I have 2 off the bat.

First was a stainless Taurus 357. it was 2 or 3 inches. My friend tom bought it for 50 bucks. We were hitting 8-inch steel at 50 yds. It has the smoothest, crispest da trigger of any revolver i have ever shot. That includes pythons, registered magnums, and Korth. When shooting at 25yds we were able to do a 3inch group off had. It was the first time he had shot it, I offered him cash right then and there. he told me to pound sand. even a blind gunmaker with a fit of epilepsy can make a masterpiece.

The seconds is the aforementioned sig mosquito. After the first 2k rounds. It was an accurate eat anything little pistol. I love it.

I have a Heritage Roughrider .22lr that I love. Everyone I asked told me to save the extra few hundred for a Ruger but for under $200 I took a chance on the Heritage and it’s neen awesome.

quote:

Originally posted by Pale Horse:
I have a Heritage Roughrider .22lr that I love. Everyone I asked told me to save the extra few hundred for a Ruger but for under $200 I took a chance on the Heritage and it’s neen awesome.

I know the feeling. I bought the combo in the mid 90's. the 22lr cylinder was most accurate when thrown. The 22 mag was a tack driver.

Range rental Taurus 1911. Ran dirty. Ran in the hands of new shooters. Ran with any mag and any ammo. Just flat out ran. Better than any Kimber 1911 I owned. You couldnt jam that Taurus 1911. Regards 18DAI

quote:

Originally posted by 18DAI:
Range rental Taurus 1911. Ran dirty. Ran in the hands of new shooters. Ran with any mag and any ammo. Just flat out ran. Better than any Kimber 1911 I owned. You couldnt jam that Taurus 1911. Regards 18DAI

One of the shops i visit would only bring in the 1911 taurus. It had a crap ton of features for 700 bucks. They bought one back for whatever reason. THey stuck it in the range, it shot and shot and shot. It out lasted their other range 1911, sig scorpion. Though, the scorpion was rented far more often. Both turned out to be supremely reliable pistols under the dirtiest conditions.

OK, preparing self for the flamethrowers, but I have the perfect item for this thread. Give me brownie points for bravery in admitting I owned and carried this.
In the early 80's, I tried 22LR's for carry -- Beretta 70S, and more so Walther TPH (the incredibly light and slender German aluminum frame) and Walther PP. All are awesome, and the PP as accurate as a High Standard Tournament and S&W 41 (but cruddy sites). But the Walthers' reliability was lacking. Enter an Iver Johnson TP22, which is crudely based on the Walthers. (Awaiting flaming.) Bigger than the TPH, smaller than the PP (or a PPK), and felt a bit like pot metal. But wow, amazingly reliable -- have never had a 22LR pocket pistol that was so reliable. Just ate everything, and the accuracy, though not PP like, was not bad at all. Amazing little gun for way under $200 back then.
(Yes, I graduated to centerfires, with a bit of nostalgia.)

S+W SW9VE sigma 9mm. Everyone rags on this pistol. It was my first pistol that I bought, and bought it new. It was incredibly accurate, had a great feel (ergonomics) and aside from the heavy trigger, which I changed springs in an lightened, it was a very good gun. I had one FTE at 6500 rounds and traded it in with 9,000 rounds through it for $175. In hindsight, I should've kept it as a kick around tackle box, truck gun for that price.

Taurus here as well, the much maligned (in its early years) first generation 2-pin 709 Slim. It's been a rock solid reliable gun, not that I've abused it in any way like some YouTubers will do to any number of handguns. It just keeps working without histrionics or complaint. Cheap, dirty ammo...no problem. Problematic hollow points that stop in other guns of mine...no problem. It does have a rather wonky trigger (long takeup and really deep break point) so I'd rather not carry it if it came down to it. But I've got enough rounds through it by now that I trust it to work IF it came down to it being the only gun that was available to me. And besides, Taurus was doing all that origami angular slide profiling crap on the Slim long before SIG DE and others thought it would be a kewl accent to put on their far more expensive guns. So even Taurus can be a little stylistically innovative at times.

I am not sure it would be classified as a dog but I think only a 1000 or so were made.

It is the Colt Z or CZ .40 B project gun. I love it but I don't shoot it as much as I should.

It has never missed a beat regardless of the ammo I use.

I think I only paid about $279 or $289 for it.

Taurus 431 3" .44sp stainless....bought in the early 90's. First new handgun I ever purchased. $249.00. Money well spent as I've gone thru many, many pistols over the years but my first and only Taurus continues to chug along, accurately and without any issues.

An older Taurus .357, 4" K or L frame equivalent. One of the guys broke it out on the range and it shot very well.

Rossi Cyclops .357...I bought it cheap at a pawn shop as new in the box (it was a trade in) back in the early 90s...it had one of the smoothest triggers, both single and double action, as well as perfect timing and lockup...it was as accurate as any revolver I have owned. I shot many thousands of hand loads through that Rossi for about 15 years or so until I used it in trade for a used Ruger Blackhawk .45 convertible (so I would have a pair of them)...

To be honest...I wish I had it back

Chiappa Rhino...yea I know lol. Heard all the horror stories before hand, but was always intrigued by the design so when one came up on sale (6" version) for a decent price I picked it up. This was a couple years ago now and very happy with it - it's a lazer beam with .38spl SWC's and after a couple thousand rounds now it still works like a top. Mostly those mild 38 special loads, but with an occasional .357 range day too, but again no issues. DA is a bear, but SA is decent and zero muzzle rise with those plinking loads. And it's so ugly, how could you not love it lol.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Newf,

I like the Taurus Raging Bull 480 I shot. It is my friend's gun and he has moved several states away. We shot 325 grain Hornady factory XTPs and 400 grain hard cast flat nose ammo loaded to a nominal 1200 fps. The gun is pretty darned heavy which helped dampen the felt recoil. Some people don't seem to care for the Raging Bull model but the one I tried is pretty nice.

Tisas 1911 railgun. So far, over 700 rds of mixed ammo. Accurate and no issues to report.

+1 on the Rhino. I have the 2 inch (meh) and the 6 inch. The big one is SUPERB! I love shooting magnums thru it. Little recoil and very accurate. Other "dogs" that worked for me were: IJ TP22, as mentioned above, the IJ "Woodsman" knockoff, and a Charter Pathfinder in 3 inch.

quote:

Originally posted by DSgrouse:

quote:

Originally posted by Pale Horse:
I have a Heritage Roughrider .22lr that I love. Everyone I asked told me to save the extra few hundred for a Ruger but for under $200 I took a chance on the Heritage and it’s neen awesome.

I know the feeling. I bought the combo in the mid 90's. the 22lr cylinder was most accurate when thrown. The 22 mag was a tack driver.

Cheap fun.

SIG P245
Not a dog of a pistol of course but certainly the red headed step child of SIG's classic line up. I like the lil' ginger spud.

Taurus Millenium 9mm sub compact something or other.
The early version of their sub compact double stack plastic guns. These were actually pretty decent.

Taurus on several occasions for me as well.

Still have a model 605 that, while it hasn't been shot much, I don't want to try to replace with something that might not be as good but will damn sure cost a lot more.

Really liked the PT945 that I had for a bit too. Wish I hadn't traded it all those years ago, but that's life.

quote:

Originally posted by Fredward:
+1 on the Rhino. I have the 2 inch (meh) and the 6 inch. The big one is SUPERB! I love shooting magnums thru it. Little recoil and very accurate. Other "dogs" that worked for me were: IJ TP22, as mentioned above, the IJ "Woodsman" knockoff, and a Charter Pathfinder in 3 inch.

+3, love my 2” Black Rhino. Trigger is great, crisp, and my goodness the bottom barrel thing is no joke. 357 feels like 38. 38 feels like shooting .22.

Another for me is the PX4sc. It got pissed on because it has a tilt barrel unlike the larger offerings which have rotating barrel. I love this little sc and carry it most days.