>>I purchased a couple of P9s a couple years ago, largely motivated by what I learned about them right here...! And like Salty Dog, I got one NIB, and one that had the full work over by Scott/McDougall.
As someone else mentioned - my NIB gun had issues requiring my gunsmith's attention. As I recall it had either loading or ejection problems, but once tweaked it became very reliable. Perhaps the best part of this gun was the price, as I paid something like $300 for it...another Estate sale gun.
My Scott/McDougall piece was well used, but also very reliable at time of purchase. I paid considerably more for this gun, but from what I'm hearing and seeing of today's prices it would still be a bargain. Because of the sturdy design of this gun and the fact it has some wear points, I use this gun as a pocket equivalent of a "trunk gun"...something small-ish and reliable that I don't mind dressing in a cheap Nemesis-type holster and throwing in a rucksack.
A side note... I was able to track down Scott soon after the Scott/McDougall business enterprise ended. The reason it ended was because McDougall experienced an untimely death, and as the two men were also good friends, Scott was at a point where he didn't care to go on with the successful business alone. At the time of contact I was fortunate that Scott still had some custom parts available for the P9, which I picked up on. Best of all he still had a small quantity of the custom Scott/McDougall magazines for the P9 and I obtained two or three at an excellent price of ~ $20/each...!!! Unfortunately I lost my contact points for Scott in a computer crash but if interested in locating him you might want to do a Google search like I did. As I said - Scott still had some hard to find magazines left for sale at a very good price.
All and all I am very happy with my Colt Pocket Nines, and as a result I became interested in collecting other small, out of production Colts such as the Mustang and .380 Government model...which is among my favorites.
Unless your mind set is "gotta have it NOW", which I'm sure we have all experienced, my starting advice on the decision to purchase a P9 would be to suggest patience. Look around the forums for a good working gun at a "fair" price...realizing "fair" is a relative thing. My guess is that anything under $1000 would be fair on today's market...although I might hold out for a bargain to be found at the $500 - $700 range. Others here might have better, up to date opinions on that though. Interesting gun, bordering on being a belt piece due to weight, but still possible as a pocket gun depending on your size, clothing, and comfort levels...TW<<
