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DoctorWho
Posts: 9,496 Senior Member
Another criteria in choosing a personal defense handgun
DoctorWho
Posts: 9,496 Senior Member
I have another criteria on handgun choices, how much do magazines and grips and other accessories cost ?
The thing I love about the 1911 is that there are so many choices for anything you need think you need or just plain want.
I am getting to the point that I do not want to spend $ 40 for a magazine ! that is what some manufacturers are charging for their magazines and I feel as I was being robbed.
So before I purchase some snazzy handgun that is touted as great, I will first ask how much are magazines, ammo misc. accessories....
The thing I love about the 1911 is that there are so many choices for anything you need think you need or just plain want.
I am getting to the point that I do not want to spend $ 40 for a magazine ! that is what some manufacturers are charging for their magazines and I feel as I was being robbed.
So before I purchase some snazzy handgun that is touted as great, I will first ask how much are magazines, ammo misc. accessories....
"There is some evil in all of us, Doctor, even you, the Valeyard is an amalgamation of the darker sides of your nature, somewhere between your twelfth and final incarnation, and I may say, you do not improve with age. Founding member of the G&A forum since 1996
Replies
but, a good point.
Welcome aboard.
I love a bone stock 1911 with the tiny sights, and no improvements.
And grips, well, a really nice self defense handgun should already have good grips. And if not, we're talking maybe what, 60 bucks unless it's an exotic material, which puts it into the "fancy stuff" category and really doesn't have a lot to do with a self defense weapon.
Way I see it, if I really like the pistol, it will already have good grips. And magazines? Well, if mags cost say $35-40, ALL mags will cost about the same so it doesn't matter which pistol you buy, rendering the point moot
Accessories the same -- laser or flashlight costs the same, regardless of what gun you buy, right?
As the original poster, I stated that from now on, I am going to use a measure of what handgun I choose, instead of a proprietary model where you have to buy from the manufacturer because everything is unique to that gun, and if it is chambered for pricey ammo, even worse.
The idea is if I can choose a model that has either common parts as a 1911, or lots of aftermarket parts, (Glock) that tends to keep OEM parts cheaper too.
"And grips, well, a really nice self defense handgun should already have good grips."
I have always tried different grips to see what worked best for Me, regardless of what grips the gun came with.
I have spent years either modifying firearms or building them to suit "My needs", so nothing is moot when it comes to what I see as my needs.
Ah, understood. Myself, I've never bought "special" handguns anyway, lucky to be mostly interested in the standard types, like 1911s and Glocks and such.
And yes, some folks who work on guns as part of the enjoyment of them (whom I might call "hobbyists" -- no negatives here, just a category) spend time, say, building an AR and then turn around and start building another one. Building or working on guns just isn't part of my interest in them, personally -- I just like shooting them.
And I really don't buy a lot of guns, so I take my time evaluating the purchase and save up, then spend the bucks on what I really want. So for me, there's not much modifying aftermarket, if any. For example, my newest, the Springfield 1911 "Operator" lightweight is excellent -- good grips, shoots fine, nice looking classy design. Frontstrap checkering is the only thing I'm considering, in which case yes, it'll cost me some bucks to send to the factory and so on.
But yeah, I understand -- I'm not gonna put out dough for a firearm that's so "special" that accessories or magazines are too pricey.
But the thread title is "personal defense handgun" (a specific category) which limits the purpose and type of gun, which also, as I see it, limits the amount of money you'll be shelling out for accessories or magazines, etc. So Doc, are you including all guns you've worked on or owned and not focusing on the self defense gun itself? I have to re-build or modify a handgun a lot for personal defense, maybe I've picked the wrong gun in the first place.
Depends on the type of moot. There are regular moots, rogue moots, rouge moots, and rogue rouge moots (the most rare, giving you 14 points each).
Self defense is not a hobby. It is a necessity. Take fire extinguishers for example. Most of us will say if it gets the job done, why bother with a special $50 wall mount? I believe that Karl is looking at the utilitarian aspect of firearms as opposed to the hobby. Now if tricked out fire extinguishers are your thing, more power to you, but it probably is not going to affect it's ability to put out a fire.
Upgrades to sights will be more a matter of availability for type than cost-per-set. Same for holsters.
When you get to the topic of magazines, EXCEPT for the 1911, there's usually factory/OEM magazines that cost $20 and up, and then there's aftermarket crap. There are some exceptions like Metalform and Mec-Gar (who make a lot of OEM magazines), but generally, $10-$20 gun show magazines are something to avoid. Then there is the matter of how many you want/need. . .
But your point is well taken - one more reason why the two categories of handgun are "1911" and "Other".
"Nothing is safe from stupid." - Zee
Yeah Doc, maybe you could take up trolling.:troll:
-96 lbs
The thing is, I have a Bersa MiniFirestorm, I love it because it is one of the better shooting compact .45 acp pistols I have had to date, even though I do not really care for pocket carry persay, I can drop it in My pocket and forget it is there, it ejects spent brass so vigorously as to lose it.
Even though it has an aluminum frame, felt recoil is not at all bad, so it groups rather well.
I however hate paying $40 per magazine, way too much.
Sooo...who were you in your previous life? Just askin...
Even though he misspelled "nitpick", I think Chuck was trying to be humorously sarcastic with his "hobby" comment and didn't intend it to be mean spirited. Just a word in defense of someone who's only doing stuff that I have done in the past -- pick nits and post sarcastic comments (who, me, little ol' samzhere? ha ha)
Agreed. The point I was trying to make earlier is that if I really like a self defense handgun (subject of this thread), I'm probably going to buy more than 2 extra mags for it anyway, for a total of 3-4, including what came with the pistol. So if the price is 40 bucks, hey, it's not like something I buy every few months, instead just a single "start up" purchase.
And yes, sometimes you have to bite the bullet, (pun intended) and pay more for stuff, I however will only do so if I have not other choice in the matter.