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The big new announcement going into the SHOT Show new gun intro season — so far, anyway — is the Ruger American Pistol. It’s still awfully early, but initial reports look promising. Look for our full-frontal take on the gun this week. One thing’s for sure though; lots of the new 9’s and .45’s will by flying off the shelves. The gun world is full of early adopters and those who just have to be the first to pull the latest and (purportedly) greatest new gun out of their bag at the range. Sometimes that works out well and sometimes, not so much. Lots of gunnies won’t lay their cash on the barrel head until a new design has proven itself. However long that is. How long do you wait before buying a new gun?

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67 COMMENTS

  4. depends. i bought my steyr s9 before any reviews were out or anything and i LOVE it. i got lucky i guess. nowadays, i wouldn’t do that. take the Ruger American pistol, love the look, like ruger, but the reviews are not that great. apparently its actually hurts to shoot the damn thing.

  5. I usually have to wait until my wife spends a chunk of money on something useless that she will never need.

    • Funny … In our household that usually happens after she finds out about the latest gun purchase…

    • I find something, and I just tell her about it everyday, EVERYDAY, until she finally gets pissed off enough to tell me to get it and shut up. Doesn’t work all the time, but I’m batting over .500 so it’s good enough for me.

      • I do that with something else that is slightly more expensive than what I actually want. “Hey honey, want do you think of this thousand dollar sword, it’s really nice!” After a month or two of that, “Hey honey, I guess I’ll wait on the sword for awhile because I just bought this $500 pistol. Oh, by the way, look at this great two thousand dollar night sight that would be great for my rifle…..”

  7. I wait until just the right insult floats my way from just the right anti-gun weirdo. I then inform them their statements have just incurred another purchase on my part.

    • I had this great plan to buy a gun every time Obama made an anti gun statement, but I couldn’t afford to keep up with that, so I went back to buying a gun once a month.

      • Heh. I was trying to go down that path as well. I’m not wealthy enough to keep up with his rhetoric. 😉

  8. I buy a new gun right after purchasing two or three old, out of production guns. Is there any other way?

  9. I don’t see any reason to be the first to buy one, so I usually wait until most of the places I trust for reviews have put something fairly in depth out there. That usually takes about 6 months or so. I have enough of a backlog of guns to buy that I don’t need to go running out to buy the latest and greatest.

  10. I usually wait a year minimum….

    I bought a Glock 42 right after it came out… breaking my rule… cuz, you know… its supposedly “Perfection” and my experience with other “Perfection” guns was indeed that.

    Boy did I get burned there.

    A year later, I bought another one, and it is indeed perfection. should have waited the year… even if its a Glock.

    A buddy of mine bought one after a year, but it was the original revision and he didn’t know it. His was garbage too.

  12. I usually wait 2-3 years. Most firearms in my collection are proven platforms either through police or military service over decades. I’m a bit iffy on new designs but I will purchase them after all the kinks get worked out.

  14. Got my H&K VP9 about four months after it dropped. I was going on the H&K reputation, and also stellar reviews (including TTAG) of the pistol, so I took a risk, despite the “you suck and we hate you” rep of H&K.

  15. Only handgun, ever purchased within six months being released to dealers was Pavona 9mm 3.6″ barel made by Tanfagio in Italy. Wanted full size pistol & one designed for women, not just some handgun with pink slapped on. Due to wider slide indents easier to grip and rack the slide, minimum of 10 round magazine with option of 13 round
    Three dots sight. It’s the pistol I shoot most accurately. Over 1000 rounds with no jams, no FTF, no FTE. In spite of having limited impartial reviews, It’s proved to be the one pistol I trust to go bang if needed and easy handgun for range practice. For those who are slide racking phobic, cock the hammer to move it out of the way of a brisk motion to load first round & put safety on if on a firing line. It can be carried “cocked & locked” Finally found a semi- automatic pistol can trust my life to. Glad I was an early adopter on this one

  17. Judging by Military Channel’s review, the Ruger American Pistol will not be on my shopping list at any time in the foreseeable future.

    • It’s still awfully early, but initial reports look promising.
      Not according to MAC. Ergonomics on the back strap to square frame sucks.
      Personally, I think the Ruger American is inferior to the SR9 in every way.

  18. The only time I bought a pistol early in its release was a Caracal C. It broke my heart to have to return that gun.

    • I understand there was a safety recall, but everyone talks about how much they loved that pistol, was returning it an obligation or a choice? I could see if there was a safety recall it would make you liable if you had an “accident” with it.

      • I just wasn’t going to take that chance and I figured the warranty was bust with the recall. I can’t complain about the way I was treated. I got back more than I had spent on the gun and extra mags, but I sure miss that trigger.

    • Beat me to it. When it comes to pistols, there are no “early adopters” in California because there are no new pistols.

  21. I wait until they are on the shelves for a while and the price drops. I waited to buy my Tavor and I am glad I did. I got the OD green version which I love it also matches my OD green FS2000. If I can find an OD green AUG I can have the OD trinity in my safe.

  23. Usually a few years for pistols or rifles, assuming I’m really interested. Revolvers I almost always buy used.

  24. I do not buy guns unless they are years in the making when it comes to the product line, reliability, parts, aftermarket, etc.

    I don’t waste my time and money on things I won’t be certain I can easily maintain for years to come.

  26. Looking at my collection, I sorta wonder whether I’m a complete disappointment to the gun industry.

    The only guns I have that were designed and shaken out in the last 30 years are Glocks, and I don’t even like them.

    I’d say that “at least 40 years” is about what I wait before buying most of my guns. After the Glocks, the newest designs are AR’s. After that, we start a trip down memory lane in a hurry…

    • Whatever makes you happy. Olde school guns can certainly be awesome, but you can keep your old optics.

      I had an off-spec recoil spring on a Gen 3 Glock 27 causing a bit of slide movement when I pulled the trigger. I bet you could’ve diagnosed that much faster than me.

      And I like rails and gun lights.

  28. All my guns are old, and proven, designs. The only “modern” gun I have is a M10B Lee-Enfield reproduction in .308. The barrel is a surplus mini-gun barrel with such a thick chome lining the projectiles are deformed as they exit and the best group I was able to get with handloads was 6″ at 100 metres. Cheap steel case Norinco .308 actually shot about the same.

    The feeding and extraction is perfect but the accuracy is a big let-down. Once the supply of Norinco is exhausted, I have a plan to put a decent barrel on to the rifle.

    • Well, you have two things working against you there: The chrome lining in the barrel and the cheap ammo.

      When you go for a new barrel, try to find one in stainless (they last a bit longer) and you should look for a barrel that is lapped.

  30. I look at any review of a new-to-market gun as being done with a “performance optimized example” that was carefully blueprinted in the tool room.

    But when something is Broken As Designed (BAD) such as the Remington R51, no such fiddling will help the result.

  31. In violation of everything I was ever taught by my father and my own experience, I bought a Shield the day it was announced. That worked out well but I wouldn’t do it again.

    • I’m going to buy the 9mm Shield very soon. I’ve been waiting for the gun to prove itself, and now, I feel like it’s been around long enough to do so…

      I can see my wife “borrowing” it, though, I might need two.

  32. At least until there are a few holster options for it. Gotta have a way to safely carry it around.

  33. Ruger LC9s. Ruger 10/22 TD. I bought those the first week — the 10/22 TD after Nick’s glowing review.

  34. It depends. The Taurus Curve was such a crappy design that it didn’t fool many. The Ruger 10/22 takedown looked promising, so I snapped one up ASAP. It’s awesome. Remington is on such a downslope that I look suspiciously at everything they make.

    If minor issues occur, I can make repairs myself. If it’s major, I need help from a good gunsmith. I’d actually enjoy taking some Gunsmithing classes.

    So if a design looks promising, I’ll pick it up. I take a lot of risks in my life anyways, and if a gun malfunctions or wears out I have plenty of spares.

  35. I plan to only buy two guns a year, so it would need to get in line. Both 2016 slots are filled (Garand now, pushing the planned DGS build to mid or late year), so it will be whatever strikes my fancy come 2017. My guess is that there won’t be anything new that I will want.

    Point being, I don’t intentionally wait, but everything I’ve bought has years of history behind it. The Precision is about the only thing that has made me think otherwise.

  36. Hmm, my newest designs would be the Walther P5 or the PP Super from the 70s. The others are all 80 to 100+years old… 1911, PPK, Hi power, A5, Winchester M71. And no, I’m not an old guy.

    • Hi Power?. My current favorite. I noticed your name too. I like the DA and Mark 3 versions.

  37. It depends on what the gun is for. I snagged a PWS Mk107 upper in 7.62×39 for a build project when those were pretty new, but I already have reliable rifles in the AR / AK families. I bought a KSG as soon as I could find one (just had to have one), but I already had a Mossberg 590. If I need it to be reliable, I’ll let someone else test it for me first.

  38. I wait forever or until I move. With californias handgun roster no new semi auto guns will be sold here. Do I win?

  39. No plan-I get ’em when I get ’em. The only bottom line is it has to be a deal(’cause I’m a dealer-just not guns)…

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