$400/CA Compliant at Buds: Which Should I Buy?

Taurus .357/4"
Total votes: 3 (25%)
Browning Buckmark 4" (No votes)
Browning Buckmark 5.5"
Total votes: 1 (8%)
Henry Single Shot .223 (No votes)
Henry Single Shot .45-70
Total votes: 2 (17%)
Stoeger Uplander 20ga/26"
Total votes: 1 (8%)
Stoeger Coach 20ga/20"
Total votes: 2 (17%)
Other (Explain Yourself!)
Total votes: 3 (25%)
Total votes: 12

$400 to Spend at Bud's

1
So someone paid me $400 on PayPal unexpectedly for some stuff I helped him with. (A fellow Imperial owner in Detroit wanted help inspecting a parts stash locally here, and that turned into multiple days of palleting and packaging.) For a number of reasons, I've decided I'm going to splurge on a gun. Because PayPal won't let you pay for firearms, the workaround is to buy a Bud's gift certificate, then use the gift certificate at Bud's. That, and shipping is included and I have a local FFL who only charges $35 for transfers from Bud's. And Bud's pretty much has the best prices I've been able to find, all-in.

Criteria that matter to me, but don't need to matter to you: fun to shoot, fits in my existing caliber range, shows some multi-use capability, good for new shooters, it's cool. I don't shoot much in ranges, preferring steel targets outside. I have hunted, but I don't have woods or wetlands to hunt on easily.

Here's the rules: $400 cap on price. I'll cover the $35 and sales tax over that, if required, but I'm not going above $400 on price. California compliant. My will to resist new calibers has weakened, so I'm including a .357 in this. Here are my front-runners, but if you like, you are free to suggest anything that meets the under-400/CA compliant rule.

Taurus M65 .357 Mag/4" barrel. https://www.budsgunshop.com/product_inf ... f38sp+4%22
I don't have a revolver, and I keep hearing that I should have one. I kinda agree. These get good reviews, it's in-budget, etc. I don't want a snubbie, and with the California Roster, I have this feeling that you never know if a pistol is going to be there next year (I missed the Rock Island 9mm 1911 a year or two ago), so I'm thinking this is a good time to get one.

Browning Buckmark. https://www.budsgunshop.com/product_inf ... +lr++55%22 or
4" https://www.budsgunshop.com/product_inf ... 2+lr++4%22
There are several different options here for model and barrel length, but the idea is to have a plinker or a new-shooter trainer that can be handled with less care than my Smith 41. I thought about a 22/22mag single action revolver, but not available at Bud's.

Henry .223 Single Shot https://www.budsgunshop.com/product_inf ... rican+waln
I really just came across this when looking for any .223 that fits my price criteria. I like the idea of single-shots, and I've got a Mini-14, so I have ammo for it. Down side is it doesn't have an aperture sight and with my near-field vision, I really see through aperture sights better.
(Dark horse candidate is https://www.budsgunshop.com/product_inf ... 70+bl%2fwd just because 45-70, but it has less utility and the same problems as the .223)

Stoeger SXS https://www.budsgunshop.com/product_inf ... er+20%2f26 or
https://www.budsgunshop.com/product_inf ... e%2fwalnut
Since I have a single-shot and an auto, I don't really need a 26" barrel shotty, so the Coach Gun makes more fun sense. But it seems like it's just for blasting stuff, so the Uplander could actually be used as a dove gun.

Thoughts?

Re: $400 to Spend at Bud's

5
OMG... another hater of Taurus revolvers. They are, after all, patterned off S&W’s. I consider them better than “80% lowers”. If you like project guns that you can really polish to make them shine, they are great fun and very satisfying to own.

That is unless you are a gun snob.
"It is better to be violent, if there is violence in our hearts, than to put on the cloak of non-violence to cover impotence. There is hope for a violent man to become non-violent. There is no such hope for the impotent." -Gandhi

Re: $400 to Spend at Bud's

6
I voted other, I am REALLY at my maximum gun limit and would have to sell one before buying another.
I'd use it for miscellaneous items and ammo, I spent $267.00 at Brownell's a couple of months ago, I think the package weighed
about three lbs., when it arrived.
"it's a goddamn impossible way of life"
"And so it goes"

Re: $400 to Spend at Bud's

9
Bisbee wrote: Mon Oct 28, 2019 12:46 pm OMG... another hater of Taurus revolvers. They are, after all, patterned off S&W’s. I consider them better than “80% lowers”. If you like project guns that you can really polish to make them shine, they are great fun and very satisfying to own.

That is unless you are a gun snob.
I've owned a Taurus or two. Would not do again.
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"Person, woman, man, camera, TV."

Re: $400 to Spend at Bud's

14
I currently own a Taurus 451, a titanium frame .45 Colt snubbie. It’s purely a carry gun for sure not much of a range gun. But no other manufacturer could afford to manufacture and sell a gun like that.
"It is better to be violent, if there is violence in our hearts, than to put on the cloak of non-violence to cover impotence. There is hope for a violent man to become non-violent. There is no such hope for the impotent." -Gandhi

Re: $400 to Spend at Bud's

16
bajajoaquin wrote: Mon Oct 28, 2019 4:12 pm
lurker wrote: Mon Oct 28, 2019 2:53 pm buds has a lovely promotion now for guns with "special" serial numbers, 2020-trump-xxxx. if it were my $, i'd spend it elsewhere.
Sigh. Why did you have to inject that dose of political reality into my life?
sorry, sorry. they sent me an e-mail promoting them. i'm no longer on their mailing list.
Last edited by lurker on Mon Oct 28, 2019 5:14 pm, edited 1 time in total.
i'm retired. what's your excuse?

Re: $400 to Spend at Bud's

17
My first recommendation would be one of the Stoegers. Stoeger is owned by Benelli which is owned by Beretta, quality firearms. And my second recommendation would be the Browning Buckmark - 5.5" barrel since it's for plinking.
"Everyone is entitled to their own opinion, but not their own facts." - Daniel Patrick Moynihan

Re: $400 to Spend at Bud's

18
lurker wrote: Mon Oct 28, 2019 4:56 pm
bajajoaquin wrote: Mon Oct 28, 2019 4:12 pm
lurker wrote: Mon Oct 28, 2019 2:53 pm buds has a lovely promotion now for guns with "special" serial numbers, 2020-trump-xxxx. if it were my $, i'd spend it elsewhere.
Sigh. Why did you have to inject that dose of political reality into my life?
sorry, sorry. they sent me an e-mail promoting them.
I thought we were going to order up a set of Obama commemorative serials to balance out the Trump sets?

Re: $400 to Spend at Bud's

20
Hard to say, without knowing more about what you want to do and what you already have.

Of the items on your list, I personally would be looking hard at the Buckmarks.
"To initiate a war of aggression...is the supreme international crime" - Nuremberg prosecutor Robert Jackson, 1946

Re: $400 to Spend at Bud's

21
Yeah, my first thought was also “F*ck Buds” but that doesn’t really help the OP.
"It is better to be violent, if there is violence in our hearts, than to put on the cloak of non-violence to cover impotence. There is hope for a violent man to become non-violent. There is no such hope for the impotent." -Gandhi

Re: $400 to Spend at Bud's

23
My thought is to save your money up for a while, and buy a S&W revolver. And If you haven't bought the gift certificate yet, just hold on to that money. You just never know what might turn up!
All religions united with government are more or less inimical to liberty. All, separated from government, are compatible with liberty.-Henry Clay
Both oligarch and tyrant mistrust the people, and therefore deprive them of their arms.—Aristotle

Re: $400 to Spend at Bud's

24
There are a few other online retailers with good prices. I would figure out what you want and then look at prices on your favorite gun deal finder web site.

If you live in California, a revolver seems like a good thing to have when they ban semi-autos. Plenty of sub-$400 S&W .38 Special revolvers to be had. For a few more bucks, you can get one in .357 Magnum.
It is an unfortunate human failing that a full pocketbook often groans more loudly than an empty stomach.

- Franklin D. Roosevelt

Re: $400 to Spend at Bud's

25
If it was just $400 to spend in CA, it'd definitely be a used Smith and Wesson 38 with a 3-6" barrel depending on what you find in your price range (probably a 4" model 10). In the bay area, I'd call Imbert and Smithers or the Old West Gun Room and see if either have anything meeting that description.
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