Gun brand allegiance

[556.45.12]

I like a well-designed and well-made gun regardless of manufacturer. My dad is a 1911 guy so I grew up with Colts. My first handgun purchase at 21 was a Beretta 950 Jetfire, just because I had always wanted a pocket pistol. I do have preferences though. For handguns I like Sig and HK, for rifles - I usually roll my own but like DD and BCM ARs.

Now for shotguns...

That's a different story altogether - Remington 870 all the way. I refuse to buy any other brand or model. I'm already so familiarized with them and I've never had any issues with any of them, so why change?

I have an innate fear of buying a weapon that I won't be able to service myself. I can already do all of my own work on ARs, 1911s, and 870s... so...

 

[kurt]

Colt 1911's and AR's, HK polymer 9mm's. In addition I have a Glock 30S I'm warming up to and a Ruger LCP. I have no preferences as to shotguns beyond name brands of known quality.

 

[xmattedgex]

No allegiance here. And it's a good thing too, I recently purchased a rifle from Texas Black Rifle Co and could not be happier, they make a freakin' awesome product and they're just a small town company out of Shiner, TX!

 

[ROGER4314]

I've owned, traded for, or traded off a lot of guns in over 50 years of participation in the shooting sports. Almost all of them are gone but I learned what I wanted to learn, then went on to something else. That experience has formulated some likes and dislikes, for sure!

On the negative side,
I have never owned a Taurus, San Wesson, Rossi, any of the Davis style pistols, Kahr, Bersa. I want an Yildiz 410 over and under shotgun and recognize them as nicely made firearms but my prejudice against Turkish firearms is so deeply rooted that it will never happen. I'm sure these people make some good products but none of them rang my bell.

Bummer- Phoenix pistols. Great idea with interchangeable barrels but terrible safety features.

I have never owned a Kimber, Sig Sauer, or any of the high end 1911's (except for STI) or Ruger SR 1911. Today isn't over yet. I just never made a deal on one of these.

The firearms that stayed the course and left a good impression over the decades are easy to identify:

Smith & Wesson- Models 19, 29, 17, 18, Sigma's, 41, 640, 66, 36, all the hide out revolvers......WOW!

Colt from 1911's to Pythons and Diamondbacks, Detective Special. AR-15's, too........outstanding!

Remington rifles and shotguns. 870's, 1100's, 11-48, 58, 700 rifles- VLS BDL, SPS.....outstanding!

Ruger, pistols and rifles- revolvers, semi autos, M77, N0 1, 10-22 rifles, all of the semi auto .22 pistols including the SR22P. All of the "P" series semi auto pistols including P85, P89 and P95. Thumbs up! LCP, LCR, LC9. Terrific!

Mossberg rifles and shotguns. The Maverick 88 and M500 are some of the best deals on the market! Their MPV .223 bolt action rifle uses AR-15 magazines. It is a winner!

Glock- 17, 21, 19, 36, 26. Thumbs down on the .45 GAP, 357 Sig based upon the ammunition only.

Walther- P38 and P1

Browning High Power

Winchester all of the lever guns, Model 70 rifles pre 64 the best but others are, good, too. No matter what you hear, there are significant differences in the pre 64 Model 70 and that's why they command a premium.

Marlin - 336, 917V (17HMR), all of the bolt action 22's from M25 on. NOT a fan of the M60.

STI Lawman.....All I can say about upper end STI (1911's) is "WOW!"

Rock Island- all of their 1911's .....thumbs up!

Harrington & Richardson/NEF shotguns

Savage rifles- 10FP, M25.

Howa 1500 rifles.

High Standard pistols 106 Military, Citation..as good as it gets!

KelTec P3AT, P11, PF9.......worth the bucks!

British Enfield rifles- The Number 5 "Jungle Carbine" looks the best but it's a terrible shooter!

1903/1903A3 rifles

M1 Garand- any manufacturer

Mauser rifles- any variation except Turkish. The Czech VZ24 is a winner!

Owned a small truckload of AR-15's and never saw a dimes worth of difference in any of them. They all had perfect function, and all were accurate and were well worth the money! The best ones that stand out from the pack are Colt, Olympic and Bushmaster. I don't give a damn what anyone else says!

On my "bucket list" of guns that I have a hankerin' for. Gotta make these happen some day:
Browning Citori O/U
Berretta 92


Flash

 

[blueangel64]

Great report Roger4314. And thanks, you have just made my list get quite a bit bigger.

 

[ROGER4314]

The BEST gun that I've ever owned was a Springfield 1922M2 bolt action trainer for the 1903 rifle. I stupidly traded it for a boat. Now both are gone.

I gave the Ruger revolvers a quick brush off. The Blackhawks, Super Single Six, RedHawk .44 Mag all deserve a thumbs up.

Flash

 

[lgustavus81]

My SIG family!

 

[Vaquero]

Count 'em all up.
I'm a Ruger guy.

 

[Rangerscott]

Nope but I do love S&W's old all stainless steel models. (5000, 6000, etc series.)

 

[Pistol Pete]

I'm not brand loyal. I own many different brands, S&W, Ruger, Beretta, Browning, Winchester, Rem, High Standard, Colt, Springfield, Mossberg, Ithaca, Kimber, etc. The only thing I'm likely to turn down is Taurus but I'd buy a Taurus if I can shoot it first and prove it works first.

 

[London]

For handguns I like Glock more than anything else. Simple design, reliable, good price for the quality. That's just the product.

Last Friday I went to a GLock promotional where I got to meet R. Lee Ermey. He signed a couple of things of mine, spoke with me for a while, took tons of pictures with me, and never even charged me a thing. I also loaded up on lots of free Glock stuff including hats, kechains, stickers, high-quality books, pens, coffee mugs, and even got an R. Lee Ermey coin. All of this on Glock's dime. Pretty cool.

But here's where it gets better. The next day the Gunny was going to an invitation-only hog hunt for wounded vets. He was hosting. A lot of them had very serious injuries, including missing limbs, and thought they'd never be able to shoot a gun again, The fact they were out there hunting was a triumph over extreme adversity (as though they hadn't had enough of that in their lives). Glock, Inc. paid for the whole thing.

Tell me that isn't cool.

So it's not just their product I like. It's the company.

 

[jrbfishn]

Not enough experience with most in the last 30 years, but I do like my Rock Islands.

from an idgit coffeeholic

 

[CrazedJava]

Had a little thread necromancy going on? I'll play.

No brand loyalty here. No manufacturer is perfect. I do know some do better than others.

Even Taurus has some good products, shot a few of them, but I wouldn't touch a brand new product of theirs until it's been out in the wild and had a lot of other people shoot it first.

I do tend towards Rugers. I know what I'm getting and Ruger seems to understand what it takes to make a reliable weapon. All the same, I'm a little leery of their SR series just because I've heard a lot of reports of ammo finickiness.

About the only manufacturer I trust close to 100% is SIG, but even they have a few pistols I am solidly "meh" on. Not that I can find anything wrong with them, just a few of their guns have no appeal to me.

I love IWI but it is an unloved brand here and now that it is marketed as "Magnum Research" there are quite a few products they share space with that are dubious or even more obscure.

 

[navysooner]

I'll buy anything if it shoots good. Hell I have a Hi Point pistol. Not my favorite but its cheap and shoots just fine.

 

[Charlie]

I'll buy anything if it shoots good. Hell I have a Hi Point pistol. Not my favorite but its cheap and shoots just fine.

We won't tell anybody!

 

[navysooner]

lol its just something cheap I bought to hide out at my land.

 

[Saltyag2010]

I have 3 ruger 22s. All different models. My wife doesnt think that other 22s are worth it. I have no complaints with ruger 22s

 

[TheDan]

I do like my Rock Islands.

I'm somewhat of a Sig and M&P fan, but it tends to be the good running cheaper guns that get my attention. All the Armscor importers, older Tanfoglios, Ruger P-series... I guess I just like getting a lot for my money.

 

[Texasgordo]

Most of my mine are Ruger or S&W but still love everything else I have. As long as it shoots straight the brand does not matter.

 

[Rebel]

Never been a brand guy, but I've never had an issue with any steel S&W revolver I've ever shot. Same goes with Old Model Rugers.

Post-Freedom Group Marlins just don't seem to have the quality the old ones had. I've had bad experiences with a newer 1894, and have yet to see an XT-22 where the bolt handle didn't rub against the stock on the up/down stroke.

Fondled a few Taurus/Rossi Circuit Judges and the fit and finish was pretty bad.

Getting into replica Black Powder guns can be a pain if you aren't careful. Same model will have different parts, depending on the manufacturer and/or when it was produced.