Which handgun "PURCHASED NEW" was the best value for the money

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beag_nut said:
I only buy brand-new (though I have inherited a couple of used ones). I guess the best value is my Mark 1, for $72 back in 1972. After more than 50,000 rounds it's still going strong.
I won't buy anything other than Ruger, unless someone else ever comes out with a .357 Mag top-break. I have four other Rugers (brand-new handguns at each purchase) which blow away anything else in their price-class. And never a defect.
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Right on, have 20 Ruger revolvers, no problems so ever, both SA & DA, would stake my life on any of them. Bought all NIB at wholesale price, advantage of dating FFL'S daughter.
 
earlthegoat2 said:
I dont buy brand new firearms very often and it is because I dont find much value if any at all in them across the board. There is a reason I cannot think of any to answer the OPs question. The first thing that pops into my mind is the HK P7. Incredible value when you could purchase them from the surplus outlets but that does not fit the OP of course.

The only handguns I can think of off the top of my head that would have represented a great value when new are a plethora of Taurus and Rossi offerings that when new, were not necessarily a good value but became great values on the used market. Examples include the Taurus 450 UL and various Rossi 44 Special offerings. Guns that NOW, are in demand but apparently werent back when they were new. When, Taurus 1911s first hit the market they were a great value. Of course the secret got out and they went up in price.

I guess I just dont like new.

Here comes the broken record of pistols...

IME, the only pistols that just work are Glocks. So, in this day and age of consumers as beta testers, I would say Glocks represent the best value as I hear of very little problems with them compared to most others. They are all the exact same boring crap that share one common feature. They work. Period. That represents the only true value of modern consumer products.
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Not having anything to do with your post, why is there such a shortage of handguns??? Answer is millions of anti-gunners are buying handguns, why?? Riots and black lives matter. Isn't it amazing how fast far lefts thinking changes when your business or property ( homes ) go up in flames. One large FFL holder sold more than 23,000,000 handguns in 2020, just think about all the rest of the FFL holders and the guns they sell. Our Steel Manufacturing Companies must have huge dump trucks hauling money to the bank.
 
Jeff olson said:
Man, did I ever get screwed.
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Can't remember what I paid for mine, but bought it the day Colt released them onto the market, ordered mine right from Colt, of course had to be shipped to my FFL holder, cost plus 10%, have to find the Quilted Maple Box it came in, but compared to today's prices it was DIRT CHEAP, come to think it has never been fired, resides in a Safariland Suede-Lined holster, 38 Special caliber I believe.
 
entropy said:
Hyperbole does not become you.
One FFL holder? 23 million handguns? In one year? o_O
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I said A LARGE FFL Dealer, would imagine he would be in comparasion to MidwayUSA, Cabela's or some other huge mass retailer, my source of info is from a believable news magazine, one of the very few in existence. The Journalist is also a conservative talk radio host, I sent him an email asking perhaps it was 2,300 or 23,000. Reply came back NO, it was 23,000,000 million, Northwest Armoury in Portland, Oregon has FEDX and UPS delivering whole van loads at a time each day. While my daughter was buying her Christmas present paid for by me, I asked a sales clerk how many handguns they sell each day, he just smiled, walked away, no answer forthcoming. You go figure, but be sure you are standing on solid ground first. 23,000,000 ,how can it be possible, of course they probably ship nation wide????
 
<Monty Python castle guard voice> Pull the other one. </Monty Python castle guard voice> Northwest Armoury, in Moscow-on-the-Columbia, selling the equivalent of one new handgun to every fifteenth person in the country, (14.49, actually) in one year, and at those advertised prices? To quote Potato Joe, C'mon man! They aren't even nationally known. Well I hadn't heard of them and I have heard of and bought from, Midway and Cabela's, both of which added together don't sell 23,000,000 firearms, let alone handguns, in a year, any year.
You made the claim, you back it up with hard data.
First you'd have to have inventory, even if it isn't all the sales initially, far beyond what even Walmart's logistics could handle. You'd have to have large offices of people doing nothing but paperwork for all those handguns, Federal, and I'm sure OR has some pretty Draconian red tape to wade through too.

If any online place even possibly came near that number, I'd suspect it'd be Bud's. A regional store, even one doing aggressive online sales, still isn't going to do 23,000,000 handgun sales in a year. 23,000 I'd certainly believe, but even 2.3 million is a stretch.
 
I would have to go with my S&W Shield 2.0 9mm and Bersa Thunder .380. Both CCW & fun range capable for me, Beretta APX, Springfield Ronin to large, GSG .22 not enough for me to CC, and Ruger LCPII not a fun range gun but decent CCW. So overall the most bang for my buck are the 1st two. But for strictly range time, I enjoy the Beretta and 1911 .45.
 
Jackalope 1 said:
Not having anything to do with your post, why is there such a shortage of handguns??? Answer is millions of anti-gunners are buying handguns, why?? Riots and black lives matter. Isn't it amazing how fast far lefts thinking changes when your business or property ( homes ) go up in flames. One large FFL holder sold more than 23,000,000 handguns in 2020, just think about all the rest of the FFL holders and the guns they sell. Our Steel Manufacturing Companies must have huge dump trucks hauling money to the bank.
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$23,000,000 worth of handguns, that's believable. Probably about 50% to the militant ANTIFA types that will actually touch a gun, and 50% to those in the Portland area who do not share ANTIFA's zeal for mayhem.
 
Blue Label G48 - $358

First new gun I've bought in a lonnnnggg time. I paid the transfer and shipping, but that is the cheapest Blue Label item on the list.
 
In the past 10 years, I bought a S&W Model 10-5 .38 Special for two boxes of .22LR; a 9mm Springfield XDM for $600 and a mint Colt Trooper Mark III, .357 mag for $400. I consider them all great buys and great shooting guns. Each is a unique shooter onto themselves.
 
Jackalope 1 said:
I said A LARGE FFL Dealer, would imagine he would be in comparasion to MidwayUSA, Cabela's or some other huge mass retailer, my source of info is from a believable news magazine, one of the very few in existence. The Journalist is also a conservative talk radio host, I sent him an email asking perhaps it was 2,300 or 23,000. Reply came back NO, it was 23,000,000 million, Northwest Armoury in Portland, Oregon has FEDX and UPS delivering whole van loads at a time each day. While my daughter was buying her Christmas present paid for by me, I asked a sales clerk how many handguns they sell each day, he just smiled, walked away, no answer forthcoming. You go figure, but be sure you are standing on solid ground first. 23,000,000 ,how can it be possible, of course they probably ship nation wide????
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I think you will find that approximately 23,000,000 total guns were sold in 2020. Not from one FFL. It was a nice story though. From one of the very few believable news magazines in existence.
 
triplebike said:
I have purchased about 15 "brand new" handguns in the last 10+ years from many different manufacturers. The one that stands out for me as the best value is the RUGER SR9C. I paid $309 for it NIB. I believe it's one of Rugers finest moments. It's everything a handgun should be. It's a great carry or home defense weapon with it's supplied 10 & 17 rd mags. It's dependable accurate and built to last a lifetime. It's extremely well balanced and very easy to shoot accurately. I have yet to find ammo it doesn't like and has well over 3000 rds through and still looks like the day I brought it, shows no wear at all.
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This is a very subjective question, and generates very subjective answers. My entry is somewhat objective, and I will explain!

My best value was likely a G20, because it makes a very expensive class of handgun & ammo affordable for the firearm, at least. Plus you get one of the best value calibers with a combination of best power per cost of ammo in an autoloader. Making the gun practically as cheap as a 9mm Glock (around $100 more) makes the caliber that much more attractive. My son and I found that Freedom Munitions have/had some of the best prices for 10mm and it was very accurate and precise at all indoor ranges we shot. This was from a Kriss-Vector, and at least 2 handguns, his Sig P220 and my G20 longslide. The G20 can kill any deadly critter in North America with relative ease and many of the real dangerous game in the world, so I have read. One could build a solid G20 for less cost than the Sig or Vector and never be under-gunned. It can be done without a longslide for the cost of the barrel, I got my threaded LWD barrel for under $200 when purchased. Great Value! BUT, the G20 standard delivers all the advertised velocity of the UNDERWOOD and BUFFALO BORE loadings even with the standard 4.6" barrel in nearly every case I have seen chrony data.

That's just my 2c and I could re-write this opinion with other great guns I have. Take an AK47 for instance, big bad thumper bullets and I got most of my ammo CHEAP, and the guns weren't bad either. Cheap to shoot and great power within its range!
 
JDR said:
Gen3 Glock 17, bought new in 2009. It’s not my best or favorite gun, but I probably have about 50K rounds through it, it has definitely seen a lot of rangetime, and I believe I have shot every variation of 9mm ammo I can think of with this gun.

I almost traded it off for a Gen5 17 a few years back, but they wanted $400 & my gun which meant they were only giving me about 2 bills for my Gen3. No way I would do that deal. Since then I put a set of Wilson Combat Vickers Elite sights on it, and an APEX Action Enhancement Package trigger on it. I’d still like to get a Gen5, but I wouldn’t trade this Gen3 the way it is now straight up for a Gen5.
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200 is highway robbery, any used glunk is worth a lot more than that!!!
 
Rural King was cleaning out some older models before the new ones came in, about 3/4 years ago. I got a P738 in 380 for $165 and a G2, both Taurus, for $185 before taxes. Carry the 738 even today, the G2 is in the toolbox in the barn. Well worth their price and pull duty with the best of them.
Lefty
 
Earlier in this thread i answered my Glock 19 and 26. I still think those are great.

Adding to the list of best value, I’d offer forth these in addition:

SA Mil Spec 1911 (including defender series)
SA Loaded 1911
Beretta Police Special 92FS with 3 mags (at pre Covid pricing)
Ruger GP 100/ SP 101
 
triplebike said:
I have purchased about 15 "brand new" handguns in the last 10+ years from many different manufacturers. The one that stands out for me as the best value is the RUGER SR9C. I paid $309 for it NIB. I believe it's one of Rugers finest moments. It's everything a handgun should be. It's a great carry or home defense weapon with it's supplied 10 & 17 rd mags. It's dependable accurate and built to last a lifetime. It's extremely well balanced and very easy to shoot accurately. I have yet to find ammo it doesn't like and has well over 3000 rds through and still looks like the day I brought it, shows no wear at all.
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I'd say my Ruger 10/22 new for about $270.
 
I'd have to say my very first handgun that I ever purchased, my S&W 625 Mountain Gun in 45 ACP. I bought it new in March 2000 abd I still own it and will never part with it. It shoots better than I can and has never let me down.
 
My Taurus PT1911, Bought back in 06 when they first came out for $449.95. It was my first handgun purchase and has been through several thousand rounds with no issues. I have made a few changes to it through the years.

pt1911.jpg
 
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What if I told my wife that they were all great deals, every last one of them?

Sarsilmaz K2.45 from back when they were a little less than $400.
 
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