Worst gun you ever owned?

B

Bob Wright

New member
This question was posed on another thread and got me to thinking. First of all, I go a long way back. As a kid, we could buy old top-break revolvers from second hand and junk shops, usually around $1.50 to $3.00. Many were old Iver Johnson, others unmarked. These guns were so near alike that parts usually were interchangable.

It was on these guns that I got my education on the workings of a revolver. We could replace a part or two, have a service station weld up worn frames, and make wooden grips, usually of pine or produce crates.
And blamed if we didn't get them into working condition. With .32 S&W or .38 S&W, the ammunition was forgivingly low powered.

It was not to be until I was about seventeen that I got my first real revolver, a Colt New Service in .45 Colt, though it was a rebored .455 Eley. Because of its age and service, it went sour on me pretty quickly, but having learned of the workings of revolvers, I was able to replace the part causing the problem.

Now, I look back on over sixty handguns I've owned over the years. Wouldn't trade places with anyone!

Bob Wright
 
Interesting history Bob, thanks for sharing.
My love for revolvers came while growing up in the 70's. One of my Dad's friends was a cop and he packed a model 19 4". His wife would take us kids for walks in the woods and we never left the house without her 6" model 19. I've been fascinated with revolvers ever since.

Well, back to the OP. My worst, with out a doubt, would be a 44 Taurus Tracker I purchased a couple years ago. Dang thing was brand spankin new, but performed like one of your $1.50 to $3.00 acquisitions (maybe even worse). Went back to the factory with no success so I fixed it myself then sold it. The bright side (if you want to call it that) I learned the ins and outs of Taurus revolvers.:rolleyes:
 
I was given a Davis Derringer in 22 magnum. My ex wife dropped it on the wood floor one day and the hammer broke off. I guess I could of sent it back to be repaired, but I just threw it away.
 
A Remington clone, '75 made by Uberti imported by Stoeger. I couldn't fire a stage without the gun locking up. I tried to get Stoeger to honor the warranty, no soap. After several attempts to get the Gun Shop to fix it they gave up and worked me a deal on a Cimarron/Pietta Colt clone. I've never buy a Stoeger again. Sad thing is that I loved the way that '75 handled.
 
Taurus 970 22lr revolver...locked up on the very first cylinder of ammo when it came out of the box and transfer bar had broken. Was returned for service on my dime and came back to me out of time and with a very stiff trigger.

Just a total piece of junk.
 
Ruger makes some good revolvers and I have owned several, but their quality control is sometimes terrible. So, yes, the worst revolvers I ever owned have been Rugers.

I recently purchased a Ruger single 10, .22 long rifle revolver and the chambers were too tight. I couldn't even get the bullets to go in the chambers, and I tried several brands of shells.

Another Ruger purchased brand new, Blackhawk 45 convertable gave all kinds of trouble when shooting 45ACP ammo. It was a headspace problem, and very ammo picky, and would jam up solid.

And that's not the only two, just the worst two. However, I still own a few good Rugers, but it is sad how many get out door with problems, to the point I am just about weaned off of them.
 
just noticed mikes reminder of revolvers. never really had a bad one, smith, ruger, uberti, Taurus, etc all good...fwiw bobn
 
Last edited:
Worst revolver I ever owned is a Rohm .22 LR revolver.

I remember when I was a little boy (I'm 27 now) peering into my grandfather's nightstand and seeing his revolver. I never touched it, as I knew I couldn't without an adult. Back then, I thought it was probably the biggest, baddest revolver ever made.

My grandfather passed away last year. That old revolver was handed down to me. When I got it, the cylinder wouldn't turn when I pulled the trigger. I took it apart and figured out that a spring had gotten jammed up. I cleaned it and reassembled it correctly. Test fired it and it fired fine. I might only run a cylinder through it every couple years. Not really sure it's safe to fire much more than that, even with SV cartridges. His brother brought it over from Germany when he was in the service. It's probably worth about $20, and it's the worst revolver I own, but I'll never get rid of it. Anything that reminds me of my grandfather is a mighty damn good thing.
 
I've been really lucky. I buy used most of the time, and the guns I'm into are usually inexpensive, high quality for their price range types of guns - CZ's, com bloc handguns chambered in the Makarov round, Ruger DA revolvers, modern no frills S&W DA rovolvers, Dan Wesson revolvers, S&W 3rd Gen semi autos, cheap shotguns, surplus Sigs, etc. Usually most of my problems can be cured with a good cleaning, some new springs, and some quality hand loaded ammo.
 
worst gun

A Taurus revolver in 22mag.Would not hit target at 7 yards.Gunsmith checked it out and called Taurus.Had to threaten lawsuit to get money refunded.
 
AMT Automag. Got on a waiting list to get it and after several months it arrived. Had a twelve pound trigger and shot ten inch groups at 25 yds off sand bags. Total piece of you know what. Got rid of it the next day. I've had a couple of others almost as bad. They went just as fast. Just this week I received my second lever gun from the same manufacturer under warranty. It had the same problem as the first one, it wouldn't cycle or feed out of the mag tube. The gun was seventeen hundred dollars and didn't work right out of the box. Two in a row within three weeks time. It went back the same day I received it and I got a full refund. Guns, like everything else, suffer from poor quality control now days. Companies don't want to check the parts before going out the door or they want their money NOW and figure they'll fix them under warranty.
 
Not counting antiques and guns that were simply worn out, the worst pistol I own (or ever owned) is a Rogak. It is a licensed copy of the Steyr GB, which was not one of Steyr's better ideas, but the Rogak is total junk. It is so poorly made that the gas leakage keeps it from functioning when fired. That really doesn't matter, since the hammer spring is so weak the gun won't fire 90% of the time, so it only fails to feed 10% of the time.

When it came out some of the gunzines praised it to high heaven (though Soldier of Fortune was honest enough to say it was a "boat anchor").

Jim
 
My worst was a High Standard Sentinel MK IV in .22 Mag. I bought it for a nice price, cleaned it up and went to the range.

With CCI Maxi-Mag 40-grain, it keyholed at 15 feet. With 3 other brands of ammo, it shot about about a 10-inch group, once again at 15 feet. DA trigger was horrendous, single action was still pretty stout.

Sold it with full disclosure to someone who wanted to load it up with snakeshot and use it for a trail gun.
 
My worst that should have been better, a Ruger SSM 32 H&R.
A friend and I stopped in at the gun shop in Cheyenne Wyo years back , looked at the then new 32 H&r SSM, the dealer had two so we bought them both, consecutive serial numbers, took them out , shot them, his put all shots in a nice little circle the size of a small orange , from 20 yards.
Mine, well sighting it in took half a box of ammo, and ended up with the rear sight as far to the left as was possible and still was not centered, the front sight and the extractor rod housing were both canted after examining the gun, which I did not do at the dealers. And to top it off the thing will not put six rounds into a coffee can size group at 20 yards.
 
Well, seems we missed the gist of my post. My implication was, when you got hold of a lemon, what did you do to fix it? Replace parts, or make a new part, turn the barrel to fix a canted front sight? Things of that nature. And what did you learn from the experience?

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