Best Buy Handguns

Guns Magazine, Annual, 2001 by Massad Ayoob

Here are the top ten handguns that provide maximum quality and function for the dollar.

So, you're in the market for a top-notch handgun and now you're suffering from sticker shock. Good handguns rarely come cheap. Most shooters like old-world craftsmanship, but such labor-intensive manufacturing is expensive.

New techniques have helped. Ruger pioneered investment casting in quality handguns. HK pioneered the use of polymer in pistols and Glock advanced the concept to the vanguard of popularity. In all cases, fine guns became available for less money.

Another concept that goes back to the 1950s is the "plain Jane" version of conventionally manufactured handguns. It was during the '50s that Smith & Wesson introduced the Model 28 Highway Patrolman .357 revolver and the Model 46 .22 target pistol. Each was basically the same gun as the expensive version -- the Model 27 revolver and the Model 41 pistol, respectively -- with corners cut in production. Their finishes were a sandblasted-gray to save labor-intensive polishing. Fancy touches, like checkered topstraps, were left off. Actions were not so finely honed, but the accuracy and the basic functions were the same, for much less money. While the Model 28 and Model 46 are long gone from the S&W catalog, the concept remains in S&W's Value Series.

Here are the 10 best-value handguns currently produced. "Value" is defined for our purposes as "high quality and function at a low price." Don't look for "fancy," look for "function."

Big-Bore Handguns

In full-power fighting handguns, there are a handful of real best buys available. Each uses a different approach to manufacturing to cut costs while maintaining quality.

SIG sig pro

SIGArms went to a polymer-frame pistol in 1998 to reduce cost, essentially creating a Cadillac for the Pontiac price range. They more than succeeded. At 27 ozs., the sig pro is over 3 oz. lighter than the allsteel P-229 in the respective calibers, .357 SIG and .40 S&W. At $596 suggested retail, it's $199 cheaper. It carries the same number of rounds and each pistol is caliber interchangeable between .357 and .40 -- simply by changing barrels.

The sig pro has other advantages. It comes with different-sized grip inserts that allow you to better fit the pistol to your hand. Most importantly, for me at least, the sig pro in .357 SIG has the same fine accuracy as the P229 in that caliber. Even better, the sig pro SP2340 in .40 caliber is more accurate than any P-229 in that caliber that I've ever tested or seen shot.

The sig pro has the same round count, it's lighter, better adapted to your hand and produces good or better accuracy. Plus, it's 25 percent less expensive. That spells V-A-L-U-E.

S&W Model 457

The spirit of models 28 and 46 lives on at Smith & Wesson in the Value Series guns. These reached their position of "best buy" status with the 1996 introduction of the Model 457, a compact 7 1 shot .45 ACP with an aluminum-alloy frame. This series of pistols has plainer finishes and the edges are squarer and blunter to save machining of contours.

All Value Series versions of the conventional DA first-shot S&W autos are good buys. For example, the Model 908 at $466 is the Value Series treatment of the top-line Model 3913 in the same 9mm chainbering, which retails for $662 -- an almost 30 percent savings. The 457 carries a suggested retail of $515, compared to the stainless top-line Model 4516's $822 price tag. This is a whopping 37 percent savings.

It gets better. The 4516 is a chunky, all-steel pistol. The aluminum alloy-framed 457 is much lighter and more portable. The only counterpart in the S&W line is a very high-end pistol, custom made for a certain distributor and selling for roughly twice the price of a 457.

Very reliable and very accurate, the Model 457 is probably the best buy in the S&W catalog today.

Ruger P97

Sturm, Ruger & Co. has long led the way in quality investment casting to lower handgun prices. In 1995, with their P95 pistol, they combined investment casting with polymerframe technology to produce a highcapacity, high-quality 9mm at a price so low it was previously unheard of: $351. The price still holds today. In 1999, Ruger celebrated its 50th anniversary by introducing one of their finest values ever, the P97. It's a P95 in .45 ACP.

Accurate enough for most competitive target shooting, the P97 delivers groups equal to those found on the best ($1,000-plus price range) factory target pistols in .45 ACP. Exceedingly reliable, the P97 retails for around $460, but can generally be found at gunshops in the low $400 range or less. Rugged? I deliberately ran over a P95 with a Jeep Grand Cherokee and it still worked fine. The P97 shares the P95's design and construction.

These pistols are ergonomically exquisite, completely lacking the boxy feel of the P90 .45s that preceded them. No sharp edges are to be found. Actions and trigger pulls are smooth and easy, both double and single. Magazine capacity is one round more than the P90: eight rounds, and the mags are interchangeable between the two models.