I’m forever telling people that if all they have is $300 to spend on a carry gun, that they should save up their money and spend $400 for a used Glock. Or if they absolutely have to have a defensive firearm, get a used K-frame, which can still be found under $300 in various places online. However, there actually is another decent option that I frequently forget about since I let my C&R license lapse. If you really only have $250 to spend on a defensive handgun and you can’t wait AND you don’t want a K-frame for some reason, here’s the only gun in that price bracket I’d recommend:
The CZ-82. It’s a DA/SA semi-automatic pistol chambered in the old ComBloc 9×18 Makarov round, which has an outstanding record of one-shot stops when fired directly into the neck of a kneeling dissident by an ŠtB agent. In all seriousness, 9×18 Mak is so common thanks to the jillions of ComBloc guns floating around the market chambered for it that you can buy proper defensive ammo with good bullets, like this Hornady XTP in 9×18 Makarov. Military surplus 12 round magazines are pretty common and easy to find, and you can even get new manufacture 10 rounders from CZ if you really want.
Because it’s chambered in 9×18, it’s not legal for any of the mainstream shooting sports like IDPA or USPSA, but let’s be honest here; if you’re spending $200 on a carry gun, you’re probably not interested in IDPA. Holsters aren’t a problem either, because Blade-Tech makes their great IWB holster for the CZ-83, which is the same gun as the 82. Even with the $70 for the holster, you can get an entire carry rig (belt, gun, holster) for just a hair over $300, which is actually a pretty screaming good deal.
But that leads us to the question of should you? Just because everything is permissible for me doesn’t mean that everything is beneficial for me. Because the CZ-82 is a surplus gun, the sights aren’t particularly great, and they’re not easily replaced with a better model of sight. It’s a DA/SA gun, which some people don’t like, so there’s that as well.
Here’s the real problem: they’re not actually that easy to get. If you don’t have a C&R FFL license, you’ll have to buy them from a gun shop like you’d buy any other gun. I’ve almost never seen one in a gun shop for sale, because usually it’s the big importers of milsurp guns that have all the inventory. So then all of a sudden your $220 gun has a $40 shipping charge and a $30 FFL transfer fee tacked on to the $220 cost…which puts you right around that $300 mark, before ammo and holsters. Hidden costs are a huge part of how people look at their credit card bills and think “how did I spend $400 on gun stuff this month, all I did was buy that CZ-82.” For the non C&R FFL holder, the CZ-82 isn’t such a screaming deal specifically because of those hidden costs. Plus, if we’re really being honest with ourselves, if you do have a C&R FFL, you’re probably not the sort of person that needs a gun for self-defense RIGHT NOW.
I actually like the CZ-82 as a cheap and cheerful defensive gun. But understand what the hidden costs are whenever you get into a surplus gun without the benefit of a C&R FFL. If you don’t have an FFL license, I’d recommend…wait for it…wait for it…a used K-Frame.
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