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New Production Sub $300 Handguns

16K views 93 replies 14 participants last post by  kernelkrink 
#1 ·
CZ 999 (Zastava Serbia)

Seems a few decent quality sub $300 handguns are on the market now. Recently I picked up a CZ999 for $260 out the door. These are Serbian handguns not the Czech guns as the CZ may suggest.





I put out a target put the gale force winds kept whipping the target around. Did shoot a few rounds from about 30 feet. Not too bad given the conditions. I took some time for fun shooting at a few soda cans laying about. Fairly accurate with the rapid firing.

The fit (ergonomics) is very nice even with my big paws. I wasn't sure of how the trigger would feel but the travel was a bit long while it has a nice break. Actually it was a little bit light break overall. Took a few rounds to get to where I could judge the trigger reset. For me it is a little more comfortable to shoot than my Glocks.

Very happy with the purchase. Better than expected for a sub $300 handgun. Looks like it's a keeper.
 
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#38 · (Edited)
Heads up on the S&W SD9VE!

(forget Rural King, their advertised price includes the rebate!)

They are on sale from Sportsman's Outdoor Superstore for $264.99 with free shipping. S&W is also running a $25 rebate on these so you get a 16 shot full size 9mm "sorta Glock" with an extra magazine for $240. Not bad.

https://www.sportsmansoutdoorsuperstore.com/products2.cfm/ID/116856

Can they go any lower? The rebate is good until June 30.

Installed the Apex spring kit in mine, trigger spring and striker block spring only. Left the striker spring factory as I have heard reports of light strikes with the Apex one. The temporarily installed Apex striker spring didn't make much difference in the pull anyway, surprisingly the number one improvement was replacing the striker block spring! It's still long and somewhat heavy, closest thing I can compare it to would be a light, short DA pull on a revolver. Not a bad thing really, similar to my Kahr P9S.

The only issue they have is the magazines are damn tight getting the 16th rd in. You can barely rack it with a full mag in place. The cure is to remove the follower and take about a 1/16"-1/8" off the bottom of the follower with sandpaper to keep it from bottoming out. Leave it loaded for a week or so to get the spring "broken in" and now it will work perfect. Just push the top round down a few times after it is loaded to get everything "settled in".

If you want extra mags, they run about $25 when they are on sale at Midway or Natchez. There is a guy on Gunbroker selling full factory cases of 10 for about $160 delivered if you're expecting WWIII. Or a late night stroll in Detroit or Oakland...
 
#43 ·
different company I refuse to buy S&W products after the bullsh*t with clinton assault rifles same with ruger products

how quickly we forget

heck aim had 9mm leo trade in glock 17s the other day for $325.00 ( I got one)
 
#44 ·
No one is forgetting, S&W especially paid for their stance back in the day with falling sales that eventually resulted in a company sellout for pennies on the dollar of what they were worth prior. Both S&W and Ruger are now under different owners and management than when they transgressed. The new teams seem to be about making money and selling modern guns people want, not dabbling in political correctness. Refusing to buy current S&W or Ruger products is akin to turning down an invitation to a Trump Presidential dinner because Bill Clinton signed the '94 AW ban...
 
#46 ·
havent bought S&W since back then...

& unfortunately i dont buy from any of the Ohio Vendors (where i live) now days....

its cheaper for me to buy from anywhere out of state. they hit us for in state tax, sales tax & then the shipping.... usually ends up costing me 15% more to shop in my home state.
 
#47 ·
Dunno if they are worth a crap, reviews are shall we say "mixed", but the Remington RP9 is now on sale at PSA for $200 after rebate.

Remington RP9 9mm Pistol, 18 Round Capacity ? 96466

Also $15 magazines, 18 rds each.

Remington RP9 9mm Magazine, 18 Round Capacity ? RT17743F

Now, by mixed I mean some folks love it and have zero reliability issues, others can't get through a mag without it jamming up or other issues. Also, apparently the right side slide release is so thin pushing it down just flexes the piece inside without moving the left side piece which is actually holding the slide open. The other complaints are mainly the grip feels weird, it's too big, it's damn ugly, etc.

Rebate is good to July 30, so someone buy one of these suckers quick and review it! Aesthetics aside, $200 for an 18 shot 9mm full size gun with 2 magazines included is a hell of a deal, if it works . I could live with Fugly and no slide release when shooting lefty for $200...


BTW, the excellent little Taurus PT111 has gone back on sale for sub-$200 again at several places, with free shipping. Who knows, it may go even lower.

https://www.smga.com/p-105017.aspx?searchEngineName=taurus-pt111-1111031-millenium-g2-9mm-2-mags

http://www.cabelas.com/product/TAUR...edium=AFF&utm_source=35987&rid=12&WT.tsrc=AFF
 
#50 ·
My local shops don't have one in yet, and they won't even take the trigger lock off to let you try the trigger if they did! I'm hoping someone here has one or gets one and gives us the straight story on a current production one.

Like I said, reviewers either hate it or say it works fine. Some problems reported are with some loads it jams the bullet between the gap under the feed ramp and the frame, slamming a mag in with the slide locked open pops the top round out of the mag and tosses it overboard, and of course most exhibit the flexy right side slide release that doesn't release. Most of the other complaints are the grip is shaped weird, the slide is .45 proportioned instead of a slim 9mm profile, and the general top heavy fugliness of it. All of those are subjective, of course, but the malfunctions are the worry.

Even if I absolutely hate the grip or something, I was thinking for $200 plus $45 worth of extra mags I could have a pistol with 5 mags for about $275 out the door with transfer and everstuff. Perfect truck gun, loaner for family and friends who show up unarmed, etc.
 
#49 ·
I found a used SAR B6P with the 4.5" barrel at Point Blank shooting range on 05/02/2017. They were asking $299 for the used pistol when I pointed out that a new one could be found at a lower price from several internet venders. He looked it's history and said they could do it for $249. I put 100 Federal target rounds thru it with no problems that first week. Since then I have put 100 124gr RN Midwest reloads down the tube. Again there were no problems with this low cost wonder nine.
 
#51 ·
If you take the plunge sir i'll be interested to know. Just now getting over the hip boo boo and have three or four swaps,sales and buys to catch up on.
The guitar sale has gone stagnant and I don't care as it takes one thing off the plate. Anyway, I am interested about how the pistol performs if you bite the bullet and purchase one.
BTW? What's your take on the market these days anyway? Curious.
I mean these pistols are inexpensive by anybody's standard.
 
#52 ·
Personally, I think this is about where they should have been all along. Molds are expensive, but once you amortize them over the half million or so gun frames made from them and figure in the low cost of modern CNC machining of the slide, stamped parts, etc. these modern polymer framed guns are dirt cheap to make. Which is why they go so low when sales drop off and the makers need to move them to get some cash flow and reduce stagnant inventory.

Remember the PT111 was well below $200 with a rebate last year, then they started selling good precisely because they were a low priced compact carry gun that worked well. So everybody upped the price to $240. Apparently sales have fallen off at that price point because they are again south of $200.

Will they go lower? I dunno, maybe a few bucks but once you figure in a profit for the maker and the distributor there can't be much margin left unless they start selling at a break even or loss price.


I had to go to Rural King to warranty out the battery in my Jimmy, got there and they were sold out! So I mosied over to the gun counter and lo and behold they finally got an RP9 in. I got to hold one at least, not near as bad looking in person as it is in the pictures for some reason. Grip felt fine, I assume the medium backstrap was in place as the counter guy had no idea they were even replaceable. The ambidextrous slide release was not working on the right side as expected, but the left worked fine. I may go ahead and try one of these, they do have a lifetime warranty for the original purchaser so if it is a jamming POS at least I can send it back a few dozen times until they get it right. But other than the reliability unknown, I see no reason not to get one at this price point if you could use one. MSRP was $489 but even Rural King had them for $350 or so.
 
#58 ·
I thought about ordering one over the weekend from PSA along with three extra magazines, but the double action only turned me off. My SAR B6P 4.5" model has what I like but the extra magazines run $23 each. I have two magazines for my SAR B6P. It came with one. That weekend price was great. Just not what I like. The B6P has a external hammer.
 
#59 ·
Yeah, I ended up with TWO of the EAA Witness P pistols back when they were sub-$250. Essentially the same gun as the B6P with a longer dustcover and rail. Made in Italy by Tanfoglio. I forget the name of the place, but they had the magazines on sale for like $16 each, with shipping it worked out to $18 each so I bought 8! Never seen them that cheap since, I guess I got lucky for once. Now I just need to get a double Alessi shoulder rig for the guns and a musette bag for the magazines so I can roam the post apocalyptic landscape fighting Brigands like John Thomas Rourke! :2guns:


Oh, and a heads up on a damn cheap Taurus PT111. Cabelas has them on sale for $200 in 9mm here: Taurus PT111 Millennium® G2 Handgun : Cabela's

You can buy Cabela's gift cards on Ebay, $100 for only $82!


$100 Cabela's Gift Card For Only $82!! - FREE Mail Delivery | eBay

So buy 2 cards, that's $164 for $200 worth of merch. Free shipping on the PT111 to your local Cabelas (or they may have them in stock), so all you have is the sales tax and any fees your state may charge for a background check or whatever. Indiana, all we have is sales tax so out the door for me would be $178! I REALLY don't need another one of these but it is so damn tempting!!! Somebody stop me!

The only downside I see is the cards take a few days to arrive and Cabelas sale may end before they arrive.

Plus the PT111 also comes with a free NRA membership! $35 value. And a spare magazine.

Oh, and for everyone with Tanfoglio/CZ75/ magazines, they fit and function fine in the PT111 so it makes an excellent backup gun that can use the same mags as your main piece. Only quirk is the PT111 locks open with one round left in those magazines, but they feed the first 16 just fine! SIG P226 mags also are reported to work as well.
 
#61 ·
Well, the RP9 finally arrived today and I picked it up on my Lunch Hour. Comes in a nice Remington cardboard box with a foam insert fitted to the gun with holes for the 2 magazines and a cable lock. 2 extra grip inserts, but the installed one feels/points just fine so I will probably leave it on.

First impressions. The gun is well made as far as machine marks go, the inside of the slide is pretty smooth except for one tool path on the back beside the striker, there is a step visible where it stopped and a narrower one finished the cut. Just barely noticeable, the wonders of modern CNC machining. Bbl is smooth with barely visible machining grooves at the rear section. Very nice. Captive flat wire recoil spring assembly, easy to retract the slide. The frame is of course plastic, nicely molded. One area that needs improvement is the texturing on the grip, not nearly aggressive enough, feels like when wet it would slip around pretty easy.

The serial numbered part is a stamped steel chassis secured inside the plastic lower by a single pin up front, looks like the rear sits under a shelf in the frame. Punch out the pin and it should lift free. Probably done so a compact model would just entail a different mold for the lower and a shortened slide and bbl instead of needing new innards. Maybe even sell a retrofit kit "2 guns in 1" without needing an FFL transfer.


Here's where some design choices are iffy. First, the ejector. Stamped sheet metal, it is secured to the internal chassis by a single pin at the extreme rear, which leaves it free to pivot upward far enough to hit the rear of the slide cover during reassembly and keep it from sliding fully on. It is also very long and thin, looks like it would bend or break easily, especially if it keeps hitting the slide during reassembly!

The second is a fully cocked striker. The Glock and a ton of similar designs only cock the striker about halfway when the trigger is forward. Pulling the trigger, like on a DA revolver, shoves the trigger bar against the striker pushing it back to the fully cocked position then releases it to fire. This results in a fairly long trigger pull to get it to fire. The RP9, OTOH, has a separate sear at the rear that catches the striker when cycled and holds it at the full cock position. Very much like a single action hammer fired auto, the trigger bar when pulled catches the sear and pulls it down to release the striker. Very short, light pull compared to a Glock for example, but still tons of overtravel and a bit of takeup. It is actually a decent trigger pull, although the reset is inaudible, long, and barely felt which some folks will dislike. Me, I can't hear the damn thing with muffs on (or ears ringing after firing without) and fully release the trigger on each shot, so not an issue for me. Just have to be careful when holstering a chambered gun as it is an easier shorter pull from safe to bang.

And as expected the right side slide release is not operating, pushing it down just flexes the thin steel piece inside. Left side of course works because that thumbpiece is the one actually engaging the slide. Moving to a slightly thicker and/or hardening this part would make it operable.

Magazine appears well made, holds 18 rds and comes with two. PSA has spares for $14.99 right now, may have to pick up a few if it works well. What I don't like about it is a distinct lack of feed lips. It is a double stack mag tapering to a single feed at the top. I like a magazine to have curled over lips that positively retain the top round, this looks like it just tapers to a smaller width than the cartridge. May never be an issue but not what I prefer. May also be the cause of a few reported instances of slamming a mag into a locked open gun tossing a round overboard!

Now for the only real "issue" so far, the takedown. It won't. Instructions say lock open slide, rotate takedown lever, run slide forward, pull trigger and hold (to release striker and lower sear below the path of the slide) and pull slide forward off the frame. Did all that, doesn't happen. What I found is if you hold the takedown lever to it's farthest position with your thumb against a bit of spring pressure, as you pull the trigger, about half the time it comes free. Rotate it there after the trigger is pulled, no go. Dunno what's going on there, all it does is expose a flat section to allow the bbl to slide over it when in the disassemble position, rotates the full width to block the bbl when in the normal position. If it is not aligned right unless it is pushed further I have no idea why it wouldn't release after a trigger pull, the sear is visibly clear of the slide so that is not holding it. It may get better once it breaks in, may not. Just annoying and something QC should have noticed at the factory.

One major plus is these are +P rated, even says it on the caliber stamping on the bbl. The manual OTOH, warns it is only safe to use the ammo type marked on the bbl and using +P is probably going to cause property damage, personal injury, and likely death. HUH???

If it functions it's well worth the $237 out the door it cost me.
 
#62 ·
well,if it causes property damage after causing personal injury to the person trying to hurt you? And death may occur to the aforementioned perpetrators making lethal force against the before mentioned perpetrators. IDK. Sounds good to go to me.
 
#65 ·
The manual is dated 2016 on the cover, maybe they "upgraded" the bbl and such to allow +P use and the new manuals that reflect that are still at the printers? I just found it funny it explicitly tells you to follow the markings on the bbl then tells you NOT to follow the bbl markings or mayhem will ensue.

Maybe I will get a chance to fire it tomorrow.
 
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