Reddit reviews Defender Joystick Cobra M5 USB Hall Sensor 12 Buttons

Your cheapest option would be the Thrustmaster T-Flight. In your price range the Thrustmaster T.16000M FCS would be a good option.

I myself use the throttle (TWCS) of the T-16000M FCS together with a Cobra M5 because I don't like that the T.16000 stick has a lot of buttons on its base, which is annoying to me/of no use in battle. But since you are in the USA (I guess, if your budget is in $) that is not really a option for you since the Cobra M5 is a europe/russian thing it costs much more in the states than here (I got mine for sub 50$, then it is worth it).

For a higher budget the x56 Rhino can be a good option, though the quality can be questionable.

If you are still unsure about your options visit /r/HOTAS, they know a lot and can help you narrow down your choices.

It's still about $100US according to the current exchange rate, but I've had success with Amazon.de (German). You can set the site language to English easily enough, and if they ship down here to Australia it's pretty good odds they'll ship to America. Listed here.

Do you think for example this joystick:

https://www.amazon.com/Defender-Joystick-Cobra-Sensor-Buttons/dp/B00IJ72TMI/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1494260467&sr=8-1&keywords=cobra+m5

use for gimbal gun(s)?

This one is really good, but I'm not sure whether it's in Canada or not...
http://www.amazon.de/K%C3%B6nig-Defender-Cobra-Joystick-schwarz/dp/B00IJ72TMI

As a canadian, you have no idea how sad I am right now.

Best we can do is: https://www.amazon.ca/Defender-Joystick-Cobra-Sensor-Buttons/dp/B00IJ72TMI/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1473426782&sr=8-1&keywords=Defender+Joystick

:(

And to anyone who whats the M5 and doesn't mind importing it: link from Germany

it would be about ~72 EUR or about $80 USD with the import costs

>Why am I having trouble finding a place to buy it???

Amazon.de (direct link to product) will ship it to the USA with free shipping and ignore the initial price because they will deduct VAT from the price once you input your shipping address...cost me ~$105. If you decide you don't like it you will have to sell it locally though because the return shipping is exactly as expensive as you would expect for sending a heavy package overseas and the ~$9 of it that Amazon would cover is nowhere near enough to make the return worthwhile.

Personally, I am still on the fence about it because the ergonomics are not great for my average-to-smallish hands...but I am going to pair it with the Thrustmaster TWCS throttle when that gets released and give the Cobra Defender M5 another chance after modding the grip. Also, the upgraded electronics that has been mentioned by others in this thread? I have looked all over and can only find "out of stock" listings for the Controller Njoy32 Light circuit board and the digital MaRS sensor replacement for the analog potentiometer in the Z-axis on the available Rev.B Defender M5. The X-axis and Y-axis do still use high resolution contactless MaRS sensors FYI. If you find any stock of either of those, please pass on the information!

Found an amazon listing for the stick.