*sigh* Sometimes it's hard having gun ADD...
I've got a line on a Kahr PM9 locally. It's a great gun, I've shot it, it takes a little getting used to - like all pocket pistols, of course - and the price is definitely more than fair. I've wanted a PM9 ever since I found out Kahr had gone through the arduous process of getting them approved for sale in MA. I even have (most of) the money in hand - this having been an extremely lean year for new acquisitions and all.
So why, then, did I find myself thinking about passing on the deal when offered?
I told the offeree that the PM9 didn't "speak" to me - it just didn't click. Even the G30 that I wasn't certain about, once I held it in my hands, I knew that it was right. The PM9, though, didn't give me that feeling - it felt alien, like it didn't belong. It doesn't make any sort of rational sense - the P3AT is smaller and harder to get a grip on, is made from the same materials, and is of "rough" construction whereas the Pm9 is refined and sleek. Why did the P3AT "speak" to me while the PM9 did not?
In the back of my mind is January - I'm really thinking about picking up a new Smith & Wesson SW1911 sub-compact. I've found myself carrying the Colt 1991A1 a lot recently, the slimness of the 1911 profile winning over the Glock's extra capacity and lighter weight. The subcompact Smith is only a couple ounces less than the Glock, and with only two fewer rounds the difference is marginal at best. I'd rather save my pennies on a gun that doesn't excite me and put them towards one that does.
Anyone else notice this happen? Have you turned down a great deal because the gun just didn't do anything for you? Pick something up that you later wound up getting rid of because it did nothing but sit in the safe gathering dust? I've divested of a handful of firearms that way, making room in the safe (and in the gun fund) for something that I would rather shoot (or at least own) by giving a safe queen a new home.
Or am I the only one that certain guns "speak" to?
That is all.
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16 comments:
Uh, Jay . . . you need to be careful. If the guns are speaking to you, quite possibly the time has arrived to change your meds. If you like, I know a very good doc in your neck of the woods . . . and best yet, he doesn't hand out the Benzos like they're candy. [/snark]
LOL, Brad!!
A Beretta model 96 spoke to me. I always liked GLOCKS, and shot them well, but the Italian thing came home with me.
I never liked the 92-style, but once I picked up the 40 cal, I was hooked. I could carry a GLOCK 22 for better capacity and lower weight. I could carry a model 23 for smaller size, lower weight, and comperable capacity. My 96 just feels right like no other semi-auto ever has and as such rides on my hip every day.
My wife was eyeing a Browning Buckmark, but ended up with a Colt Match Target for a couple hundred more because it felt better and spoke to her. She was afraid she'd made the wrong choice until she shot it, and now it is her favorite gun.
One of my friends came home the other day with a store-brand bolt-action 410 when he had left to buy a K31. The little scattergun is now his favorite gun. Something about it made him get it over a very nice looking Swiss rifle.
I'd pass on the Kahr and ride around until I found something that gave me the proverbial warm n' fuzzies.
Pick something up that you later wound up getting rid of because it did nothing but sit in the safe gathering dust?
I know precisely of what you speak.
If I can get this (deleted) cellular (deleted) data (deleted) connection to (deleted deleted deleted) stay up for (deleted) more than a (deleted) few minutes at a (deleted) time, I'm going to send you an email to make your decisions that much more complicated.
My advice: if it doesn't speak to you or just feel "right", then let it go.
Boy, I really hope that means what I think it means...
Really want a pocket auto-chucker to share the "light carry" load with my J-Frame. That being said I like the PM series Kahrs because they're small, light, and powerful, and they have all the simplicity of a revolver in the manual-of-arms, and a trigger pull that is one of the better DAO semis I've felt.
Then I saw the Mass-legal PM9...unnecessary safety lever, unnecessary loaded chamber
indicator, and $100 over the free-state gun without the extra "features", I couldn't do it.
I also looked long and hard at a Walther PPS, because unlike the Mass legal Kahr they managed to get that piece approved without adding extra failure points.
That being said for a little gun I found the Walther vastly overbuilt with a bit of a high bore axis, so it to stayed at the shop.
Most of my collection is because the gun "spoke" to me.
Some didn't the first time I saw them on the consignment rack, but a few weeks later they did.
I saw a customized Winchester 94 AE in 30-30 probably 10 times and said, "Eh", until the day I said, "Man, I need that baby."
But then, I'm quite a bit different from you in terms of how I like to buy.
I either stumble in and decide something on the consignment rack is just what I need or I order something new because that's what I want.
Usually, I go in to order something and then buy something on the consignment rack.
I went in to get a 1911 probably 4 or 5 times before I got it. I have an AK, a S&W 629 and aforementioned customized Winchester because I went in to get a milspec 1911.
Actually, Veeshir, that's pretty much how 90% of my purchases go...
I'll walk into the gun shop looking to buy Gun X, when I'll look at the used case and see Gun Y and go "Shiny"...
:)
If the gun doesn't speak to you, why would you ever buy it?
Sometimes the gun quietly whispers to you "take me home with you." Sometimes they jump up and down and yell about how miserable your life will be without them. Some of them just steal your credit card out of your wallet, pay for themselves and then hide in your holster and three weeks later you are trying to figure out how they got there.
Then there are the guns, in my case - every Glock I have ever picked up or shot - that says "put me down and walk away."
I'm not trying to diss glocks, they do speak to me, but what they say isn't very nice. So I don't own one.
About a year ago I was looking for a bolt action 30-06. I had my eye on several different models but just kept wandering back to a refurbished Smith Corona 03A3. The stock had been refinished, it had several replacement Remmington parts on it. The only verifiable Smith Corona parts on it were the receiver and the barrel. It was far from a collectors item. But it nestled into my shoulder and against my cheek like it was custom made for me. Everything about it just felt - right.
I finally took my 11 year old son into the store with me let him handle all the different models I was looking at. Finally I handed him that Smith 03A3. He could barely support it offhand. But his eyes lit up while holding it and while he stood there running his hands over the stock while his thumb casually flipped the mag control on and off he said "Get this one."
How do you pass up a gun that talks to both yourself and the person who will inherit it someday?
David,
I've picked up a gun or two over the years that didn't speak to me.
Interestingly enough, my Glock was one of them. I had shot a couple of Glocks before my G30, and really did not like them very much. Then the G30 came up for sale, in my hometown, at a price that - even in a free state - was decent. For MA, though, it was a steal - I picked it up confident that I could turn it around easily for a couple hundred more, or as trade fodder.
But the damnedest thing happened - it talked to me as well. Oh, I tried my best to ignore it: "You, Glocky, shush. I don't like Glocks".
But it sat in the safe, quietly calling to me.
Then I took it to the range - and damn if I didn't shoot it better than the compact 9mm double stack I'd been carrying for a cold weather CCW gun. 9+1 rounds of .45 ACP vs. 10+1 rounds of 9mm was an easy choice, and the G30 became my cold weather gun.
Sometimes they don't necessarily use an outside voice to speak to you...
Thats how I ended up with my Kimber Ultra CDP. I went in looking for a Sub Compact XD-9 for a carry compliment to my XD-9 after getting my permit. Decided to hld the kimber and that was it. Her smoothed curves did it for me. I love smooth curves. Now I keep trying to justify keeping the XD-9 to myself since I have to keep different food around for it.
Years ago I bought a gun that had a perfect spec sheet. It didn't 'speak' to me, but the numbers said it was great. And I gave it a fair shake but it never had that spark. Carried it for a little while, then I think it went 7 years in the safe without being touched. Tried to give it away twice with no sucess.
And that's the story of my P239 boat anchor.
That's odd Jay, I thought you decided what you wanted and then looked for it. I obviously misunderstood your posts.
Right now there's a .500 S&W lever action (Big Horn Armory) that's just about whacking me upside the head and screaming, "Buy Me!!!!".
I was going to wait until BAG day, but I'm about to come into $2G I wasn't expecting so, well, tally-ho!
It'll take about 2-3 months to get, but man oh man am I going to have a good November.
Veeshir,
Sometimes I do, yes. Mainly - like this year's quest for what to get for Buy A Gun Day - I dither over what to get like Phlegmmy or Lissa trying to pick out a pair of shoes.
(Oh, I'm gonna pay for that one...)
:)
*thwack*
:)
You think YOU have problems with "Talking Guns"? Try to find one that speaks to You AND the Mistress of the House!
Here's our problem: Since I'm a firm believer in "New York" reloads, and "2 is one, 1 is 0", all firearms that I own MUST be as well liked by the Boss as myself. Now some of you are probably saying, "Gee, what a lucky guy to have a wife like that!" Except for the following-
A) Carried 1911s for a decade in the Navy, wife can't stand them.
B) Wife loves Glocks, feels like a 2x2 in my hands.
C) Love 38/357 snubs, She likes 6 inch K-Frames.
D) FN-FALs are like Catnip to me, She prefers M-1 Carbines.
E) She keeps saying "When are you going to teach me how to use a Shotgun"? Now I'm wondering how do I afford a Bennelli?
Oh, well there is some light at the end of the tunnel. We both can't make an AR fit us, but she kinda likes the Ruger Mini-14, 'cause it reminds her of her Carbine. And with 5.56 coming down, and .30 Carbine fading away, and I really don't have a problem with the Rugers.....
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