Helwan Brigadeer?

[OneShot]

I have recently come across a Helwan in 9mm that I can pick up for $169. That price is about the cheapest that i've seen on a 9mm here in California, so I put a very small deposit on it and have few days to make up my mind.

Has anybody had one of these? Are they dogs? I ran a mag full of rounds through it and it functioned well and was very accurate.

Any advice guys? Not much turned up under search--Oneshot

 

[buttrap]

Rag Head copy of the Beretta M-51 9mm. thats around what dealer cost was on them new a bit back. At one time it was around 130 bucks. Bit of a crap shoot, some run fine and some have issues. But cant really beat the price.

 

[Tropical Z]

I wish you luck.Mine was awful and i NEVER got a full mag through it without jamming of one type or another.Mine had terrible sights and the worst machining ive ever seen on a handgun.A friend of mine and i each got one at the same time and they were equally bad.I let him talk me out of a Hi-Point and into the Helwan.It was a bad mistake that was rectified in short order.Maybe the current ones are better.

 

[WonderNine]

There's a new one on gunbroker right now for $169 I believe.

Still way overpriced IMO.

There's another one for $179.

Here they are.

http://www.gunbroker.com/auction/ViewItem.asp?Item=15373731

http://www.gunbroker.com/auction/ViewItem.asp?Item=15115617

To bad they're not the real deal Beretta....

 

[OneShot]

Looks like I should pass on this one. Thanks for the comments guys--Oneshot

 

[JoeWang]

A guy on another board said his was rough and had a lot of failures, but after polishing up the internals and sanding down some of the interior surfaces it was an OK gun but not remarkable.

 

[panzerfuehrer]

Run away.......fast.

Purchased one about 15 years back because I wanted an inexpensive 9mm, and Army buddy with FFL got me one at about $130. Ya get what ya pay for.

Machining was bad, and prone to burring, even after experimenting with different types of ammo. Smoothed the burrs, and then after a couple magazines, same result. During said couple magazines, I still got stovepipes as well as failure to lock back after last round. Plus, it is SA, and no way I would ever have carried it C&L.

I still have it, and can't pay anyone to take it off my hands. :banghead: When I traded for a Ruger P85, dealer didn't even want to look at it - wound up taking a BP revolver I also brought to trade along with some $. Ruger IMO still gives about the best bang for buck in inexpensive autos.

 

[XavierBreath]

I think I must be the guy who Joe is refering to.

You can read my review of the Helwan here.
http://handguns.proboards24.com/index.cgi?board=Talky&action=display&num=1075069205

Basically, I would not recommend this pistol to anyone, simply because they would likely never trust my opinion again. You can get it to run, but expect to use tools to do it. If you want an inexpensive 9mm, consider a Star BM. It's a lot more pistol for the same price.

Cheers,
X

 

[Stickjockey]

So are there true Beretta 1951's out there?

 

[earthworm]

Get a Star BM.Cost about the same,better quality,more compact.
You can find reviews here & at selfdefenseforums.com/forums but you may have to review a bit.

 

[9 m&m]

Guys give it a chance. The first one I heard of ,broke after the first couple of mags cuz the lug under the barrel BROKE off BUT we called the company we bought it from and they apologized for the inconvienience because I had got an older model theat the lug under the barrel wasnt heat treated. They sent me a NEW good one w/ a heat treated lug and it is a VERY reliable and accurate pistol now. So, give it a chance.

 

[PX15]

I concur that for the money a Star BM is hard to beat. I purchased a used BM less than a year ago for approximately $129.00 and it has been a very nice little pistol. Reliable (except w/Wally world white box), very accurate, and just a neat little firearm. Kinda like a "mini" 1911.... You very seldom see any criticism on different pistol sites about the BM. The "Spanish Pistol" site has comments about them quite often. I want another... JMO

 

[8830]

I had a Helwan about 12yrs ago and it fed a functioned with everything I fed it. I sold it to a cop friend who still carries it as his spare.

 

[Smoke Rizen]

Helwan

I got one about 5 years ago in a Friends of NRA raffle,so I only had a dollar in it. It fed rnd. nosed fine, but I had to clean it up to run HP's. Works great now,and W/an extra mag. it's a great little carry when I'm fishing away from the truck(was once put through the mill by some feral dogs,so I never fish naked). It's nice not to carry a S&W or Colt in wet conditions,so for that purpose it's worked out fine.Been quite reliable when I,ve pulled and fired,every time. But I don't carry C&L because it's SA.

 

[DNA]

Actually my experience with the Helwan was positive. No failures whatsoever and accurate to boot although the trigger is not anything to write home about.

Dan