What has been your most dependable pistol?

Most Dependable Pistol?

Like 'Z400ACDC' I also have a Taurus (PT92 AF). I bought it used. It had not been properly maintained but I took it apart, cleaned it up, oiled it down and have yet to have a problem with it. I also have a Bul-M5 (45acp) which is also totally dependable, has never jammed or malfunctioned. Double stack magazine, dual safetys, made to perform in weather even a postman won't go out in :D
 
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All my pistols exhibited some sort of issue at one point. But my Glock 30 gen 3 has been the most consistent in operation of my semi-auto defensive pistols. My Ruger Mark III Hunter pistol is my most consistent operating semi-auto range gun.
 
Between my G19 Gen 4, my S&W 642, my S& 64, and both my Ruger GP100s, I've had a grand total of:

0 failures of ANY kind.

I consider myself lucky, and to be frank, EVERY ONE of my pistols has been my most dependable. :cool:
 
I have to admit - I really have only one "un-dependable" gun in my collection, and that's my Ruger SR-22. And really, I don't think the gun itself is the issue so much as the Remington Thunderbolt I was running through it.

Outside their break-in, I've had no problems with the thousands of rounds I ran through my other guns.
 
I've experienced failures with Glock, Sig, CZ, Tanfoglio, Walther, Browning Hi-Power...those are ones I can remember. Everything in the collection right now seems to running OK, at least with the ammo it's being fed at the moment.

As far as 100%, all of the revolvers I've shot, even the ones that were technically out of time, fired and functioned fine. I even had a revolver once with the barrel screwed on crooked from the factory...couldn't hit much with it, but it still worked!

I have had to send revolvers back to S&W for repair, but I never found out about the problem on the range, and it was never for anything that would prevent the weapon from firing if needed. It's pretty easy to diagnose most problems with wheels guns without firing a round.
 
All of my CZ's have choked from time to time...except my P01. I'd say roughly 3-4000 lead reloads through it.

Now that I think about it the G21sf I had a few months was reliable as well.
 
Sig P239. I probably have close to 8k rounds through it but not all trouble free. Intinially I had a pin in the frame that would walk after a few mags and cause issues. Once that was repaired, the gun has given me no issues and runs like champ. I can also say my M&P9c has been very dependable as well. I had some slide lock failures in the first couple hundred rounds, but now it's getting over the 2k mark and it's been completely dependable.
 
I purchased my Glock 17 back in 1988. In all those years I have fired over 25,000 rounds. No malfunctions and never replaced any parts, except installing Trijicon night sights on it the month after I first purchased it.

Competed for several years in NRA Action Shooting (stock). It has been a well made, reliable, and accurate firearm. I would, and have, totally trusted my life to it, and it has served me well.

Can't vouch for the newer models, but would never hesitate to recommend the 1st & 2nd generations of Glock.


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Most reliable has been all of my S&W 745’s (45ACP) and they have been my most used handguns of all I’ve ever owned. Ammo is virtually all my own handloads using a Speer 200 lead SWC with 4.2 of 700X. Usual range round count session is 200 rounds. Total 45ACP round count probably 20K+ from all pistols chambered for this round. Roughly keep track by the primers used on my loads. I still have over a case (5K) of Federal large pistol primers.

Prior to increasing the number count (quantity) of the 745’s I’ve owned a Sig 220 (early heel mag release) and a number of CGC (Colt Gold Cup) series 70 (no firing pin block/safety). All 45ACP. The 220 was the next most reliable needing to be well lubed at the rail, the Sig has a lot of rail. The 220 was the most accurate of the three even though it didn’t fit me well. A change in only powder charge volume would be a change in the vertical impact of the target only. The 745 and CGC would change additionally horizontally with the same change in powder charge volume used in the 220.

The CGC, a 1911, has been a real learning experience for me. While I don’t recall ever having issues using factory new Federal JSWC ammo, round count usage of this ammo was very limited because of cost. My handloads would give an occasional stovepipe or some other ejection issue. While many would call it a tune-up, IMO, modification would be more appropriate for what changes I’ve made on my CGC. Changes were made to the extractor, ramp of barrel and ramp on frame. The internal extractor was modified to mimic the function of an external extractor, works in either controlled feed or snap-over the rim feed modes. IMO the bullet/cartridge should never see/touch the lower ramp area of the barrel, this part of the ramp can be removed/eliminated. Ramp on frame is extended forward (front of pistol) to ease the transition of the cartridge into the chamber. Cartridge case head support of chamber of barrel and the slide are untouched/no changes. Occasional failures to return to battery happens because the CGC chamber is comparatively snug toward the case mouth of the chamber. The 745 is very forgiving about headspace issues.

Powder charge was changed from 4.0 to 4.2. While 4.0 worked fine in the CGC the 745 would not reliably cycle. IMO the CGC is setup for SWC while the 745 is setup for hardball.

I have/had more pistols in 9mm than all the 45autos I’ve ever owned combined. Yet my round count for the 9mm is very low, probably only in the low thousands total.

Can’t recall ever having any issues with the Ruger P89, Walther P5, Glock 19C or Beretta 84 (380ACP) when using factory OEM magazines. Aftermarket magazine with 19C would fail to lock the slide open after the last round causing an empty chamber and cocked striker condition.

Intertec AB-10 (similar to Tec 9) has a very short barrel of about 2” with no barrel shroud. Will not cycle with light ammo such as WWB.

Most reliable 22LR is the Beretta 71 with 6” barrel. Least reliable are my High Standard Victors, 5.5”.
 
Sig 228

When my agency made the switch from revolvers to auto's, the "transition pistol" was the Sig 228. Everybody got one, at least for the first couple years till all commissioned personal got switched over. I ran some transition classes, and went through some extensive amount of shooting myself to get the cert to do so. Saw a bunch of ball ammo run through assorted P228's in the process, as well as a limited amount of JHP. I'm going to guesstimate 50K+ out of 40 pistols, and that's probably low. One failure. A Failure to feed on a JHP and an uncleaned pistol, may not have been cleaned all week. We saw far more bad ammo, than we ever saw failures with the pistols.

Being an old school revolver guy (well, I guess we all were) I was much impressed. And as we branched out with different Sig models over the next 20 years, they all have run as well. A failure on the line is actually a rare thing, though the annual round count per gun is not high once in the field.
 
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