Well, vcpilot, let's see what's on the market. I'll put up the prices, both wholesale and retail, from the current (October 2009) Southern Ohio Gun catalog of what I consider to be 'affordable.' If you order from them directly and have the pistol delivered to a Class 1 FFL, you'll have to pay shipping and a transfer fee but you may still come out ahead. Here we go.
Bulgarian Makarov, 9x18 Mak, catalog $275, retail $389; military surplus
M1895 Nagant revolver, 7.62 Nagant, catalog $80, retail $249; military surplus. Note: a cylinder chambered in .32 ACP which is less expensive to shoot costs $60
I still stick with my previous comments, though, that you can still by a "decent" used revolver without breaking the bank. ...
--728shooter
When I was a young man, back in the early 1980s, there was a pawn shop down in Versailles Kentucky that had a whole barrel full of police trade in model 10 revolvers. For $78 you could take your pick. Looking back , I should have picked up one of those as a fun gun as .38 ammo was affordable.
Most of the guns had serious finish wear and were in mechanicaly perfect condition, IE carried a lot, shot a little.
You can still find a decent used revolver for under $300 if you look around and scour the auction sites.
I'd rather have an old Model 10 or sich than a brand new Zinc alloy jammamatic any day of the week.
Remember, S&W tried to make a .380 auto out of zinc and it had a service life of under 2000 rounds. If they can't make a good gun out of a substandard material what makes you think the latest incarnation of the Ring of Fire manufacturers can?
Has anybody heard of the Jiminez pistols? The company is from Las Vegas. And they're cheap. A local dealer has the 9mm for $152 brand new. I'm gonna go look at em today.
Here's a link to their site Jimenez Arms, Inc. They might be worth a look.
Jimenez have a very poor quality rating.
I have a friend that has one, and while he says he has never had any problems with his after he fixed it, but he admits that he does not shoot it a lot. Just looking at it I would not trust it beyond a thousand rounds. But that is just me. It may be a fair gun.
Look for a used pistol some place, you might get lucky and find a well used Glock or XD for a couple hundred. If you find a Glock you should be able to send it n and have them check it over for free. Not sure if Springfield does this.
I would trust both used. Look for that Ruger P95 mentioned. I don't own one but have heard many good things about them.
Hi Points are fine guns. Don't cost a lot and shoot better than most people.
Things you need to know about them.
HPs have a definite brake in period. DO NOT consider the gun broke in until it has at least 500 rounds through it. Also know that HP magazines some times need the springs broke in. Why? Because new mags that are supposed to hold 8 or 10 rounds will only do 7 in a 8 round mag or 8 in a 10round mag. What you do is load as many rounds in to the mag as you can and then put the mag up for a couple weeks. Then take all the ammo out of the mag and reload it as far as you can, if you have a ten round mag and still cant get ten in, load what you can and put it back a few more weeks. Repeat until you can get all rounds in mag.
I had a C9 and a 995 carbine for years but the single stack mags just bother me and the C9 in my opinion needs to have the ergonomics re-done in a bad way. The gun worked 100% once past brake in. But it was a bad fit in my hands.
Hi Points are nice, at least mine is. I have a C9. Paid $160 for it brand new. Some people have problems with them and don't have the patience to work out the kinks. All they have to do is send it back to the company and get it taken care of for free. My C9 worked great right out the box. I just recently got a Ruger P95. Price was $320. Haven't had a chance to shoot it yet but I'm sure I won't be disappointed.
The one thing that seperates the Hi-Point is the warrenty. If it's broke send it to them and they will fix it or (THIS IS AWESOME) REPLACE it free. No questions, doesn't matter if you bought it new or from the 100th owner. It's FREE! Love Mine.
__________________
The right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed.
I bought my East German Makarov for $160 3 years ago with 2 clips and it's in perfect condition. I'd say if you could find a deal like that go for it. My only gripe is 9x18 ammo is not avilable everywhere, but it's easy enough to find online and 2 stores sell it here.
I don't see the need to buy super expensive guns, when a much lower priced gun can do the same thing. If you want to buy a more expensive Glock that you are already familar with go for it, you may not be happy with anything less, but I agree with another guy on the Springfield XD being a better gun.
However setting $10 aside a week is a freaking awesome idea. If I were you I would buy a .22lr caliber revolver or one of those funny looking automatic .22lr pistols, I think Ruger is the common choice. I still need to get myself a .22lr handgun.
Not sure what you want but i will tell you the 2 best buys for the dollar.
1. Nagant revolver for under a hundred you can't go wrong.
2. CZ-82 cheap and reliable these are the semi auto bargain of the decade.
of course if you wish to spend more a Ruger 9mm is always a safe bet or one of many 45 autos.
Don't buy a 1895 Nagant revolver, especially if you have already had a Glock. No wonder Japan kicked their butt is what I thought when I shot, and especially had to reload the gun.
I guess they aren't bad for $70, but I don't want another one. Ammo is expensive but, you can shoot .32 Longs and .32 HR or something like that. I'm sure there are people who like the 1895 Nagant, and you could do a lot worse on low quality automatics, but I'd rather buy a High Point than buy another 1895 Nagant Revolver. Like I said you could do much worse, but I think you can afford better just my opinion.
Teach
The Constitution is meaningless in a Police State 
