[Bigcat_hunter]

If you want a truly inexpensive pistol which is also cheap to shoot I recommend the Phoenix Arms HP22 (22 long rifle). We have tested this pistol extensively and shot hundreds of round through them with excellent results. They seem to eat almost everything you put through them. Very reliable and built in the USA. I have seen them as low as $130.00.

[Kain]

Originally Posted by Bigcat_hunter

If you want a truly inexpensive pistol which is also cheap to shoot I recommend the Phoenix Arms HP22 (22 long rifle). We have tested this pistol extensively and shot hundreds of round through them with excellent results. They seem to eat almost everything you put through them. Very reliable and built in the USA. I have seen them as low as $130.00.

+1

I'm up to 1000 rounds through mine and it seems to just get better each time out. The safety system is a bit stupid, but easily remedied. Tear down is as simple as they come. And aside from some slight wearing away of the finish on the slide it still looks nearly new. And it's small enough you can carry it in your pocket and no one can tell it's there. Unfortunately I think the company went out of business, so no customer support and the "lifetime" warranty is therefore meaningless. Oh, and if you can find one you can swap to the 5" barrel in about 10 seconds. Fun little toy that you can shoot literally all day for $25.

[Freedom-1911]

I am very happy with my HiPoint. It works like a fine clock. Just a keeps on tickin.
But it is not very ergonomic.

I also see you posted the Astra. I Have two Astra A100 in 9mm. Bought my first one days before the Clinton AWB and it was over 500 due to the Hi Capacity magazines. At the time here in Saint Louis any pistol that held more than 10 rounds was going at a premium. Caliber did not matter.

I bought the second one about 4 years ago and the price was down to just over 250.00
They are great guns and I would not hesitate to buy one in 45acp if I could find one in a realistic price range. But all the used ones I find are just short of 600 and you cant get new mags for these guns. Or at least I have not been able to find any.
Good thing is. I have never had any trouble out of either one of mine in all the many thousands of rounds I have fired.

[Bigcat_hunter]

Originally Posted by Kain

+1

I'm up to 1000 rounds through mine and it seems to just get better each time out. The safety system is a bit stupid, but easily remedied. Tear down is as simple as they come. And aside from some slight wearing away of the finish on the slide it still looks nearly new. And it's small enough you can carry it in your pocket and no one can tell it's there. Unfortunately I think the company went out of business, so no customer support and the "lifetime" warranty is therefore meaningless. Oh, and if you can find one you can swap to the 5" barrel in about 10 seconds. Fun little toy that you can shoot literally all day for $25.

Phoenix arms is not out of business. They produce pistols daily.

[Freedom-1911]

Originally Posted by BigO01

Hmm I have no idea how accurate this statement is but I hope it isn't very accurate .

While I have no idea about these guns because I have never fired much less owned one and I imagine that they would see very limited use they should be built to a quality standard that allows at the least thousands of rounds without any kind of significant failure of the design .

HiPoint has a 100% warranty on all their products. And there are reports at the HPFF and HPT forums that members there have fired many thousands of rounds and never had failure and most are not even cleaning their pistols. Many people buy these guns to see how many rounds it will take to stop the gun for lack of cleaning and finding that it takes a long time.

To knowingly build a product thats inferior in it's basic design to the point the physical structure may fail is not only irresponsible but should be criminal .

While it is very doubtful that many people try to become proficient in using a firearm with one of these it should be strong enough to survive the rigors of it should the owner endeavor to do so .

As a personal choice I would rather if on a very tight budget and needed a gun choose a used and perhaps lesser powered yet reliable weapon as a 38 ,32 or 22 caliber revolver from a reasonably reputable maker like Harrington & Richardson , Rossi or even Llama and Astra .

As I have had less than desirable experiences with Taurus I would not recommend Rossi. The original Rossi Corp no longer makes the Rossi lineup. Taurus makes all their guns.
I can only hope that others have not had the trouble I have had with Taurus and lost all the money I have due to the poor woorkmanship and quality control that Taurus used when my two revolvers were made. Two revolvers I no longer own.
Astras in my experience are very good guns and well worth looking at.

Just a quick response.

[CodyWalkerJr]

I had the hi-point in .40 worked great... no problems with it..went bang every time

however I cant say good things about the Jennings ...those are made in the "Bryco" factory which was bankrupted from a lawsuit..

i picked up my brand new Springfield XD-9 subcompact for 420.00$ (not that much money for a quality firearm)
came with 2 mags, speedloader, holster and mag holster

[jimbobpissypants]

I would check into a smith and wesson sigma. Used they retail for 200 bucks. You can get them in any cal. They are known to be very reliable. Some police depts were carrying them for awhile. I had one in 40 cal. It was very reliable, and accurate. The trigger was no walk in the park, but I have read threads on other sites detailing how to rework the trigger to a six to seven pound pull. If I had known that at the time, I would not have gotten rid of mine.

[mike1ad]

Originally Posted by SGT-MILLER

This thread is for the people on this forum that may not have hardly any money to spare for buying a pistol. A growing number of people these days cannot save enough money to purchase a nice, main-stream weapon like the Glock, Ruger, Kimber, Beretta, Smith and Wesson, etc., you will see on the market.

I am in no way saying these pistols are anywhere near top of the line, but I am just providing a reference for someone to use to try and research cheaper firearms if they are in a bad financial situation. Pretty much all of these firearms you will see are under 200 dollars.

In the world of defense, it's better to have something than nothing.

Please no flaming, and keep all posts related to the topic and informative/helpful to people who may need help with purchasing a cheap firearm.


Cobra Industries .380 caliber ($125.00 - $150.00)


Jimenez .380 Caliber ($100.00 - $130.00)


Jennings/Bryco .380 Caliber ($100.00-$150.00)


Hi-Point .380 Caliber ($90.00-$120.00)



Keep in mind that prices will vary depending on your specific area. I just used the caliber .380 as a basic reference. Most of these pistols may be purchased in different calibers ranging from .22 Long Rifle up to 9mm Luger.

Remember, the quality of these pistols vary. These pistols are not meant to be shot excessively. They are meant for very basic personal defense against harm.

I was looking for an inexpensive 22 pistol for rabbit hunting.

[jeffware]

i'm sorry to say that i am not knowledgable about rabbit hunting mr. mike. however i spent a lot of time researching cheap .22 pistols. i finally bought a new taurus p-22 for $200. it is made in miami fl, with a lifetime warranty. i know the phoenix hp-22 costs less. but i handled one in a gun store and did not like the multiple safety setup and other things. the owners manual for taurus specified using .22lr with 40 gr bullets. they are right. i tried a variety of .22 rounds, and anything less than 40 gr is unreliable. both federal and winchester 40 gr high velocity rounds work flawlessly. if you had more money, ruger makes a .22lr pistol that i have heard very nice things about. i do have a nice ruger 10-22 rifle that would maybe be a nice rabbit gun. but i am just trowing ideas around. your post mentioned a cheap .22 pistol and the cheapest one that met my expectations was a taurus. jeff.

[crazycharlie2]

I have a few top quality handguns(just my opinion), but my daily carry is a S&W Sigma. New or used they carry a lifetime warranty and S&W Customer Service is tops IMHO (YMMV).
Complaints about the trigger should be handled by the factory unless you are so inclined/qualifed to do it yourself. I don't want to go thru the 'trigger thing' as it is not the main topic of this thread.