What to do with this thing...?

[charlessummers]

Ok, I was given a Lorcin L380 from an older lady that needed to get it out of her house since her husband has developed alzheimers. I took the thing home and cleaned it up, which was pretty easy considering that it hasn't had a full box of ammo through it. (Somehow it still survived, )

Anyway, I thought I would take it to the Hendersonville gun show this weekend to see if there was ANY interest at all in it, even tried to trade it in on a new gun. As I expected... noone wanted to even look at it after I told them it was a Lorcin. So, I know I'm not going to shoot it, and I don't want my son shooting it either, but I need to do something with it, but what?

Any idea as to what it's worth to an honest person?

[Garufa]

Shoot it until it breaks then maybe the local PD will have one of those gun buybacks where you can turn it in for grocery money.

Or become a benefactor here and post it in the classifieds.

[~48_South~]

Yeah as stated above I would wait for one of those gun buyback deals,they seem to pay ya pretty good for less valuable firearms.

[charlessummers]

Who does the buy back? State or City? I'll go check Metro Davidson county's website now to see if they have one going or coming up.

[Jonnin]

If you reload 380, you can probably shoot it safely enough with a middling load. If you do not, the price of the ammo would be better spent on a new gun.

It isnt worth much, under $200 at a guess, even in less than a box ever condition.

If it were me, I would verify if it works or not, then load it up, and stash it somewhere as an emergency gun (car, near a door, that sort of thing). If it gets stolen, no big loss.

[Mike.357]

I dunno why you would not shoot it. I would not buy one but I'd have no issue with owning it and using it.

[gjohnsoniv]

Why not just keep it around as a last ditch gun or a truck/car gun? I don't see any reason to not shoot it. Just stick it around a tree and pull the trigger.

[Metalhead]

I'd cut the front sight off of it so you don't cut yourself slinging it into the nearest body of water

[dralarms]

I dunno why you would not shoot it. I would not buy one but I'd have no issue with owning it and using it.

But you sure sold one. Lol

[Mike.357]

I did not own the one I sold, sold it for a guy I worked with. Found a happy buyer in short order too,

No need to hold it around a tree, it is not going to blow up when it shoots.

[Steelharp]

Need a paperweight?

[graycrait]

I fixed one for a friend once, one of the Lorcin .380s that had a black finish. Then I said: Why don't I clean it up good for him? Sprayed it with gunscrubber - not a good idea. A lot of the black finish came off. I said, uh oh! Then I sprayed it some more and took all the finish off. Then I put that pot metal on the buffer. Shined up like a new quarter. I gave it back to this guy and his eyes lit up like he just won the lottery. He wanted a shiney gun.

I wouldn't trust it to save my life. Best cut it in half with a chop saw and toss it in the nearest river like Metalhead said.

Edited August 28, 2012 by graycrait

[Patton]

Someday someone may break in your house and need a gun. Something my grandfather always said.

[Oh Shoot]

People do collect the Ring of Fire guns, too. Seems any working one is worth at least a C note, for that and (gulp) other purposes.

- OS

Edited August 28, 2012 by OhShoot

[Guest Aces&8s]

Like others have said, I'd keep it as a back-up. My dad got a 9mm Lorcin as boot in a trade, and it is ugly and heavy, but it is also a functional firearm that, in a worst case scenario, backs up his other pistols, plus he can chuck it in a tackle box when he goes fishing and not have to worry too much about it.

[JeffsSig]

Check out this comment I found on the net when I did a quick search on the gun.

The LORCIN L380 .380 caliber semi-auto handgun, also known as the 9mm Kurtz. I love this gun for many reasons, including the fact that it is one of the most common guns involved in violent crimes within the U.S. How cool is that! Such a popular gun that the ATF actually tracks the sales and purchases of this model. Modeled in Eovia Hexagon 1.1 and rendered, as always, in Corel Bryce 5.

[1gewehr]

These guns catch a lot of flack. But, they generally do work fairly well for a while. I have one in .32 that actually functioned well. They don't hold up well to much use. Mine started to develop problems after about 500 rounds. It's around somewhere, but I haven't had it out in a long time.

[TrickyNicky]

Can't believe no ones said this yet.

Send it to me, I'll appreciate it for what it is (and isn't) and give it a good home till it needs disposing of.

Seriously though, some older "junk guns" are cool just because of what they represent to me. Sone people look at them and see a cheap tool to commit a crime, I see an inexpensive defensive tool that anyone regardless of personal finance can afford to own.

As wierd as it may be to sone of us, some people don't want to spend their free time on a gun range or reading about them on a forum or magazine. Some people just want to own something that can be used last ditch to protect themselves and their families. They dont care if it works everytime over the course of 500-1000-10,000 rounds, they just want it to work that one time they do need it. Longevity is not at all a factor for those people.

Cheap guns are nifty.

[charlessummers]

Check out this comment I found on the net when I did a quick search on the gun.

That doesn't make me like this one any better... but I think that a friend of mine is wanting to buy it. He was hard up for some cash the other day and sold me his S&W Model 65 for $300. I think I'll make him a good deal on this one... or at least let him hang on to it and get it out of my house.

[JeffsSig]

That doesn't make me like this one any better... but I think that a friend of mine is wanting to buy it. He was hard up for some cash the other day and sold me his S&W Model 65 for $300. I think I'll make him a good deal on this one... or at least let him hang on to it and get it out of my house.

Now just because I found this statement on the net does not make it true.

Id not worry in keeping the gun.

[Jonnin]

Can't believe no ones said this yet.

Send it to me, I'll appreciate it for what it is (and isn't) and give it a good home till it needs disposing of.

Seriously though, some older "junk guns" are cool just because of what they represent to me. Sone people look at them and see a cheap tool to commit a crime, I see an inexpensive defensive tool that anyone regardless of personal finance can afford to own.

As wierd as it may be to sone of us, some people don't want to spend their free time on a gun range or reading about them on a forum or magazine. Some people just want to own something that can be used last ditch to protect themselves and their families. They dont care if it works everytime over the course of 500-1000-10,000 rounds, they just want it to work that one time they do need it. Longevity is not at all a factor for those people.

Cheap guns are nifty.

You can get a lot better guns for very low prices though; this isnt 1962. For the same money you could score a cz-82 (or could a couple of years ago, they were $90 a pop at one point I think?) --- a rugged and reliable gun from a quality manufacturer and chambered in an inexpensive but potent enough caliber. You can get a used kel-tec in a variety of calibers for not much more than the zinc antique, and if the kel-tec goes wrong at least you can get it fixed for free. I agree that inexpensive guns are an important market for those not well off, but these days, you can get a lot for a little if you do some homework.

[TrickyNicky]

That's true enough today, I guess the same way I like my C&R guns for the fact that they are what they are I like older cheap guns as well.

In the case of the "zinc antique" it's an interest that combines the two. It's older and has history, in this case the history is that of and inexpensive means of protection from a time when your choices where somewhat limited.

I wouldn't use one nowadays for protection anymore than I'd want my Mosin in a combat zone but still the fact remains, to me at least old cheap guns are nifty.

Pobably the same reason I like old guitars, you can get a better guitar for less money today and I'd never use my 65 epiphone olympic at a gig or for recording. The pickup buzzes loudly, it's not articulate and all in all for the money I could have easily gotten a much better modern guitar but I have lots of better modern guitars, I LIKE a few of the old crappy ones.

I guess there's just no accounting for tastes?

[JAB]

Can't believe no ones said this yet.

Send it to me, I'll appreciate it for what it is (and isn't) and give it a good home till it needs disposing of.

Seriously though, some older "junk guns" are cool just because of what they represent to me. Sone people look at them and see a cheap tool to commit a crime, I see an inexpensive defensive tool that anyone regardless of personal finance can afford to own.

As wierd as it may be to sone of us, some people don't want to spend their free time on a gun range or reading about them on a forum or magazine. Some people just want to own something that can be used last ditch to protect themselves and their families. They dont care if it works everytime over the course of 500-1000-10,000 rounds, they just want it to work that one time they do need it. Longevity is not at all a factor for those people.

Cheap guns are nifty.

I actually kind of get where you are coming from. Growing up, many older folks I knew (some of them were relatives) kept a cheapo .22, .25 or .32 in a pocket, etc. Generally speaking, these probably weren't carried for self defense against a two-legged assailant. Instead, they were used to dispatch snakes, etc. while out in the garden, on the creek bank fishing or so on. Other than that, they were probably occasionally used to shoot at targets of opportunity (see if you can hit the knot hole in that tree) and the like. Sure they would have used them in something more like what we think of as 'self defense' if the need arose but, after all, why would a man look to the little, relatively weak pistol in his pocket for SD in a serious situation when he probably had both a shotgun and a rifle hanging within easy reach in the back window of his truck or propped up behind the bedroom door if at home?

Like you, I sometimes like cheap guns. They might not be my first choice for SD but as range toys they punch holes in those threatening paper targets just as well as anything else. In those circumstances if they quit working then they can just go into a parts box and if I ever get another one it can be cannibalized if parts are ever needed in the future. I don't honestly have enough such guns to really use for that purpose, yet, but I might eventually.

Now, as Jonnin alluded, I certainly am not going to pay enough for one that a couple more bucks could get me a used Kel Tec or even a Hi Point (I consider Hi Point pistols to be inexpensive and unrefined but not 'cheap'.) With the Lorcins, etc. I don't really know that I'd buy a .380 as I'd be more inclined to stick to 'weaker' rounds like a .25 or maybe a .32 in the pot metal guns. That said, within my parameters, if I can get a working gun for under $100 I'd have to at least consider it. The problem is (again, as Jonnin alluded) when I see one of these guns for sale the seller usually has a price tag closer to $175 or so on it. I wouldn't pay that for one.

As far as the OP, as I said I probably wouldn't buy a Lorcin .380 but I'd sure take a free one if offered. As others have said, I'd probably put it somewhere as a 'stash gun' - maybe even bolt down a cheap lock box (with the metal hasp type lock) in an out of the way corner of one of the outbuildings, lube the gun up good, toss it in the box with enough rounds for one reload, lock the box up with a combination lock (so I wouldn't have to worry about keeping up with a key) and more or less forget about it until/unless it is ever needed. Maybe check on it every three to six months just to make sure it isn't rusting, still functions and so on.

Edited August 28, 2012 by JAB