When do you stop trusting one of your handguns?

1

12GaugeShuggoth

New member
I often hear/see people ask how many rounds they should shoot before they can trust a particular firearm. I've heard answers ranging anywhere from 20 to 1000 rounds, so there's a pretty wide variation of opinion :). My question is when do you, personally, STOP trusting a handgun? Specifically for this discussion, one that is intended for personal protection/self defense purposes.

I'm fully expecting a wide margin of different opinions here, this is something I'm curious about. I'm asking because I recently experienced my very first handgun malfunction of any kind :eek: , which got me to thinking what other people's opinions are. One and done? Ten and in the trash bin?

For me, malfunctions that occur during what I consider to be normal operating conditions are a deal breaker. If some outside factor can be identified as the cause (like bad ammo for instance), then all is still good. Malfunctions that occur during "extreme" testing don't mean much to me, I can't think of too many situations where I would need to shoot while falling from a plane and being run over by a semi, while simultaneously drowning. :D Or where I would need to shoot 1000 rounds between cleanings, for that matter.
 
I stop trusting my handgun when someone writes something bad about it online.


Just kidding. I would stop trusting a firearm if I had some malfunctions I could not explain.
 
I have two SIGs that have never malfunctioned, so if they did I would assume something was wrong. It would probably come out of rotation until I evaluated the issue and fired enough ammo through it to once again be confident.
 
If you have a good quality handgun, and use the ammunition that gun is designed for, I question the ideal it will quit you unless something weird happens and that would be from an outside source.

I have a Model 28 S&W I was issued in the Mid 70s, I carried it most of my 20 years in LE, and I've shot the crap out of it. Still shoot it today and it still works. The only difference is the trigger has smoothed out a bit from tons of shooting and dry firing.

If I was to go back into LE I wouldn't hesitate to carry it, in fact it would be my preferred service revolver/pistol.

I have a USGI 1911a1 that was made in 1943, don't know how many rounds have been shot before I got it in the late 70s, but I've know I've shot untold thousands of rounds through it since it still works and works quite well.

This is just two examples of my pistol/revolvers, I have more that work the same.

With reasonable care, quality guns do not wear out to the point they wont work for you.

As to shooting, I have one (which I wont name, its me not the gun) I just can't shoot. It's reliable, meaning it will function each and every time, but I just can't hit anything with it.

Rifles are different, I have shot a lot of competition, and rifle barrels do wear out, or get shot out, its not the rifle, I just change barrels and start over.

Sure there is junk out there that you can shoot apart, but I certainly wouldn't carry them for self defense in the first place.

Nah, if I loose confidence in a gun, its because I don't work with it enough to keep up my abilities or confidence with that gun.
 
I stop trusting it when I have an issue that appears to not be random. If I have one misfeed in 1000 rounds, that doesn't concern me. If I have two in one day, then I want to know why? Could be the gun is dirty, could be a part is worn and needs replacing, but I want to know.
I had a failure to lock back over the Summer, then bought a complete set of new mags. I then had another failure to lock back. I isolated the mag, and sent an email to the manufacturer. It makes me nervous. If it's a problem with the one mag, then it's not really a problem; I'll replace that mag. If it's a design or manufacturing problem, then I'll switch to a different brand of mags.
 
Example

My Ruger LC9 failed multiple times on me including after each time it went to Ruger for work. I fully believe that was a lemon however I read a lot of bad about them so who knows.

Even with that gun I did a lot of researching technique (limp wristing) and ammo to make sure I was confident it wasn't me.

A Gun is a machine which if made to spec is fine. Then again that machine is still a human process.

My point here is that I assume I am flawed before the machine and only when I prove that wrong do I begin to not trust the machine.

I no longer own this Ruger after its issues however I may purchase one in a year or so after they sort out the first run jitters.

Regards Vermonter
 
I stop trusting my handgun when someone writes something bad about it online.
Click to expand...

Uh Oh........I guess that means I need to get rid of, well, ALL of my handguns. ;)

Seriously though, good responses so far guys, keep 'em coming.
 
i guess for me it would depend on how many rounds ive fired through it. if less than 500 it could be just the break in period for the pistol and could run flawlessly after that.if i got 10,000 rounds through it i would start to contemplate trading it out for another one depending on how many malfunctions im getting.

or you could just buy Glock and not have to worry about it:D
 
I may not understand the question but I've had several guns develope problems then fixed them or had them fixed. After a little test firing I trust'm. If it can't be fixed then it becomes trading material.
 
The only hand gun that I stopped trusting was my Taurus M 85. It froze up at 250 rounds and even after a trip back, I never trusted it after that and got rid of it.

That was the only hand gun that I've ever had issues with so I don't have a lot of experience to speak from, but I guess once a gun proves it isn't reliable, that's it for me.

What does reliable mean? Good question. With the exception of the Taurus, I've never had a problem with my Rugers or my Smith revolvers. My semi autos, Glock, Springfield and Rugers have all been flawless as well.
 
Honestly, I have never had a handgun "go bad" on me.
I have owned a fair number that were unreliable from day one, and if I was unable to resolve on my own, I:
1. Sold with full disclosure at a substantial loss (too many times, and always with second tier guns...I no longer buy crap guns)
2. Took to a gunsmith and got it fixed (only twice so far, with guns that I didn't mind putting a bit more time/effort/money into)
3. Slammed it repeatedly with a six-pound sledge and then threw it in a lake (only once, 20+ years ago, but it was cathartic and I don't regret it a bit)
 
In my case, it would have to be a catastrophic failure or a repeat problem that defies any solution.
My trusty old Colt Mark IV locked back on me a few years ago. The usual quick solutions didn't work, I disassembled it down to the bare frame, thoroughly cleaned it, a tiny amount of lube, reassembled-hasn't missed a beat since.
 
Taurus PT 145 MIL Pro. Never fed a full mag in its short, miserable life. 4 trips back to Taurus and still was unreliable. Couldn't trust it to carry it, swapped it out for a Glock 30. 1200 rounds and still ticking:)
 
I have never reached that point with any of my guns. I feel pretty safe using and counting on anyone of them.
 
When my pt145 started to jam fmjs 3 or 4 times a magazine. It's in the safe for the past 6 months waiting to be traded.
 
This is a very difficult question to answer, simply because there are so many variables to take into consideration.

I once had a Taurus .357 mag revolver, and it got really loose after maybe 500 rounds. The cylinder didn't lock up tight any more, and when shooting DA it would oft-times rotate the cylinder without moving the hammer, thereby skipping a chamber. It was pretty sad, but the thing still fired every time in SA. I still trusted it to fire in SA shooting, but finally sold it to someone for a cheap price who was willing to send it back to Taurus and deal with their notoriously poor CS.

I once had a Springfield Armory "micro-compact" .45 ACP that broke the guide rod loose from the guide rod head twice before I had shot up the first box of ammo. I traded that one off at the gunshop I bought it from, and never trusted it. And BTW, this was the single most expensive handgun I've ever bought. It was really nice, but wasn't up to par for a SD handgun.

Had a CZ 75b in .40 S&W that I was never able to shoot a magazine full of ammo through without several jams. Never trusted that one, either.

Meanwhile, I've had things that went wrong, or just weren't right with firearms, and either repaird them myself or got them repaired. Once the repair was done, they became reliable again. Mechanical devices can and do sometimes break. Just like your car, you fix them and keep going. When they get to a point where the breakages are too often, or the function isn't reliable for good service, it's time to replace it.

But each is a case unto itself.
 
I just had my Kimber Pro CDP II recently start acting up, failures to eject, wouldn't go back into battery, and double feeds. I couldn't get through a magazine without a stoppage. Took it home that night and stripped it down to a bare frame and slide, scrubbed every thing down, lubed, and reassembled it. Took it back to the range the following day figuring if that didn't fix it I would replace all the springs in the gun (which I should probably due any way) and ran approximately 200 rounds through it with no stoppages. Took the gun home that night and stripped it back down and cleaned and lubed again, gun is back in service. If the cleaning hadn't worked and replacing the springs didn't fix the issue then I was going to switch off to my S&W M36 until I could afford a new main carry gun. I guess for me, if it can't be fixed with normal maintenance then a new carry gun is in order. I wouldn't have gotten rid of the Kimber but I definitely couldn't trust it in a life or death situation if regular maintenance didn't cure the issue. I've got probably 5000 rounds down the pipe in that gun and that's the first time I've stripped it completely down so I guess I can't complain much although it's now going to be a semi annual practice.

Stu
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top