I'm somewhat of a gun noob as well. I had a Ruger LC9 (with Crimson), modded it a bit. I sold it to go to Ruger LCR .357, just added a Crimson to this one. I absolutely love it. Fortunately .357 and .38 are relatively easy (albeit expensive) to find.

But man, does it pack a whallop.

 

Relax, I'm here.

I'm 99.9% certain that a Browning .380 was never issued by any US Armed Service.

I'll also just throw out that the Judge and Governor are probably the worst self-defense handguns ever invented. They are gimicks, and should never be given any serious consideration as an actual "tool" in your defensive arsenal. A neat toy, but not something to bet your life on.

 

 

Remington 700 SPS <$600 at Bass Pro right now.

I totally wish I had more $$$ right now. There is so much cool stuff that I want. If I won a million bucks today, I could easily spend it in a week.

 

lol before I scrolled all the way down I was going to post a saturday night special as well

 

There are about 2 dozen models of 700 SPS at Buds for under $600 shipped although the 700 SPS Tactical 20" that I bought has creeped up in price by over $30 in the past month. It's $20 over what I paid.

Also, Remington is having a $40 rebate on all 700 SPS's bought this fall.
Fall 2013 Rebate

However, unless you're interested in a short or long-term modification plan... ie, stock, barrel, smith'ing, etc... A Savage 10/11 is universally acknolwedged as a better out-of-the-box shooter.

Honestly, if I was in the market for a quality-on-a-budget gun with no intent to mod, there would really be one choice... Savage 11 in 300winmag:
Savage 11 Trophy Hunter XP .300 Win Mag w/Nikon 3-9x40 $477.00 SHIPS FREE

 

Just spent the last 4 hours polishing a mosin nagant bolt... chambers like butter now.

 

Bought two "Buckets of Bullets" (1400 rounds of Remmy Golden Bullet 22lr in a bucket) at Gander Mountain a couple of weeks ago when I was in WV for $70 each. Just sold one on Gunbroker for $169.95 ($72.02 profit after fees, etc). So I either put $70 in my pocket or got 1400 rounds for free. Hopefully the IRS isn't reading this thread but I am making about $1000 a month profit in ammo sales with very few auctions (maybe one per day average).

Related (good story):
Bought 18,000 rounds of CCI mini mag last month. Four huge boxes of ammo were delivered and smashed all to **** by UPS. Called to complain and got them all for FREE. $2500 profit!!!

 

I've been busy as hell and gone for a while. It is interesting to go through the last 5 months of this thread and look at the posts. Kind of a "time capsule" deal...

 

So what are the prices going to be looking like in the near future with the most recent mass shooting?

 

Selfishly I hope people freak out for a while since I have some PMags I'd like to sell.

 

I hate you all and your availability. We still aren't getting stocked on the left coast.

 

The government won't threaten to ban weapons over the loss of a dozen petty adults.

But if there were children involved....oh my god...think of the children...

My question is: Why, when it's a white guy doing the shooting, does the media shamelessly report "white male gunman" or "white male this" and "white male that" - all while plastering his photo endlessly over news broadcasts.

But when it's a black dude that does the shooting, they simply tell me "It was Aaron Alexis".

Oh, okay, well Aaron Alexis did it. That explains everything.

WHO THE **** IS AARON ALEXIS?

On first glance, that sounds like a white guy in his mid 20s to mid 30s. Maybe the media decided to leave "well enough" alone. I actually had the thought in my mind this morning "who is this Aaron Alexis guy? Why hasn't the media told me about how his parents met, and where he went to elementary school, and how many yards he carried the ball for during high school football games, and what does he look like, and what is his favorite color, and...and...and...

I thought these things because I've come to expect this kind of worthless "investigative reporting". I've come to expect that, when someone shoots up a bunch of people, I'll be force-fed every single intimate detail about this person's life. This morning I realized - that didn't happen.

Okay, maybe it's because I spent all of my "news gathering time" yesterday watching the far more entertaining parbuckling of the Costa Concordia - but still, after the probably 2 hours of combined bits and pieces of broken media coverage that I took in yesterday, I still knew nothing about this guy, other than the fact that his name was "Aaron Alexis".

So, apparently, when a White Male does the shooting/bombing/blowing up of a public place, he gets his picture, description, and biography plastered all over the media and force fed into our minds, but when a Black Male does the same thing, you have to put effort into finding out that he's a Black Male.

 

I've got to think that's more a commentary on your news sources. I spent all of 10 minutes listening to the news on the way in to the office this morning and heard multiple people paint a dichotomous picture of a man who seemed to enjoy service and volunteered at a Buddhist Temple and also fired his weapon at neighbors who pissed him off.

 

I think they've focused quite a bit more on the shooter today, I've seen his picture on the TV now, and heard a good bit about him. I'm still hating on the media, but I partially retract my previous comments.

 

Local deal for a slightly used (250rnds) Ruger SP101 in 357mag, with the Gemini Customs package on it (including the porting work)... thinking it might be my first wheel gun.

Gemini link: https://www.geminicustoms.com/ruger-revolvers/ (RUGER SP101 Basic Hybra-Port™)

Ruger: Ruger SP101® Double-Action Revolver Model 5719

Thoughts on them?

Oh, and its only $600.

 

I would snag it. Used SP101's are going for $450-500 around here, and that Gemini package should really slick it up. I have a 3" SP101 in .357 that I bought for my wife. It's a nice first "real" gun for a new shooter -- small enough for smaller female hands, just heavy enough to make shooting pleasant (unlike my Airweight J-frame), and you can start with mild .38 loads and work your way up.

 

bought a 1948 mosin M44 nagant. 100 bucks.

Lightly used, crisp, sharp rifling, only slight surface under stock from russian crate storage (easily rubbed off), original bluing, crisp machining markings, fresh stamps, no dents or scratches in wood stock, and no baked on russian lubrication grease in chamber.


Polished the bolt, replaced the BEAUTIFUL stock for a synthetic stock, put a AIMS large eye relief scope and rail kit on it, bi-pod, and a muzzle brake for another 130 bucks.



Also had the original bayonet, but I had to remove it for the muzzle brake.

 

Ready to have your mind blown? Two brand new EAA 357 Windicators from Gander Mountain. Dad picked them up a few days ago (one was a present for me). Again, let me stress that these were brand new and passed inspection at EAA and through the sales associates hands (filling out paperwork, etc) at Gander Mountain. Not the most expensive pistol ($330 each) but come on...

 

What the hel? Is that second one's barrel made of polymer or is that some sort of end cap that goes over the normal barrel? And did someone use a hacksaw on the first one? Is the barrel even round internally?