Handgun: Biggest Disappointment?

I am relatively new to shooting (less than a year), but have managed to acquire 7 new guns this year --> it is a desease!

The Taurus 709Slim is my only disappointment. I have had absolutely no problems with the XDs, Beretta NEOS, DW CBOB or either of my rifles. However, the 709 has had numerous FTE and FTF problems. I was spoiled by the other guns, but all these problems with the 709 are frustrating.
 
Springfield XD-40 Service. Bought used from a friend. While I shoot well enough with it, my grip interferes with the slide lock, preventing it from actuating after the last round has been fired, and it's recently been developing a feeding issue after it gets the slightest bit dirty - the slide won't reliably cycle and feed dummy ammo after a range visit. It wasn't quite that picky before, especially after only about 50 rounds. I'll double my cleaning regime and see if it helps before I ditch it. The grip issue is a major disappointment. I purchased this pistol mainly to try my hand at IDPA shooting, but this issue has put a halt to that plan for the time being.
 
S&W 396

A couple of years ago I bought one of the 44 spl superlight weight smiths. I thought this would be a great gun. You literally could not hit a man sized target at 10 yards with it. Tried different ammo finally traded it off.
 
Walther PPK/S mods

Pappy John,
I love the Walther but also suffer from them cutting me every shot. Some years ago I took a stainless one and beveled the sharp edge at the bottom of the slide. Cut the grooves out of the trigger and made it smooth. Installed a spring kit to lighten the trigger pull and added smooth black horn grips. The gun felt like a bar of soap and would shoot one ragged hole. One of the best carry guns I ever had. Somehow I let a guy talk me out of it and sold it. I need to get another and do the same thing.
 
S&W 559

Back in the mid 80’s I had a new S&W 559 that I had to send back to the factory 3 times because it would not group.
 
For me it was a Browning Buckmark that I anxiously awaited when they were first released in the 80s; Had mediocre accuracy at best.

Sold it within a couple of months.
 
This Colt Combat Elite. Bought it new. Burrs on the firing pin hole caused failures to feed, but that was fixable. It peened its frame out in less than 2000 rounds. I sent it back to Colt, they replaced the frame but did nothing for the misalignment that caused early unlock. The warranty was only a couple of years, so before the thing peened the new frame out, I sent it to Wilson Combat.

Wilson Combat, unlike Colt Customer Service, actually understands the M1911. I had them install a new barrel, new sights, the beavertail, new hammer, and a trigger job.

It is now a wonderful pistol, but the custom work cost as much as the original pistol.

I think Colt's motto is: Manufacturing makes it, Marketing sells it, and Customer service makes it work.

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By the way, this Colt barrel came off a Colt Target Master. See the ring?. It was in the machined section between the lugs.

People who pay top price ought to get better.

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ColtTrademarkonbarrelDSCN2796.jpg
 
Glock 30SF. Bought one new a few months ago. Ran fine for the first 250 rounds or so. After that I started to have failures to return to battery. I was having as many as 5 per magazine. That pistol got tender loving care and its performance only got worse. Ended up selling it, along with its bigger brother, the 21SF, and got a Sig Sauer P220. Haven't looked back.
 
Walther P22

This gun was horrible. I bought it about 2 years ago and it jammed on every type of ammo imaginable. It was a real disappointment. After further reading, I realized that you must use only a couple of types of ammo with this gun. I just wanted a .22 pistol that would eat whatever I would feed it. HORRIBLE PISTOL!!!
 
My Beretta NEOS disappointed me a tiny bit,,,

I have a friend who at 25 yards can shoot the spots off a ladybug's behind with his NEOS,,,
I do well to keep my shots in a 6" circle with my Ruger 22/45 at that range.

So I did what any right thinking American would do,,,
I bought a NEOS just like his.

My buddy swore it would shave at least 2 inches off my groups,,,
What a disappointing handgun for me,,,
I still don't shoot any better.

Dang,,,
Rooked again!

Aarond
 
taurus mil pro in .40

its shot 5-6 feet low at 7,15 and 25 yards....bench fired, standing everything....and not just by me all4 people that shot the piece of junk said the same thing. sent it back.

CAME BACK shooting 6-7 ft off and to the right. both times i tried wwb, blazer brass, federal/ american eagle and speer gold dots...all produced the same results.
 
I'll never forget it. My 21st B-day I took the day off to buy my first pistols. I bought 3 pistols. I was very proud of the Kimber Polymer Custom. I thought was a great pistol, at first. Only pistol that I HATED. It jammed all the time no matter what magazine or ammo I put in it. Went back to get "fixed" but came back with same problem. Traded for 308 rifle and am leery of double stack 45's.
 
HWM 2" .357, out of the box it had loose screws making it clock incorrectly on single and double action and the cylinder was hard to close. Screwdriver = easy fix, but not what I expect from German manufacturing. The disappointment was after I ran some .38 loads through it I put in the home and carry loads for it, Fed. Hydrashock. And the tips of the rounds stick out past the cylinder making it hard to close and impossible to shoot.

My other one was a Interarms .40 S&W. Shot good, no problems. My only complaint was it was like carrying a brick on your hip, with a full mag. The problem was it just never held my attention except at the gun show. Guess I just had to buy something that day. Traded for a Winchester lever action, those always keep me interested. :cool:
 
Daewoo 9mm. Bought it for the Tri-Action system and it worked great for 4 days then some little pin inside broke and no gunsmith I've talked too since can get the part to do the repair. Still have the gun but it's pretty much just a paper weight at this point.
 
I purchased a Sig Sauer P220 stainless steel a few years ago based upon the Sig reputaion. It was an 8 shot 45ACP double action. Very nice. However, it continued to jam and stove pipe ammunition which required continuous clearing of the firearm. I tried both a variety of ammunition and brands and I still could not get 50 rounds through the piece. I also changed magazines to see if that could have a positive effect. Frustrated, I traded the piece for a Springfield Armory XD 45ACP through which I have fired at least two thousand rounds without any mishaps.

I was very disappointed with the Sig. When it did fire, it was extremely accurate and, for me, it felt very good in the hand. I did some research on the piece and I did find that Sig did have problems with this particular firearm which required factory adjustments and parts replacements.

By the way, I also own a Sig P239 40 S&W. It performs very well. So, I am not down on the Sig products. I just caught a bad one this time around.

Regards.
 
Hate to admit it but...

$$$:eek: 500 S&W Magnum.

It was plenty powerfull and didn't hurt to shoot any more than the replacement gun I bought but a few things turned me off...

1- Had some sort of timing issue right off the bat. I had to send it in. I'm not sure it was actually a timing issue. When firing full power 440 gr. hard cast "bear loads" the cylinder would occasionally skip a chamber, resulting in a "click" when there should be a "bang"... Not a good thing for a defensive weapon to do. To S&W's credit, they fixed it fast and for free.

2-Darn thing was so heavy/bulky I could've just as easily packed my 1895 Guide Gun.

3-Firing bird shot loads isn't an easy option, reducing the gun's survival weapon appeal.

I think it's a pretty neat niche gun but wasn't convenient/versatile enough for me.
 
I purchased a Sig Sauer P220 stainless steel a few years ago based upon the Sig reputaion. It was an 8 shot 45ACP double action. Very nice. However, it continued to jam and stove pipe ammunition which required continuous clearing of the firearm. I tried both a variety of ammunition and brands and I still could not get 50 rounds through the piece. I also changed magazines to see if that could have a positive effect. Frustrated, I traded the piece
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That is unusual for a Sig but your experience shows that no manufacturer is immune to problems. I too have a stainless P220 (two years old), and it's never had a hiccup. If you otherwise liked the gun, you should have contacted Sig. I'm pretty sure they would have fixed the problem for you.

Ken
 
I once had an early PPK that would cut my hand if I was not very careful.
The S&W PPK/S has an extended beaver tail that eliminates that problem.
(For me, at least)...
 
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