“Our most common sellers are usually home defense shotguns, semi automatic .22s, and .380 pistols,” cheaperthandirt.com‘s Rob reports. “I pulled our sales data from the last six months and made an interesting discovery. A relatively obscure shotgun is outselling the rest of the guns we sell by a large margin. The Interstate Arms Hawk Model 982 literally flies off the shelves and we have a hard time keeping them in stock. It is currently our number one selling firearm. This is due in no small part to its very low price tag—but how does it measure up in quality and performance?” No points for guessing what CTD has to say about their best seller . . .
The short answer is that it is brilliant. It does a great job of doing exactly what the manufacturer intended it to do, which is to be a rugged home defense gun. This shotgun is simply a Chinese made Remington 870 clone manufactured by Norinco and imported by Interstate Arms.
NOW how much would you pay? How about $177.08 (plus transfer fee)? (I know: dirt costs about $150 for 12 cubic yards. So sue me.)
I don’t know about you but I have a real aversion to cheap guns. Cabela’s will sell you a Remington 870 Express Tactical for $350. Sure, the Hawk Model 982 probably works as well as the 870. But probably doesn’t cut it for me. Why would I risk my life for a couple of hundred bucks?
I know money’s too tight to mention, but economizing on firearms is like shopping for Jenna Pietersen at LL Bean. You get bang for your buck, but not nearly enough. Or reliably enough. Or something.
Come to think of it, why would you buy Chinese when you can buy American? Or Belgian? Or Italian? Enquiring minds want to know.