What's Your Next Handgun...and why?

[88E30M50]

I think my next handgun will be... Distant! I'm thinking it may be a while before I can add another one to the collection unless I can convince myself to sell a couple off first.

 

[wtfd661]

I have kind of being having a hankering for a blued Ruger Vaquero .357 in a 5.5 barrel. maybe get two of them

 

[flintlock9]

I'm on the fence between a Glock 42 and a S&W Shield 9mm. I currently carry a ppk, which is a nice gun but feels like it weighs 10lbs!

 

[Expat]

I have kind of being having a hankering for a blued Ruger Vaquero .357 in a 5.5 barrel. maybe get two of them

The fancy cowboy holster would be a great addition to your outfit.

 

[Hellhound1055]

I have kind of being having a hankering for a blued Ruger Vaquero .357 in a 5.5 barrel. maybe get two of them

I've been wanting a stainless vaquero in 45lc for a while. I got to handle one at a gun shop and that thing fit my hand like a glove. The matching sets that they make (use to?) were something I drooled over.

 

[seedubs1]

Definitely a Glock 43. Sold my LCP to fund a slightly larger carry gun that I can conceal when I can't carry my PPQ. Hated the LCP. It was unusable for me. Horrible trigger, horrible sights, and just terrible all around for me. All it would have been good for is very close distance.

I checked out the 43 at my LGS this past weekend, and it's definitely the one I want. Felt better to my hand than the Shield, which is saying a lot.

 

[Slowdeal]

I bought the new Redhawk and it is very nice in 45 Auto and Colt. I CC it daily. Next will probably be a a good used SP101 hammerless.

 

[Cet2survivor]

I have been really interested in purchasing the HK VP9. I have not been able to find anything really negative about them. It seems like a really good gun. I'm mainly just waiting until my local range gets one available for rental for me to try it out.

 

[Lil Bob]

I have been really interested in purchasing the HK VP9. I have not been able to find anything really negative about them. It seems like a really good gun. I'm mainly just waiting until my local range gets one available for rental for me to try it out.

I love my VP9. It is accurate, and the ergonomics is great, and has a real smooth trigger. My next pistol will either be a Walther PPQ or a 1911. Not sure which one to get first. The PPQ would be cheaper. I may part ways with a couple of my other pistols to fund one of them.

 

[BugI02]

I'm trying to talk myself out of it, but I'm starting to want an Astra A80 in 38SA if it isn't too expensive.

Well. I talked myself out of it. I thought it might be similar to a sig in 38 super only cheaper - a lot cheaper. Alas it was too good to be true. In the interest of dissuading anyone else who might be considering these, some info from Gunboards:

MGMike
Platinum Bullet Member
Join Date
Dec 1969
Location
Backwoods Virginia
Posts
1,555
Astra A80-90-100
The referenced thread goes back to Feb. 2007 and is too old to be retrieved with the "search" function on this forum. But I saved a summaryof my comments, and FWIW, here they are again:


M




Posted - 02/08/2007 : 08:09:34 AM


The A80 was loosely based on the SIG P220, but too much was lost in the translation. The basic problem was that the locking system dwell time had been reduced to the point where the gun was practically a delayed blowback. The breech would unlock almost as soon as the slide started moving rearward, and the slide velocity was consequently too high. This was unfortunately combined with inherently weak slide construction; its front end (which incorporated the barrel bushing and the recoil stop surface) was fabricated from four separate parts furnace-brazed together. Under impact from recoil the "chin" of the slide tended to tear downward and jam itself in the frame. At least it "failed safe", most of the time; however, if it broke off completely the slide flew rearward off the gun.


In summary, the A80s in 9mm Para were of marginal construction; in the more powerful .38 Super they were clearly underbuilt and never worked well, and in .45 they were dangerously weak. The barrels in .45 frequently broke off their cam lugs; usually that just disabled the gun, but sometimes it was a job to get it apart afterward. The same was true of the ejector, which had a habit of breaking off its tip. In the A80s it too was permanently furnace-brazed into the frame. It could only be replaced by cutting it out on a milling machine, though it was later redesigned to be dismountable. Astra also subsequently redesigned the slide in late A90s and A100s to make the slide "chin" integral with the slide body, but its cross-section at that point remained very thin, and there was no room to beef it up without completely redesigning the pistol.


Today I would be willing to shoot a .45 caliber A80-90-100 only from a machine rest—not in my hand, and not standing behind it. The easiest way to cure a non-functioning .38 Super version is to use only .38 ACP or convert it to 9mm Parabellum by changing the barrel and magazine. I will shoot the 9mm versions (I have a couple of them for reference) but only with standard loads, and I check very frequently for any sign of slide failure.






Posted - 02/14/2007 : 09:50:28 AM


Astra might have gotten away with the reduced dwell time if there had been additional mass in the slide to compensate for it. But the slide weight minus the barrel is too light to keep the velocity down. And its travel is too short to dissipate the energy before it slams to a sudden halt and is reversed. Many who comparison-tested the Astra against others in its class commented that it seemed to have greater felt recoil, and I believe that was the reason.


Theoretically it is possible--as the Astra 400 and 600 have shown--to design a pistol will NO dwell time, i.e., pure blowback. But it requires a massive, strong slide with a generous length of stroke, plus a heavy recoil spring. All of these are absent from the Astra A80-90-100 series.


It is not practical, and maybe impossible within the A80 envelope--to try to overcome this with heavier springs alone. "Extra-strength" springs are often touted as a way of allowing the use of hot ammunition, but in my opinion that is an erroneous reverse application of the fact that some guns can be made to function with light loads by reducing the strength of the recoil spring. The notion that it works both ways overlooks the fact that heavy loads impose additional stress on some parts that cannot be reduced regardless of the strength of the recoil spring, and that any additional energy absorbed by the recoil spring gets pounded back on the return stroke. So there's no free lunch.


Sophisticated double-spring assemblies and synthetic buffers have been used in some guns to reduce slide velocity at the instant of barrel/slide unlocking, as well as to reduce slide velocity as the slide reaches the end of its travel. These work best when the slide and frame are originally designed to incorporate them. Trying to retrofit existing guns is usually a makeshift arrangement, as the maximum slide weight and length of travel already are fixed, and frequently there's not enough interior room to install them. It has been long accepted that the most practical way to reduce slide velocity is with more mass in the recoiling parts. And more weight may require greater recoil stop surface, which in turn may require a stronger frame, and so on... until practically everything may have to be redesigned (unless they are already overdesigned--which was certainly NOT the case with the Astra A80 series).


Bottom line: The Astra A80 .45 is what it is. You're mining poor ore trying to convert it into an H&K USP.








Posted - 02/15/2007 : 9:49:41 PM


The source of this information is about 25 years of experience in examining a large number of broken Astra A80s and A90s. I used to have a box full of slides in which the brazed joint at the "chin" (which is the recoil stop surface) had torn apart, displacing the "chin" downward so that it jammed in the frame. I am personally familiar with one incident involving an A90 .45 in which this segment snapped off completely rather than tearing. The slide flew rearward off the pistol and struck the shooter in the mouth. His mouth was a bloody mess, but fortunately his teeth were not broken. That incident led to a factory recall of all A90 .45s that had been produced up to then. During that time Astra redesigned the slide to make this part integral with the body of the slide, but there was no room to increase the cross section of the connecting web, and I still don't trust it. I've also personally seen more than a few broken .45 barrels, all with the locking underlug snapped off.


I still have the A100 prototype in 9mm, which actually was factory-assembled with a modified A80 slide (and left so marked), though the slide was of the later "one-piece" pattern (actually two pieces, as a shallow ring which served as a barrel bushing was still furnace-brazed in, but much better than the earlier "two piece" pattern --actually four pieces: slide body, slide chin, barrel bushing and front sight--all brazed together). If the "one-piece" slide is going to come apart, it is likely to do so by gradually tearing rather than suddenly popping off the front end. I have examined at least two late slides of the "one-piece" design that gradually tore in this fashion, but I know nothing of the history of these two, or what ammunition was used in them. There is no doubt, however, that this is the Achilles' heel of that series.


To the best of my knowedge all A100s were made with "one-piece" slides. However, I remain of the opinion that regardless of the slide type, the A80-90-100 series of pistols are of marginal construction. I flat out won't shoot a .45 caliber A80 or A90 with a two-piece slide while holding it in my hand. The 9mms with "one-piece" slide are probably okay from a safety standpoint, but I don't trust any of the others. if I were going to do any extensive shooting with one, I would check it VERY often for any sign of separation at the front.


Lest anyone conclude that I am picking on Astra, one of the WORST guns in this regard is the postwar Mauser HSc. Their slides are notoriously weak and ALWAYS break. The slides of German P.38s are also commonly fractured, but they fail safe. The Star Firestar .45 is another gun with a reputation for self-destruction of the slide, as is the Star 30P (the short model, not the 30M) which doesn't break but chews up its locking lugs.
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[hoosier21]

My "next" handgun I purchased last Fri at the Elkhart gun show from Belchers. Ruger LCP 2nd gen. (Although not announced, Ruger did improve the sights and trigger around 2013) Gen 2 does not have a dash mark in the serial #. The LCP fits my need of a pocket pistol from time to time. A nice addition to my Ruger family, hopefully continuing the track record of never having a FTF with them. Really impressed with the LC9s I purchased a few months back, great trigger and accurate.


View attachment 43036

 

[whiskeytangofoxtrot]

Ruger GP 100 Match Champion

 

[Thegeek]

The new Beretta is speaking to me.

 

[hps]

Colt GoldCup NMatch gotta sell somethg first haha

 

[DSmith78]

just picked up a glock 29 and really liking it so a 30 and 43 might be next

 

[jamil]

Lately I've been thinking about getting into 10mm. Maybe Glock <shudder/> 20 SF.

 

[BugI02]

I think you just missed a sweet Delta Elite in the classys

 

[Expat]

Bought a G30s this weekend at ZX... wasn't planning on it but the guy made me...

 

[Tomc1947]

Found a Colt Government 380 in a Pawn Shop today; I'd be kicking myself if I didn't get it, so I got it

 

[CombatRex]

I prefer 1911 45 ACP....but have come to the realization (some on actual experience) that when the lead starts flying the Adrenalin goes way the heck up and probably only 4 out of 7 rounds will find their target....if that many. Assuming I may have more than one target to engage, I wanted a higher magazine capacity that I can still conceal. I also really like the feel of an M&P 9 in my hands..so I think that may be my next one. I may try and range and rent one and see how it really feels before putting the bucks down.