Changing my handgun?

[HydNawab]

Dear Members,

I have been doing some serious thinking lately regarding the revolver I own.After doing a little bit of research and after considering some views and suggesstions from senior members, I have come to a conclusion of selling my colt 357 for a Beretta 81FS in 32.

I need some help in making the decision final.

Disadvantages of Colt:

1.Availibility of ammo is scarce hence making it expensive.
2.It makes a lot of noise.
3.It is too heavy.

Advantages:
1.It is easily concealable.
2.It looks great.




Disadvantages of Beretta:

1.Its expensive.
2.It looks like any other compact 9mm pistol


Advantages:

1.Ammo is cheap and easily available.
2.I can practice more with this gun.
3.High capacity magazine(13) + spare magazine. Not that I require more(Never have firered all the rounds from my revolver yet)
4.Also easily concealable.
5.Condition is brand new.




Please note that I have used the Beretta 81FS earlier for about a year and must have fired 300-350 rounds from it in year and never had a single mechanism problem.

Also please note that the Beretta is more expensive and I might have to shell out another 2-3 lakhs for it.The major reason for even considering this is because of the price of the 357 mag cartridge.

Your vote would certainly help me in making my decision.Views and suggestions als


Cheers


Ashar

[TenX]

Both look great Ashar.. Keep them both

[HydNawab]

Sadly cant mate.The Misses will put each of those calibres in my head when I am sound asleep.Im sure.

[sitar]

Beretta 81FS

no doubt

[TenX]

Understandable.

If I were you, I would go in for the pistol, if the addition amount was not a problem, for the following reasons:
1. You may spend more initially but since you will also be using it more, and since ammo costs cheaper, it will be a more 'usable' investment.
2. Pistols fare better in action, since it is only the spring and the bullet moving, instead of the barrel.
3. Very powerful revolvers are more susceptible to wear and tear than pistols.
4. Both equally look great, and I like pistols more than revolvers.

.. Hope I managed to confuse you even more

[HydNawab]

As I mentioned Tenx, any suggestions would be appreciated.I guess you are one of those guys who thinks like Abhishek Bachchan in Sarkar Raj. "Nazdeeki nukhsan sonchne se pehla, door ka fayda soonchna chahiye" - Shanker Nagre.

[TenX]

As I mentioned Tenx, any suggestions would be appreciated.I guess you are one of those guys who thinks like Abhishek Bachchan in Sarkar Raj. "Nazdeeki nukhsan sonchne se pehla, door ka fayda soonchna chahiye" - Shanker Nagre.

Well thats how I decided on my economy when I had to buy a car.

The simplest point here is, the utility value of the revolver (say 4 lakhs) is greatly reduced if you dont shoot much with it. Whereas, if you pay a couple of lakhs more, you have something that you will use more - higher utility value. Although incidental cost is high, the pistol has more utility at low variable cost (lower cost of ammo)

I can draw you a Cost function with Implicit and Explicit values, but you will get so bugged, you will end up shooting me

[Mack The Knife]

Voted for the Colt. If you can afford to pay the additional 2-3 lakhs for the Beretta, you can afford to feed the Colt.

P.S.: How do both of them compare in accuracy upto 10 metres?

[OverUnderPump]

Pistol, cuz you'd be able to get more practice with it and practice is always good . 13 rounds + Spare mag now that's really yum . I don't think its that confusing anymore. Even with a speedloader for the snubbie you cant beat this deal (not that you're getting into 'Shootout in Lohkhandwala' type situation but I feel it cant get better than this). But then I'm just plain biased

regards

OUP

[sitar]

please explain single mechanism problem.

thanks

[mundaire]

Wow, this is the second time isn't it? Well, it's a matter of personal choice really and I wonder if anything anyone here will say will actually affect your final decision at all?? Anyhow since everyone is voicing their opinions I may as well throw my hat in the ring... besides it's a Friday night and I'm in a particularly good mood right now

Now this is entirely based on the choices I would make and should in no way reflect on opinion(s) expressed by anyone else.

Ammo is more expensive? By how much? I hope you are comparing imported .32 ACP vs. imported .357 mag ammo... because it would be very unfair to club KF ammo together with the imports - both price and performance wise! In fact I would go so far as to suggest that no one carry KF ammo for self defence... it's all right for plinking at the range but when the chips are down you want the damn thing to work EVERY single time!

Also, if you are looking at splurging 2+ lacs over and above the price of the revolver, be a businessman and calculate how much ammo you are going to be using per year and how much that would cost. It may be several years before you end up spending 2 lacs on .357 ammo and who knows by then the import policy may be very different...

Finally magazine capacity is a highly overrated virtue.. most gun battles involver fewer than 3 shots being exchanged from each side. High cap mags may be an asset for commandos and such but do they really matter for normal civvies?? After all you are not taking this into battle...

Cheers!
Abhijeet

[TenX]

... If you can afford to pay the additional 2-3 lakhs for the Beretta, you can afford to feed the Colt...

But as Ashar mentioned, the primary disadvantage is
"1.Availibility of ammo is scarce hence making it expensive."

[TenX]

..High cap mags may be an asset for commandos...

.. and movie heroes, may I add

[HydNawab]

Mack The Knife,

At 10m, I would say that the accuracy would be almost the same but the aiming time and the balance of the Beretta is better comparatively.Moreover, it has a 3 dot radium sight with it which makes aiming easy.

I know Abhijeet that its the second time.The buyer was asking a very high price the last time.So had dropped the idea.

The 357 ammo is about Rs.300-400 a piece.If I shoot 100 rounds a year, 2L would only last me a max of 5 years.Thats Rs.30,000-40,000 a year for ammo.

I agree with you on the last point that gun battles end in 3 rounds or less.

Ashar

[indian]

i vote for the colt the 357 is something which u dont see often,i mean.....something special finally,it depends on how much u want to practice.