If you guys were gonna look into a gun, What are some good brands that don't cost an arm and a leg?
Unfortunately there are no inexpensive quality guns out there. The good news is they are making them a lot better quality wise and often times offering things that were once optional custom gun work in the past.
Taurus makes a good revolver. I like thier PT-99 pistol in 9mm much more so than the Beretta M9. Thier customer service leaves much to be desired though!!! Charter Arms makes some excellent defensive type revolvers that are reasonably priced and make them in a number of calibers. I would most likely opt for one in 44 Spl if I were to buy one from them. Ruger makes excellent, built like a brick crap house, revolvers and pistols that you cant likely abuse or break. They are that tough and that over engineered. They are reasonably priced for what your getting. I have two that I have shot silly over the years including a 44 Redhawk thats had a few thousand punishing hot reloads through it and its still operating like a fine swiss watch. That says a lot about Bill Rugers fine designs! Unfortunately they no longer make the Security Six (chambered in 38/357) anymore. S&W makes some nice revolvers as well although they arent exactly cheap and no wheres near as durable as Rugers are.
As for Pistols...many would say the Glock pistols are fine and they are, I just dont like the fact that they "really dont have a safety" on them. To me thats a big show stopper for me. As Jarhead eluded to most defensive fights with a handgun will occur at near point blank ranges and may even envolve some grappling around with an attacker to get seperation distance to draw and shoot. I really dont care for S&W's Sigma either although they are fairly popular. SA's XD series have a great reputation and seem to be flying off the shelf at the gun stores. Khar makes some budget priced pistols in defensive calibers and are very compact, not sure about thier durability and long term reliability. I very much prefer the non-polymer pistols and one with a dedicated safety like the one on the PT-99 or 1911 style pistols. While the polymer pistols are light weight and low maintenance from a corrosion stand point I prefer the all steel pistols, preferably in stainless steel. For a 1911 style pistol Kimber, SA, Rock River Arms and Paraordnance are the 4 brands I would look at without reservation. All are very well made, offer a gazillion models to fit just about any need or desire and most can be easily customized to fit the owners needs with little in the way of tools and just some basic skills/knowledge. These pistols have a number of safeties on them that make them about as "Accidental Discharge Proof" as humanly possible but yet reliable as possible when employed when properly gripped and the thumb safety is raked off by you thumb as you draw. The 1911's can be had in 380, 38 Super, 9mm, 40 S&W and 45 ACP quiet readily. They can be had with single stack grips that are slim or double stack grips which are a little bit more of a handfull but carry more rounds. They can also be had in full sized 5 inch barrels or compact versions sporting barrels as short as 2.5 inches that will fit in a coat pocket and sizes in between. If your okay with the 1911 design I promise there is a model that fits your needs thats readily available!
While there are few cheap guns these days, dont base your choice off price alone. Look at a gun as an investment, one that will likely out last your life time on this earth. Ask yourself how much is my life or the life of my loved ones worth before you try to save a 100 bucks!
You might think 600-700 is a lot to spend on something you may never use but if you ever have to use it, it will be worth more than its weight in gold!!! There aint no second place winners in a gun fight...
