Always buy the most expensive gun you can afford

[tmckay2]

well ill be the different guy i guess. i really don't believe in this philosophy, too many generalizations and i think this is where some of the "fanboys" come from. some companies are just more expensive because they have a cult following that doesn't know any better and will shell out the money. some companies make great products and simply always have reasonable prices. now if you are considering customer service in this, that might make a difference. example, i went with springfield 1911 instead of a RRA, because even though it was $200 more, it came with some extras and i lived 15 minutes from springfield's world headquarters AND they have always proven to be a very reliable customer service business. but then you have manufacturer's like colt. i know this will bring the fanboy's out, but colt's are not any better than anything else. they are the same as any other higher end company (many of which you can buy weapons from cheaper) but since they have a government contract, everyone thinks they must be where its at. ive seen lots of colts have lots of problems, no different than anyone else. ive also seen and heard their customer service being absolute crap. but yet time and time again some fanboy will come onto forums and say how awesome he is because he bought a colt. waste of money in my opinion.

you obviously never want to go with gun "C" which is probably your bottom of the barrel alternative. i realize that, and agree with that (although just for kicks i did get a blackthorne upper for dirt cheap once as a plinker rifle and its performed beautifully. thats not to say id do it again though). but choosing between gun A and gun B should not come down to simply "which is more expensive". there are a lot of other things that should play into it. heck, for that matter the expensive gun may not have as a good of a market as the other one, so who cares if its "worth more"? classic example is an AUG, or even a sig. fine weapons, but nothing special. cost you your right arm, and for what? if you wanna buy it by all means, im sure its fun to have, but why would you buy one of those and not a daniel defense ar? youre going to have a hell of a time selling it and it isn't going to outperform anything else really. for that matter, if youre going to get an AR, why not an ACR? ill tell you why. most people look at it and say "yeah ok, nice little gizmos, but certainly not worth the price". if youre deciding between a daniel defense and a rock river ar, then yes, id say this may apply. but taking this philosophy to the max is why we have so many noobs out there blowing money on stupid stuff

aaaaaaaaaaaaand.....rant done.

[DocMedic]

Well i've literally drug my glock through the dirt and it still worked. I doubt any 1911 could do the same, no matter how much money you throw at it.

Puff puff pass?

[Marlin]

I don't think the 1911 could have survived at least two wars if it couldn't handle a little dirt.

G.I., Looser tolerance than "race guns". Try dragging a race gun through the muck and shoot it..

I have no complaints with either, I owned both..

[AR-Tracker]

I love it, this is a funny thread. The title says buy the best gun you can afford not go for the most expensive.

I have some cheap shooters to kick around and some well preserved older pieces that I picked up on a bargain for collecting. Then a few good high dollar Competition shooters which I would never be worried about getting my dollar back on. Just buy the best you can afford and be happy with what you have. Remember though... who is going to fix your piece when it goes boom. Warranty service is everything.

[AR-Tracker]

sorry have to fix that last statement of best. Key word is Afford. !!

its to late for this

Tracker out

[tmckay2]

I love it, this is a funny thread. The title says buy the best gun you can afford not go for the most expensive.

I have some cheap shooters to kick around and some well preserved older pieces that I picked up on a bargain for collecting. Then a few good high dollar Competition shooters which I would never be worried about getting my dollar back on. Just buy the best you can afford and be happy with what you have. Remember though... who is going to fix your piece when it goes boom. Warranty service is everything.

you hit the nail on the head with the warranty statement

[tmckay2]

another thing people need to remember about resale value is that it is more important the ratio of loss not the number. a cheap gun you won't get crap for. a solid, well respected gun you will generally get a higher percentage than what you paid. for most expensive guns, people are going to want a decent price reduction in order to give another person that much money. otherwise they should spend a little extra and get it from a dealer.

[Irving]

I think many people are not picking up on the important parts of this post.

First, as it has already been pointed out, this is an example of operating in your budget. Second, and more importantly, obviously this is discussing a purchase between choices that you WANT. No where in the post does he talk about buying a more expensive gun that you weren't even considering. Perhaps it would have been more clear if he said that if money wasn't an object, you would purchase Gun A. He specifically said not to "settle" for a least expensive gun. This means that you WANT Gun A, but the price is causing you to second guess your decision.

Or maybe I'm just an SA Friday fanboy.

[llostwolf]

I agree that you need to buy quality but not necessarily the most expensive.
It alot of cases your paying for something to look at. ( or show off) I think you need to buy what satisfies your purpose. I have several that are not pretty but are very functional. An example is my sportsman 78 Remington. It the same barrelled action but costs a few hundred less than than a 700 BDL. The difference is that the BDL has hardwood higher grade furniture and a better looking blue on the steel. When bought it i was looking for the cheaper model because i knew wouldn't a take a pretty BDL where the ulgy one goes. Same gun but won't win any beauty contests.

[SA Friday]

I knew this would get some interesting posts, maybe even an arguement or two too. There's lots of ways to look at the decision and choice. I still stand by my conclusion, but I hardly expect everyone to agree.