Didja ever buy a cheap pistol?

You bet...haven't we all ?
I wanted a 1911 but couldn't afford a real Colt , much less a custom job by one of the smiths who built reputations building 45's. Spotted a Star model PS in 45 acp that looked a whole lot like a Colt and was priced at $75.00.
That was one of the most accurate 45's I've ever shot. Would group better than a friends Colt Gold Cup and his Colt Commander , he couldn't stand that . And would feed any shape bullet, I even loaded some Keith style SWC's and they fed !
Alas... It was stolen in 1995 and I still miss it.

The 1911 I have now is an AMT Hardballer , haven't done a thing to it and it's an accurate shooter .

Gary

Yep.

Bought a Rossi M-69 back in '82 or so. Fairly new manufacture, but a total POS. I have posted on that experience multiple times...if you want details, do some searching. It was so bad, it turned me away from revolvers for the next twenty years plus. Fortunately I bought an old S&W in 2004 and made a full recovery.

Bought a Colt 1911 (not A1). Probably sixty years old...and thoroughly abused...and then chromed. Turned me away from 1911s for a while...thankfully, not thirty years. Found a more recently manufactured 1911 and made a full recovery.

Bought a series of Kel-Tecs...a first gen P3AT, a P32, a second generation P3AT and a P11. All four were crap, and although the KT factory sent me a variety of parts gratis, they all continued to be crap (in varying degrees, and some less than others, but...)

Let's be clear. After one screwed up Colt, I have owned several others that have been...at least...okay.

One Kahr with a problem, fixed quickly and correctly. Several subsequent purchases with 100% satisfaction.

One Springfield was problematic, several others okay.

And so on.

No other manufacturer has been oh-for-four (and unable to fix it) as Kel-Tec has.

Kel-Tec will not see another dime of my money as long as I walk this Earth.

"You get what you pay for" is not an absolute, but there is more than a bit of truth there. Stereotypes exist for a reason.

Yep bought a Heritage Rough Rider 22Lr with the magnum cylinder last Christmas for $100 from a private party. Of course, because of Oregon's new stupid UBC law we had to run the transfer through a dealer. I called the FFL closest to the seller to check the fee. The FFL said Fifteen dollars. I drive 25 miles to make the purchase and he says the fee is FIFTY! $10 to the Oregon State Police and $40 to the store owner for punching in a few numbers on his laptop. The computer dinged Approved before he started to fill out the receipt. Thank you so much Oregon Democrats and UBC supporters on the forum for adding 50% to the price of this assault SAA copy. The people of Oregon are so much safer now that my revolver is registered with the State!!!

Im thinking that there is a big difference between "cheap",and "inexpensive" . I recently bought one of the Heritage Rough Riders,and in my opinion its a sweet little shooter.My friend went along when I bought it,and we tried it out,he liked it and got one for himself. He and his son went out shooting it,and the boy got himself one also .for the money its a bargain

LoL! It's a small world after all. I'd forgotten that my very first handgun was a Ruger Single Six convertible that I no longer have (gave it to my first BiL as a gift shortly before he passed away). Like the others said, I am pretty sure it cost $129. I don't know how many thousands of rounds I shot through that thing growing up. I think that I got it around 1980.

About 1957 I bought a colt 44-40 , with belt & holster , 50 rounds of ammo and 50 empty cases. $47 for all. wish I still had it . Carried it till there was no bluing on it.

Back when Mosins were $110, I was browsing through a rack of them. I found one that had pins in the bolt raceway. Figuring that it might have been an ex-sniper, I tried the trigger. Where a lot of the rifles felt as though I was dragging the sear through a gravel pit, this one was glass-rod smooth.

I bought it. All I did was put a Mojo sight on it.

Good rifle.

How about a High Standard Double-Nine I bought for only $99? Actually, it's not a bad revolver and fairly accurate too.

Nope. Nor would I ever put cheap tires on my family car. Same principle applies.

^^ Some of you are still stuck on the assumption that the OP reads "Didja ever buy a cheap pistol upon which you intended to stake the safety of yourself and your family?"

Every one of us, at one or more times, has bought something "on the cheap", and was fine with how it turned out.

And yes, a few of us did it with something we intended to depend on for life and limb, and those who did became better-learned for it.

Hokkmike said:

Nope. Nor would I ever put cheap tires on my family car. Same principle applies.

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Wow, sounds like you made a lot of assumptions there.

I have a small Derringer style double barrel 410 and a Cobra Derringer in .38 Special. Both cost me less than $100 and both are not made very well. They are however fun to shoot at the range but I would not think to carry either as a primary SD handgun or put them on the night stand at night. Sometimes you buy a gun just because it looks like fun.

well the wife and I live on fixed income so I am glad they make things we can afford as I now have a hatfield singleshot 410 shotgun just got it yesterday for early xmas gift from the wife! Walmart selling these for $99 we took it out to check the pattern on it shoots very nice patterns, here I come squirrels when it cools off this fall!!

Was looking for a low cost 22 for my wife, she was having a problem racking the TCP she has.

Seen a Heritage Rough Rider and a Phoenix Arms HP22A, side by side at a gun show.

1. didn't like the looks of the Heritage
2. won't fit in wife's purse OR come out easily.
3. got the HP22A
4. shes happy which make for happy days and nights at home!!

I have bought a number of 'cheap guns' over the years. I collect pocket pistols and for awhile I concentrated on the various 'Ring Of Fire' pistols.

To the folks who knee-jerk a response like "never, my life/family/dog/goldfish/Pinto/etc is worth more than a cheap pistol.....as someone already stated; just because I own some cheap guns in my cheap gun collection, doesn't mean I carry a cheap gun daily. Or that I put used tires on the family car, etc.

I have had good luck with used revolvers

I bought a used COLT Officer's Match for $299.00, many years ago and it was an accurate, reliable gun. I sold it for a profit, so I am happy.

I also bought an H&R 732 with a 4 inch barrel and square butt grips for $189.00. It shot better than a COLT Police Positive, both in .32 S&W Long. So I kept the H&R and sold the COLT.

I also bought two used S&W model 15 revolvers. A 4 inch and a 6 inch for $275.00 each. They are some of my favorite range guns and the 4 inch is one of my back up house guns.

Jim

Unique Model D2, I got it thrown in when I purchased a never fired Browning BDA that I love.

It is not great, I like the way it looks just enough to keep trying to get a good trip out of it. The grips are a disaster and I am actually thinking about wanting to make or have my own set of grips made.

I've bought and sold a couple of those Heritage Rough Riders. They're not bad for the money I don't think. Sure a Ruger is better. No kidding! Even a used Ruger costs about twice what a RR does. It BETTER be better.

I bought a "Unique" (that's the brand name) 22 once for $99.00. Made in France during the post war years it turned out to be a good shooter. All steel construction, with an eight round magazine I believe. I'm sort of sorry I sold that one.

I got a Nagant for $69? $79? I forget now, but it was in that range.

Long guns? Several of them.

I got a Squires-Bingham 22 rifle from K-Mart years ago for $49.00. That was inexpensive even then. Turned out to be a decent squirrel gun. My son still has it I suppose.

I got a Sears-Roebuck 12 gauge pump that was made by Mossberg for $99.00, with two barrels, about 1976-77. That was a long time ago, but even then that was a good price. I think they were normally $130.00 or so. That was my deer gun. The 28/mod barrel shot 3", No 1 buckshot just fine. Never missed a deer with it. Never had one get up again. The slug barrel remains in my safe, unfired to this day.

I got three Type 56, Chinese Mosin-Nagants for $35.00 each. Even by the time I added the shipping they were only $52.00. They were rough, and took some serious cleaning, but seemed to function OK after I cleaned them and refinished the stocks. I never did shoot them.

I have a friend who until about 2012 "Only" bought cheap guns. I remember our FFL Dealer commenting on his "penchant for inexpensive weapons." Mostly due to my pestering, he finally bought a few mainstream weapons. He still owns well over 20 cheapo's, which for the most part aren't too reliable. When we go to the range he spends half the time clearing jambs or breaking down and reassembling his guns.

Yeah, an AMT Hardballer...

I learned a lot about tuning a 1911 with it. Ended up stealing parts off of it for other 1911s. Eventually rebuilt it and put a .22 conversion on it. It shot high, and buy the time I was done filing the rear sight the notch was only about .050" deep. When I went to a different brand of ammo, it shot high again, so I had a Bomar rear sight installed. Then it shot low, so I got a Novak blank, shaped it how I wanted it, and dropped it off at the 'smith to have the front dovetail cut. Then a coworker welded the rails up, and I recut them on a mill. I also made a plunger tube/thumb shield on the mill, similar to the aluminum one made by EGW (not pictured).

That cheap pistol is now known as "the money pit." I'm this deep into it, so I'm thinking some hard chrome or nickel plating is in the future.

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Wow, you got a real lemon of a Hardballer.

They're not usually that bad. Those kind of problems are usually reserved for the AMT Governments, like I had. Never did get mine working properly, but I'd love to have it back now, as I'd make it work or else.....
Generally the Govts. are the absolute worst, Hardballers are far better and the best of the lot are the Longslides.

Cheap

Ever buy a cheap pistol? Yep. A single shot Cobray .45 Colt derringer. Quite the little cannon.

I got a Phoenix .25 auto (new for $80) that has been nothing but reliable. Wish I had gotten the .22 though.

I've "ring of fire" pistols in .22lr, .25ACP, .380ACP, and .38 Special derringer. They sit in a velvet lined display case hanging on the wall as thief bait

Seriously, they are highly reliable single shot pistols with a significant probability of some follow-up shots. Of no real use to anyone who can afford range fees and practice ammo, but firearms designers have spent the last 300+ years perfecting the point and click interface and these cheap guns are way better than a pointed stick!

Cheapest pistol I ever bought was a hipoint .40 some years ago, never once had any problems, definitely too bulky for ccw but that's not what I bought it for either.

I am trying to buy one maybe today (or more likely tomorrow evening). Tried to get it on Sunday, but because I let herself handle it and asked her opinion of it, the sales clerk at the big box store thought I was trying to make a straw purchase and got stupid. If she had been my wife, it would have been ok. What a load of BS.

Well going to try again today and see if another salesperson has a reasonable attitude toward me. If not, we will see how much of a stink I can make.................




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Hi...
I have stumbled on a couple of cheap guns in my time...or maybe they were just inexpensive
I bought several guns off co-workers that weren't very expensive
One guy sold me a Kimmel Industries 22/22Mag stainless SA revolver for $35... I have shot it regularly for nearly 40 years with no issues. Pretty accurate revolver.
Another co-worker got in money trouble and sold me Model 10 for $50... I have had it for many years, shoot it a lot never a problem.
Got A Marlin .22Mag lever action rifle from a guy once for $50. Thousands of rounds through that rifle over the last 30-40 years.
Once bought a Blackhawk in .41Mag for $125. Goes to the range and on many hiking and hunting trips. One of my favorite revolvers.
Night a Helwan Brigadier off my SIL for $50. He didn't want it anymore. Not the greatest autoloader but it goes off every time I squeeze the trigger and is accurate enough for a range gun.
Some other good buys but nothing that cheap.
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