…are going to be looking at what’s new in the zoo for their 2025 handgun needs.
Boy, are we in trouble.
First off, I’m going to ignore anything chambered in 9mm, whether Parabellum or Short (.380 ACP). Why? Because 9mm DA pistols are like men’s hairy assholes: they’re fugly, and every man (except Your Humble Narrator) has one (the gun, I mean). Additionally, I can’t tell the difference between them without a score card, save for the Springfield XD which is recognizable only because it’s been on the market for so long.
Then there’s this horrible thing from Century:
A handgun (yeah, right) in .308 Win/7.62×51? Are you fucking kidding me?
Then, to add insult to injury is Ed Brown’s .45 ACP “Kobra Karry”
…which will doubtless find favor with the Kardashian coven because of that obsessive need to start every name with a “K”. And only a Kardashian would be able to afford this 1911 variant anyway, at over $3,000.
And speaking of 1911s, try the new Wilson Combat Project 1 (in 9mm yet):
I’m going to go out on a limb and state that this may be the ugliest 1911 ever made… and it sells for a piddling $4,000. Bill Wilson must have been on vacation when this blingy design was approved. It’s cheaper than the Nighthawk Double Agent (also in 9mm) by a couple of grand:
…but then all 1911s are cheaper than the Nighthawk.
Fach.
Okay, I’ve slagged off these “new” guns enough. Now for the question:
If your rich old Uncle Elmer offered to buy you any gun under $2,000 on this list, which one would you accept as a gift? (I promise to make no comment or criticism of your choice because #FreeGun.)
My choice: the SIG 1911-X Stainless in .45ACP:
…not because I think it’s especially worthy; it’s only because none of the others interests me at all, and I’ve never owned a stainless 1911. But before I fired a single round, I’d take it to Ye Olde Gunsmythe and put a proper curved trigger in it. (FFS: when did this flat trigger affectation become a thing?)
OR:
I’d get that new “lockless” S&W Model 19in .357 Mag:
It’s not pictured, but it is mentioned under the lockless Model 36 entry, so I think it qualifies. If not, then I’d stick with the SIG.
Both the Heritage Roscoe and the Ruger RXM interest me, but they’re both cheap enough I don’t need a rich uncle. The Roscoe cause, hey, a nice looking snub nose. The Ruger for the same reason I’ll buy a hammer from Habor Freight, cheap and works for what I need.
But for the rich uncle, any of the lockless S&W revolvers would tickle my fancy. They sure are pretty.
Also, anyone have any experience with the Diamondback revolvers? They look interesting.
Not sure if it counts, but I’d go with the H&R Retro DOE “pistol,” for the sole purpose of filing a Form 1 and throwing a stock on it.
If that doesn’t count, the FN America Reflex XL MRD. I need a decent carry piece.
I’ll take the Project 1. I’ll display the gun in a walnut case, in such a position that anyone walking up my front steps will glimpse it through the window.
Burglars will be deterred, because anyone who would put that gun in a walnut case can’t have anything worth stealing.
I think I’ll go with you, Kim, the Sig 1911-X. Except for the revolvers the rest are pretty damned fugly People giggling at my gun at the shooting range would be a distraction.
The two guns on the list that I’ve actually considered spending my own money on are the Ruger RXM and The S&W Bodyguard 2.0. I would also like a 1911 and if someone else is paying, that Sig 1911-x Stainless you picked would be an excellent choice, so that’s what I would request from “Uncle Elmer”.
Can I ;have 2 if I stay under $2K? The Archon type A, and the KelTec 57. I’m a sucker for the odd and different, and the only other stripper-clip fed pistol I know of is broomhandle Mauser. Plus the Archon is a weird operating system, a non-tilting barrel. Absent that, probably just buy the Smith revolver.
But the Walther PP in .32 – black – is looking might fine. Even threaded. James Bond land.
I’ll take the Century whateveritis. I won’t need to aim much, yet I’ll slay the home-invading scrotes with muzzle blast and flame. Shame on whatever, whoever is downrange behind the scrotes.
And it might fly out of my hands giving me plausible deniability when the cops show up.
I won’t answer the cops’ questions either, because I’ll be stone deaf.
Add a bayonet, flashlight, laser, bipod, one point sling and optics and it’s a mall ninja’s wet dream.
A Stainless 1911?
Covered that when I bought a Para 14-45 “Gun Rights” back in 2008.
I like the Baretta 92 but I have one of the original INOX’s. It still has the weak locking block, pass. The derringer looks good but 45 Colt packs healthy handful of kick in a small package, pass. I guess the under $2k would be the LWRCI | IC-9K.
Kim, you chose the only two good looking options there. The 9mm doesn’t offend me but I’d look at the Sig P320. It would be trade bait for a P226, P220 or P229.
The S&W no lock series would be nice but for that money I’d buy one made the 1960s with better polishing, once piece barrel, pinned and recessed.
Not much on that list even made me pause to read about them.
I’d rather find a good Marlin 39A, a good moderate/smaller centerfire bolt action in 6.5×55 swede, 7mm-08. Unfortunately finding ammunition and rifles in those calibers is tough. I might have to look into 6.5 Creedmoor or 5.56×45. I’d like something to bridge the gap between .30 carbine and the real .30 cals like 30/06, .308, 7.5 Swiss and .303 British.
Handguns? I think I might be good with what I have. Another 1911 in the stable could be fun. Something along the lines of a Colt series 70 National Match or Gold Cup or something like that.
It’s not on the list, but if someone made a steel frame double stack 1911* in 10MM I’d jump on it, and unless it had Unobtanium innards or came out of Bill Wilson’s shop it wouldn’t be anywhere near $2K.
*Yeah, I know, Paraordnance did that, and STI makes similar frames, but……somewhere between Paraordnance / STI, and Bill Wilson is a well built, reliable and affordable double stack 1911. And, I wouldn’t mind if it came with a factory slide cut for an RDS, but I still want irons on it. GOOD irons.
I dipped a toe into stainless 1911’s with an AMT Longslide Hardballer back in 78 or so. You could say I was an early adopter, to my chagrin. Never could get that damned thing reliable. I have a SIG 1911 already, and it’s a fine example of the type. It might actually be stainless under the black Nitron finish. A match shooting friend has been showing up lately with one of those Ed Brown deluxe pieces. He bought the one you show and sent it back to have them fit it with an optic ready slide, so now he has two slides and told me this was the best gun he’s ever had. And he’s had some real dandies over the past few years – Wilsons, a Langdon Beretta or two and so on. Me ? I’m set. I shoot matches and carry a bit. For matches, no more striker fired guns ever. Life’s too short to put up with crappy triggers. I’ve become a CZ fanboy and will stay one. I’ll carry striker fired because that’s where the light weight is, although a recent CZ P09 is a possibility, if a bit on the large side. I’ve had enough early discharges in matches over the years – not unsafe, they went downrange but somewhat wide of the target, to see the wisdom in a double action first round.
By “off the list” I assume you meant in the linked article. After about the first half dozen, I could not go any further, they were all so ugly, so I did not get as far as these choices.
There are porn mags devoted to morbidly obese women, too. But I can’t even open one of those.
Since it was posited as a ‘free gun’, I may be able to force myself back to the article later and get far enough to make a choice. It’s going to take a couple of gins, though, I think.
JC