What are your favorite and least favorite pistol/revolver makers?

A

American Eagle

New member
Most Favorite:

1) Beretta: I've always loved the open slide design on many of their pistols. I have one and it is accurate and reliable.

2) Ruger: I only own the Ruger MKIII from them, but it is my absolute favorite plinking pistol in the world, and the quality speaks volume about Ruger as a gun manufacturer.

3) Smith & Wesson: I've own some of their revolvers in the past, and I was impressed with all of them. I kick myself every day for not keeping at least one in my collection.

Least Favorite

Taurus: Never owned one, but a friend of mine had his malfunction in a self-defense encounter, and spent some time in the hospital as a result. I told this story here before, will not do so again to avoid the thread from being locked.
 
'makers'. Hmmm.

Are we talking about the product they create only, or are we also including the attitudes/philosophy of the company? Are we limiting the company to modern or including now-defunct producers?

Favorite:

1- S&W and Ruger make products that I generally think are well thought out and well made, in both revolver and pistol.

There are MANY great companies out there, both in the product they create and their company relationship with the consumers. I don't have experience from most though.

Least Favorite:

None at this time. There are some I will avoid, but none that stands out to me as the absolute worst, bar none, handgun maker.
 
Favorite ...

Glock, own 4 of them, most from an other manufacture is Ruger with 3.

Least Favorite ...

KelTech. bought sight unseen, or would not have purchased .
 
S&W, Springfield and Ruger are my favorites based on my experience with their various guns.

Taurus is my least favorite based on my experience with my M85.
 
For arcane reasons, my favorite revolver maker has always been Webley & Scott.

I guess my favorite pistol makers would be a toss up between Colt and FN.
 
Favorite: Colt


Least Favorite: Much more difficult to pick, but Taurus would certainly be in the running. Glock is a contender, also, but only because I simply don't like them, not because I think they are especially bad.
 
My Beretta 92 is my favorite pistol. I have never had a failure of any kind, it is more accurate than I am, and it is a joy to shoot.

My least favorite is the Glock. I am sure they are fine weapons, but they feel clunky and ungainly in my hands. The grip feels off and they do not seem to balance right for me.
 
Taurus just flat-out stinks.

Ruger is trying (and usually succeeding) in building honest "working man's guns"...they're not flashy but they're usually a really good deal.

I have a lot of respect for Glock, S&W, Sig, H&K, FN and Beretta except I don't like the upside-down Euro-style slide-mounted safeties. And I think CZ is highly under-rated. If I wanted a full-sized 9mm I'd probably go with a CZ...Jeff Cooper thought very highly of them due to the safety type and the cocked'n'locked SA-only option. They haven't gotten any worse since his day :).

Freedom Arms is making the most accurate and well-machined handguns ever built. But the FA97's price is nearly $2k...owch.

One oddity: Bersa. If you want a pocket .380 and can cope with the DA/SA action and wrong-way-round safety, they do work well for what you spend. I'd rather have a good used snubby Ruger or S&W of course, but...yeah, I have to give 'em credit for a good value that goes boom reliably.
 
favorite Colt, Dan Wesson S&W, KelTec Bersa all of mine go bang and been trouble free . Can't ask for more.




Least favorite

Taurus & Para Ord . If they were having a give a way contest . I wouldn't enter .I have owned and consider them bottom feeders . Hi Point better made pistol :) than these company's put out.
 
Favorites are Smith & Wesson and SIG.

I'm sure I could come up with a list of least favorites, but much of it would be on hearsay from these forums (like Taurus). I don't own anything I don't like. I don't own anything that isn't good.
 
First three that I like:

Ruger

Ruger

Ruger

Dislike?

I haven't had any "bad guns" but I wouldn't buy from the usual brands that have bad reputations.
 
Least favorite= Beretta 92/M9... Why because i was issued one for years and truly hated it. Its clunky the trigger sucks and i have seen to many problems with em mostly broken locking blocks

My favorite= Bersa ultra compact pro 45.... Why because it is easily concealed always works and is way more accurate then a 3.5" barrell 45 should be.
 
Like Ruger revolvers, Kahr PM9 for carry & Glock for truck gun.

I've had some nice Tauruses, but had one, a .357, that you could not hit a garbage can lid standing up with it @ 20'! I gave it to my brother. He can't shoot anyway!:D
 
Favorite: H&K

Least Favorite: Colt

I had experience with the Colt 2000 which I thought was total crap. I can't say I'm all that fond of idiotic unions possesed of an entitlement mentality and willing to destroy a company if their exorbitant demands aren't met.

Great lesson in how having the government run a business ends in failure - the company was owned by the State of Conneticut, the UAW and some myopic investors.

Donald Zilkha, Ron Stewart, and Steven Sliwa ?

People love their 1911 pistols - that's great and that's pretty much all they have going for them right now.
 
Last edited:
Favorite: Ruger (rock solid and affordable), Sig Sauer ( expensive, but worth it in this guy's opinion), Springfield (again rock solid and affordable), Bersa (good value concealer), H&K (I like the look and feel)

Least Favorite: Beretta (I find them ugly and overrated), Taurus (don't shoot worth beans), Kimber (I'm willing to be proven wrong, but they seem overpriced for what you get.)
 
Favorite; I don't have one, they all have a use. I like Walther, Ruger, Kimber, and NAA most of all.


Least; I've never had a gun not go bang with defense ammo. But from personal experience, I like Taurus least, but I'm not a Taurus hater; I do own and shoot one.

Next least; except for the 36, and a prior good experience with ownership of a 19, I'm not much of a Glock fan.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top