u/NammytheCommie

So my most recent gun purchase is this S&W Model 411 with 3 10-round magazines for $276.99 plus my FFL's $40 transfer fee. .40 S&W has gotten cheaper lately due to a lack of interest in the caliber, so I wanted something chambered in this powerful yet often overlooked chambering. I got 500 rounds of PMC Bronze 180 grain FMJ and 100 rounds of Speer Gold Dot 165 JHP for fairly cheap, and I can't wait to get to the range with it. Now for having an extremely thick grip, it feels surprisingly good in my small hands. Maybe that's because the grip is rubber and fingers sink in a bit, but it doesn't feel awkwardly oversized like a 1911 does. The only real criticism is the mag release being in a spot that forces me to break my grip a bit, and this isn't helped by the button being so small compared to most modern handguns. I don't know year mine is from, but I'm guessing it was either made during the Assault Weapons Ban or came from a 10-round compliant state before it ended up in Texas and then shipped here to Michigan, since none of the magazines are 11-round like the 411 originally had. Unfortunately they are so stiffly sprung that they function more like 9+1 than 10+1, as a fully loaded mag will not fit with the slide forward. My CSX E-Series had the same problem with its 10-round mags (it came from NJ, so unfortunately that was all it had originally) but later I purchased 12- and 15- round mags that didn't have this problem, so I wonder if an 11-round 411/4006 mag will fix this issue as well. I'll definitely have to lube the slide/frame rails with some white lithium grease, as this gun came bone dry. Aside from some fouling, there is absolutely zero residue of any kind, which is shockingly rare with a used gun. Normally there's at least some remnants of oil or grease, but not on this gun. Normally I use Rem Oil or Ballistol to lubricate a pistol, but I read that oil doesn't work very well due to the alloy frame, which is odd because my Bersa Thunder 380 and Taurus PT 99 AF both use alloy frames and seem to run just fine with oiled slide/frame rails. What does everyone here think? Is this a good introduction to 3rd gens as a whole or do the cost savings negatively impact it compared to something like the 4006, 3906, or 5906? The sights are also Tru-Dot, were they OEM or did someone upgrade it in the past?

I intend to use it as a heavy clothes carry with a crossdraw leather holster, so I think the alloy frame will make it better suited to that purpose. I have a CZ-75B I carry strong side outside the waistband, and while the pistol is designed in a way that doesn't jab or otherwise cause discomfort, the loaded weight of 16+1 124 grain 9mm Federal HST plus the all-steel construction make it feel like a lead weight against my waist. 10+1 (or 9+1, as the magazines allow) of 165 grain Speer Gold Dot .40 in an alloy frame is probably going to be far more tolerable, and I'm giving crossdraw a try because I heard it is more comfy when sitting down, and I also find the drawstroke far more natural to do quickly. I also didn't want something like a Shield or even the full size M&P with a super light polymer frame because I heard .40 produces a lot of recoil (thankfully nowhere near as much as .357 Magnum because I'm still struggling to control that), so alloy seems like a good compromise vs super light polymer what I'm sure is an absolute brick in the all stainless steel 4006.

While looking on Ebay for some wood grips, I noticed one of the sellers was offering custom brass engravings on an already nice looking set of grip panels. So I sent them this image of Rally to engrave, and I'm pleased with the results. Fortunately they're close in dimensions to the stock grips, though maybe slightly thinner, which I find advantageous for my small hands. Yeah, I know she uses a short rail, but I'm not shelling out $1k for a Legend when the 75B is functionally close enough.

I just picked this up from my FFL today, though I won it in a Gunbroker bid on the 20th. Including the shipping and FFL transfer fee, I paid around $440 for it. Had some carbon buildup inside but other than that seems very lightly used. It was also bone dry so I put some rem oil in after I was done cleaning it. I can't wait to actually shoot it, as the 75 series is almost universally praised.

I placed a bid for $350 and thought for sure someone would outbid me, but nope. I'm already familiar with CZ since my first firearm purchase was a vz. 82, and I got a vz. 70 earlier this year. But the 75 is what they're known for, so I figured I had to get some variation of it, and that's how I landed on this one. I'll probably replace the grip panels with ones that have the Shadow 2 shape, since they're thinner and I have small hands, and maybe replace the recoil and hammer springs with Wolff ones depending on what shape they're in, but otherwise plan on keeping it stock. But there seem to be a ton of aftermarket parts/accessories for the platform, so if anyone has recommendations, feel free to let me know.

Can't believe I haven't posted this already. Sadly it's the last of the retro gats I have without getting into my rifles, unless my Taurus PT99AF counts as retro. Anyways, my M/40 is the most expensive handgun by far, I paid somewhere around $730 for it at my LGS, though I did get a partial refund after I shot it and the locking block broke. I had to replace that and the bolt assembly, since the old one was peened over a bit. I also replaced the recoil spring with a new one from Wolff. For being a design from 1935, this is a surprisingly nice shooter. The checkering on the grip panels makes them very easy to hold, and the trigger is one of the best, if not the very best, I've ever used. If I were to have one complaint, it's the safety. It is very stiff and not the easiest for my thumb to reach. These are also fairly fragile internally despite being heavy steel pistols, so I wouldn't use anything more than standard pressure 125 grain 9mm. But man, this is a lot of fun to shoot. Being all steel, it's heavy and has next to no recoil, and it's a natural pointer due to the Luger-esque grip angle and fixed barrel.

Just picked this up from my FFL today. It was in much better shape than the listing photos lead me to believe, but that's to be expected when they zoom in so close. It did have some dried-up lubricant that kept the ejector rod from moving very easily, but I gave it a deep cleaning and added some Rem oil so it works very well now. The trigger on this thing is incredibly smooth, right up there with my Victory Model. The grip panels are also very well-made, making it very easy to grip. I'm thankful that's the case because aftermarket grips are not easy to find for this model. This is my first revolver in .357 Magnum, and I intend to use it as a winter carry if the recoil isn't too much of a turnoff. I think it will be plenty manageable considering this is somewhere between an L and N frame with a 4" barrel.

I was looking for a decent, affordable revolver in .357 Magnum (I already have 2 revolvers in .38SPL and 1 in .22lr), and I came across this Astra 357 on guns(dot)com. I was worried it would be like gunbroker where the bid would go up an absurd amount, but it started at $300 and I won it at $320. That's about the price of a Taurus, but having an Astra A-60, I know the fit and finish will be very good. I just hope all the springs are in good order, because finding replacements might prove difficult. I'll update you guys when it arrives, but for now have the pics from the listing.

On the surface, this is just one of many Walther PP clones that FÉG made in Budapest, Hungary. But the history behind the Walam 48 is a bit more interesting. These were made for a police contract with Egypt in 1957. However, the contract fell through after around 7k of the promised 10k pistols were made, so FÉG had to resell them to various police forces in Europe as well as the commercial market. Mine is from 1958 and has the Egyptian crest on it, however some were made without the crest, and others were completely blank aside from proofmarks and serial numbers. Overall, somewhere around 13k-14k Walam 48 pistols were produced, and they are a surprisingly good value despite being made in relatively low numbers. For comparison's sake, Walther made around 500k PP and PPK pistols during WWII.

My first revolver and it did not leave a good first impression. I inherited it from my grandpa, who used to pocket carry it when he worked as a barber in Detroit during the 80s and possibly early 90s. He had some BarAmi Hip Grips on it, which I replaced because they looked and felt terrible. I have several grips for it, with the Pachmayr Presentation Grips being the most comfortable but defeating the purpose of CC'ing it, and these being a decent compromise between shootability and concealment. I have yet to find grips that work well with my HKS speedloader, but I've heard that's nearly impossible with J-frames. Unfortunately nothing about it is ideal at the range: the short barrel makes muzzle rise a huge problem, and the trigger pull is heavy and nowhere near as smooth as a K-frame. But it conceals very well, and the trigger has gotten better as I used it more. Still, I only carry it on days like today where my pockets don't allow for anything larger. 99% of the time I'm carrying my CSX E-Series or Beretta M1934 instead. But since it was my grandpa's, and I miss him very much, I'm never getting rid of it.

I haven't shot this in a while but it's a great shooter. I took a gamble when I got it on gunbroker, there was a lot of surface rust and the right grip panel was so warped that the seller had to include it in a plastic bag. Fortunately it all removed without issue, and it worked fine for the most part. When my dad shot it and his Glock 26 side by side, he said that they both had near equal recoil. That definitely sounded off, so I ordered a replacement recoil spring and sure enough, the original was very worn. I have no idea what this gun went through before I bought it, but it was definitely used more than the usual milsurp pistols I get. I feel like this is one of the more overlooked Beretta pistols out there, being the middle evolution between the Walther P38 and Beretta 92.

If you were to ask what my favorite pistol is (not necessarily the most practical) it would easily be this guy right here. The only reason I didn't post it sooner is because I was waiting for these KSD grips to arrive, which finally happened today. They were a tight fit, to the point where I had to take a nylon mallet to the right grip panel just to make it fit. They make an already beautiful design even better! But man, I love the M1934. It fits my hands perfectly, the recoil is almost nonexistent, and it is extremely accurate. The only real complaints I have are minor: The heel release is kinda stiff, the safety requires you to break your grip, and 7+1 of .380 is very underwhelming by today's standards. Still, I have Federal Hydra-Shok Deep in it because I trust it enough as a carry, and the 3.75 inch barrel will allow for enough velocity for most up-close situations.

The only Spanish gun I own happens to be this Astra A-60, chambered in .380 ACP. The form factor is sort of an amalgamation between a Beretta 84 and a Walther PP. The grip is closer to the Beretta, to the point where I have Beretta 84 magazines that were converted to work with it. But the slide and barrel are much closer to a Walther PP, Bersa, or Sig P230. While the Beretta M1934 is my favorite pistol in .380 overall, this is a very close second. It has similarly light recoil and the DA/SA trigger is very smooth, similar to a Bersa Thunder 380. The stated capacity is 13+1, however, it is VERY difficult to seat either the original or converted Beretta magazines with the 13th round, so I tend to downsize it to 12+1. It's unfortunate that Astra went out of business, because this is a very well-made gun that I wouldn't hesitate to recommend as a carry. If you can find one for under $300 like I did, you can do much worse.

My three pistols chambered in 9x18 Makarov: 1962 East German Makarov, 1971 P-64, and 1990 CZ vz. 82. I purchased them in reverse order, with the CZ vz. 82 being the first pistol I ever purchased. Basically, my dad gave me his FEG AP~MBP and while I liked it when it worked, it CONSTANTLY had cycling problems that to this day I can't fix. So I did some research and found out it was a .32 ACP variant of the PA-63 in 9x18 Makarov, and that led me down the rabbit hole of 9x18 pistols in general. I searched on Gunbroker for my first pistol purchase until I won a bid on the CZ vz. 82 in this picture, and that is what started my obsession with milsurp collecting. Overall I think I did pretty well with my first gun, as it's never once failed me and still works well if I need it to. The following year, I bought the P-64, and I don't think I ever had more of a love-hate relationship with a pistol. It's reasonably powerful and super easy to conceal, but the recoil took some getting used to, even with the strongest Wolff recoil spring. The Hogue Handall Jr. made it much better, and eventually I learned that it's easy to shoot if I just use one hand. Then I got the East German Makarov and thought it would be a piece of cake to shoot due to being closer in size to the CZ vz. 82 than the P-64, but I was wrong. It's tough to get a high grip on it, and as such the muzzle rise is difficult to control. I did eventually get an extra stiff recoil spring and Talon grip tape to help, but unfortunately I haven't shot any of these pistols in a while because 9x18 is not cheap or easy to find in 2026.

I got this at the beginning of the year for $429 including the shipping and FFL transfer fee, which is a steal for an East German example, especially considering what good shape it's in. Unfortunately I don't enjoy shooting it as much as I hoped I would, since the ergonomics kind of suck and don't allow me to get as high of a hold as I can with most other blowback pistols. Even the P-64, an infamously snappy pistol in the same chambering, is easier for me to shoot because my small hand can grip it much more effectively. Still, it's a very neat pistol that is ridiculously easy to work on, given that it has less than 30 parts in total. But if I must carry a 9x18 pistol, it's going to be either my P-64 for its compact size or my CZ vz. 82 for having much tamer recoil and 12+1 capacity.

Some older pics I took before I changed the grips. These were well-made, but a bit too thick for my liking.

Like most Tokarev pistols, this M57 had a safety added for import requirements. PW Arms opted for this frame-mounted safety that works like one on a 1911, and whether that's good or bad is up for debate. Unlike the trigger dingus some other importers opt for, this safety changes the gun permanently from its original form. There's a notch in the slide that it fits into, and they had to drill a hole through the frame to get the safety in. I personally think it's worth it, because I prefer carrying in condition one rather than having the hammer in half-cock, but a purist will want one with the trigger dingus, since replacing the trigger is easy. Some people will think I'm crazy for saying this, but I like this pistol better than a 1911. I have small hands so the 1911's controls aren't the most ergonomic, and they heavy recoil of .45 ACP certainly doesn't help. By comparison, the M57 is much easier to use since 7.62x25 is surprisingly mild despite being a very high-velocity cartridge, with ballistics similar to .357 Magnum. For that reason, I use this as an Autumn/Winter carry because despite being a heavy steel pistol, it is very thin and surprisingly easy to carry IWB. The only thing that can be annoying is the lanyard loop, since it can sometimes jab into me. It used to have problems feeding JHP ammo, but after replacing the recoil assembly it's no longer an issue. Even though the M57 used a captive recoil assembly that was different from the TT-33 and its other variants, the recoil assemblies are cross-compatible, so don't worry about having to seek out another M57-specific one. I've heard some people have issue with Zastava's new M57A magazines, but I ordered two and they both work for me without issue. They were absolutely caked in cosmoline when I first received them, so maybe some people aren't cleaning that out.

This is a bit of an interesting one. Back in WWII, England ordered Smith & Wesson Victory Models chambered in .38/200, their hotter load of .38 S&W. They wanted to share the same ammunition as their Enfield revolvers, since they didn't have enough to keep up with wartime demand. After the war ended, they had a sizeable amount of these revolvers as surplus, but it wasn't commercially viable to sell them in England. So, as tends to be the case, they looked to the US market for sales. Some were sold as-is in their .38/200 chambering (many of these were converted to .38 Special by backyard gunsmiths), while others were converted by Cogswell & Harrison, like my example here. They didn't just ream the chambers and call it a day, the revolvers were refinished with quality blueing (originally they were parkerized) and the barrel was cut down to 3.5-4 inches, with a ramp sight added. They also added some very nice custom grips, so this feels more premium than if it was in its original configuration.

I just picked this up from my LGS yesterday. Won it on Gunbroker and had it shipped to him. Including the price of the gun, shipping, and the FFL transfer fee, it was $356. It's definitely been used but not to an extreme degree. I cleaned the bore and cylinder, and covered up some of the wear with Oxpho Blue. I also antiqued the sides of the hammer spur with a propane lighter. And I did what I usually do with revolver front sights and put some whiteout on it. Can't wait to shoot it, since I've heard nothing but praise for these cowboy revolvers.