What is THE most hipster handgun…

[DanTheWolfman]

Hipsterism isn't a specific state, it's a gradient across a pretty wide scale.
The key to understanding Hipsters is that any given Hipster thinks they're 'full Hipster' and anything 'more Hipster' is just too extreme and pointless.
Sort of like the folks who drive a little faster than the speed limit, and think anyone who's going slower is an idiot and anyone going faster is a psychotic maniac.

So really 'THE most hipster handgun' is more about the hipster in question. Might be a Glock 42 with a 9x18 barrel, or a off-catalog Ruger SP101 made for a French Police contract, or a Steyr M357, or a really rare S&W L frame, or a Benelli M76, or a Korth, or some kind of brain-nuking custom or handmade masterpiece that only a few folks like @bac1023 would have.


Or we can just say it's the Gabbet-Fairfax Mars Automatic and call it a day.

Got a notification in for that very same .38 Frechie Ruger..about 2 months ago..called....lady went to ask in back since only one...and then claimed it was already sold...I think one of the workers realized been a year since last batch when I called so enthusiastically and nabbed it for themselves...unless you got it? I was hoping for a handpicked of batch to review on YT and should have just paide the $450 outright....before C1984 happened the batch was like $375 I think. A steal for any Ruger .38 really. Do you have one? 3" my love, and closest to a Manurhin 73 I will probably get. I did however get a Maurhin PP Box for $.01 and $10 shipping.....just to have something...

[Willard]

Agree with others. Toss up between H&K P7, P9S, Walther P88...would add Walther P5 and H&K VP70...those would be my top 5.

[HCM]

@JRB
@Super77
@Clusterfrack

Since you guys seem to have your fingers on the Hipster pulse, is there a price ceiling on hipster ware?

Usually hipsters here are one step removed from living in their parents basements so I was thinking $1k cap on cost for hipster items?

Or do people think of more upscale hipsters?

Edit: I posted before seeing @MattyD380 excellent definitive post above!

I we don’t really have hipsters where I live but when I go to observe them in my natural habitat, the hipster preserve called Austin, they tend to have money despite no real conventional source of income.

Kind of like the couples on those real estate and home renovation shows. “Hi, I breed non-binary salamanders, and my partner works part time at a pet daycare for reptiles. Our budget is $1.6 million dollars…”

[HCM]

Finally a topic over which I can (well, will) claim authoritative knowledge!

I think @UpDok 's definition captures the essence of a "hipster" overall:



But in my mind, a gun hipster doesn't necessarily HAVE to be a hipster in the general sense. Gun hipsters simply apply a more discriminating, pedantic--sometimes pretentious--perspective to firearms, specifically.

So, to clarify, I guess "hipster" doesn't HAVE to be a wholesale sense of identity; it is a particular way of seeing, experiencing and relating to a certain category of things. Being “hipster” means having a depth of knowledge and a fervent passion that exceeds the “functional norms” of the mainstream. You could have knife hipsters. Car hipsters. Watch hipsters. Unicorn hipsters. And in this case… gun hipsters.

Which I consider myself.

Moreover, I think there's a certain element of self-expression that comes with having extremely pointed, often personal, perspectives on items of interest: you end up ascribing some sense of self into the things you're passionate about.

So, with that in mind…

I’d say hipster guns are subjective. It all depends on what you’re into. In fact, I have different “gun hipster moods.” Sometimes I'm enamored by the Teutonic masterpieces of yore—like the Walther P88, the Walther P5 and the HK P9S. Other times, I find myself taken by the pragmatic American grit of the Smith & Wesson 3rd gens (and the Ruger P89—which is _uckin excellent, I might add).

But if I had to pick one gun that gets my hipster juices flowing more than any other…

It’s my Walther P88 Compact.

Attachment 99081Attachment 99082Attachment 99083

There’s a certain elegance about it that’s both functional and emotional. It’s not just a trophy piece; but it’s not just another DA/SA wondernine, either. It’s a gun I wanted since I realized they existed, back in my mid 20s. And it’s a gun that exceeds my expectations in just about every respect.

Yes. The Walther P88C is chicken soup to my gun-hipster soul.

But hey--don’t worry about it… I mean, it’s not like you’d get it, anyway.



I kid. I kid.

Thanks to @FrankB for tipping me off to this exceedingly dope thread.

My cousin, a retired sheriffs Sergeant feels similarly about the Walther P 88 full-size. And I used to feel that way about the HKP7.

However, before we get too ecstatic, let’s remember that as a late founder of PF said so well “uncommon guns are uncommon for a reason.” While cost plays a part with offerings from HK and Walther, many of these guns have fatal flaws, which precluded them from widespread service use. With the HK it was cost, the heat issue, and the unique manual of arms. I with the Walther P 88 series I believe it was the fragility of the grips, and the fact that cracked or broken grips would leave one with a non-functional gun.

Even with more functional guns, like the 3” CS-1 revolvers, it kind of gives me a chuckle to think about what a Smith & Wesson collector would say if he saw me back in the day picking up 20 or 30 CS-1s converted to blank fire or sims sliding around loose in a plastic postal bin.

The closest thing to a hipster gun that lives up to the hype in my experience has been original / surplus SIG P210s.

[flyrodr]

I’m out of touch on what cool kids like.

What’s the most hipster handgun you can think of.

Bonus points for hipster pictures.

Since no one has suggested a 1911, how about one of those customized by one of the "early" (relatively) custom smiths.

Such as a Swenson, Hoag, Pachmyer, etc.

I certainly never considered myself a hipster, but when my son was just out of college, we were at the range one day and he came over and said "Dad, this guy walked up to me and asked if my gun was a 'genuine' Swenson. I said yes; it's my Dad's".

So, while never quite giving me or the gun true hipster status, that interaction at least gave my son pause that the old man was maybe a bit cool. I'll take that, and maybe the gun qualifies. Swenson did the work for me back in the mid '70s.

[JCN]

@HCM that’s an awesome story!

(And a good looking gun)

Maybe when you retire you can add it to the “carry rotation?”

[Malamute]

I think one can be a gun hipster without being a regular hipster.

Anyway, the sort of things that come to mind in my case of unusual guns with some possible rationalization of being useful are the Webley-Pryse revolvers from the 1870s-80s, and the Webley-Greene revolvers right after that. I believe both came in 455/476 caliber, which brass and ammo can still be had for. In any event, if I had one Id probably carry it some, but my carry probably isnt what most peoples carry is. I think one would be just peachy in a nice tooled holster hanging off a cartridge belt for the 1873 carbine when doing skunk patrol around the home place in the evening. A good spring clamp shoulder rig would be useful also.

Long ago I had a cute little Detonics Combat Master in blue, which I liked quite a bit, but as legal concealed carry was still some years off in the unknown future, I saw little point in keeping it, if I were going to carry a 45 at that time it had to be exposed to be legal, and the National Match Colt was fine for that.


Webley-Pryse



Webley-Greene, they had both the round butt and square butt versions.

[reloader550]

The kool kids carry a 9mm with a light hanging on the end of it, along with high performance super light weight 9mm ammo that blows water jugs to the moon.
Along with a RMR, a threaded or compensated barrel, extended mag base plate for more capacity. Tucked nicely in hard kydex AIWB style.

[JRB]

@JRB
@Super77
@Clusterfrack

Since you guys seem to have your fingers on the Hipster pulse, is there a price ceiling on hipster ware?

Usually hipsters here are one step removed from living in their parents basements so I was thinking $1k cap on cost for hipster items?

Or do people think of more upscale hipsters?

Edit: I posted before seeing @MattyD380 excellent definitive post above!

@MattyD380 definitely covered it well, and @HCM already added the caveat that an astonishing number of hipsters have a ton of money from...somewhere. My experience is that hipsters tend to have connections to money - wealthy parents, aunt, spouse, etc. Which is why they have the luxury of having such a crucial fixation on being a hipster in the first place.

But varying degrees of investment still exist, because getting the cool thing for cheap is another aspect of hipster-ism. They might be a CZ70 or FEG Walther clone sort of hipster, or an Ortgies or French M1935 sort of hipster, or like one of those weird .32 Webleys autos or a Warner Infallible sort of hipster.
There's just no telling when the need to be different in a specific self-aggrandizing way combines with money, a manbun, and fitted flannel shirts tucked into 29in waistbands.

Got a notification in for that very same .38 Frechie Ruger..about 2 months ago..called....lady went to ask in back since only one...and then claimed it was already sold...I think one of the workers realized been a year since last batch when I called so enthusiastically and nabbed it for themselves...unless you got it? I was hoping for a handpicked of batch to review on YT and should have just paide the $450 outright....before C1984 happened the batch was like $375 I think. A steal for any Ruger .38 really. Do you have one? 3" my love, and closest to a Manurhin 73 I will probably get. I did however get a Maurhin PP Box for $.01 and $10 shipping.....just to have something...

There's been a few different batches of the French PD revolvers coming into the country. Back in 2019 Centerfire Systems had 3in MR88's for $450 that I wish like hell I'd gotten in on, or told someone to on my behalf while I was in and out of internet access. Naturally they sold out relatively quickly. Then more recently there were a few batches of the French contract 3in SP101's, some with Tausch grips some without, and over the past ~1.5yrs or so I've seen those from $400-500 depending on condition. Some came with an interesting leather holster as well, ostensibly the holsters issued with them.

I think I've got more regrets about the MR88's just because of the Manurhin vibes but having shot a 4in MR73 I'm sure I'd be disappointed by the MR88 or any SP101, those MR73's really are something special.

[DanTheWolfman]

Yeah it was Centerfire Systems...had one and I called instead of grabbing my cc like an idiot. It had the Tausch grips.

Oh well.

I spotted a Ruger GS33 in an auction not listed......And I should have grabbed it bought bowed out, and shouldn't have probably only one other bidder new what it was. Regular 2 3/4" Six's are commanding money. I bought the manual online thinking I would get it too.

Limited funds and cheap I let 'em go..get excited about the chase but don't bite too often. Keeps me going I guess.

I've got a couple neat ones. Hope to grow. Am I turning into a hipster or do plastic wondernines just get friggin boring?