What has been your most dependable pistol?

[Skans]

psalm7 - interesting that you named your Ruger Mark II as dependable. My Mark II is one of my least dependable guns - and this includes my Jennings J-22. My problem withe the Mark II is self-imposed...sort of. I don't like field stripping it to clean it....so I rarely do it. And, I absolutely hate taking it all the way down to clean trigger parts. One problem I have from time to time is when I press the trigger nothing happens. "press...press...bang...press...press...press...bang" you get the idea. I finally took the thing all the way down and figured out that crud builds up on the trigger plunger. You have to remove every friggin part from the gun to get to the trigger plunger. Maybe I'm the only one who has this problem - haven't read much about it, but that's my experience with the Mark II.

 

[Snyper]

You have to remove every friggin part from the gun to get to the trigger plunger.

Or you could remove the grips and use carb cleaner, or just soak it in kerosene and blow it out with an air hose.

I haven't taken my Mark II's apart in at least 25 years and they have never failed to operate as they should

 

[Skans]

Or you could remove the grips and use carb cleaner,

I had tried dousing it with Break Free - no good. When I finally got it apart, there is some gooey crud (don't know how to describe it) completely coating the trigger plunger. When I cleaned it, that seemed to solve the problem. Couldn't get to it without taking the whole thing apart.

 

[psalm7]

Mk 2's are not fun to field strip but not as bad as some . Ruger engineering is unique . Some .22 ammo leaves behind alot of crud , mix's with your lube of choice and makes some good firearms jam . Edited my prev post to get rid of type'os . First day off from a rough week of work not paying attention .

 

[TBT]

I had the most rounds though a M&P9FS (about 4K) and Glock 19 (around 5K) but my CZ P-07 is creeping up on them with around 3K.

 

[Captains1911]

G19 Gen3. Over 7000 rounds. The only malfunctions I can recall were intentionally induced while performing extreme limp-wristing demonstrations (i.e. firing gun while holding with just thumb and trigger finger).

 

[Metalboy]

To me so far for many years, it's Beretta 92FS. 9mm.

 

[AustinTX]

I had tried dousing it with Break Free - no good. When I finally got it apart, there is some gooey crud (don't know how to describe it) completely coating the trigger plunger. When I cleaned it, that seemed to solve the problem. Couldn't get to it without taking the whole thing apart.

Why not blast it out with Gunscrubber? Break-free CLP is a relatively weak solvent, so it's not going to remove a whole lot without your being able to apply friction to the gunked-up parts.

 

[Skans]

Why not blast it out with Gunscrubber?

No reason, Break Free is what I had. I don't think it would have mattered, the crud on top of the trigger plunger is basically impossible to get to. I was just pointing out that the Ruger Mark II, even though its a decent .22, hadn't been that reliable for me. The main reason is that it is so darn hard to thoroughly clean. In fact, if I can find a good deal on a S&W Model 41, I'm going to get what I can get for the Mark II and put it toward the 41.

 

[Snyper]

I had tried dousing it with Break Free - no good.

Break Free isn't really a good solvent compared to carb cleaner

It should be degreased and then sprayed with a good Teflon dry lube that won't attract and hold the debris

 

[marine6680]

I would use electrical contact cleaner from the auto store. It's designed to be plastic safe. Carb cleaner can eat plastic.

My mkIII has been very reliable as well. If it gets really dirty without any added lube, it can have a few jams though.

 

[Wreck-n-Crew]

Seen the P89 mentioned a few times and I have to say I have not shot as many rounds down a P89 or P90 as I have a 5906 but no failures and all were my loads. FME the toughest Alloy frame ever made.

 

[chip86]

Based off of round count of JHP's, my G22. I hate firing it at the range but it's reliable as hell

 

[Hook686]

S&W 3913TSW

 

[desertsmith]

bersa 380

 

[speedwrench]

I sure enjoy seeing all the p-89 fans come out of the closet. To bad the aftermarket didn't warm up to it a little bit. But reliability must be accompanied with some accuracy. In the beginning I had several 1911's that would go bang but accuracy; not so much.

 

[HALO51]

HKP7M13 41,000 rounds never a failure of any kind

Sphinx SDP Compact 5,150 rounds to date with no failures. Both guns carried professionally and shot in extreme conditions.

HKMP5(A3) Submachine gun. 155,000 rounds no failures.

 

[Safestuffer]

Colt 1991A1, probably 3k rounds without failures
Sig p229, probably 2.5k without failures


both of which are soundly beaten by a S&W 10-8, at over 6k rounds without failure.

 

[Darker Loaf]

My Kahr K9 Elite has never had a mechanical failure, and I've been lucky, I have not had an ammunition failure. It's been 100% for about 2,000 to 3,000 rounds. Basically, I feel like I've been lucky, and I just haven't shot the gun to the point of failure yet. I probably should replace the springs on the gun. I'm not really sure about that. I know some of the Kahrs have a limited life on the return spring.

My Springfield XD 4" Service V-10 has had all sorts of failures, but I'll put it in the "most reliable" category. I've blown out the port on an extended barrel. I've put the recoil spring in backwards on an aftermarket guide rod, ruining the spring... it still mostly ran (with failures of course). I've worn out the factory guide rod through sheer volume of shooting. I've had magazine related failures (user error through wrongly installed aftermarket magazine parts). I've had many ammunition related failures including missing primers. But despite all the failures, I'd still trust this pistol with my life at the moment, because, in it's current state with new parts, it runs well. Basically, if you use something mechanical enough... expect it to wear out. And also, I just know this gun so well, that I'd have no trouble clearing a malfunction and getting it running again.

All other pistols I've owned, centerfire or rimfire, including revolvers have had numerous problems for me.

I'd probably trust my S&W 986 (in it's current state--I haven't had a failure), but because I am prejudiced and love that gun too much.

 

[jcv]

Semi-autos: S&W 3913. But I had S&W model 19 revolver that ran without a hitch for 30 years that I passed on to my son last year. It's still going strong.