Looking to get a sub $300 9mm for range shooting only

[T-Unit]

Only want it so I can shoot at the range this year with decently affordable 9mm ammo. No intention to keep it for long, waiting for PT92's to become more available and go down in price as I don't feel they're worth the $600 sellers are asking for them now.

So here's what has caught my eye that comes in under $300:

Taurus TH9
Taurus GX4 (Close enough to $300)
Ruger P85/P89
Ruger LC9s
Rock Island MAPP (CZ clone) (used)
Lo-Point C9

Bonus points if it's a compact as I don't care for this to be a full size gun. I figure on the off chance I like it and keep it it'll be smaller than the 92 I eventually get, so it'll have some practical value. SCCY I have no interest in, the DAO trigger is awful, and the Taurus G2/G3 stuff is cheap and all, but I figure if I'm gonna buy Taurus it may as well be a DA/SA or the slimmer, more practical GX4.

 

[greencobra]

as jeff quinn use to say "the hi point is a dandy little pistol."

 

[wmass]

I know a couple people that bought a Mossberg mc1sc. That should hit your price point. They seem to like it just fine for what it is.

 

[MFSP101]

The LC9S is a great gun.

 

[slap shot]

Canik.

 

[jkelly1229]

Pt 92s suck save up for a real beretta.

If your looking to go every weekend or 2 weeks buy full sized.

Small guns are no fun in extended range sessions

Canik
Sar
Taurus g3
Sve99 by smith and wesson
Iwi massade
Sr9 by ruger
Ruger american 9
Ruger security 9

 

[Broc]

I hate hi-points, they are ugly and heavy. My sig has a quote on hi-points.

That being said, watch the Demolition Ranch Hi-Point torture video. Those things are pretty well built (from a "don't blow your hands up" point of view).

I know @CrackPot is a big fan of hi-Points.

I don't like admitting it, but I do own a hi-point. It is for a project and I didnt want to ruin a nice gun. I was supposed to do it earlier in 2021 but got delayed.

 

[Deleted member 12999]

I imagine the Mill might have some guns on clearance soon.

 

[kalash]

From that list, LC9s. Not a bad little gun.

 

[nstassel]

Lc9s would be a good one, the Taurus gets good reviews despite the name. Mossberg gets good reviews too.

 

[Mark from MA]

Pt 92s suck save up for a real beretta.

If your looking to go every weekend or 2 weeks buy full sized.

Small guns are no fun in extended range sessions

Canik
Sar
Taurus g3
Sve99 by smith and wesson
Iwi massade
Sr9 by ruger
Ruger american 9
Ruger security 9

This and Canik....for one of the best trigger out of the box. You can probably find a used full size for 300.

Theres nothing wrong with a Taurus G3....fun little gun....just not my opinon of a range gun. Nice little carry gun tho.

 

[Rick O'Shea]

Canik TP9 with the button on the top,..

 

[Uzi2]

My latest pistol buy was a TH9. So far 800 rounds of various ammo including some reloads through it without a single malfunction.

 

[jkelly1229]

This and Canik....for one of the best trigger out of the box. You can probably find a used full size for 300.

Theres nothing wrong with a Taurus G3....fun little gun....just not my opinon of a range gun. Nice little carry gun tho.

The g3 is g19 sized
G3c is a compact

 

[T-Unit]

Pt 92s suck save up for a real beretta.

If your looking to go every weekend or 2 weeks buy full sized.

Small guns are no fun in extended range sessions

I don't have the intention to be blasting 200 rds every time I take this to the range, probably 50, maybe 75. I do not understand the sense of going thru 200 rds of ammo in a range trip, not when it's $17 a box, you get nothing out of shooting that much at once.

 

[Mesatchornug]

If you're looking at the lc9s, you might also consider the shield. The first gen should be well under 300, even in covid-times

 

[DW357]

Pt 92s suck save up for a real beretta.

This.

Can I ask where you (OP) are finding guns for sub $300? Gunbroker has some but with shipping tax and transfer fee you’ll be over $300

https://www.gunbroker.com/item/923262775

 

[Mark from MA]

The g3 is g19 sized
G3c is a compact

This is correct. Neither is a range gun IMHO.

G3 a nice carry

G3C too fxcking small

 

[Uzi2]

This is correct. Neither is a range gun IMHO.

G3 a nice carry

G3C too fxcking small

Unless you're a "carnival worker....aka carni) with little hands.

 

[BTSDOG]

Depends what range your going to. Different ranges have different applications, say like Roxbury, Dorchester, or Mattapan.......

 

[paul73]

Only want it so I can shoot at the range this year with decently affordable 9mm ammo. No intention to keep it for long, waiting for PT92's to become more available and go down in price as I don't feel they're worth the $600 sellers are asking for them now.

So here's what has caught my eye that comes in under $300:

Taurus TH9
Taurus GX4 (Close enough to $300)
Ruger P85/P89
Ruger LC9s
Rock Island MAPP (CZ clone) (used)
Lo-Point C9

Bonus points if it's a compact as I don't care for this to be a full size gun. I figure on the off chance I like it and keep it it'll be smaller than the 92 I eventually get, so it'll have some practical value. SCCY I have no interest in, the DAO trigger is awful, and the Taurus G2/G3 stuff is cheap and all, but I figure if I'm gonna buy Taurus it may as well be a DA/SA or the slimmer, more practical GX4.

Just a tad more expensive, but you will support a good shop.

Canik TP9SF Elite and Canik TP9SFX in 9mm $559, $449​

GFA ArmsTec and Malany Industries, LLC, All rights reserved.

Our mailing address is:
47 Summer Street
Natick, MA 01760

 

[jkelly1229]

I don't have the intention to be blasting 200 rds every time I take this to the range, probably 50, maybe 75. I do not understand the sense of going thru 200 rds of ammo in a range trip, not when it's $17 a box, you get nothing out of shooting that much at once.

Huh?

I think I go through 12-1500 a trip

How do you get nothing out of that

 

[ReluctantDecoy]

Canik or S&W (gen 1's Shield are dirt cheap if you can find them). Although, I'd also throw out there that P80 AFT kits were as low as $349 at one point, but are largely sold out of places that sold them that cheap. Canik seems like the best return as far as feature set and name is concerned, but for me, that's just going from all the positive feedback I've seen. I have yet to try one myself. They look pretty awesome.

 

[cockpitbob]

The LC9S is a great gun.

This.
The factory trigger is so good you won't find and aftermarket trigger for it.

 

[PappyM3]

Why not be open to spending a little more and get a pistol you would keep for the long haul? It seems you just want to shoot it so you can shoot cheap(er) 9mm due to the current inventory/price situation. But even after things normalize, you’d be fooling yourself if you think there won’t be another ammo crunch in 4-8 years.

 

[cjmass]

The Ruger LC9s is an excellent firearm with a superb trigger.

 

[drgrant]

Only want it so I can shoot at the range this year with decently affordable 9mm ammo. No intention to keep it for long, waiting for PT92's to become more available and go down in price as I don't feel they're worth the $600 sellers are asking for them now.

So here's what has caught my eye that comes in under $300:

Taurus TH9
Taurus GX4 (Close enough to $300)
Ruger P85/P89
Ruger LC9s
Rock Island MAPP (CZ clone) (used)
Lo-Point C9

Bonus points if it's a compact as I don't care for this to be a full size gun. I figure on the off chance I like it and keep it it'll be smaller than the 92 I eventually get, so it'll have some practical value. SCCY I have no interest in, the DAO trigger is awful, and the Taurus G2/G3 stuff is cheap and all, but I figure if I'm gonna buy Taurus it may as well be a DA/SA or the slimmer, more practical GX4.

this is a very confusing, contradictory list of wants

so you want to shoot a gun but flinting hard?

Find yourself a used Ruger P95DC robopistol and go to town. At least you won’t hate yourself like you would with a shield or an lc9.

That’s the first gun I’d buy if I couldn’t afford anything else. It might be a c hair over 3 hundo but it will run forever.

 

[JRT]

I have a friend who is super frugal, he claims to like his sub $300 Sarsilmaz SAR9 better than his G19. Its worth a look and it doesn't look like a cheap shitty pistol, kind of looks like Glock and a PPQ mashup. Its a 17 round mag too which is nice for range trips.

 

[Dennis in MA]

Canik.

That was my first thought. I've never shot one and would pick it over the other options listed already.

I imagine the Mill might have some guns on clearance soon.

Fire sale? (Haven't been online since it happened. Hope all is OK with the folks over there.)

 

[Boghog1]

there was a guy posting on the forum this morning, not sure where all his post went, he had like 20 of them