Are people interested in old school firearms like browning hi power?

[KDS991213]

Or is that market dead & is replaced by newer handguns like glock? I'm referring to The Indian market specifically.

[Prabhath]

All comes down to availability........

[Shivaji.Dasgupta]

I am interested in old hand guns like Browning, mouser, Webley etc. Right now I don't have a firearm in my name but in my family we have some old models only.

May be our lot is growing old and that's why our choice is also likewise..

[pgupta]

Well at this point of time I guess people don't have a choice it's either those old antiquated weapons or IOF. But then this will change very rapidly once they have a choice with glock and taurus and others coming.

[timmy]

The Hi Power is a 9mm handgun, and thus PB. It is hard enough for many folks to get a license to begin with, much less for a PB one.

Glocks in 9mm are also PB. People may be interested in Hi Powers or Glocks or anything else in 9mm, but when there is little likelihood in owning one, mustn't this affect how people think of these guns? Effectively, they are made of unobtainium.

Besides this, from the Hi Powers I've seen for sale, they seem to go for very high prices, compared to what one might spend on a modern 9mm semi-auto with a light weight frame. Hi Powers do have a high capacity magazine (which is both sought after and the cause of pearl-clutching by the anti-gun crowd) but compared to many modern weapons, is fairly heavy.

[marksman]

Nothing can replace a finely forged steel and well tune mechanism of gud ole handguns. IMHO.

Marksman

[timmy]

Nothing can replace a finely forged steel and well tune mechanism of gud ole handguns. IMHO.

Marksman

I agree 100%!

The feel of a nice piece of steel is most pleasant, especially if it is well-machined and finished. I have looked for a nice Hi Power, myself, as they are more compact than a 1911 and with today's bullets, probably about as effective.

A personal problem with a Hi Power is, for me, similar to the situation with my Colt Detective Special and 1911: if some unfortunate thing were to happen, it's quite possible I'd lose the gun. While police here are supposed to return them if an event should occur, often they do not, or they are returned in poor condition -- many times, on purpose, I suspect. Or, one might have to go through the expense of a lawyer to recover one's property, and even then, there's no guarantee that investing in a lawyer will result in success.

At this age, I can't replace something expensive.

That's why, although it's not my preference, a reasonable alternative might be one of the new "half plastic" pistols. It would be sad and make me mad to lose one of these, but at least it would not be a shattering loss of one of my prizes.

This is also similar to the Ruger revolver in 32 Federal Magnum. It is small, powerful, and properly chambers six rounds. But it costs more than twice what a new plastic gun costs.

It is sad that so many nice things of yesteryear often end up being victims of today's society in one way or another, isn't it?

[marksman]

All richie riches are going for latest polymer steel combo pistols with few revolvers (SS) thrown in with market flooded with sellers of these kinds and spend several laks to own them. How ever, the ones made in red hot forged steel and quality wood will reign for ever. It is like an antique piece of furniture that never goes outdated and serves the purpose as well for what it is made for.
Right Timmy?

Marksman

[pgupta]

I personally believe that all the talks about the hard forged steel and everything surrounding it would vanish overnight as and when the newer weapons are made available in India. Since we can only have 2 weapons in India and given a chance everyone will try to get their hands on most modern and capable weapon.
Yes antique has its value but that of beauty and in a showcase i dont think that people would prefer those antique weapon for self defense. So in my opinion antique rules till the time people get their hands on the modern weapons.

[marksman]

I personally believe that all the talks about the hard forged steel and everything surrounding it would vanish overnight as and when the newer weapons are made available in India. Since we can only have 2 weapons in India and given a chance everyone will try to get their hands on most modern and capable weapon.
Yes antique has its value but that of beauty and in a showcase i dont think that people would prefer those antique weapon for self defense. So in my opinion antique rules till the time people get their hands on the modern weapons.

Functional solid weapons are quite different from what one would call an antique. You'd know its value when god forbid if one day your pet loving dog chews away at your Glock in your absence. Worse if it's loaded as well.

Marksman

[pgupta]

I personally believe that all the talks about the hard forged steel and everything surrounding it would vanish overnight as and when the newer weapons are made available in India. Since we can only have 2 weapons in India and given a chance everyone will try to get their hands on most modern and capable weapon.
Yes antique has its value but that of beauty and in a showcase i dont think that people would prefer those antique weapon for self defense. So in my opinion antique rules till the time people get their hands on the modern weapons.

Functional solid weapons are quite different from what one would call an antique. You'd know its value when god forbid if one day your pet loving dog chews away at your Glock in your absence. Worse if it's loaded as well.

Marksman

A person who leaves a gun in the open to be chewed by their dog anyway doesn't hold eligibility to own a gun. Forget the logic and common sense even the law says that the weapon should be stored safely in a manner that it's inaccessible to kids and even other adults.

[timmy]

The views of different guns are many.

For instance, many people like guns made of stainless steel nowadays. Many of Ruger's guns are available in stainless steel, especially handguns. But I recall that, back in the 80s, it was said that when stainless guns originally began becoming widely available, the steel was so hard that the machine tools used to make them wore out quickly, so the formulation of the steel was changed to a type that was even less hard than regular steel. It was sarcastically said back then, that one shouldn't leave a stainless steel gun out in the sunlight, for fear of it melting!

Beside not liking the look of them, I have never felt positive toward owning a stainless steel gun for this reason, or maybe rumor.

Regarding "plastic" guns, it seems to me that there is plastic and there is plastic, just like steel. For instance, I have an ATI plastic stock for Mosin Nagant rifles. I call it "bathtub plastic", as it seems barely a cut above the composition of plastic bathtub toys (beside being incorrectly made). One of my sons has a Sig pistol that has a plastic frame, and this gun seems to be very nice. Plastic (or resin, or whatever) is a bit like aluminum in this sense: it is lighter and may be suitable or may not be.

If I could only own one gun, I would want it to be made of steel. If I could only own two guns, I would still probably want only steel guns. The reason for this is durability.

But if I was more or less unlimited on the number of guns I could own, a well made plastic 9mm semi-auto would interest me as a "carry gun". One with a frame made of proper high strength composites is quite a bit lighter, a great advantage for carrying. Good ones usually have steel runners embedded in the frame rails so that the slide wear surfaces are steel. I'd still want a steel gun to practice with, but a plastic gun like this would be nice; in fact, I have looked long and hard at the Ruger Security 9, which is just such a handgun. I would prefer a platic gun to an aluminum one in this case.

My pet peeve are zinc guns, or zinc alloy, like ZAMAK. This alloy looses strength over time, I understand. This is the same stuff used for die cast chromed parts for older automobiles, like outside rear view mirrors and grille parts. The US state of Illinois prohibits firearms made of zinc (https://sixtllc.com/prohibited-handguns-in-il) although the reason for this is most likely to keep less-expensive guns unavailable as a gun control measure, rather than any true concern about their strength. The main makers of zinc guns are Hi-Point and the various cheap 25 Auto pistols, like Lorcin, Jennings, Raven, and Bryco. Henry 22 lever and pump rifles are also ZAMAK, like their Ithaca and German Erma predecessors, and are very well received here, but I won't own a zinc firearm.

[pgupta]

The views of different guns are many.

For instance, many people like guns made of stainless steel nowadays. Many of Ruger's guns are available in stainless steel, especially handguns. But I recall that, back in the 80s, it was said that when stainless guns originally began becoming widely available, the steel was so hard that the machine tools used to make them wore out quickly, so the formulation of the steel was changed to a type that was even less hard than regular steel. It was sarcastically said back then, that one shouldn't leave a stainless steel gun out in the sunlight, for fear of it melting!

Beside not liking the look of them, I have never felt positive toward owning a stainless steel gun for this reason, or maybe rumor.

Regarding "plastic" guns, it seems to me that there is plastic and there is plastic, just like steel. For instance, I have an ATI plastic stock for Mosin Nagant rifles. I call it "bathtub plastic", as it seems barely a cut above the composition of plastic bathtub toys (beside being incorrectly made). One of my sons has a Sig pistol that has a plastic frame, and this gun seems to be very nice. Plastic (or resin, or whatever) is a bit like aluminum in this sense: it is lighter and may be suitable or may not be.

If I could only own one gun, I would want it to be made of steel. If I could only own two guns, I would still probably want only steel guns. The reason for this is durability.

But if I was more or less unlimited on the number of guns I could own, a well made plastic 9mm semi-auto would interest me as a "carry gun". One with a frame made of proper high strength composites is quite a bit lighter, a great advantage for carrying. Good ones usually have steel runners embedded in the frame rails so that the slide wear surfaces are steel. I'd still want a steel gun to practice with, but a plastic gun like this would be nice; in fact, I have looked long and hard at the Ruger Security 9, which is just such a handgun. I would prefer a platic gun to an aluminum one in this case.

My pet peeve are zinc guns, or zinc alloy, like ZAMAK. This alloy looses strength over time, I understand. This is the same stuff used for die cast chromed parts for older automobiles, like outside rear view mirrors and grille parts. The US state of Illinois prohibits firearms made of zinc (https://sixtllc.com/prohibited-handguns-in-il) although the reason for this is most likely to keep less-expensive guns unavailable as a gun control measure, rather than any true concern about their strength. The main makers of zinc guns are Hi-Point and the various cheap 25 Auto pistols, like Lorcin, Jennings, Raven, and Bryco. Henry 22 lever and pump rifles are also ZAMAK, like their Ithaca and German Erma predecessors, and are very well received here, but I won't own a zinc firearm.

Sir agree with you 100%, everyone has a different liking and taste. But apparently I was just making a point between old antiquated and modern weapons.

[timmy]

@pgupta: For sure, and you are right. What I was driving at is that nothing is probably going to be as durable as a properly heat treated steel weapon, and if I could only have one gun, that's what I'd want. I would want something that I know would last under a lot of use.

But, if I could have a lot of guns, having one that was durable (steel) and a similar one that was a well designed and built one with a polymer frame, that would be great, because I could enjoy doing most of the shooting with the steel gun and carry the lighter weight polymer frame one.

For some reason or another, the aluminum alloy framed ones don't seem to me to have the same potential durability of some of this modern composite stuff, even though aluminum can get quite strong and have a very hard anodized surface. (I've tried filing hard anodized aluminum, but the file skids around on it like it was ice skating!) Aluminum has a tendency to work harden and fatigue.

Then again, as you say, there are a lot of uses and a lot of needs, and often these differ between the chooser. And then too, just plain old personal preference comes into play, which is important. We need to feel confident with a gun we buy.

So please don't take my comments as disagreeing with you!

I should also add that I like giving new materials a look over. I won't assume that they are automatically better because they are newer, but I won't disregard them for the same reason. (Unless they are zinc!)

[rs123in]

Enjoy firing of 9mm AUTO, derivative from 9mm BHP.