Anyone else have "cheapies" sneak into the collection?

[Mbrgr1]

Here is one of mine. FIE "Standard" 7 shot in 32 H&R magnum.


Alloy frame (pot metal?) the rest is steel.


Not sure what the original price was, but I'm sure it was not much.


It looks like it has been fired very little, I never have and that's probably a good thing!


I can't remember how it snuck in here?

[sigp220.45]

Oh yeah. Davis .22 Mag derringer.

[CajunBass]

I've got a Heritage 22. I suppose a lot of us do.



About a hundred bucks or so. I was waiting for the background check to come back on one gun, saw this one in the case and had them add it to the sale. I haven't fired it yet, but I like it.

[Ray1970]

Nope. Every time some low dollar firearm tries to get in my safe the nicer stuff beats it up and tosses it out.

[BAM-BAM]

Nope...... learned a lot from my Dad a police officer and 50 year pistol shooter.

The first gun he owned, that I know of, was a 6" .357 Colt New Service ... that he shipped to Calf. for King sights and action job in 1938/39...... his .22 target pistol was an early S&W model 41 ...... his last gun purchase was a first year S&W 640 no dash!

[BigBill]

H&R 22 revolvers there not that cheap.

[Justin T]

I’m waiting on it to arrive, but I accidentally bought an Ortgies in .25, thinking it was in .32.

It’s a project and needs some attention, which I’m not afraid of, but had I realized the caliber I would have left it alone.

Oh well. It’s not a very expensive lesson and the money is going to the widow it used to belong to. So that makes it a bit better.

[Muss Muggins]

FIE Titan .25, Rohm RG22, Iver Johnson Cadet .22 . . .

[Mbrgr1]

Originally Posted by BigBill

H&R 22 revolvers there not that cheap.

No kidding! I remember when they were still affordable.


The everyman's gun.


Here are my 44's from H&R, 44 Webley or 44 Bull Dog, a little on the rare cheapie side.

[tops]

In .22s and .32 S&W I have H&R, IJ and HS. I've still not got low enough too own a Taurus or Rossi. Larry

[Mbrgr1]

Originally Posted by Muss Muggins

FIE Titan .25, Rohm RG22, Iver Johnson Cadet .22 . . .

Good old Rohm, a lot of little old ladys in NYC had one in their purse in the 60's and 70's, gun laws be damned!


$8.95 at the local 5 & Dime.

[Mule Packer]

Yep. A Fabriques Armes de Guerre .25 acp that my dad's uncle gave him back in the late '30's or early '40's. Dad gave it to me with the following words, "Don't ever shoot anybody with it. You're liable to make them real mad." Those were the same words that Uncle Vern told Dad when he originally gave the gun to him.

Don't know how Uncle Vern acquired it. He was an attorney at one time until he got disbarred for bribing a jury. From what various members of the family have told me, his pink Cadillac was often seen in the red light district of town. So, who knows where he came across this piece. For all I know, it could have once resided in Madam Lulu's bustier.

[Mbrgr1]

Originally Posted by tops

In .22s and .32 S&W I have H&R, IJ and HS. I've still not got low enough too own a Taurus or Rossi. Larry

I've got a couple Rossi's, this one was not cheap!

[Ivan the Butcher]

I have a number of the low end fire arms. Some were from when I started out, some I found, and some were just plane fun!

I have Davis derringers in 32 ACP and 22 Mag, once you find the corret ammo, they are just plane fun!

Ivan

[Heinz]

Sometimes .32s follow me home

[Mbrgr1]

Originally Posted by sigp220.45

Oh yeah. Davis .22 Mag derringer.

Lipstick?


Nail Polish?


Rhubarb pie?


Strawberry Peeps?

[Screwball]

The first “cheap” gun that comes to mind is an Iver Johnson Cadet in .22 LR. Only reason I got it was because I have an Oswald correct Carcano M38, converted Victory revolver, and a Colt Cobra with hammer shroud... which are the three weapons associated with JFK’s assassination. The Iver Johnson is the revolver that was taken from Sirhan after RFK was shot. It is cheap, but fills a niche of an odd collection.

Second one... a Nagant revolver. They aren’t cheap anymore, but I got a hand select 1941 rebuild for $120. A very pointless gun, as it is far from useful... but I’ve been considering having it threaded for a suppressor.

Third one... a Raven MP-25. The prime example of Saturday Night Special. I only picked it up because it was a good price, but I remember my father having one when I was younger. I plan on cleaning it up, just for sentimental value.

[Grayfox]

A Raven .25 acp pistol. I gave all of $25 for it. Yep its a cheap gun and the very epitome of the Saturday Night Special. But the darned thing is utterly reliable and goes BANG every single time.

[Baltimoreed11754]

I have a few old H&R topbreaks, a couple .32s and .22s that are in nice condition.

[lihpster]

The only "cheapie" I have at the moment is an Ithaca 49 single shot .22. My brother's high school buddy left it with him when he left for Alaska. This particular rifle is the ugliest, crudest and most inaccurate pile of dung I have ever put to my shoulder. The inaccuracy is astounding. I'm not sure the 180 degree rule is quite safe with this gun. The only reason I still have it is I don't hate anybody bad enough to give it to them.

[Buford57]

Originally Posted by Screwball

The first “cheap” gun that comes to mind is an Iver Johnson Cadet in .22 LR. Only reason I got it was because I have an Oswald correct Carcano M38, converted Victory revolver, and a Colt Cobra with hammer shroud... which are the three weapons associated with JFK’s assassination. The Iver Johnson is the revolver that was taken from Sirhan after RFK was shot. It is cheap, but fills a niche of an odd collection.

On the assassin theme, at one time I had a John Hinkley special RG .22 that I gave $5 for. It would FTF on 2 random chambers out of each cylinder so eventually I took it out of the tackle box and sold it to Jesse Jackson for $100. He said he wanted to "buy it back" so I assumed it had been his once and had sentimental attachment.

[sigp220.45]

Originally Posted by Mbrgr1

Lipstick?


Nail Polish?


Rhubarb pie?


Strawberry Peeps?

Evidence tape residue. It cleaned up ok.

[Rustyt1953]

Nine years ago I bought a West German H. Schmidt model 21(.22lr) at a Bill Goodman show for $75.
It has been invaluable as all 5 grandkids used it their first times out of the gate. It still shoots well.

[lihpster]

When I was a yonker, my pappy had him one of them German .22 hoglegs. Single action, .22LR/Mag. convertible with a 10" barrel. Had plastic fake stag grips with all the color gone so they were just kinda dingy yellow. No finish whatsoever on the metal. It was a great shooter. With the long sight radius it was accurate as heck. I outshot buddies with scoped rifles with it. If it hadn't been stolen, I'd still have it. But, since he replaced it with a Mod. 18, I'm good with it.

[THE PILGRIM]

I still have my Sears 20 Ga.

[HOUSTON RICK]

I have a weakness for this one. All of $150.

[Barbarian-CBX]

Rohm RG10 and one I don't even know what it is, other than it's a 22 cal. and made in Spain. Anyone, anyone?

Sent from my SM-G955U using Tapatalk

[Echo40]

I'm by no means a wealthy man, nor do I subscribe to the belief that cost is directly proportional to quality because it's demonstrably false in my experience, so I actually own quite a few inexpensive firearms.

Now, I'm not 100% positive that by "cheap" you are referring to cost, quality, or both, but since low price is typically considered synonymous with low quality and the term "cheap" is often times used interchangeably, I'm just going to presume that it means both in context.

So, here are a few of my cheap (i.e. inexpensive) firearms...


Walther PPK/S-22 (2013)
This was actually my first semiautomatic pistol, a 2013 manufactured Walther PPK/S-22, it cost me about $400 OTD when I bought it, so it's not the cheapest gun that I own in terms of cost, but it's made of some proprietary mystery metal which is largely believed to be some sort of zinc-aluminum alloy, and the matte black finish looks and feels cheap. It's a good gun though, fun to shoot and the only issues I've had with it so far were ammo-related.


Taurus Judge Magnum
My original bedside Home Defense firearm. By now, I'm pretty sure that Taurus' spotty reputation when it comes to quality control and poor customer service is well known at this point. However, this gun has been 100% reliable for me, and aside from having a very rough finish beneath the grips where they evidently didn't bother to buff out any tool marks or even bead blast the stainless steel evenly, its fit/finish is surprisingly good. Everything feels tight, the trigger is good, and the only area with sharp edges is the crane.


Ruger LCP + Smith & Wesson Sigma SW40VE
These two have actually both served as my EDC duo up until very recently with the SW40VE as my primary carry and the LCP as my BUG. The LCP is actually a pretty nice gun, it's a Limited Edition 10th Anniversary LCP with laser engraving on the top of the slide, but it was an inexpensive little pistol which only cost me about $360 OTD, and surprisingly the slide is actually a bit rough inside.
The SW40VE is by far the least expensive gun that I own, which only cost me $199. However, it's actually an extremely reliable pistol which has served as my primary carry gun since I bought it in 2019, and has only just recently been retired in favor of my Performance Center M&P40 Shield 1.0.


Romanian MilSurp Tokarev TTC
Last and most certainly least is my Tokarev TTC, the gun which gave me so much grief that I honestly don't even like to think about it... I actually have a series of threads dedicated to my misadventure with this pistol, so I'm going to give you a brief summary... I ordered this gun sight unseen from an otherwise reputable online retailer who described it as; "meticulously refinished and reconditioned by the factory" which is total lie. The finish is worn, scratched, and rusty with the magazine almost completely rusted out inside. The gun was dirty inside, meaning it hadn't even been cleaned, much less "meticulously refinished and reconditioned" as they described it. Also, the safety lever fell off as I was cleaning it for the first time. Just thinking about it makes me angry. Ugh.

[sheepdawg]

Cheapest one in my safe is a surplus CZ82. It's a very well made, accurate little pistol. It outshoots a lot of much more expensive gats

[Drm50]

There are many firearms that are only good for the detonation of cartridges
They are not a good deal if you got them for free. They aren’t accurate, dependable and in some cases dangerous to shooter.
Many others aren’t worth the waste of time and ammo to shoot them. This is not always keyed on price.

[BigBill]

Originally Posted by sheepdawg

Cheapest one in my safe is a surplus CZ82. It's a very well made, accurate little pistol. It outshoots a lot of much more expensive gats

It’s a awesome little pistol a cz 82 in 9 mm mak.

[Golddollar]

I picked up a British "Tanker Model" Enfield .38/200 top break revolver that had been chromed. The chrome plating certainly destroyed the collector value but it's legal for our club's Great Wars Match, so that's good enough for me.

[Chukar60]

I have only had one “cheap” gun in my life.
I bought a Baikal Makarov 9x18 when they first were available.
Found them at a gun show. Couple tables of them stacked up in boxes selling for the princely sum of $89.00.
I no longer have it, but it was accurate and very dependable. I just got tired of looking for the ammo.
They fetch considerably more money these days, but in my mind a good bargain.

[LVSteve]

Would a FEG improved Walther PP copy count? They were $200 from Century or AIM about 7 years ago.

In milsurp rifles I seem to have a fair number of weapons that have seen Turkish service that came to me cheap. Also, I did get a rare-ish Finnish Mosin M28 for $85 once.

[CajunBass]

Originally Posted by Mule Packer

Yep. A Fabriques Armes de Guerre .25 acp that my dad's uncle gave him back in the late '30's or early '40's. Dad gave it to me with the following words, "Don't ever shoot anybody with it. You're liable to make them real mad." Those were the same words that Uncle Vern told Dad when he originally gave the gun to him.

Don't know how Uncle Vern acquired it. He was an attorney at one time until he got disbarred for bribing a jury. From what various members of the family have told me, his pink Cadillac was often seen in the red light district of town. So, who knows where he came across this piece. For all I know, it could have once resided in Madam Lulu's bustier.

When the legend conflicts with the truth...print the legend...

[dockmurgw]

My Rohm 22. Carried it on the trap line as a kid. Been dropped in ponds, mud, kicked, abused...even used to thump a few critters over the head. It's now been retired to shot shell duty dispatching mice in the basement that live in the foundation stones in the winter. Lots of memories behind that gun, its my second favorite behind my first gun, a shotgun my dad bought me.

[otis24]

No longer have it, but I did have an H&R .22. seemed like a well built utilitarian revolver. Would love to find an H&R 999 Sportsman (top break). However, these are no longer "cheap"!!!!

[murphydog]

As others have pointed out, there is cheaply made, cheaply priced, and sometimes both at the same time (which I think is the point here?)

I had an H & R 999 Sportsman, a perfectly serviceable gun that didn't do anything for me so off it went. An 1895 Nagant with a spare .32 ACP cylinder, weird but fun and the heaviest DA pull yet engineered; a neat historical item.

Haven't got into the really odd stuff like Clerke, Rohm, etc. - S & W has spoiled me against these permanently.

[GT_80]

I have had a few, sold most of them already...

Erma M1-22 MIA clone, it was the mostly potmetal version. I never even shot it... I bought it, cleaned it, and realized how poorly it was made, and that you can't find extra mags anywhere, and sold it at a loss Sad thing was, when I bought it the store had a blued steel version of the same gun for $50 more, and I passed on it - that was dumb

Raven P-25, first gen silver with white grips. Bought it because I had 25 auto locally and cheap, and needed a gun for it. bought extra recoil springs, and two extra mags, cleaned it, fired it (ran ok), and found a Beretta Model 21A in 25 auto, and sold the raven for a loss

H&R 930 nickel- was missing the rear site, but in great shape, and functioned perfectly. Bought for $220, sold it like 6 months later for $400 ($325 after consignment fees)

Charter Arms Pathfinder Target - bought for $250, used it for almost 3 years, and sold it for $350 in todays market

Hi-Point 995TS carbine. Bought it, sighted it in (realized the front sight post had to be cocked sideways to have the rear in the center of adjustment), shot it three times, and sold it to my cousing for what I had into it. It was not ergonomic, the recoil pad is unnecessary and annoying, but it was reliable. was a pain to take apart to clean properly as well. and I didn't that the firing pin is used as the ejector- clearing a live round always made me nervous.

I think that was it for "cheap" or low quality guns. and to be fair, the H&R was quality, just was cheap. and the Charter arms was good quality, but the fit and finish was not great. Older 1970's and back charters are much better IMO.

[Old Corp]

A couple of images of cheapies I have that work pretty darn good.
Not pictured is a Taurus PT92 (SS or satin nickel, not sure which) 9mm that's run many thousands of rounds, used as a 'loaner' for classes I've taught. Always been 100%.

Pics are of a couple of old cheap break-top .22's - an H&R M999 and a Iver Johnson 'Sealed Eight'.

Another is my 'stand-in beater' for my Browning HP, an FEG clone.
Works great, and don't worry about dinging it up.

[JohnHL]

Only two.

And I have less than $25.00 in the pair.

A Galesi and an F.I.E., both 25s.

The Galesi is the better pistol, both are surprisingly dependable.

John

[BigBill]

Originally Posted by Chukar60

I have only had one “cheap” gun in my life.
I bought a Baikal Makarov 9x18 when they first were available.
Found them at a gun show. Couple tables of them stacked up in boxes selling for the princely sum of $89.00.
I no longer have it, but it was accurate and very dependable. I just got tired of looking for the ammo.
They fetch considerably more money these days, but in my mind a good bargain.

p

Ammo is at aim surplus or the-Armory. These maks went up price wise I chose the cz82 in 9 mm mak instead.

[RCL-09]

DSC00527 (2).jpg

Yes indeed, one cheap one.

[.357magger]

Originally Posted by BigBill

H&R 22 revolvers there not that cheap.

My Dad's H&R "Sidekick " slabside, probably couldn't get $250 for it today (then again, with today's looney prices ), but to me it's priceless. First handgun I learned to shoot.

And a pawnshop find, 1932 H&R Model 199 Single Action that is an incredibly accurate lil popper. $300 a couple of years ago, wouldn't let it go for twice that.

[Kitgun]

Inexpensive but a certain amount of quality in manufacturing. Quite accurate up to ten yards, fires, ejects and feeds about 90% of the time

[Miami_JBT]

Colt Python and a S&W Model 686 Classic Hunter. They're okay guns for the most part. It isn't like they're a Korth or a Manurhin.

[RobertJ.]

The cheapest gun I have is a Spanish copy of a Colt Police Positive, which I paid twenty bucks for. It doesn't work, but it looks good hanging in my man cave.

[jeffrefrig]

I have 2 Heritage .22/.22mags. Both very inexpensive, not sure what kind of toy truck metal they're made of, but are surprisingly accurate & reliable. All 3 Berettas are cheap Italian surplus, but are definitely not cheap guns. A 92S, 81 in .32acp, and a 1951. All 3 are very nice and great shooters. I think my Ruger EC9s was under $300, but it's my EDC. I shoot a mag or two every range trip and it's worked every time I pulled the trigger.

[Morgan88]

Grayfox
A Raven .25 acp pistol. I gave all of $25 for it. Yep its a cheap gun and the very epitome of the Saturday Night Special. But the darned thing is utterly reliable and goes BANG every single time.

Could it then be described as inexpensive?

Morgan88

[Targets Guy]

My "cheapest" purchase was a .38 M&P that shipped 12/1921. Paid $200 for it off of gunbroker in 2017.