Which gun was the LEAST reliable?

I've had pretty good luck, including good luck with models that other people have complained about here.

I had a Llama 1911 clone in 9mm once. Fell in love with it because it was the first two-toned autopistol I'd ever seen. The mighty recoil of 9mm in a full-sized 1911 caused the grip panels to break up the first time I ever fired it. The company replaced those. But the thing never did feed reliably, even with hardball. Wasn't accurate, either, even by my standards (as the World's Worst Shot). Eventually I gave up on it.
 
A Ruger Redhawk, believe it or not. I have never had a "cheap" gun, but my Redhawk has been a disappointment. It is about 2 years old, and after warming up (about 2 to 3 cylinders full), the cylinder starts binding. Not sure why, I took it all apart and cleaned everything out, to no avail. I have to help the cylinder to rotate while I kock it (the forum will not allow this word if correctly spelled):D It works better if kocked while pointed at the ground, but I don't really like to do that. I may send it to Ruger to look over.
 
The worst one I've owned was a Kahr PM9. Granted it was one of the first ones (which I hear they've gotten better) but I will never own another. After I got it back from Kahr the 3rd time for FTFs and it still wouldn't feed properly, I ended up taking an angle grinder to it, cutting it up and tossing it in the trash.
 
1. Taurus Millennium .45. Pull the trigger all the way back and it wouldn't fire. Release the trigger and it would go off. Magazine would self eject avery few shots, too.

2. EAA Witness .40. Must have had a damaged crown. Shot 3" right and 4" high at only 7.5 yards. At 25 yards you could not hit the paper unless you aimed at the dirt 3-4' to the left of the target. Magazine would also self eject.

3. Kel-Tec P3AT .380. Jammed with everything except CCI FMJ.
 
Sterling .22 pistol.

Would rarely get through an entire mag without at least one FTF, it occasionally had FTE's too and sometimes soft strikes. Could not alleviate these problems no matter what I did. Thorough cleaning, proper oiling, tried a variety of ammo, the works, and nothing made a positive difference. I really wanted to like that gun. It was surprisingly accurate, I liked the trigger too, and it was fun to shoot whenever it actually worked, problem is, that wasn't nearly often enough.
 
The two most unreliable firearms I have fired were a Bryco 9mm and a Phoenix HP22.

The Bryco would fire the first round reliably (almost) every time. After that, it might malfunction on every remaining round in the magazine. Failure to extract, failure to eject, light strikes, etc.

The most interesting malfunction was when recoil would actuate the takedown button.

The HP22 would also sometimes malfunction on every single round in the magazine. It was absurdly inaccurate, too. I can get better groups throwing rocks.
 
My Beretta Bobcat 21A 22 would jam at least once every mag, but now that I've shot over 1000 rounds out if it, it hardly every jams.

I had Rossi 461 break, and had to go back for a replacement.
 
Mine was one of those tilt barrel Beretta 32's. I don't think I ever got twenty rounds through it without some sort of malfunction. Traded it for some ammo.
 
I'm almost scared to admit it, but I had a little Jiminez 380 for a while. It had pretty bad FTE problems. I polished the feed ramp a bit and the mag lips a bit and got past that, but didn't feel comfortable keeping it. I traded it at a gun shop. I knew another guy that had one too and he had the same FTE problems.
 
The worst that i have owned was a Walther P22,couldnt get anything to feed through it.Tried everything from remington thunderbolts to winchester t22's,even some eley target 22's i had on hand.Nothing would cycle 100%,then the sight fell off and it was time for it to go.
Wanted a Colt magnum carry when they came out.Friend was doing a write up on it for a magazine so i got the chance to shoot one before they hit the market.As i shot it the barrel started turning until i turned it by hand the rest of the way off.Killed my desire for anything Colt after that and a Colt government stainless match that was as reliable as our own government.
 
This is a good thread. It seems that a few have had some flukes from Ruger and a couple other usually reliable guns. The early KelTecs (like the one I had very briefly) and Taurus semi-autos seem to have earned their reputation.

I am surprised no one has mentioned their Sig mosquito, yet. I always hear about issues with them on here and the few I've seen at the range seemed real finicky.

And the guy with the 10/22 that liked to go FA, actually sounds like it would be fun, if you could get it to do it reliably instead of randomly.
 
I guess I'm a slow learner. I bought two new Colt 1911s about five years apart. The first had FTF/FTE issuses but was decently accurate. Just got to be a pain to clear jams. Later I bought a 1991-A1. That was a joke on me. The most rounds it ever fired in a row was two!! Back to Colt, no problems found. Fired the first two rounds and jammed again. Sent it to a local gunsmith and he couldn't get it to run without major parts replacement. Traded it for a Springfield even up and never had a jam of any kind ever.
 
Worst (that I or someone else couldn't fix) was a used ruger 10/22. Sold it cheap to someone that knew about the issue.

Keltec P3AT would not feed most ammo reliably, and what it did feed it was usually only good for one clip before beginning to jam. I suspect that I did not keep it lubricated well enough for the second clip, so I cannot blame Keltec. It was surprisingly accurate when it did go boom, and one clip would probably be all you need from a backup gun.
 
Colt Defender in .45ACP. Got a good deal on it used but first trip to the range revealed why; every third round the empty casing would bounce off my forehead. Also slide lock would engage on it's own along with occasional FTF/FTE. Found a kit to put a detent dimple on the lever, a complete spring kit and new extractor at Brownell's and got the little gun running great.
 
A very early Ruger SR9. Barrel was getting the crap beat out of it and peening, couldn't load the original 17 rd mags past just a few rounds, and no matter who was shooting it, couldn't put anything even resembling a group on paper. :barf:


My wifes Beretta Tomcat INOX .32 was a jammomatic. Replaced with an awesome MicroEagle.
 
Springfield Armory Compact: Total jam-o-matic

Phoenix Arms HP22: Trigger mechanism broke in 90 rounds

Kimber Tactical Ultra II: Even worse than the Springfield. Too many QA issues to get fixed. Kimber even gave up and sent me a new gun...which didn't function properly either.
 
How can I ethically offload a problem weapon onto an unsuspecting buyer? Yes, we can say "buyer beware". But that results in a "never buy a used gun".
Click to expand...
I sold a Para C-6 back to the guy I bought it from. When I bought it, it wouldn't fire two consecutive rounds. When I sold it back, it would fail maybe five times in 100. He was happyto get it back, I was happy to be rid of it.
When I bought a Charles Daly 1911, it worked about as well as the Para. When I got done, it was still only 95%; not good enough for me, but the guy I sold it to said his FIL was a gunsmith and he bought it happily as-is.

I have sold four Kel-Tecs with full disclosure, losing money on each.

I live about 15 minutes from an indoor range. I prefer to sell FTF and always offer a "test drive". I also offer a no question asked, money back guarantee on anything I sell.

Bottom line is, there are ways you can operate with integrity, and buy/sell with confidence.
 
The most (and only) unreliable handgun I ever owned was a new Sig P229 in 9mm. I experienced all possible kinds of malfuntions with this pistol with several different ammo brands. Now that I think about it, the Sig was a great training tool :D

I fired approximately 400 rounds through this gun, so it was definitely not a "break-in" issue. Even a trip back to the Sig factory didn't fix anything.

I realize that every company can put out a lemon from time to time, though... I wouldn't hesitate to buy a Sig again in the future. Since I already got a bad one, what are the chances of getting another jamming Sig :eek:
 
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