Most popular handguns in the U.S. by Sales

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tipoc

New member
Well sorta, I just looked at pistols and left revolvers out. The picture is quite different if you look at wheelguns.

Turns out there is no hard and fast info available from manufacturers so getting an accurate picture is not exactly possible. So pinning the exact figures down is not possible. But there are various ways to gather the trends. A popular way is to gather the monthly figures that GunBroker puts out on their bestsellers list. CBS did that and correlated it with the ATFs numbers.

I can't say these are hecka accurate. But probably not real far off.

Lightweight, easy to conceal and usually inexpensive leads the way.

CBS on 2016...

https://www.cbsnews.com/pictures/most-popular-guns-in-america/

#5 Glock 19
#4 Sig P938
#3 Springfields XDs
#2 Ruger LCP
#1 S&W M&P Shield

2017 According to Gunbroker

https://www.fool.com/investing/2017/12/17/the-5-best-selling-handguns-of-2017.aspx

#5 Kel-Tec PMR-30 and Sig P320 (tie)
#4 Glock 19
#3 Sig P938
#2 M&P 9 Shield
#1 Ruger LCP

2018 According to Gun Broker

https://www.fool.com/investing/2018/12/16/the-5-best-selling-handguns-of-2018.aspx

#5 Ruger LCP
#4 Sig P320
#3 M&P 9 Shield
#2 Kel-Tec PMR-30
#1 Sig P365 Nitron Micro-Compact

There are other sources as well.

https://www.gungenius.com/top-selling

tipoc
 
A

agtman

Moderator
Glock 19 doesn't surprise me, but I'd have thought the G26 would be right up in there as well ... :confused:
 
F

Fishbed77

New member
Glock 19 doesn't surprise me, but I'd have thought the G26 would be right up in there as well ...
Click to expand...

I wouldn't. I did expect to see the Shield though, especially with the rebate and sales over the past few years.
 
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tipoc

New member
The PMR-30 surprises me as well. Novelty factor? Most of the info comes from Gunbroker so maybe some dealer to dealer quirky thing going on after it's introduction.

tipoc
 
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bbqncigars

New member
So far the only PMR30 on our range (about 1000 members) is mine. I haven't been to a show for a couple of years so I can't say if they're still fairly scarce (<5) there. I guess they might be considered inexpensive 'hand cannons' for newbies wanting major muzzle blast with minimum expenditure and recoil. IDK, is there some social media thing fueling the demand? Think modern version of S&W29 after Dirty Harry came out.
 
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reddog81

New member
All of the links got their data from gunbroker. Anyone who thinks the PMR-30 is the number 2 best selling gun doesn’t know much about firearms sales.

The Uberti 1873 is the best selling revolver! yeah right...
 
C

Cheapshooter

New member
I think one possible reason for the presumed high sales numbers for the PMR30 could be pent up desire. How long ago were they first announced? As I recall about eight years ago. Yet for most of the time since they have been very hard to find, and prices were the $500 MSRP and more. In the last couple years they have been showing up with regularity, and the price when I bought mine was down to $300.
 
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TruthTellers

New member
I severely doubt the PMR 30 is #2, but IF the PMR-30 is even in the top 5 of most popular/best selling handguns in the US, then the CP33 that's coming out is going to beat it by several factors and possibly be the #1 selling pistol in the US.

I know I'm not alone when I say I've been waiting for years for a huge capacity .22 LR semi pistol and given how cheap LR is to Magnum, the CP33 is going to hurt sales of the PMR. People love .22 LR, it's too cheap not to.

I can see why Glock churned out the 43x and 48 now, Sig's 365 clearly took a chunk of sales from Glock.

OP, could you include revolvers too so we can check their numbers out? I'm pretty sure I know which is gonna be #1 or #2 each year for revolvers.
 
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TruthTellers

New member
Cheapshooter said:
I think one possible reason for the presumed high sales numbers for the PMR30 could be pent up desire. How long ago were they first announced? As I recall about eight years ago. Yet for most of the time since they have been very hard to find, and prices were the $500 MSRP and more. In the last couple years they have been showing up with regularity, and the price when I bought mine was down to $300.
Click to expand...
Probably because Kel Tec has been making a lot of them the past few years and after the initial rush, the word got out they're not all that.

Also didn't help .22 Mag took a very long time to become easily available again.

So after years of inventory building up, no .22 Mag, prices had to go down to sell inventory and it happened about the same time the ammo became more available. Actually makes sense now why they'd be selling so well if they in fact are.
 
T

tipoc

New member
OK, revolvers.

The only source I see easily for this is GunBroker. Each month they publish their most popular guns sold by volume on their site and then compile that at the end of the year. Gun Genius then takes that and puts it up on their site. From what I've seen that's one of the few places that does that. Obviously that method has weaknesses and limitations but that's what we have it seems. So...

2015

1. Taurus 85

2. Ruger SP101

3. Ruger GP100

4. Ruger Blackhawk

5. S&W 629

6. Ruger LCR

7. S&W 686 Plus

8. S&W 686

9. Ruger Vaquero

10. Taurus Judge

2016

1. Taurus 85

2. Ruger LCR

3. Ruger GP100

4. Ruger Blackhawk

5. S&W 629

6. Ruger SP101

7. Ruger Vaquero

8. S&W 686 Plus

9. Ruger Super Blackhawk

10. Taurus 605

2017

1. Taurus 85

2. Ruger LCR

3. Kimber K6 Stainless

4. S&W 629

5. Ruger Blackhawk

6. Ruger GP 100

7. S&W 642

8. Taurus 605

9. Ruger Vaquero

10. Ruger SP101

2018

1. Ruger GP 100

2. Heritage Arms Rough Rider

3. S&W 642

4. Taurus Judge

5. S&W 629

6. Ruger LCR

7. Taurus 85

8. Ruger SP 101

9. Uberti 1873

10 Ruger Blackhawk

Source:

https://www.gungenius.com/top-selling/January2018-December2018#


tipoc
 
C

Cheapshooter

New member
Probably because Kel Tec has been making a lot of them the past few years and after the initial rush, the word got out they're not all that.

Also didn't help .22 Mag took a very long time to become easily available again.

So after years of inventory building up, no .22 Mag, prices had to go down to sell inventory and it happened about the same time the ammo became more available. Actually makes sense now why they'd be selling so well if they in fact are.
Click to expand...
In part. But I doubt the "years of inventory building up" part. Companies don't continue building things they aren't seling. Plus, how do you keep market price up? Supply down. That part may only be incidental to your other point. Shortage of 22 Magnum ammo.
 
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tipoc

New member
The financial site, The Motley Fool, lists these under "handguns" for 2016

4. Tie between Glock 43 and Springfield XDs

3. Sig 938

2. Glock 19 and the S&W M&P Shield 9

1. Ruger LCP

https://www.fool.com/investing/2016/12/18/the-5-best-selling-handguns-in-america-all-have-1.aspx

Top sellers prove small but mighty
GunBroker.com, the world's largest online auction house for firearms and accessories, identifies the five best-selling firearms on its site for every month over the first six months of the year. While it lists the leaders in every major category of firearms sold (breaking them down between new and used), for our purposes here, I limited the selection to the five best-selling new semiautomatic pistols, likely the most popular category of firearms in the country.
Click to expand...

tipoc
 
U

USNRet93

New member
Yikes, I get the LCP is keen to carry but geez terrible to shoot...cheap, I guess. Aren’t gonna put 2000 rounds thru it anytime soon, unless your last name is de Sade.
 
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darkgael

New member
Pmr 30

$300 for a pmr 30 is a wildly good price. The least expensive that I have seen in the last month is $379. Most, though, are in the $395 - $440 range.
It is a neat gun....easy to shoot and reliable ( mine is in any case)
 
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TruthTellers

New member
USNRet93 said:
Yikes, I get the LCP is keen to carry but geez terrible to shoot...cheap, I guess. Aren’t gonna put 2000 rounds thru it anytime soon, unless your last name is de Sade.
Click to expand...
Terrible to shoot, absolutely, but it has the look, feel, weight, brand, and most imporantly, price to make it a super popular pistol. I look at the other pistols on the market in the same class, both .32 and .380, and the LCP beats them all. The Kel Tec looks and feels cheaply made, the S&W Bodyguard looks complex to new female conceal carriers, the NAA is too heavy and pricey, the Glock 42 is about double the price the LCP is, but much more shootable.

The new Taurus Spectrum may take some sales from the LCP, but that new Taurus 1 year warranty doesn't give me much confidence when you consider the pocket .380's tend to have something break after enough shooting.

About the only gun I see that can give the LCP a run is Kel Tec's P32, mainly because it's lower recoiling and can be bought for $150 online. The problem is it has the old style long, terrible Kel Tec DA trigger.

It doesn't surprise me tho that the LCP is #1, I own two of them and may be getting the LCP II in the future.
 
R

Roamin_Wade

Moderator
I do know that the S&W SD9 VE is reported to be the most common pistol found is police evidence storage rooms. It’s a highly reliable fake Glock. I’ve even heard that Glock took them to court over this and was successful.
 
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USNRet93

New member
It doesn't surprise me tho that the LCP is #1, I own two of them and may be getting the LCP II in the future
Click to expand...

Yup, I get that but took a hard look at how to carry my G42 easier in ‘tighter’ clothes/summer and figured with a ClipDraw, I can do that as well as the LCP...LCP had to go...failed my FTS criteria(FunToShoot)...surprisingly, even tho about 200 rounds, LGS gave me about 75% of new for it...easy to sell.
 
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GarandTd

New member
I wouldn't be surprised if the availability of 22rf ammunition played a role in the appearance of the pmr-30 and the HRR on those lists.
 
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