What constitutes a "cheap gun"?
I've long held that you should own the most expensive gun you can afford.
But then I noticed something.
There's nothing wrong whatsoever with getting a Glock 17 and never buying a "better" handgun. The Glock is far from the most expensive thing out there and with police trade-ins, a used Glock with plenty of life left in it might be a lot cheaper than a new "cheap" gun.
There are quite a few handguns out there that cost a great deal more and don't really offer much improvement (if any) in accuracy, capacity, reliability or toughness. Many are far worse on all four counts and cost 4 to 10 times as much!
This repeats in rifles as well. An AR might not be the best rifle you can buy, but it's solid and its vices are well known. This is the problem the Army is having with the carbine competition. Costs more, doesn't improve (much) upon the gun in service is a hard sell.
Tam deftly put it, and I am quoting from memory, for most people you could sell them a gun that turned to dust after firing round 100 and they'd never know that it did that. They have the gun, the box of ammo they bought the day they picked up the gun and one magazines amount of cartridges missing from the box when their kids start going through all of their stuff after putting their parents in the home.
Even the much maligned Hi-Point can cross that bar!
That kind of disturbs me.
ReplyDeleteIf there is "plenty of life left" in a police trade-in Glock, then why, exactly, are they being replaced?
That's an excellent question!
ReplyDeleteMy G17 is a police trade in and the only thing wrong is the Meprolight sights are dim. The finish is a bit thin and the plastic is shiny from handling. Still shoots and shoots well.
Departments seem to be very mercurial and whimsical about when it's time to change guns.