Why do most people want to dump on inexpensive guns?

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Why do so many people crap on cheaper priced stuff??? 99% of my guns cost less than half or what msot peoples do but do the same job...
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We crap on Jennings because they are, simply, crap.

Yeah, it might shoot OK now. Many don't, but some do. The problem is the cheapness of the manufacturing means that the gun is not going to be durable at all. It's not a matter of "if" it will break, it's a matter of "when" it will break.

Jennings, Byrco, Lorcin, and the other "Ring of Fire" guns are simple designs made of cheap alloys. They just don't have the reliability and durability of other designs because of the shortcuts in the design and methods of construction.

I would rank Hi Point above all of those though.
 
Some of us used to have 'the best' quality and price attitudes, and we can either start out, or become more practical and consider the moderately priced equipment out there. My first handgun, a S&W model 66 didn't make me a 'gotta' have S&W person. I've been very satisfied with a number of other similarly priced other brands...cheap? I don't use that word often. Lower priced, sounds better, eh :D
 
I don't crap on inexpensive guns. Unless I'm out in the woods, I crap in the toilet. I hope that most of us are equally civilized.

(I suppose if someone tossed a Jennings into the toilet and forgot to flush, I might incidentally crap on it, but I wouldn't make it a point to do so.)
 
It's your gun, buy what works for you. If all you can afford is an inexpensive Hi-Point, then get that. Better than nothing.

I think you should buy the best you can afford though. You'll appreciate it more in the long run.

Don't make fun of the guy with the inexpensive gun. He may just outshoot you. It would be pretty embarrasing to make fun of the guy with a RIA, when he ends up shooting one ragged hole while your target looks like a shotgun pattern.
 
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Don't make fun of the guy with the inexpensive gun. He may just outshoot you. It would be pretty embarrasing to make fun of the guy with a RIA, when he ends up shooting one ragged hole while your target looks like a shotgun pattern.
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That "ragged" hole would only be because the slide broke as it was slamming forward and flew through the target.

Cheap gun's gotta work before it can consistently outshoot a better quality gun. And therein lies the problem.

Jeff
 
I have a cheap Bersa Thunder .380 that people would call "cheap" that I got new for $250. It has never had a single FTF or FTE after over 2,000 rounds through it and I sometimes haven't cleaned it for around 400 rounds. I trust my life to it and I could not be more happy with it.
 
If you want to go "cheap," buy a used S&W revolver, a new Mossberg 500, a Makarov, or a police trade-in. But good guns cost more than $100.

I can't speak for Hi-Points, but I've shot and owned Jennings. I can vouch for their appalling reliability.
 
Cheap gun's gotta work before it can consistently outshoot a better quality gun. And therein lies the problem.

Jeff
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To a point, but I have a Ruger P90 that would likely make a liare out of you. It's outshot many a high end 1911. Thing shoots 1" 25 yard groups and ain't real ammo picky. It's a totally amazing pistol for under 500 bucks. Many Glocks can do that, too. These aren't Hi Point cheap, though. I might be raising my definition of "cheap" too high. LOL
 
Why do most people want to crap on inexpensive guns???
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People are scared of cheap guns - scared that one day they might need to use it in anger and find it wanting (e.g. broken, jammed). So they buy more expensive ones, and express their fears to those who would buy the cheaper guns.

It's your gun, buy what works for you. If all you can afford is an inexpensive Hi-Point, then get that what. Better than nothing.

I think you should buy the best you can afford though. You'll appreciate it more in the long run.
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Roger that. It is often better to save and buy better than to buy cheaper and fight it.

$300 is about my price point for a servicable pistol (below which they seem to be hit-or-miss i nterms of usability), although you can sometimes find good used ones for a bit less.
 
What is stryker or striker fired...
I had my Jennings apart yesterday and saw a firing pin that looked similar to a fencing sword, spring goes over the end and then connects to the takedown buttong...
When cocked the firing pin thing moves back compressing the spring and catching behind the lever connected to the trigger.. When you pull the trigger the lever drops and the firing pin goes forward.... Arent all guns built this way???

This is a real question... I havent been inside the workings of many semi-auto pistols...
 
What is stryker or striker fired...
I had my Jennings apart yesterday and saw a firing pin that looked similar to a fencing sword, spring goes over the end and then connects to the takedown buttong...
When cocked the firing pin thing moves back compressing the spring and catching behind the lever connected to the trigger.. When you pull the trigger the lever drops and the firing pin goes forward.... Arent all guns built this way???

This is a real question... I havent been inside the workings of many semi-auto pistols...
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Some of them have external hammers like revolvers (e.g., 1911, p38, p35).
 
One thing to consider, a guy with a cheap gun is infinitely better than an anti-gunnie.
 
Cheapest gun I would trust my life to would be a Bersa. I've heard good things about hi-points, but my only experience with one was terrible. (Except for their 995 rifles, those are cool... ugly, but so are all hi-points)

I can't see being so poor that all I could afford for self-defense was a Lorcin or Jennings. And I'm young parent, service industry working, still in college poor.

Actually, the old adage about buying quality the first time is very true. My first gun, a cheap Firestorm 1911, literally fell apart in my hands while shooting. Since then, I've slowy bought better and better each time. My latest gun I bought two days ago is my most expensive yet: a SIG P226.

I'm poor and all, but I'd rather be broke than dead b/c all I had was a Jennings.

Save your money dude... put it on a credit card and make payments, whatever it takes, but at least get a Bersa (or a Taurus, I've had great experiences with them, and they aren't expensive at all.)
 
And another question... Dont expensive guns break or have problems too...
Again serious question... Everything mechanical can break right...
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Sure they can, like any thing mechanical, but the odds are a far less with a quality made handgun. For whatever reason you have, I feel you are trying to get people to side with you and agree that Jennings and High Point are good guns. Sorry but they are made from pot metal and are what they are.
If you like them, have a ball, but don't expect us to blow smoke up your back side and tell you we feel the same.
 
I bought a jennings 9mm, holds 13 rounds before the Clinton years around 15 years ago, didn't use it much, was taking my ccw class last spring and the owner of the facility would not let people use the jennings at his indoor range? I only paid around 110.00 dollers at the time, he didn't know i had been using it. and back when i bought it i did'nt now as much about hand guns as now. I have not used it at all since, have upgraded, never had any problems with it, i'm not going to sell it for 50 bucks it's still like new. after the kid's are gone would be fine for in the bedroom for backup. I have read a lot of negative things about them, so it just stays locked up.
 
I consider my guns tools and like tools there is a difference between "quality", "cheap" and "inexpensive". Like tools, if you are only gonna use the gun occasionally one can get by with a "inexpensive" model because you never use it enough to notice the difference. But if you use the gun everyday or many times a year, you start notice little things like trigger pull, smoothness of the action and fit, both to your hand and the fit of the parts. Inexpensive tools that are designed for the occasional use by a homeowner/DIYer work fine for them, but wear out quickly when used everyday in a commercial setting. Same can be said for some of the "inexpensive" guns. Same with fit......most DIYers can pick up any hammer and hit or miss the nail with the same frequency. Me, I can go to a hardware store, pick up six of the same quality hammers and find one of them that fits and feels better to me than the other five.....and I have no time for those that don't "feel" right. Most quality guns just fit/feel better, there's a reason they cost more. Most "cheap" guns, like cheap tools are just that. Made for those that don't know better and don't need better. Most are disposable and function as such.
 
With all the inexpensive quality guns out there like mil-surps, foreign-made guns (Bersa, Llama, etc.) and used guns, I just find it difficult to justify putting money down on a Cobra, Jennings, or other cheaply-made firearm.

Hi-Points may be the exception, but I'd rather have a Tokarev or Llama....
 
I finally managed to read the entire post. The whole thing make my head hurt.:banghead:

Each person makes a decision on what they want and what they are willing to sacrifice to get it. I do not care what anyone has, be it guns, cars, or bicycles. To each his own.

I love Colts, and I like Springfield's. I FEEL that they do what I need / want for them to do. I have handled / shot some very expensive 1911's. I do not see the need to spend the $3000+ necessary to obtain one. My Colts and SA's suit me just fine. They are reliable, solid handguns.

BUT,
I do not try to convince everyone else that they have an issue when they make the choice to invest in a expensive handgun. They make the choice, they live with the consequence.

I have shot a Hipoint. It was rough, poor trigger, and jammed. I have seen / handled Jennings, I would not shoot one. But that is MY choice.

I have a North American Arms mini 22 mag. With the 22 LR cylinder I think it was $220. From a cost point of view that is cheap. But for anyone who has seen or handled one it is a solid, excellent little pistol. And I would risk my life that it will go bang when I need for it too. I have a great time shooting it as well. It is not the cost of a gun that make it crap.

A crap gun is a crap gun, I do not care what it cost. YOU own and shoot what you want. Just not sure you are going to get a whole lot of people to agree with you.
 
I dont want anyone to agree with me really.. Remember this is just my opinion (but from what i have found in other areas there are people out there who agree with my views on them)... I personally dont see where all the negative publicity is warranted... I would venture to say 60% or more of whats posted negatively is hear say...
 
I appreciate everyones TRUE opinion on the subject... And i am looking for some rationale for myself as to whay there are so many negative feelings about them
 
I appreciate everyones TRUE opinion on the subject... And i am looking for some rationale for myself as to whay there are so many negative feelings about them
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I owned both and gave an honest report. ( I would not bet my life on one) I worked in a gun shot and seen many come back, why because they malfunctioned non-stop and people wanted there money back. All we could do was send them back to high-point for repair. 95% of the guys that got them back sold them to someone that thought they were getting a great deal also. (But they soon found out why they got them so cheap.) But people don't have to eat dog crap to know they don't like it.
 
weisse52, I know what you mean about the NAA 22 Mags. I have two of the mini's myself, and they are great little guns and they are inexpensive. But when you look at them you know by the craftsmanship they will work. I never had a problem with them, unlike my Jennings or High point.
 
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