r/canadaguns • u/Severe_Assumption_87 • Aug 05 '26

Buy recommendations Antique handgun

I’m have a budget about 1-2k and looking for a antique handgun with cheap ammo to use indoor range. I’m open for recommendations

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u/Vintage_Pieces_10 Aug 05 '26

Best bet is a MAS 1873 rechambered for 45ACP/455 Webley. Menno on Gunpost often has a couple every month, and they sit around the 2050$-2200$ level. You’ll have to handload low pressure 45ACP with lead bullets but the components are dummy cheap overall, and including the press and dies and supplies to get me started, it’s literally one of my cheapest guns to shoot.

Of my three antiques (MAS, Webley, Swiss 1882), the MAS, which is the cheapest and oldest of the three, is my favourite too. Super robust and no nonsense, even if the tech is a little old fashioned, and haven’t once had a mechanical issue with it (my Webley has had a few problems that necessitated home-fixes that, while rewarding, were a pain in the ass, and my Swiss requires specialized primers and sized bullets as the hammer spring isn’t as strong and my bore is undersized. The MAS eats any component I’ve handloaded for it for breakfast)