That doesn’t mean the first couple years of REP stamped rifles are all junk, but they should be examined hands on before buying one. The other reason I prefer the JM rifles, there are far more caliber choices. Unless someone is shooting cowboy action games, it’s damn near impossible to wear out a lever gun, no matter who makes it. Some will have a lot of cosmetic damage from years of hunting, but the internals are what matters most. As I’ve said, I got no problem buying used, and sometimes that’s the only to get what you’re looking for.
I think you’d like a .40. I prefer it over the 9mm. I’ve never been to fond of the 9, always thought it underpowered for a self defense round. Santo John Paul was shot 4 times with one, though there may have been a higher power involved. But, I’ve read the modern 9 is much improved both in power and bullet design/construction. The .40 is also one of the few rounds that isn’t 100 years old, literally. It’s a cut down 10mm, because the 10 was deemed to hard to handle for female agents(fbi), and the 10 was introduced in the early ‘80s.
Before my tragic boating accident, I had a CZ 75B and a S&W Shield in .40. Everyone that I let shoot the CZ loved it, being full size and all steel helped though. The Shield I surprisingly thought was easy to control as well, and not the snappy little POS a .380 is. Even the plastic guns like XDm and Block are easy to handle in .40.
