appreciate how easy it has been to find mags for them.
 
Maybe I'm one of the odd ducks, but I've never had that happen. There are enough firearms that I WANT to buy, but have to hold back due to cash flow, that I've NEVER bought one that I was reluctant to buy. I keep a short list in my gun log (in Excel) of things that I'm actively or semi-actively looking for, and I always keep an eye peeled for stuff that is a good deal, but that I would still enjoy even if it's not on my short list. "Reluctant" pretty much gets ignored.
 
Actually three guns that are now my favorites took an awful long time to grow on me:

-Glocks, had a Gen 2 G19 I traded of because I hated how it pointed and felt in my hand. After many years I learned to love them and now they are the only centerfire pistols I own.

-AR's, I hated the collapsable stock and bought in heavily to the derrision heaped on them about being a poodle shooter and the idiocy of a design that is so dirty. Then I got involved in CMP and saw how incredible they are.

-10/22's, the first one I bought had a terrible trigger and I hated the sights and tiny stock. Now they're the only .22 rifles I own.
 
Lever actions. I always liked semi-autos. Then on New years day last Year my uncle showed up on my door step and handed me an old, woods banged up, almost seized up Winchester 94, he'd found cleaning out a dead inlaws house. He was in charge of that part of the estate and it ended up being mine.. Thought it was neat looking cleaned it up some, got it working and took it to the range. Shooting that old levergun is like eating a sandwich, pure second nature. There are newer, more potent, lighter guns around but to me it's just perfect fit wise.
 
Like RFman I've never reluctantly bought a gun. There are the ones I don't shoot much, if any, but I am reluctant to sell them.
 
Beretta Storm PX4 subcompact. It is ugly as sin. I hate the way it looks, but I started shooting S&W 3rd gen guns and Beretta 92s (one of the best looking guns BTW) and I wanted a smaller carry gun with more than 10 round capacity with a slide mounted decocker/safety. While researching I kept coming back to it. Had everything I was looking for except looks.

Got, and I shoot it more accurately than any similar sized gun I have shot (shot quite a few too). Very small for a double stack 9mm. Comfortable to carry, low recoil, good capacity. And the looks are starting to grow on me
 
I've gone through this many times.

I was a Glock guy, and came into a Springfield GI 1911 in trade for my extra washer/dryer. Excellent gun and I got the 1911 bug. Love them. I now own several including a TRP and a Colt 1917 made in 1918, both of which shoot like dreams. Have several others, in various brands, sizes, and flavors.

I didn't like Sigs when I first tried them. Then I got a screaming deal on a P220 in excellent condition, and was an immediate fan. I have P226, P220, P6, P225, P229... love them!

I was not an AK47 fan when I first shot one. I didn't care for the ergos or the sights... then I learned more and became more educated and appreciated what it has to offer. Now the AK47 is on my short list of favorite platforms, and one of my primary HD guns, and I have them in many brands and flavors and in 7.62 and 5.45.

I never liked the looks of the FAL, but got a screaming deal on a DSA model. After learning about it and shooting it, it's my favorite, or second only to the M1A, .308 platform.

I discovered the SW gen 3 series pistols reluctantly and by accident, and now have started buying these up wherever I can find them!

Taurus PT-145. Taurus burned me on a semi-auto once (PT 140) and I swore I'd never buy the PT line again... but they just got the PT 145 right. I really like it and it's often my jogging fannypack gun. 11 rounds of .45 ACP in that package and it just works.

These guns sure are addicting!

Conversely, guns I really wanted to work but didn't:
CZ 85 broke on my 2nd shot.

I never fell in love with the Beretta 92FS despite my wanting to love that gun. My first handgun and my duty sidearm in Iraq, but I never fell in love with it.

Browning Hi Power - never did it for me.

Taurus PT140 - had so many problems I just gave up.

Keltec P3AT. Unreliable and painful as sin to shoot. Rarely carry or use it... despite it's handy size.
 
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My first M1A. In a not so rare fit of got to have its, bought a M1A. Cost me all most $800. At that time it was a lot of money. I went back and forth over if I should have bought it or not.. Then I took it to the range and never question the purchase again. In a moment of weakness I use it in a trade for something I thought I wanted more and ended up not liking as well, so I let it get away (Stupid BM59). I have one that is just as good now but its not the same if you know what I mean.

WB
 
That would be my first gun purchase ever, way back in 2004. Lol. I was looking to buy a deer rifle with my hard earned money. Walked into the semi-local gun emporium looking for a 308 bolt gun with a scope. I found two identical tang safety Ruger M77s with heavy contour barrels, a bunch of 700s, and a bunch of Savages.

I waffled between them all for hours, looking for the one that called me by name. I shouldered them all, worked the bolts, inspected all that I could. I came back to the Rugers. Like I said, both were identical. Both had walnut stocks with the "plum" colored receivers and polished blue barrels. Somehow, I picked the one that was made right around the day of my birth, in 1984.

It is by far my favorite rifle. I own several different firearms now, but the Ruger is my favorite. I feel like I have a connection to it. I even taught myself how to reload using that rifle. It now wears a Nikon Prostaff 3-9x40, the action and barrel have been cryo treated, and it has a limbsaver recoil pad. It has an awesome trigger from the factory. The best 5 shot group with it was .77" at 100 yards. Most of the time though, It shoots 5 into about 1" at 100. But, I've only ever tried one powder and one bullet. I think I may do a bit better by switching powders and dropping from a 165 to a 150 grain projectile.
 
1911, Tried everything but it, finally broke down and never looked back. I enjoy shooting a wide variety of guns but a 1911 is with me every time out.
 
Another Glock convert. For years I told people I would never own a Glock, that I was quite happy with my Browning High Power, that I preferred exposed hammers to striker-fire pistols, etc.

Then a bargain-priced ($249) 2nd-gen Model 17 came my way. I shot it, I liked it. A slip-on Pachmayr grip sleeve made it comfortable... easy shooting, reliable, and good sights. It's not my favorite pistol in the world, but better than I expected.
 
About 9 months after I bought my second hunting rifle, I started noticing these ugly but amazingly cheap handguns in Fred Meyer's up in Fairbanks Alaska. One day I had $130 that was burning a hole in my pocket, so I bought one and 150 rounds of ammo for it. It was a HiPoint c9.

Took it to the range expecting to hate it, as I had a rather strong bias against handguns. (I'd never owned one, and most of my relatives talked poorly of them.)

Turns out that the ugly little thing was lots of fun to shoot, and just worked. Put about 500 rounds through it before I decided to get something nicer; an XD45c. Liked that even more, and now I own quite a few handguns.
 
I'm a blued-steel and nice wood furniture kinda' guy, and a manual action fan, lever, bolt, pump, break action, falling block....

I bought a S&W M&P 15 Sport mainly because Obaholpelostein didn't want me to have one, and Crazy Unca' Joe wanted me to buy a double barrel shotgun...

So I bought the AR expecting to, if not actually hate it, at least to not care about it at all....

The thing's amazingly fun, pleasant to shoot (if a tad loud) and is quickly becoming a favorite, and not just because Crazy Uncle Joe and Obaholpelostein hate it (that's just an added bonus ;) )
 
A Gamo Air rifle. Wow, what alot of fun, and cheap to shoot. Maybe not my favorite, but slowly floating to the top.
 
This one is the one I should have mentioned first now that I look back. I was looking to buy a 1911 (I actually tried to hand a guy the cash for one the day this happened - he refused my offer which was higher than it should have been anyway) when I went into a gun shop and they really didn't have one that I liked that I could afford anyway. The guy said he had a gun that I would really like. It was a Sig P220. This was a bunch of years ago BTW. I had never even heard of a Sig at the time. Like I said it was a "long" time ago. It was a "Made In W. Germany" model with a good bit of holster wear and very little wear from being fired. Clearly it had been a carry weapon for a LEO. The shop owner told me I would love it about 12 times with me wondering what it was he was trying to sell me. The 1911 I tried to buy was a Colt and I was hoping to find another one. The price of the Sig was significantly lower than what I offered for the Colt - maybe $250 less. Eventually he agreed to take it back if I didn't like it. He knew I would. And wow did I ever. I still have that pistol. I've put at least 15,000 rounds through it. It still shoots crazy accurate. I know there are some 1911's that will shoot better but they're generally target models which means tight tolerances which means feeding problems at times. The Sig is a true combat weapon. It's made to work under less than ideal circumstances. I've seen torture tests on the P220 that make all the other torture tests I've seen look like a picnic. They will stand up to serious abuse and keep working.

I couldn't believe how good that pistol turned out. I thought it would be ok but I never dreamed it would be what many think is the best defensive pistol made. I've seen several polls where people have picked the P220 as the top self defense pistol ever. If it isn't the best I'd like to see the best because it must be nice.

I've replaced the recoil spring and that's it. It had at least 12,000 rounds through it when I had to replace that spring. And who knows how many rounds it had through it before I bought it. That's about double the rated mean time between failures for that spring.

The only reason I stopped carrying that pistol was I wanted a pistol that was easier to conceal. It is a full size semi-auto. It can be concealed in the winter easy enough but trying to conceal it under a t-shirt while wearing gym shorts is a bit tough. I bought the Taurus PT-145 to use as a carry gun.

I've been lucky with pistols I guess. Twice gun dealers in my area gave me very good information despite me being reluctant both times to listen. I'm not about to start believing every salesman I talk to but gun shops in my area know their base is repeat business and word of mouth customers. I've brought a lot of business to one of those shops. The other was sold to another owner who turned out to be a real jerk. It's too bad because I would have sent business his way and I would have bought stuff from him myself. Oh well. His loss.
 
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