Jon Wayne Taylor’s review of Grizzly Custom Guns’ $2k modified Marlin 1895 Outback Guide gun is out. “This is one excellent example of, ‘You get what you pay for!'” commentator uncommon sense writes. That said, there are those who balk at forking over big bucks for a gun. Any gun. So . . . what’s the most you’ve ever paid for a firearm? Which one? Still have it? Any regrets? I’m saving up for a $3499 Korth Mongoose .357 revolver, even though I have a perfectly perfect Smith & Wesson 686. Dumb move?

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153 COMMENTS

  1. Around $3k for my shorty AR when you count all the gizmos on it. My next purchase will probably be a $1500 Vector SBR in 9mm which will get to $2500 when you add gizmos.

    • I’m in the same boat with my SBR, about 3K. SanTan billet lower, PWS piston upper, SSA trigger, Holosun scope, etc, etc.

      Looks I get in the Chicago area when I go to a range and their first reaction is “isn’t that illegal in this state…..” and I then produce a copy of my Form 1 that says “Cook County” on it – PRICELESS.

      (For those not in the know…..Illinois is extremely difficult to get an SBR)

      • It’s not all that hard. It just takes getting a C&R for $10 per year and renewing it every 3 years. Now that your CLEO doesn’t get a say, it has gotten much easier. I have 3 SBRs at present. Two form 1 AR builds and a form 4 AK.

        If you’re in the Chicago area, come on down to our monthly Practical Rifle shoots at Aurora Sportsmans Club. We have all sorts of fun guns on display at these events. I generally show up with either a tricked out AK or one of my shorties. Fun all around.

        • Key words: Now that your CLEO doesn’t get a say. But for some odd reason most people at ranges I’ve found still think they’re not allowed.

          Suppressors will pass one day…..after IL passes a balanced budget and pigs fly.

        • Depends on your CLEO. I live in Kane county and the biggest hurdle to getting two of my forms filed was explaining to the guy’s secretary what they were. Other than that, had them back and ready to mail in a week.

          As for suppressors. Yeah, we’re probably going to need federal preemption for that.

        • Retarded IL law is retarded. The bill that legalized SBRs in IL requires you to either have a “historical reproduction” SBR or get a C&R license. I think they squeaked it through with Democrats believing that the bill would only apply to C&R SBRs, but the bill didn’t actually say that.

    • Let me know how that Vector works out for you. I’ve considered one but have other projects in the pipeline and those projects will come first.

      • Still debating between 9mm, 10mm, and .45 ACP. I have Glock magazines in all three flavors, but nobody makes a Glock compatible SMG magazine in 10mm (which would be my first choice).

        • I saw a study detailing percentages of one shot stops and total stops across all calibers for real world shootings of head and torso shots. The results surprised me. Less than 5% difference between .380 and .45 acp and the calibers in between. The conclusion was bigger rounds make bigger holes and smaller rounds give increased capacity to make more holes.

          I went with 9mm because it’s cheap, easy to control, and I only have one round outside of revolvers. They’re all great

        • If someone made a 20+ stick mag for 10mm, I wouldn’t be so divided. Unfortunately, no such product exists that I can find leaving me with $45+ 17 round extended base plate magazines as my only option. I’m strongly leaning towards 9mm due to the wide range of magazine options available.

        • Somebody does make a SMG mag in 10mm with a 30 round capacity, but they are somewhat of a unicorn, and the company hates you. Unfortunately.

        • You should be able to use all the 45 mag basepads on the 10mm mags so the Vector basepads should work I believe. I know people have used TTI and Arredondo basepads that would normally give 17-18 round 45 mags to make 20-21 round 10mm mags

  2. I imagine that quite a few have more money into the glass on top of their rifles than the rifles themselves.

    That said, my AR-10 build finished somewhere in the $1200 range before glass. This started before Palmetto State Armory started cranking out the gen 2 style for silly cheap.

    • That is silly cheap. My biggest purchase was a Windham Weaponry AR-10 for $995.00 with a 20 rnd mag, sling, and hard case. Nor sights or optics included. With sights and optics, it will probably be another four to five hundred.

      If I hadn’t done that already, I would be researching the Primary Arms Gen 2 AR-10s.

    • 20 years ago I put a $1000 Leupold scope on a $500 FrankenMauser. It has been a good investment. I have the numbers for the distances (200, 300, & 400 metres) in my notebook and I set the elevation on day. Always spot-on with only windage to adjust for the day.

  3. I’ve never been big on spending much money on a gun. I use and abuse 99% of my guns, the exceptions being family heirlooms that I’ve inherited. Even those, depending on condition, are still shot regularly. I built my AR for around $800, and that is the most I’ve ever spent on a gun. I might could be convinced to spend a grand on the right gun but not much more. I know me, and if I spent more than that on a gun, I’d be too worried to break it, scratch it up, lose it or something. That has never happened yet, but I’m sure the day I drop $3500 on a Korth, is the same day I will have misfortune befall me.

    Of course, let me start raking in more money than I currently make, and all the above will be null and void.

  4. $856 for a lightly used Sig 229 in 9mm. I was working my way through college at the time. Now I’m a poor medical student surviving on loan money, so I couldn’t afford to spend that on one gun now. The majority of my guns were in the $500 ballpark. Hopefully that will change if I ever get a real job! For now ammo my main priority.

  6. $1,200. Never fired in original box S&W Mode 29 DX Classic 6″
    But I still yearn for a Python 6″ with original box so that’s probably going to triple that.
    Any regrets? Nope.

    • Careful, there. I really did not like my 6″ Python, sold it to a friend. Also had a used and abused 6″ I had rebarrelled to 4″ by the Custom Gun Shop which took most of my actual shooting while a shiny new 4″ sat on the bedside table. It’s a balance thing; A S&W Combat Magnum “feels” right with 6″ barrel, but a 6″ Python feels nose heavy, 4″ feels right. YMMV. Before you spend those big bucks (my most expensive Python was $160 NIB), play with both!

  7. The most I’ve ever spent was at an auction when I got an 1873 Winchester made in 1890 .44-40 with full octagon barrel for $1500. I consider it a steal. BTW, if you think you’ll get a better shooter than my S&W 686 for $3499, go right ahead. It’s your money.

  8. Neighborhood of $8k for custom precision bolt rifle from Surgeon plus glass from SB.

    Next closest is my high-end 300 BLK SBR build, when you count the suppressor, Aimpoint, and two stamps.

  9. $2K on a Para-Ord .40 that I had converted to 10mm. A great Bowling Pin gun. Recoil is about same as a .22 with the Jet comp.

  10. I paid $235.00 for a target sight Browning Hi-Power in 1972. Using the “official” inflation rate, that’s almost $1,400 in today’s inflated dollars. The official rate is bogus and the actual situation is much worse than that.

  13. Just north of $5k on a custom build Surgeon 591. This includes the scope and rings.

    I think I got a hell of a deal. The scalpel alone starts at $5k.

    • You sir have one nice rifle! Had the pleasure of shooting one of these at my local range. Guy in the next lane offered and I was all over it. Surgeon 591 in a Manners composite stock, 22″ heavy profile barrell, Jewell trigger, chambered in 6XC. It was one sweet shooting rifle.

  14. I paid $1,600 for a 16″ pencil barrel Colt SP-1 with collapsible stock. No extra do-dads came with it, $1,600 just for the rifle. This was in 1999 and that explains the sky high price tag. You kids really have got it good these days.

  15. $2k and some change for a bare JP-15.

    I have an 300blk pistol that was probably near that, but there is a rule that built AR’s only cost what their most expensive component was.

  19. Kimber .45 because I wanted a stainless 1911 that actually worked as opposed to the AMT .45 I owned many years ago.

      • Oh yeah, I did get a nice bipod. And yes, a suppressor is on the list.

        And he needs a little brother, so a 16 is on the list too…

    • Same (including the Geissele trigger). Even with extreme bargain hunting I’m somewhere in the neighborhood of $5k into mine. They’ve gotten more expensive since then. I’m seeing 16’s go for what I dropped on my 17.

      And actually there was one more expensive purchase, but I don’t talk about that one because of the pestering that always follows. 😀

  23. $1700 for an Kel-Tec RFB. Which was too much. I like it’s length, and once you get the gas port adjusted it runs fine. Kind of finicky about magazines.

  24. $825 gavel price for a Garand at auction. Too much, especially after fees and taxes. Never buy a used rifle without gaging the bore at the muzzle at least, no matter how good the bore “looks.”

  25. My Grandfather said many helpful things to me before he passed away, but always used to reiterate two, specifically.

    One was, ‘if you’re hand is wrapped too tight around what you have, GOD can’t put anything else in it, and you may have to drop / put down / give away what you have to make room for the bigger thing he wants to hand you’.

    The second (and it seems to make more sense every day) was ‘GOD can’t / won’t give you what you [think you] want, if you’re just going to use it to try to make others hate what they have’.

    So, YES, the Korth is worth it, and yes, I have been envious of many OP’s and poster’s access to or ownership of some weapons that I would like. I hope others out there in that situation all have an easier opportunity to obtain at least some of their bucket list firearms (and a Hi-Point or two [if not on their bucket list]).

    I like to buy gently used weapons (if they are cheaper than new) and have still been lucky to get my hands on some rare beans, I have never spent more than ~ $1,400 for a weapon, but have been very lucky to get what I did for it, and I did it at a time where the $$$ hurt, but crazily made the choice to buy anyway, and barely scraped by on and after my purchase. I similarly hope that everyone gets to at least scrape by on their acquisitions. Every time I see a nice firearm in a gun or pawn shop I think, damn, hope that person ain’t just hurting for the $$$.

        • I know, crazy, I keep spotting the upper kit at (formerly Slickguns.com / now gun.deals) https://gun.deals/product/larue-ultimate-ar-15-upper-kit-792 Gun.deals never has the correct price, but they are close.

          I know a few people with a LaRue rifle, and have gotten to shoot a few, and am always very impressed. I try to buy weapons that would be worth taking to war (if I had to run-what-I-brung) and the LaRue’s are way up there to me.

      • Yeah seriously that larue upper is 1k and now you can buy a matching lower from them if you buy the upper. Worth it for a complete larue build. Crazy how much you save instead of buying the built gun from them.

        • The 556 stealth upper kit is down to $800. If you are careful, you can build a LaRue AR10 in .308 for $1,800 using their kit options and your own supplied Magpul furniture.

  26. 899 for a Ruger SR556. Got it on LE/Mil pricing plus super clearance on top of that. I had just sold a gun I got for free for 800 so I really only paid 99 for it now that I think of it…

  27. Mega Arms Maten “Megalithic” build, with scope… around $2800, then add on the $1k Rugged Suppressors Surge 7.62 if ya want since it usually stays on the front of it.

  28. This year: a NIB Ruger MK6M Model 0165, Pearl grips, can’t find another one like it so the $1000 I spent was worth it.
    Previous years: Let’s not go there.

  29. What is the most expensive firearm I have ever purchased? I bought a JLD Enterpise PTR-91 back in 2004 or 2005 and I paid $500 cash and a CETME that I traded in for credit towards the PTR-91. If I recall the PTR had a sticker price of around $1,100 or so.

    Of course, if you include the cost of accessories the price of other firearms exceeds that amount.

  30. $1,900 on a used Beretta O/U trap gun with a release trigger and heavily modified stock for custom fit. If you wanted to buy it new and pay for the mods yourself, $3,000 wouldn’t get it done.

    My AR has over $1,700 in it when you count the scope.

        • Heh, this is the a base of the trap I fall into.

          I figure I’m not going to pay for something because it’s way too much for what it is compared to how much I’ll use it. So I’ll wait for the price to come down.

          Then the price comes down but by that time there’s something so much better than I can’t justify the now cheaper item but again can’t justify the new item either because really I won’t use it that much.

    • I’d like to see a review on that rifle. Come to think about it, the person with the most expensive gun in this thread should review it. It would be interesting to see what’s out there.

      • Sold the rifle, a custom AI in .338LM, but kept the optics. My newest rifle will be about that same cost when finished, and we will review it here. It will have no optics.

  33. Just over 13 Ben Franklins for an Arsenal SAM7R after shipping, taxes, and fees. I never would have bought one if the guy in the adjacent lane at the range hadn’t let me shoot his. By far the smoothest and most accurate AK variant I’ve had the pleasure to shoot.

  35. i got my wife for a pizza and a six pack. by the time i added on the house, kids, vehicles and debt the eventual cost was somewhat higher.
    i ‘ve never spent any money on a gun. i spent it on myself, especially the add ons. the nightmare received a barrel re- crown, feed ramp polish and i tossed a stainless trigger on there, but i paid 605 for it before that.
    i think it was about eight hunnert for the 30″ red label sport clay back in the mid nineties. i like my ithacas; the ruger has never been fired.

  38. Ah, tricky, fess up to the public internet what my guns cost? Wait, what guns, they are all long gone now, uh, Irma and Harvey washed them away.

    Next question of the day: “What PIN # to use on your safe?”

    I will say that theoretically, builds and SBR conversions get pricey quickly.

    I wish I would have bought machine guns when they were in the four digits instead of five, so instead of a Korth, I wish I had something that went pew pew pew.

  40. $1000 for a stainless Luger from the early 90’s. It was in pretty good shape, only a little scuff here and there.

    The next would be my AR pistol I built myself. About a grand as well though about 250 of that is the Eotech I put on it.

  41. Most expensive firearm with no accessories is my LaRue 7.62 OBR at ~$3,500 (swapped out factory stock for magpul prs so added to the price). Add in the Vortex Razor HD Gen 2 4.5-27 x 56 scope with Spuhr cantilever mount and you have another $2,600 for a total of $6,100. That doesn’t count the Atlas bipod.

    Also did a custom 5.56 Noveske 18″ SPR AR-15 build a couple of years ago which was right at $6K if you add in optic and suppressor.

    Good guns can cost money. Agree with what JW Taylor said above…get a LaRue, you won’t regret it. Also, please don’t tell my wife what I spent!

  43. Freedom Arms 93 .45 with several options and a Ben Forkin custom .44 Special 3-screw Blackhawk, each for about $2.5K. The Forkin has most of the finish worn off and the grips beat up from knocking around in the Black Hills, but is still tight with a 0.004″ gap. The FA has been carried and shot even more but remains pretty, if scratched up a bit.

  44. On a single gun, no additions, it was a toss between the 5.7 pistol and the first Colt AR I bought some years ago. I put another $500 into that AR before optics and trigger. I would love a SCAR17, PS90 sbr, and a Kriss in 10mm. Money is tight nowadays.

  45. Ruger SR-556 for $1800 (which was a GOOD price at the time).
    At the same time I was dithering between that, a FN Five seveN and an FN-PS90.

    Kinda wish I’d gone with the PS90 to tell the truth.

  46. $3500.00 for SKBTSS two barrel combo. My friend wants to know if the question includes price of firearm plus alimony after wife discovers the “investment”?

  47. $525 for Smith model 29 in 1978.

    MSRP was around $275 at the time

    Worth every penny…..had $1000000 worth of fun shooting that canon

  48. LaRue 7.62 OBR at $6,100 with all the acessories….but alas….it was swept away in the hurricane 😉.

    Agree with JWTaylor above. Get a LaRue…you won’t regret it.

  50. $1000 for a lightly used Smith & Wesson 1086. Only one I had ever seen and 1/1660, so I figured why not. I got to fondle and finger a used Mongoose(perfect condition) at the same lgs a few weeks ago they were asking $2800 for. If I had the disposal cash it would already be in my safe, ‘runs like a Swiss watch’ doesn’t begin to describe the way it felt.

  51. About $4,400 for a Turnbull restoration 1st gen Colt SAA in .38-40 WCF, originally manufactured in 1892. The polish and bluing on that revolver makes it look like it was carved out of a block of onyx.

    • Wow, you must be easily impressed. I would tend to classify “rich guys” as those who can spend $80K on a shotgun and not blink when they write the check. I guess “rich” is a relative term though depending on your personal economic situation.

      • Ya, if you’re typing here, or even just reading here, YOU ARE RICH (and blessed).

        Just ask the guy in Somalia, if you can rouse him.

  53. Not much. I’ve paid way too much on cars,houses,kids…and wives. And I’ve only been at this for some 7years.

      • I think that every time I go to the range or watch Tears of the Sun. The thought of spending $300 to set up a trust so the ATF can’t come and melt the thing down if I go down stopping an ethnic cleansing is bothersome. That pus the NFA fee would cause my wife to reduce the number of POTG by one. I will eventually slide the Knights Armarment can past her but I have not done anything to justify that for a while. Flowers won’t get it done.

  55. I have around $2000 in my AR so far. Spikes upper, S&W lower, Aimpoint PRO, Troy rail, Inforce WML, and a bunch of other little parts I probably don’t need. Future plans include Aimpoint magnifier, Gemtech suppressor, LaRue mount for the PRO, and maybe a nicer trigger. Then I’ll have to find something else to throw my money at.

  56. A $3500 revolver comes with Hogues? Srsly?

    I bought a NIB, never fired or turned, blue Python for 1150 10 years or so ago. That’s the most I have spent on a firearm.

    • You’re correct about the cheesy finger groove grip. That being said, it’s kinda like a hot woman with an amazing personality and is really into you but, she has a big honking zit on her forehead. Both ‘blemishes’ can be cured. Baby and bathwater kinda thing.

  59. For a single gun, not my Ruger SR-556 with ACOG & loads of add-ons, it will be:

    C-96 Broomhandle Mauser, manufactured between 1931-33, 90%+ condition, after cost, shipping, taxes & transfer fees – $2700.00

    No regrets 🙂

    • Yikes! I guess I got a pretty good deal on my 1923-1930 vintage Broomhandle for $1K. The SN on mine is 7097XX.

  60. Indirectly about $2000 in 1980 dollars for Browning B2G clay target shotgun. My family bought it for me as a combination several missed birthdays / made it home from “interesting” army tour present.

    Personally about $2000 this year for new target rifle and scope.

  62. $1200 ar10 in .243win, semi custom without optic and is currently in layaway jail, behind that is my ar15 which was $725 after fees before the election, now I can get the same rifle for closer to $500 😣

  63. Some of my stuff approaches the four-figure mark value-wise, but I’ve never spent that much due to timely or well-negotiated purchases! My highest-dollar purchase was probably my first CZ75, a matte stainless beauty that came with not only the standard mags but a CZ 26 rounder as well for about $600.

  66. $3,500 for my first squirt gun back in the early ’90’s. What it’s worth today is seriously stupid. Last one I saw on GB was $21,000.
    $5,200 for a Reising two years ago.

  67. About $1300 for a Colt 1911. Sold it three weeks later because I realized what a mistake spending that kind of dough on a handgun at this point in my life. With the gwap from that gun I bought a HK USP .45 full size and pocketed a whole bunch. Next biggest expense for a gun was about $850 for my pro series S&w 627.

  68. $2k on a stainless 9mm Dan Wesson Valor treated to a round butt and black “hard hat” finish by Dave Severns custom shop. The most I’ve ever spent and the happiest I’ve ever been with a single gun purchase.

  69. I spent 2k for a custom 1911- Caspian frame and slide, Ed Brown and Cylinder and Slide internals. Extremely accurate and reliable- best shooter in my 30+ pistol collection. I consider it a bargain.

  72. Never cracked a grand. At least not counting scopes, trigger upgrades, etc. Closest I’ve come is a used but unfired Ruger no.1.

    • You and me both. I bought a Kimber, an FNX .45, and a lightly used Winchester 1892 in .45 Colt, for around $700 each, all the other pistols and revolvers for less than $500.
      What has really cost me–still is costing me–was my AR build. It started off at around $800, which included a polymer lower, slick side upper, red dot, Hogue free float handguard, and a slightly upgraded mil-spec trigger. Since then, because of changing California laws, I’ve purchased an aluminum lower (just before the big price drops since I had to have it done before the end of last year and needed to buy local to avoid doubling the cost with transfer fees), a thread protector and a fin grip. I’ve spent a few bucks dropping the hammer spring weight, and bought my son a Rise drop-in trigger for his build–but he is off gallivanting around the world and I am sorely tempted to make it mine. Next will be a Thorsden Gen III stock ($130, plus another $30 for spacers), and probably some kind of variable scope. all in, I’ll have spent over about four years around $1500, which to me seems like an outrageous sum.

  75. Browning Citori XT Trap with 30” barrels for about $2000. I bought it for my dad about 15 years after he said he wanted it and then didn’t buy it for himself to help put me through college. So it was the most expensive and the best deal I have ever gotten on a gun.

  77. It depends, while the most I have spent in recent years was just under 800 on a range officer compact, I would say that inflation adjusted the money spent on my wife’s Ruger Red Label (bought new and long enough ago I don’t remember what I paid) so many years ago was actually a lot more.

  78. About $2K. Wait, that was for FOUR firearms. So I can loan you one while your $2K Dan Wesson 1911 is at the g unsmith being “set up.”

  79. I bought a CZ P01 for $600 new and sent it to Cajun gun works for add on and internal work. All in all I think it was 1250 total. Good gun but I still rarely carry it, it’s heavy as heavy as hell. The trigger is outstanding.

  80. My most spent was about 1400.00 for my Arsenal SAM7SF, my whole collection costed me around 18K. For me this is a good chunk of change, for others, they ask “so when are you going to step it up a bit?”, lol. Not much more I want but the M1A I have been eyeballing may be my big one at around 2K.

  81. $2,200.00 for an M14 clone with a forged receiver. Totally worth it. It shoots MOA and is dead-nuts reliable. I’m close to $3,000.00 now with some upgrades and still going. Glass is going to cost a pretty penny.

    This is way more than I usually spend on a single gun, but this my “one gun.” IMO, it’s worth spending money on the gun you can shoot the best and the one you are going to bet your life on if you have to.

  82. Mark 23. $1700. Buyers remorse for a bit cause it was a bit of an impulse buy. But with my first suppressor on the way, not so much anymore.

  83. My most expensive gun is the Saint AR-15, bought on the day it came out (but was delivered on Election day 2016) for $810. I was certain Crooked Hillary was going to win the election and try to get a new AWB in place ASAP.

    My most expensive pistol is my Kimber 1911 Pro Carry II two tone 9mm. They typically go for around $725-750, but I paid less than that on sale.

    I can’t justify spending a LOT on a gun since I don’t compete. I would rather have my Kimber and the Saint than a single Daniel Defense AR-15. I’d rather have two $1,500 guns than one $3,000 gun. But, then again, I’ve never shot a $3,000 revolver or STI 1911 so maybe that would change my mind.

  84. Two purchases (and a sale) come to mind :
    – An FN Five SeveN pistol plus a FN PS90 bought for $2,500
    – Collected a complete ANIB kit of an HK P7-K3 with .32 + .380
    + .22 LR barrels and 2 mags for each caliber purchased for
    @$2,000 but sold 3 years later for $4,500. Now worth $$$ ?

  85. $995 for a used Gen-1 Colt Delta Elite with factory relief-cut. Slightly neglected but cleaned up nicely. Added a FLGR and Wilson Combat spring and mags, Hogue grips, no regrets Colt makes a fine product. Smile every time I pull the trigger

  86. I paid $3300.00 match sights ts included for an Anschutz 1913 Super Match three position competition rifle in .22 LR. I bought it back in 2008 so the current price is a lot more. That was a retirement gift to myself and I have so far enjoyed the hell out of shooting ten round groups of .25 to .50 inches at 50 yards and less than an inch at 100 yards, all with .22 LR. No recoil, no noise whatsoever with subsonic match ammo and very good looking space gun. It is now an heirloom, well after I am gone. I pay for quality and reliability. I also have a match lower from Bushmaster matched to a Match Long Range AR15 upper from White Oaks and precision micrometer sights in 5.56 NATO with a SS 26″ heavy barrel for a total of $1700.00. Too much for a gun? That is just peanuts compared to some European shotguns that go for $25,000.00 and yet avid gunners with the resources pay it. To each his own and hopefully enjoy it. Life is short.

  87. Definitely the $750 I spent on a mint condition prelock 7 shot S&W 686+ with a 4″ barrel…I had one box of .357 magnum, and $20 to my name after the purchase. Not the wisest financial decision, but man was that a sweet revolver!

  88. I prefer not to spend a fortune on designer guns, but instead to get guns that are practical and reliable, and use the leftover money for ammo and gear. I could spend two or three grand on an AR, but I seriously doubt it would be any more reliable than my $750 M&P. I spent over two years in Iraq doing private security on DoD contracts, and used several different ARs/M4s. There are some brands I would never buy, such as DPMS and Bushmaster, because I’ve either owned or been issued them and they failed me. But there are others like S&W M&P and Colt that have performed like champs.

    In handguns, Glock, Ruger, Jericho and several of the low-brow Beretta and 1911 clones we have work great without breaking the bank.

    All that being said, my most expensive purchase was $1500 for my second Desert Eagle and it has never let me down.

    • I agree with you. I’d rather spend the money on ammo.

      Guns have become really good, due to the introduction of CAD/CAM. Tolerances on even very inexpensive guns are to a degree of precision only seen in custom handguns 30 years ago.

      I carry a Kahr CM9—bought it when Davidson’s had a screaming deal—$279 with two mags and a cheapo belt slide holster. It is “one hole at 10 yards” accurate, and has not malfunctioned for me once. I have other Kahrs, ranging from the really inexpensive CW380 to the pricey K9—and the cheap CM9 works just as well and is just as accurate. I must admit I had to do some frame deburring and a trigger job on the CM9, but 30 minutes of work made it feel just like my P9, which retails for more than twice the price.

      It’s difficult to buy a bad handgun today. That wasn’t the case in the 70s and 80s. Even a cheapo Taurus is likely to be accurate and reliable.

      The only reason I can see me ever spending more than $500 on a firearm is if it’s really pretty.

  92. Hmm… I think about $900 on a commemorative Colt 1911 30 of us had made while we were in Afghanistan. They were waiting for us at a local gun shop upon our return. Custom engraving and serial numbers based on our unit (I got number 4 of 30). I’ve always gotten great deals on all my guns ($1 for my Sig 226 when I retired as a state trooper) or I’ve built my own. I you count the ones I’ve built, likely around $2,000 with all the extras on an AR308.

  93. Hmm. The most I’ve ever spent is $750, and that was for a post-ban Clinton era Bushmaster AR in something like 1996. That was back when MAK-90s were selling for $250 or so, making the ARs a lot more expensive. Things certainly have changed.

    As far as handguns, the most I’ve ever spent is $500 on a handgun. I don’t have cheap handguns, I just tend to wait on a deal on a used one. I bought my HK USP Compact .40 used from a local dealer at a gun show—–$500 out the door. That was a good deal then, but you can’t get them for that now.

    Kahr K9—used at a shop for $499. Looked unfired. Kahr MK9 with 4 mags—-$350 on GunBroker. Smith and Wesson 686 no dash—$450 at a gun show in 1991. First handgun I purchased after turning 21.

    I doubt I will buy another new handgun. There are bargains to be had in the used section and the pawn shop.

  94. Over $1,600 on a then-new HK USP Expert, plus $85 each for 3 hi-cap 16-round magazines and another $85 for a Jet Funnel mag well extension. Also bought a underslung-attached scope mount that I only used once. The pistol is so reliable and clean-shooting, plus very accurate with the o-ringed barrel. I haven’t even had to disassemble the lower once for cleaning with over 4,000 rounds fired.

  95. Spent $1,900 on a Tavor SAR when they first came out. I had never spent more than $400 on a gun before (or after) that; it was my first centerfire rifle and shared room in the gun safe with a Hi-Point carbine. As for regrets, I have absolutely none. I still get a thrill when I shoot it. Before purchasing the bullpup, I had fired several AR-15 variants a handful of times and found them fun, but not something that lit me up (an opinion I also have about Glocks).

  96. Most I’ve spent on a gun is the $600 I spent on a very nice S&W 28 6″.It’s about 46 years old. I’ve spent over $500 several times, but I tend to buy used guns or “Cheapest ever!” prices on new ones. Being immune to the charms of the 1911, it’s easy to keep some money in my wallet.

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