unreliable

[b4uqzme]

"I won't trust my life to a gun that's not 100% reliable". I hear that all the time. Realistically, no gun is 100% reliable but, excluding one old 1911 parts gun, every pistol I own is 99.9% reliable and worthy of my trust. I don't do anything really special. I'm not a gunsmith. I just keep them clean and shoot them as often as I can. I have had to tweak a couple to get them right and I even had to send one in for warranty repair. But am I just lucky? Or am I the norm? What say you? Do all your pistols run or do you have a safe full of finicky fokkers?

[DavidR]

I own 4 semi-autos and 3 revolvers and they all run. I probably wouldn't keep a gun that wasn't reliable.


Dave

[OldFatGuy]

If my gun fails me at the only time in my life I need it, I guess it was just in the stars.

[Alfonse]

My old Winchester 290 .22, tube fed, rifle from the 1960s started to feed poorly about 10 years back. It is kind of a pain to really take apart for a thorough cleaning. Upon closer inspection I found that the lead, round nose bullets were sort of smearing lead on the feed ramp. So, I scraped it off and cleaned it up. Runs fine now. Using copper plated rounds seems to keep the feed ramp clean.

I guess I shouldn't concealed carry that one. It gets finicky every 40 years or so.

[berettabone]

The only firearm that I have ever had a problem with is my Kahr. It's also the smallest.....................................Never had any issue with any of the other firearms I have owned or own. I shoot them all............I keep each one pristine. I think that if you do that, you eliminate most of the issues that can arise.

[Bawanna]

All mine are runners. My K40 had a peening issue,Kahr replaced the slide and its been perfect ever since.

I take that back, I have a Hi Power that doesnt run. I know the recoil spring was weak especially after I put a new one in and felt the difference but it still don't run good. I continue to mess with it, just a toy anyhow.

I'm still sorting out my Match Target Woodsman too, shoots and feeds fine but don't reset the striker every other shot.

Anything I would potentially carry is runnung fine and has proven itself. Well my MRI 1911C still needs to prove itself to me but it ran fine for our swat guys, never missed a beat in about 350 rounds when I sent it with them. Fella had a sight move on him so it was a loaner.

[kenemoore]

Where I work we do a lot of "safety/shutdown" systems, and let me tell you nothing on this planet is 100% reliable. Depending on the hazards involved our clients ask us to design/build systems that are 99, 99.9 and 99.99 percent dependable. 99.99 is what the Nuke power plants have. I'm guessing most "reliable" pistols are in the 99 to 99.9 range. These figures are based upon failure upon demand, does it work when it needs to work. So with a rating of 99, when you need it to work,it will function correctly 99 times out of 100, that is pretty darn good.

But.. it's also the reason I carry a back up. the chances if two 99% reliable guns failing at the same time is 1 in 10,000. I prefer those odds

[OldFatGuy]

Where I work we do a lot of "safety/shutdown" systems, and let me tell you nothing on this planet is 100% reliable. Depending on the hazards involved our clients ask us to design/build systems that are 99, 99.9 and 99.99 percent dependable. 99.99 is what the Nuke power plants have. I'm guessing most "reliable" pistols are in the 99 to 99.9 range. These figures are based upon failure upon demand, does it work when it needs to work. So with a rating of 99, when you need it to work,it will function correctly 99 times out of 100, that is pretty darn good.

But.. it's also the reason I carry a back up. the chances if two 99% reliable guns failing at the same time is 1 in 10,000. I prefer those odds

Never really understood the need for a backup in a sd situation. I figure if I have time to draw one, I'd be lucky.

[b4uqzme]

^^^ Yeah but it can't hurt.

I'm suspecting that 99.9% or thereabouts of our guns are 99.9% reliable. Just keeping things in perspective. ;)

[kwh]

Over the past 50 years I have had 16 handguns 3 of them revolvers. Only got rid of 1 handgun to chronic failure,that was a Beretta .22 21A. Traded it in on a Ruger SP101 .38 Spl. which has been 100% except once when a primer failed , but another trigger pull sent the next round down range. My S&W .357 Mod 19 massively "failed" once. Powder did not ignite (handload using Blue Dot with 125 gr. bullet which is no longer recommended by Alliant). When I opened the cylinder the powder ran down into the crane and I was unable to close the cylinder . Complete side plate dis-assembly at home, cleaned out innerds ,punched out bullet and good to go again. SP101 .22 L.R. has "failed" upon occcasion to ignite primer,but good to go again on next trigger pull. I still have my Kel-Tec .32 which was 100%, until all of a sudden it was not, after 300 rounds. Sent it back, frame was replaced , good to go again. All my other semis have "failed at one time or another, FTF, smokestack, etc., depending on ammo. But easy to tap and rack for next round. So far my Ruger SR9 has never failed , I probably need to shoot it more and use crappy ammo. With Good ammo that my pistols like, and no operator error ,they are all 99.9%. I agree with Kenemoore better a back-up than extra ammo.

[CJB]

I don't have any problems with guns because I buy good, sound design, reliable weapons.

You buy a pistol made of Zamac and you get what you deserve....

I had one gun that was a total, unreliable and complete failure, and that was the HK P9s that I owned, failed, was replaced, failed, was replaced again, failed.... and finally HK gave up and actually sent me a refund themselves! These had a particularly thin inner metal frame, and particularly fine thread screws that held the double action levers and bars to the frame. We're talking metal about 1 thick. Single action was great. Shoot much double action and rip the screws right out of the frame. Go figure.

I was young then, when I had that HK. Since then, I've been a Half Fast Engineer, worker of metal, tool designer, production machinery designer, weekend gunsmith, range officer, training instructor....and gotten worked up to half MChief Half Fast Enginner.... which has given me the experience to have a look at the pros and cons of a design, and hopefully guess correctly about its merits and drawbacks.

The Kahr design is a good one, but has its drawbacks, like any. Those being - production tolerance on the new recoil spring (or assembly) and the lack of overtravel of the boltface rearward past the pickup point for the next cartridge. The first forcing the production of new springs to be much stronger than one might expect, the other requiring cartridge rise to be rather snappy. Kahr has addressed those issues adequately, and the result is something that works pretty well after a bit of break in.

Current pistols are BHP's, Colt .45 Auto's of one sort or another, Kahrs, and a smattering of oddballl collectables. Mostly I carry the PM45, which once broken in is utterly relibable in my own experience.

[OvalNut]

... I just keep them clean and shoot them as often as I can. ...

This says it for me. I have 3 pistols. 2 are for carry (Kahr PM9 and Beretta PX4 9mm Compact), and 1 for home defense (Beretta PX4 .45 with Inforce light). All I would trust my life to no worries. Bang bang every time. I shoot a lot and enjoy cleaning my guns from a hobbyist perspective.

For my rifle I went AK74 and went through literally 4 BAD rifles, all of which I returned eventually for a full refund. (2 James River Armory Bulgarian kit builds, and 2 WW/DDI Bulgarian kit builds). Then, THANKFULLY, I bought a Saiga SGL31 AK74 literally 8 days before Obama signed the import ban restricting further Russian imports. Whew! That wonderful rifle runs scary perfect, like a sewing machine and accurate at distance. It is my go to war rifle.

My shotgun I have had since I was 18, a basic Springfield Savage 12 guage modified choke, pump action bird gun. It just works, I have never even thought that it might not work.


If something of mine doesn't work correctly, I get it reliably fixed, or replace it.

Tim

[Ikeo74]

Maybe I am just lucky. All my guns for the last 60 years have been 100% service free. Never had a problem or never had to send one in for repair and my current collection includes 2 Kahrs and 2 Taurus TCPs.

"Do all your pistols run or do you have a safe full of finicky fokkers?" quote by OP

I find the "finicky fokkers" are not the weapons but the first time gun owners that never knew anything about guns before their first purchase. Most of their problems are only imagined or self inflicted.

[b4uqzme]

I don't have any problems with guns because I buy good, sound design, reliable weapons....


.

I got a couple goofy ones. The Para LDA is the one that needed to go back under warranty. But it's 15 years old and came back perfect so I have no complaints. Based on my pre-buy research my first Kahr was my riskiest purchase. But it paid off in spades so I'm happy I didn't let all that propaganda dissuade me. But you are correct CJB: buy quality and you will be rewarded with quality.

P.S. for anyone seriously lusting for an MK45, the Para LDA 6.45 is as close as you can get. Great trigger...even lighter than a Kahr. Like an MK but with a thumb safety.

[Bawanna]

I have a 6.45, a 7.45 and a 14.45 all LDA's. Rarely carry them anymore but for anyone who likes a 1911 except for the hammer back carry the LDA is sweet.

Para seems a little goofy business wise last several years but I got no issues with mine.

[TheTman]

Funny, or maybe not so funny, is that Kahrs have been my most problematic pistols, Yet I keep buying them, because most of the time once they get sorted out, or returned to the mothership, they function very reliably. I've been tempted by others, but nothing else in the CW/CM price range come close to my needs and wants as a well functioning Kahr. An S&W Shield might work out ok. I sure like it's big brother, the M&P Pro.
I kind of wondered what the hell I got myself into when I got my CM45, and had a helluva time just trying to lock the slide back. Thankfully it loosened up quite a bit during the break in.
That was one gun I wished had a way to grip the slide better, where you could really put some muscle into it.
One range officer saw me putting a lot of effort into locking the slide back and strolls over and is like here (I could hear him thinking "you old wimp-fart") let me get that for you, so I handed him the pistol, and was very amused as he went from thinking it was going to be a piece of cake, to putting quite a bit of effort into it himself. He finally got the slide locked back, and told me he'd put 500 rounds through it before he would carry it and walked off with a lot less bounce in his step. Probably went back and racked his Glock a few times to make himself feel better. LOL. That place is full of Glock fan boys. Up front in the store, I overheard a conversation once and from the looks on their faces and the tone of what I overheard, I thought they were talking about women, then I heard "Glock". I heard some sentences like "I picked her up the other night, and she was everything I dreamed of", and crap like that. And the dreamy look on their faces just capped it all off. I headed back to the range before I was tempted to look and to see if they were popping tents in their pants.

[Bawanna]

Popping tents in their pants? I'm writing that down, I could use that now and then.

[CJB]

Unreliable....

Was over on a forum for the KSG. An end-user gets his KSG. He proceeds to modifiy it. Takes it to the range. Doesn't work. Gives it to his "gunsmith", who polishes everything internally (which I doubt). Still doesn't work. Kel-Tec tells the end user to go pound sand over the warranty. Pssst. The problem is his rail accessories not allowing the slide to fully move rearward. Don't tell him that though. He'd rather bask in "unreliable" mode.

Folks get new guns, polish this that and the other thing, not for looks, but for "reliability and smoothness", then wonder about a certain feel to its action, slide or trigger. And I wonder, how did they determine just what needed the polishing? They had the skills to determine that X Y and Z were inadequate, yet cannot determine any cause and effect on their own, once the deed is done? They flip the gun, flip off the manufacturer, and live in the "Unreliable Zone".

One shooter says they have a bad pistol. Its been to the manufacturer three times, and it keeps coming back supposedly fixed. They keep shooting their pet load in it. Wait a second.... you can manufacture ammo from components and not know one diddly rats pattootey about what it is that makes ammo work in certain arms and not others? Its a wonder sometimes. They go by the recipe book. And the book doesn't lie, it knows everything, and they did it just like the book said (with the max load as the starting load no doubt). Living in the Unreliable Land.....

Today.... I'm working with a customer, finding grouund faults in his buried wire. He questions everthing I do, tells me I'm doing it wrong. I find nine faults on one segment, and that segment is about 1700 yards long. Thats long! Two faults are really bad. Those are the ones to correct first. Does he want to? No. He'd rather tell me I don't know what I'm doing. Won't I just try this and that and whatever.... I tell him no. I try to explain the priniples of operation of my equipment (simple stuff really)... but he just doesn't want to face reality, and that reality is - he's got a ten piece length of wire that ought to be one piece, and he's gonna have to excavate in nine places to correct the situtation. No, he wants me to excavate.... Machete don't text. I don't dig (much).

Must be the phase of the moon, or maybe it rained. The worms always come out when it rains.

[greg_r]

I shoot my guns. A lot. So I expect there to be some failures and broken parts. Things just happen. Parts wear, springs get weak. If I have chronic issues I can't make go away, I get rid of it. Those have been rare. I only have 2 that have been 100% reliable, that is a S&W Shield and a HI Point CF380. I have a third, the CT380 that has not had any issues either, but it only has a few hundred rounds through it.

[muggsy]

Every gun I own works flawlessly or I fix it. All you have to be is smarter than the gun.

[CJB]

I got a couple goofy ones. The Para LDA is the one that needed to go back under warranty. But it's 15 years old and came back perfect so I have no complaints. Based on my pre-buy research my first Kahr was my riskiest purchase. But it paid off in spades so I'm happy I didn't let all that propaganda dissuade me. But you are correct CJB: buy quality and you will be rewarded with quality.

P.S. for anyone seriously lusting for an MK45, the Para LDA 6.45 is as close as you can get. Great trigger...even lighter than a Kahr. Like an MK but with a thumb safety.

I thought that HK was quality... it shot well, when it shot. But a roller delayed, DA pistol, with a frame only about .015 thin, made of sheet metal.... is not a good place for them to put screws, since they easily pull out. HK said.. "we don't anticipate much DA shooting compared to SA shooting". Lame.

Everything else has been fine. Did have a Ruger BEARCAT that needed tweakage. No biggie. Hell, even Serbu had to correct the barrel on my Super Shorty

HERE'S the important PART

FOLKS MADE IT RIGHT. End of story. Corrected, move on. Jeeze don't start wearin' skirts over it.

[bugs]

I would once in awhile have a FTF with my G21 or my G36, which turned out be be the fault of a fat reload, failure to lock up. checking reloads w/sizing gauge took care of that.
my G19 and CM9 are fed fed.115gr. alum. case which they devour with vigor.only problem is having enough ammo to scratch my itch. never have any problems while using factory loads.

NRA LIFER
IDPA BELIVER