What "Low Priced" firearms in your stable do you really like

[Fishinfool]

I guess it depends on how you define the question. I take it to mean a low priced, economical firearm that exceeds expectations, not A known high quality firearm that you happened to snag at a very low price.

So, with that in mind, I would have to say my Walther P-22. It is my second one, as my first was gifted to a friend out of work with a medical disability. He has put many thousands of round thru his, as I have mine, with absolutely no issues. Yep, I know they are just about considered junk on some internet forums, but for some reason, these two just plain work. Paid just under $200 each, if I remember right. Pictured with my Ruger Bearcat for comparison.

Larry

 

[101Voodoo]

1976 Ruger Single Six. First Gun I ever bought. Was 16 at the time. Paid the princely sum of $89.00 brand new in the box.

Paid more than twice that to get it refinished by Ruger a few years ago.

 

[fyimo]

I bought a Custom Mauser 25-06 rifle with a presentation grade stock for $500 and it came with a Leupold 3.5x10x40mm Vari XIII scope. It now has a Redfield 3x9x40mm scope on it.
I bought a Norinco 1911 for $200 and had it turned into a full custom 1911.

Custom 25-06

Custom Norinco 1911

 

[Cyrano]

Got a Rock Island Armory Compact 45 sitting next to me at the computer as I write this. I think enough of it that I've put Novak night sights on it. Also have a Ruger Security Six that's put probably 100 miles on my side in an El Paso Saddlery holser.

 

[Class III]

This is easy. My (And my dads) JC Higgins Model 20 12 Gauge pump. I got it from dad a few years ago when he hung up his waders. It's my all time favorite all around shotgun, primarily for the sentimental value. Dad and I have both used it for everything from rabbit to sporting clays. It's taken uncountable numbers of ducks and geese from British Columbia to Newfoundland to the bayous of Louisiana. Huns, sharp-tail and ruffed grouse and ring-neck pheasant in the Dakotas and great plains. We've downed enough dove out at my farm to feed everyone here, and it's bagged at least one big Fat Tom (Sorry Bobby) turkey that dad shot while I was calling for him.


Dad bought the M20 new in 1956 for $55.00. He had won a $50.00 gift certificate from his employer, Liberty Mutual Insurance, for being the number one district manager in the southern region. He added $5.00 to the gift certificate and walked out of Sears with a new gun, sans paperwork.


Now at 86 dad has decided to duck hunt one more season. He is insisting on shooting the JC Higgins even though it's only a 2-3/4" chamber. I've offered him the use of much softer recoiling shotguns like a SBE2, Rem 1187 and Beretta A400. He won't stand for it.


Guess I'm going to buy a case of Bismuth 2-3/4" #4's.


Class III

 

[model70hunter]

Over the years I latched on to many "cheap" guns. I usually slicked them up and moved them.

I have 3 now that get regular use.
1927'ish M-12 in 12 gauge. Gave about $175 in an LGS before I retired. Long Full choke, good for doves.

My first Ithica M-37. Traded a nice little Mossberg 500 in 20 for it last spring. I gave $110 for the Mossberg. The Ithica ended up being a basket case, I revived the Ithica, and have been using it all summer. I found a 28" Modified choke bbl on ebay that had been shortened to 26". I bought it and shortened it to 20". I had to fit the bbl to the action, not much trouble. It now has a long full choke and a riot bbl for nights.

I bought an Astra Constable in 22 LR. I was looking for a PP
K in 22, but I had read lots of folks were not happy with the PPK's of 5-6 years ago. I ran across the Astra for $125-150, don't remember which, and went home with an unknown. I liked the solid feel and could tell it was quality steel.

It is more accurate than I would have ever believed. Using High Speed ammo it works without jams. I have carried it, killed lots of vermin on the farm, possums, coons, one coyote, a legless critter where it should not have been. The Astra fell out of my back pocket while bush hogging, took me several days but I found it on the last pass. My 3020 John Deere had run over it pressing it into the dirt. That's over 7000 lbs. I thought it might be a gonner, the action worked, had a rust spot close to the muzzle and fired jam free. I now only carry it in my front jeans pocket. Later that day I shot the legless critter at 25 ish yards. First shot barely missed to the right, 2nd shot barley missed to the left, 3rd shot hit him under his chin.

I truly do like the Astra.

Now if I could just find an extra magazine or 2.

 

[sigp220.45]

Another vote for the J.C. Higgins Model 20. Mine was 75 bucks at a cop shop less than a year ago. I cut it down to 19" and it stands ready to defend the homestead with its tube full of buckshot.

 

[crazyphil]

I only paid $250 for this Colt's Agent. I like it because it has a smooth
action, holds six cartridges instead of five, and still only weighs around
17 oz.
But I had the hammer bobbed, added the Spegel extended boot grips,
and bought a few nice holsters like the Ken Null IWB shown, so that
"only" $250 went up some.

 

[Big Cholla]

I was back in Reno about three years after graduation and stopped to visit my friend the owner of the LGS where I had worked part time for four years while attending college. We were at the main counter just reminiscing when a middle aged man walked in with a Ruger pistol box in his hand. He asked if the store bought handguns. My former boss said, "No, we are a custom rifle shop." The man turned to the rest of us and said his new wife told him to get rid of his handgun 'today'. I asked what it was. He opened the box and showed us a Ruger Standard Semi-auto 22 LR that looked N.I.B. I asked him how much he wanted and he said, just what I paid for it a little over 10 years ago, $37.50. I bought it and he insisted on giving me a receipt for the $37.50. I still have the box and the receipt. The Ruger doesn't look NIB anymore because when I got back home to LV, I gave it to my Dad. I got it back after my Dad died. I still take it to the range once in a while and while it isn't a Ruger Mk IV or a S&W 22 LR Victory, it still does a very decent job of hitting aluminum cans on a dirt bank. I determined later on that this Ruger was produced a year after Mr. Sturm died and so the Germanic Eagle on the grip is black in color.

 

[Andyd]

In a pawn shop across the river, in ole Kentucky, I found a Marlin Papoose for $40 with a 15 round Marlin magazine that had some cosmetic challenges. I refinished it and have enjoyed it a lot.

The pistol that is the equivalent would be a pre-owned S&W 22A that I bought used and dirty but in the blue plastic hardcase with to mags for $125 because my sons were little and when I took them shooting they were a little rough on my S&W K-22. We put over 110,000 rounds through that 22A and S&W built a new frame with the same serial number under warranty and sent me all parts necessary to keep it going.

Of all our rimfire handguns, Hämmerlis, Korths, Colt OMM, Ruger MkIIS and what-not, this is gun that my sons have fond memories of.

 

[Andyd]

Well Gents,
... as I am rethinking low priced, it came to my mind that everything is relative; even "low priced".

I was in a shop and bought two Korth revolvers for a very, very favorable price when the owner left me standing in the shop saying "I got something for you".

He came back with a Korth in poor condition, with the action frozen and without grips and let me have it for a little under $400. It cleaned up well and - as a Korth enthusiast - I had a pair of grips in my parts box.

After cleaning and fitting the grips.

 

[bigwheelzip]

So far, I've only bought new firearms, but at $350, my least expensive gun might qualify as the most fun. A Mossberg 500 Hunting, All Purpose Field - Classic, used for busting clays at the trap range.

 

[Wee Hooker]

Basically, all of dads old guns. Mosberg .22, JC Higgins 12 ga, Rossi 38...Dad was frugal when it came to buying guns but the memories of shooting with him as a kid make them priceless to me.

 

[Zebadiah]

Herbert Schmidt Model 21 S

Wow, a Buffalo Scout! Man my ears are stilling ringing from the one I had in 1975 or so!

Mine had cheesy chrome plating that began to peel immediately.

Paid $99 for mine three weeks ago. Solid performer, great shooter, very substantial in hand feel, blued steel with Zamac frame, and labeled Hawes Firearms.

Wikipedia says: "All parts of the guns were handmade and out of steel, except for the frames, which were out of a zinc-aluminium alloy. They were sold in the US as low-priced revolvers, but were overproof, which is typically German. Their quality is astonishingly good, and these revolvers lasted for a long time, even when used a lot."

 

[Donn]

Many years ago, picked up an Ithaca Model 37 in 16ga and an Inland M1 carbine, $135 for both. I guess they qualify.

 

[Zebadiah]

Korths, Indeed!

Well Gents,
... as I am rethinking low priced, it came to my mind that everything is relative; even "low priced".

I was in a shop and bought two Korth revolvers for a very, very favorable price when the owner left me standing in the shop saying "I got something for you".

He came back with a Korth in poor condition, with the action frozen and without grips and let me have it for a little under $400. It cleaned up well and - as a Korth enthusiast - I had a pair of grips in my parts box.

After cleaning and fitting the grips.

You made out like a bandit! Congratulations!

 

[raljr1]

I have an Uberti in 45 Colt. Well made and a blast to shoot. And for the $400 I paid new in the box, I don't worry about really using it.

 

[Andyd]

You made out like a bandit! Congratulations!

I don't find guns, they find me. It has always been like that. I had dozens of Roehm's for $5 plus tax, Galesis, .25 Ravens, EAA's, or H&R top-break revolvers.

I bought them almost by the shoe box and the Sheriff department had enquired about me when the got the record of my purchases.
So, one day I walked into my favorite gun store in a small town in Indiana where business usually brought me and I saw the owner talking to a deputy. After saying hi he said " Hey we were just talking about you". I was quite surprised and the deputy looked at my business suit and tie and laughed. He figured out pretty fast that I was no threat to society or doing straw purchases.

I always considered first hand experience with a gun was well worth a few Dollars and back in those days, with a start-up company and two little kids, money was always tight.

An F.I.E. E15 revolver with a .22 Magnum spare cylinder that was giving disappointing accuracy with either the .22 l.r. and .22 WMR. It was bought around 1994 for $75 with a brick of .22 short, half a box of .22 WMR and a rug.

As recent purchases the Pietta .357 was $360 and the Ruger New Vaquero .357 was $325, with the Ruger being a clear favorite. The .36 Uberti C&B was given to me for free by someone coming to a gunstore where I had just stopped. It was also rusted with a frozen action and took days of soaking but is now looking and shooting well once again. I gave her $20 gas money, as she did not really want anything for it.

 

[OLDSTER]

Budget gun

I bought this CHI-COM Model 54 Tokarev in 2009. $135.00 Well made, dependable, accurate and a hoot to shoot

 

[CajunBass]

I got this Sears (Mossberg) 12 ga. pump gun with a 24" slug barrel, and a 28" modified barrel, for $99.00 many years ago at Sears, regular price $129.00. It had been returned because the previous owner said the slug barrel didn't shoot buckshot well.



I've never fired the slug barrel myself, but the 28" barrel with Number 1 buckshot has put many a whitetail on the ground.

A few months ago I got the hankering for a High Point 9mm carbine. I found one on a local "gun for sale" board that had just been posted, not five minutes before. I got no idea what they sell for new, but I got it for $225.00 with two magazines.



I'm not much of a rifle shooter, so this is about the closest I'll get to having one.