Pistol Guidance

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Firefighter17

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I have been wanting to move up from my Ruger MKIII Competition. I am attracted to 9mm for ammo costs but am on a bit of a budget. I have looked at the Norincos but am a little hesitant. I have also been looking at the High Point in .40 is it is an amazing price. Can anyone offer any info on either the Highpoint or Norinco.
 
Firefighter17 said:
I have been wanting to move up from my Ruger MKIII Competition. I am attracted to 9mm for ammo costs but am on a bit of a budget. I have looked at the Norincos but am a little hesitant. I have also been looking at the High Point in .40 is it is an amazing price. Can anyone offer any info on either the Highpoint or Norinco.
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You are looking at increasing your factory ammo cost from 4 cents each for .22 to 30 cents each for 9mm.
Now the cost of your gun becomes a much smaller component of your cost of shooting, so forget the cheap stuff which breaks or requires upgrading. Buy a CZ Shadow or similar and it will complement your Ruger and won't give you trouble.
 
Try and find a good used high quality firearm either in store or on the EE. Norcs are hit or miss. You could get an excellent one or one loaded with problems. Hi Points are known to be junk as a rule. Again, there could be good ones out there. .40 S&W is quite a high powered round to put through an iffy firearm.
Look for used Glocks, new S&W M&Ps. Go and try someone's toy before you decide. Remember, you do get what you pay for!
 
Thanks for the input. I believe in the get what you pay for as well. That is why I don't own the Norc or highpoint yet. I am waiting for the approval to post on the EE and start looking for a used unit. I have also seen the Ruger SR9 going for around $500.00. Has anyone had experience with it?
 
Gotta love norc haters..... Has to be the best bang for your buck... I agree, if you've got the budget, go large, lots of choice from 5-700$, but 350$ spanking new......that's value.. Maybe I've just been lucky, got a 911 and brand new np-22, honestly they've been flawless, shot every round I've put in them...
Would I go competition shooting with them? Possibly, even if I only took them as back up pistols.. I'm relatively new to shooting so have no history to deal with, mine are great... I hope you find what you need, good luck
 
Get the Glock G22 and a 40-9 conversion barrel. This way you can shoot both .40 S&W and 9mm. If you're looking for a 9mm get the S&W M&P9 Range & Carry Kit. It's the best deal out there.
 
Thanks everyone! I appreciate being able to get feedback from fellow shooters. The next part will be to see if I can get away with buying just one without ending up in the dog house. My wife and I bought my MKIII Competition and she got a MKIII Stainless Target a couple of years ago. Our daughters gave them a try and are hooked now. Upping the arsenal is the next step.
 
Every body is going to recommend what they currently have/like. Best option for you is probably to rent a few and try them out; i have had _several_ disappointments after trying out a gun.
 
IMO go get a nicer pistol. Norinco yes. They will work. But you will quickly eat up your initial gun cost vs ammunition.

I bet you will beat yourself up later on not buying a nicer pistol.
 
domyalex said:
Every body is going to recommend what they currently have/like. Best option for you is probably to rent a few and try them out; i have had _several_ disappointments after trying out a gun.
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Which sounds nice except for one possible hickup. Can you rent every single model from one shop that you are possibly interested in?

Example: Calgary Shooting Centre (excellent place!) has only one rental 22 semi-auto pistol, the Beretta Neos. Keep this in mind.
 
Many people think Norcs are best bang for the buck and probably they are but they are inconsistent and sometimes they need an extra few bucks to get me right unless you are will to do it your self. Even then, they are still hard to admire. One gun shooters tend to overlook, as I did, are the surplus Tokarevs. $175-$250. If your hands are big you might not like but it can be pretty cheap shooting when u come across ammo deal. Hot little 7.62x25mm round is loud and fast.

If u want modern and affordable... Ruger SR9 for Tupperware, CZs are best options for steel frame. Save and spend a few extra hundred, you will know where it went.
 
There are piles and piles of excellent 9mms out there. Pick any proven one on a completely superficial basis, and I'm pretty sure you'll be happy. ;)

Polymer: Glocks, SR9, M&P, P2000/P30, XD
Steel: P226, CZ75, Hi-Powers, 92FS, and possibly 9mm 1911s. (There are also some apparently good quality knock-off/deriatives of these guns, from EAA, Tanfoglio, Jericho, Girsan...)
 
Really, skip the Hi Point. It's a great big overweight lump of metal for the slide because it's direct blowback and needs that big slug of weight to properly control the recoil from center fire ammo. Other than simply going "BANG!" it's a pretty poor choice.

I like Norincos but I also agree fully that they are hit and miss. The control of tolerances varied from example to example. If you get a good one then it's all great. But typically there are at least a few little things that need to be trimmed or adjusted to make the gun work in all the little ways that it's supposed to work.

The folks are right about shooting more than the cost of the gun in ammo pretty quickly unless you really restrict yourself to the number of range visits and the amount of ammo used during the visit. I didn't TRY to shoot a lot but I didn't hold myself back with any sort of iron resolve. I still managed to shoot the cost of my Shadow within a 4 month period of twice weekly range visits.

There are some great guns you can get for not a whole lot more than the bargain bin options. The Ruger SR9 is pretty good and pretty inexpensive. For a hair more there's the S&W M&P9 Range Kit. And in that same price range are a couple of the Filipino made 1911's. And for just a little more than those options you can buy a CZ 75b.

But if $550 to $700 simply isn't in the financial cards and you really feel that you must stick with one of the super budget guns then by all means pick a Norinco CZ, Sig or 1911 over a Hi Point. As I said yes the Hi Point will go BANG!. But it does so in the most horrid of ways. Apparently the kick is amplified by the direct blowback system compared to the more common delayed blowback system. And by all accounts I've read the Hi Points feel incredibly top heavy due to the massive slug of a slide sitting on top of the polymer lower. Get something you can be proud of and that doesn't encourage you to sell it the moment you see it.
 
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