Why do most people want to dump on inexpensive guns?

[John4me05]

Based on what?

Based on what i am reading in all sorts of message boards and archives and such... Just for instance sake we will say i saw 100 different peoples comments on a gun (any inexpensive gun per say)... Out of those 100 15 like it... So you have 85 who dont... Out of those 85 only 20-30 people can produce proof of what they complain about.. the other 45 or so people always say my brothers gun, or my friends, or my sisters husbands mothers sisters dads aunts cousing friend that he met on the net..

And i aint pokin at anyone on here in general.. Its just what i am reading all over the net from a google search...

 

[John4me05]

Red i will tell you where our problems lay at... Well my problems i guess...
A whole bunch of you guys are saying bad stuff about somehting i have that works flawlessly for me... And (til now while i am contemplating things) i just for the life of me realize its jsut like handloading.. What works for 1 gun may not work for another.. Loads that i scoffed at out of my gun produces ragged 1 hole groups in others... Yeah i believe there are cherries in every lot... And its possible that i keep getting the cherries while most of you guys got the pits...

My main agenda in this thread was to see if i could put good reasoning as to why they (cheaper guns) are frowned upon so much.. Ill probably never own a 1911 (although i would love a true 45 1911 model from any company) and i will probably never be able to afford to mod my guns to run like the ones i see on tv in competitions where there is almost no recoil and its deadly pinpoint accurate.... But i do the best i can with what i got... I am not a very patient man when its something i really want... I mean if i could take 300 out of this years refund and 300 out of next years refund i might could get a nice respected name brand pistol... But i cant wait...
The only reason i have the 357 Colt is because a guy GAVE it to me... I love that gun... It is very very accurate and almost no felt recoil... Big enough to hunt with even... And i would love a 44mag or even (God knows this will never happen) a 500 S&W... But i know my limitations on my dreams...
Heck i have been reloading for 3 years and dont have a case cleaner, trimmer, factory crimp dies, and use a very old Pacific press and a very old Pacific powder thrower... 2nd hand dies i got off of Ebay.. But its what i got right now... Not as good as Billy Joe Jim Bobs down the street but it works for me...

 

[-v-]

Also to consider is that people who have a bad experience with a product tend to be very vocal about it. If 100 people buy the gun and it works for them, maybe 10 of them will say something about it, yet if 1 of those 100 has a problem, he won't only let everyone he knows know what a "piece of crap" it is, but he'll usually take any opportunity when the conversation heads towards guns to bring up how much of a "piece of crap" that particular item is, since we tend to be much more vocal of bad experiences then we are of good ones.

 

[SageMonkey]

There are a couple things here.

First, I have fired a friends new HiPoint in .40S&W. It was a decent enough gun, but definately not a nice gun. I would run several boxes of ammo through it before I would trust it, but that is the case with any semi I might get. Everything I have heard suggests HiPoint stands behind their amazingly cheap guns. I am sure some need that warrenty service, but quality control costs money, might as well have the customer do it since they'll be practicing with it anyway... hopefully. This is what I would recommend to a poor friend who needed a gun right away (abusive ex-boyfriend threatening her or whatever), its far better than having a Kimber on lay-a-way.

Second, Jennings made a lot of guns. They were bound to make some that ran right. Perhaps a good sample of one of their better designs might run several thousand rounds. But I would not buy one expecting that it would work well. Its better than no gun at all, and is most likely going to fire one for sure, and quite possibly several. That is probably enough. But I wouldn't bet my life on it. I wouldn't recommend one to a friend, unless there was no other gun.

Third, Like I mentioned above, a gun in one's hand is much better than one on lay-a-way. Depending upon state and local laws it could get resold at nearly retail ftf to a friend down the road when its owner has saved up enough to get a Rossi or something.

Finally, for a "gun nut" I see no point in buying lower quality firearms. With the cost of ammo, its false economy. Even those of us who "don't get to the range enough" will spend more in ammo feeding the firearm than on the gun itself. May as well choose the gun because you want to shoot it, like its design, trust its reliability, etc, rather than because it was 5 boxes of ammo cheaper than what you really wanted.

 

[DENALI]

Curiously, many of you seem to think a pistol or perhaps a rifle is only worthwhile as an aid to combat. You definitely need to get out more often. And oh yeah, one of the joy's of the ultra-cheapie is shooting them into oblivion and not giving a damn about it........

 

[mljdeckard]

Buy and shoot whatever you want. If you have room in your locker and budget, and you like it, get it.

But don't kid yourself into thinking they are just as good. Do you SERIOUSLY think that a Jennings or a Hi-Point would hold up in a battery of proving tests in the military or with the FBI. Come now.

I will tell anyone, use what you have. A Jennings in the hand is better than a Glock under the glass. BUT, if it was a person I directly have ties to, I will out of pocket to get them a used revolver or Glock before I tell to just buy a cheap gun.

 

[mljdeckard]

duplicate

 

[plumberroy]

how much 9mm brass will a 5 gallon bucket hold? add 25% to that for the brass that I did not find and that is about how many rounds I fired though a hipoint 9mm pistol WITHOUT ONE FAILURE If I have shot one hi point pistol I've shot fifty I have seen one that had problems one call to the factory the had fedex pick it up when it came back it worked Hi point gaurentees them to work period . I passed my on to some one that needed a pistol they are ugly have a bad trigger and heavy I have seen one that did not work and the factory fixed it there are a lot of people that have the mine is better than yours attitude jenning on the other had do not instill a lot of confidence in me

I dont laugh at or ridicule people that own expensive guns

Unless I just outshot them with a $100 hi point

but I wouldn't rate Hi-Point and Bryco with Ruger and Taurus

biggest p.o.s. I ever bought was a taurus pt-22 on the other hand I carry a taurus mod 94 2" barrel most any time I'm in the woods

There's nothing wrong with spending $3,000 on a Wilson Combat or a Les Baer.

there is if your family go with out so you can have a mines better than yours attitude I have seen that happen

Glocks are relatively inexpensive

If you really think a $400-500 glock is inexpensive for a lot of young people with families you need a reality check to a lot of people who ask opinions on the internet that that kind of money is not available for a gun there a lot of people that are doing good just to get to work with the price of gas today
besides glocks are about the most unpointable gun I've ever had my hands on (just my opinion don't get your panties in a wad)
bottom line is It is your money buy what you want and don't worry about what other people think

but rest assured, I would have my reservations about them at first if I didn't know them. "Cheap" equipment makes me suspect inexperience and the possibility that the person may be a danger to themselves or to me! 90% of this apprehension comes from several bad experiences on public dove fields where I have been almost shot, had guys shooting at doves hundreds of yards away from them, guys shoot at birds that weren't even doves, come and sit 25 yards from me, painted their faces like Rambo,

growing up in the hills my experence has been the opposite,but most of us were lucky to have a single shot or bolt action shotgun and our dads had no reservation about kickin our @##@ if we even thought about doin anything unsafe where as someone got tranfer in and want to do the local hunting thing had all the latest stuff and no woods smarts:banghead:

 

[mljdeckard]

$4-500 is relatively cheap for ANYONE when you are talking about your life. Pick the gun, NOT the price. Eat some mac and cheese. Sell a guitar. Cancel the cable.

 

[White Horseradish]

$4-500 is relatively cheap for ANYONE when you are talking about your life. Pick the gun, NOT the price. Eat some mac and cheese. Sell a guitar. Cancel the cable.

Relative to what?

My guitar can bring $50 at the most - it came from under a bathtub in a school basement. I've never had cable. I could live on mac and cheese, or worse, but I have two kids that couldn't. At the time I bought my first gun, I didn't own anything that I could sell that would bring me $500. And my $290 RIA works just fine, thank you. So, no, not ANYONE. You, maybe.

 

[John4me05]

My daughter takes first and foremost priority in my life...
She takes the majority of our extra money after getting whats needed for the home... If i worked full time or the wife yeah we might could afford to drom 5 or 6 bills on a gun... But then we would lose alot of time of our girl growing up... She is more important to me than even my own life... She gets everything she needs and a good bit of what she can use (learning toys and such) and a good bit of what she wants...
I cant sacrifice her to fulfil a "need" for a brand name...

 

[weisse52]

White Horseradish

I would say your RIA is the perfect example that a gun can be inexpensive, but good.

A crap gun is just that. It is not defined by the cost.

I would never have my family go without so I could spend on a hobby. No reasonable person would.

 

[Revolver Ocelot]

if it functions well and is reliable for its intended purpose price is irrelavant

 

[birdbustr]

A crap gun is just that. It is not defined by the cost.

The higher costing firearm manufacturers use better parts and more durable alloys which costs them more to make, and in turn passes on to the consumer. A lower cost firearm is that way because the manufacturer spent less making that firearm by cutting corners and sacrificing here and there, in turn the firearm costs less.

Don't shortchange yourself with cheap firearms, don't try to fool yourself that you can make chicken salad out of chicken *****, and don't overthink this. To say it in a different way, you can't get something for nothing. Also remember that there is always an exception to the rule. The more you can accept the likeliness of failure in you firearm the less money you spend on the firearm and vice versa. Reliability and quality costs $ !!!!

 

[jgorniak]

1. Pick up gun.
2. Load gun.
3. Aim gun.
4. Pull trigger.

Did the gun go "boom"?
Did the round go where aimed?
Is this sequence reliably repeatable?

If you answered "yes" to all three questions, then cost doesn't matter.

Spend a little or spend a lot; just make sure you get three positive answers.

 

[MCgunner]

Curiously, many of you seem to think a pistol or perhaps a rifle is only worthwhile as an aid to combat. You definitely need to get out more often. And oh yeah, one of the joy's of the ultra-cheapie is shooting them into oblivion and not giving a damn about it........

Yeah, think I made that point. This sight is full of mall ninjas and lacks people who just like to shoot, it seems. There are more reasons to own a gun than killing someone. I occasionally have bought zinc guns just to play with. They're so cheap, hey, why not? The Phoenix is the only one I've kept. Sold a Davis. It shot pretty accurately and was reliable, but I just got it to play with. I had other carries. And, I mean, sometimes you're at a gun show and wanna buy something, but don't wanna spend anything. LOL

 

[The Lone Haranguer]

I don't have such a gun because I can afford better. However, although some of these guns are crap, I paid over six times as much for a gun that was also crap. So you won't see me crapping on them.

 

[GeezerwithGuns]

Aesthetics, craftsmanship, reliability, and ergonomics all play important roles in determining what I like and ultimately buy. It just happens that the lower priced guns that I've handled do not possess the characteristics that I find personally appealing. They may be perfectly functional, but that isn't enough for me - but I don't criticize them or those who own them - different strokes.

I happen to love classic Colt DA revolvers and they don't often fall into the "bargain" category.

 

[wuchak]

A cheap, reliable gun is like a moped. They're lots of fun until someone you know sees you using them.

 

[12131]

 

[doc2rn]

For me it is about manufacture, I would never buy a stamped gun. The metal is not the same after being stretched. For me that screams fatigue, and may lead to catastrophic failure. That is my personal reason, and it has everything to do with choice and nothing to do with price.

 

[MCgunner]

There have been some pretty successful stamped guns in the past like the "grease gun", some submachine guns like that and the sten. Stampings can be very effective and cost a lot less. I can't think of any that were pretty, though.

 

[Constantine-p89]

I have used that one before wuckak, anyways since I have shot my Llama I am happy with it.

 

[Timthinker]

Apart from the "snob" factor, some people believe, rightly or wrongly so, that inexpensive means cheap. A cheap firearm connotes one that is unreliable and inaccurate, two features that are not prize characteristics of a "good" gun. Now, this line of thinking contains assumptions that have been discussed by previous contributors. My goal in presenting this information is not to say that it accurately reflects reality. Instead, I offer this as a possible explantion to answer the original question posted. I hope this proposed explanation helps.


Timthinker

 

[Redhawk1]

The SNOB factor is a crock of crap.. A phrase by guys that can't afford expensive guns.

Yep you got it, I have expensive guns so therefor I am a SNOB.....BS..