[WeThePeople]

Being an avid shooter and a veteran, I have had all sorts of firearms "issues." I have had misfeeds, misfires, dropped magazines, grips fall off, even a trigger that didn't quite return without a little coersion. I have even had an extractor call it quits.

The most important thing is that, had I really needed to, I could have fired the weapon in all of those cases. I had never had a firearm completely fail on me until yesterday.

At the range yesterday, while firing round #89 on my Taurus PT145, the entire recoil spring assembly pushed through the front of the slide, spring and all. The firearm became completely "unfireable" in a split second. If that had happened to someone in a "situation," they would have been essentially unarmed.

I was firing 230gr FMJ in accordance with the owner's manual.

So, my question: Has this ever happened to any of you? What type of weapon? Ammo?

[RNB65]

Not permanent failure, but I bought a new CZ 527 Carbine last summer and on the second trip to the range, the magazine release lever came loose and there was no way to keep the mag in place after that. When I got home I disassembled the rifle and put the lever back into place and it has worked fine ever since. It looks like the mag release lever just wasn't seated properly when the gun was factory assembled.

[AK103K]

I've had a couple, a Glock 17 and a S&W 940. Both failed, were repaired at the factory, and failed again, in the exact same way.

The Glock's trigger just out of the blue refused to work, no matter how hard you pulled it. Work the slide, jump up and down, nothing.

Basically the same with the 940, but you couldnt even get the cylinder open, and the gun had to be taken apart to get the unfired ammo out.

[GCW5]

The only complete failure I've ever had was with a JC Higgens .22 rifle dad had bought in the 1950's, manufactured by High Standard. My brother and I were out trying to get a scope zeroed in for him to squrrel hunt with. I was standing behind and to his right, something hit me on the arm when he shot, and he let out a yelp. He had got some gas from the shot in the eye, we didn't know what hit me. When I looked at the rifle to see what happened, the bolt, it was stuck open about 1/4 inch and wouldn't move. We took it to the house to tear it apart, and found the bolt was cracked right down the middle end to end. It was bound in so tight that we couldn't budge it with a hammer and bloch of wood.

Dad sent it back for repairs, and finely got it back in about 6 months (after several nasty letters). None of us would ever shoot it again after that, and it still sits in a closet at his house in the box thet shipped it to him in.

[AK103K]

If we're talking rifles too, I had a GI M1 Garand go grenade on me. It definitely aint working now. :)

[gopguy]

Postwar Walther P1. locking block failure about 15 years ago. However I was lucky as the slide and frame were not damaged beyond repair.

[sarge48]

Taurus PT111 9mm, Trigger lugs sheared off while shooting 147 fmj american eagle. Approx 150 rounds. No more taurus products for me.

[M2 Carbine]

I recently bought a Skyy 9mm to try it out.
It started wearing excessively immediately and quit at round 180.

[Cawdor]

I had an early Walther P99 (KI - serial number less than 10000). At about 5,000 rounds the barrel lug broke.

[jonnyc]

Indian-made HiPower. Half-way through a mag, the recoil spring guide disintegrated, slide stop flew out, slide flew about 4 feet in front of me. Fortunately nothing fired out of battery and I found all the parts. No problem to fix, but it was a bit shocking!

[Blue4]

Had the front 2" of a Para Ordnance CCO slide break completely off and fly 10 yards down range while firing factory load 230 gr. FMJ. Needless to say, had I needed the gun I would have been out of luck. Para replaced the barrel and slide and I've put over 7000 rounds on the new parts without a problem.

[geekWithA.45]

While training someone on my TPH, (a 2/3 scale walther ppk in .22lr), the safety sheared and dropped clean out. Since the safety cams around the firing pin and holds it into place, I deemed it unsafe to fire, and unlikely to work if I tried.

Still have to get that darned thing fixed.


:cuss:

[1911 guy]

Fortunately it happened on a qual course, not in some stink hole across the ocean. Locking block cracked, pistol didn't cycle and could not be cleared or cycled by hand. I have no idea how the armorers fixed it.

[Peter M. Eick]

Cz97B. I had the barrel lug completely fall off and jam the gun hard. It took significant time with a rubber mallet to break the gun apart and extract the case and parts.

Diamondback. I had the screw that holds the bolt spring break and the cylinder would not lock up. It would freely rotate. If forced one could "hold" the cylinder and fire it, but I would not recommend it.

[Whirlwind06]

Transfer bar broke. Made a good club after that. Haven't bought a revolver since. When I do buy another it will be a big heavy over build Ruger :)

[doc2rn]

I bought one of those Taurus Instant Back-ups in .17. It totally locked up and it took 3 consecutive trips to the factory to be replaced with a new one. Each time I had to take it to a Gunsmith just to get the ammo out.

[Jim K]

I have had a number of failures of one kind or another with auto pistols, but the only guns that completely failed were revolvers. I had an early S&W Model 36 hammer pin break, and a Colt firing pin break. I have also seen Colt hammers break off at the thin part.

This is in addition to various revolvers that let go due to overloads and improper hand loads. There seems to be some sort of myth that revolvers, especially Rugers, can't blow up. They can and do with ammunition loaded by a fool.

Jim

[BobCat]

Broke the hammer strut (hammer spring rides it) in a Browning High Power - broke where the pin holding it to the hammer goes through.

Over several years I've broken three slide stops in my CZ75B. Haven't broken one since adding a plastic a shock buff and changing recoil springs every couple thousand rounds on advice of the CZ-USA gunsmith.

Neither of these was shot with "hot" loads. Either Winchester White Box or 5 grains of Unique / 115 g ball - a mild load that cycles the action, no more.

Anything and and everything can break, and will if you use it enough.

Regards,
Andrew

[CajunBass]

My wife's Bersa Firestorm 22 failed one day at the range. Pulling the trigger did nothing at all. It felt like the safety/decocker was in the "on" position.

On the way home we stopped by the Gander Mountain where we'd bought it figuring to leave it with the gunsmith. He looked at the gun, turned it over in his hand a few times, then went to the back, and took the grips off. He put the rubber grips on a grinder for a few seconds and bought it back.

The way he explained it, there was some rubber mold flashing on the inside of the grips, that for some reason started to press against the trigger bar and push it into the "on safe" position. Maybe some unburned powder had worked in there. He said he had seen one other one with the same problem, and remembered it. He said the first one he had a heck of a time figuring out what the problem was, until he noticed it worked fine with the grip off, but not with the grip on.

I don't pretend to understand it, but all he did was grind on the grip a little. No charge. Never had another problem with it.

[saltydog452]

Colt Officers Model.

Firing pin stop fell down, firing pin and spring launched past right ear.

Recoil spring and plug went downrange.

Dumped live rounds on the ground.

Failed to fire..occasional slight dimple on primer, but no 'bang'.

Feeding and ejection problems as well.

When it did go 'bang', there were firing pin drag marks across the face of the primer.

This was a replacement sent to me by Colt for another OM that was returned to them for similar reasons as posted above.

Good news is 1911Tuner fixed it.:D

salty.

[steelhead]

.44 Mag Ruger Vaq hammer broke.

Kel Tec P3-AT same problem as you had with your Taurus

Para Ord P10 had a cracked frame after 400 rounds

SIG 245 broken trigger bar

[10-Ring]

Do kabooms count? When my G21 kb! :eek: it was unfireable...not good!

[Confederate]

Transfer bar broke. Made a good club after that. Haven't bought a revolver since. When I do buy another it will be a big heavy over build Ruger.
Please don't hold revolvers accountable when you buy a Saturday Night Special and expect it to work. Charter Arms are the only revolvers I've had that have failed, except for a Virginia Dragoon stainless .44 mag. After about three shots, I set off a round only to have the hammer shatter like glass. Turns out it was a poor heat treat part. Interarms installed a new hammer and it worked flawlessly thereafter.

Getting back to Charter Arms, they're made so cheaply that most of their problems are binding. Recoil breaks in most guns and makes them more reliable, but with cheesy construction recoil just causes problems with fitting. Parts that weren't rubbing together now are and the thing just stops.

I had a .44 Bulldog back years ago and never had a problem with it. But so many other Charter Arms were having problems, I got to where I just didn't trust them. Still don't.

[Whirlwind06]

I haven't completely written off all revolvers. I just haven't gotten around to buying another. I had a Ruger 44 mag that was perfect but after injuring my hand it was no longer fun to shoot. I'll get another one sooner or later. Either a S&W or a Ruger.

[Kimber1911_06238]

The only failure I've ever had was with a muzzleloader. Pulled the trigger and the primer went off, but not the main charge.

[DacoRoman]

I've had a couple, a Glock 17 and a S&W 940. Both failed, were repaired at the factory, and failed again, in the exact same way.

The Glock's trigger just out of the blue refused to work, no matter how hard you pulled it. Work the slide, jump up and down, nothing.

Basically the same with the 940, but you couldnt even get the cylinder open, and the gun had to be taken apart to get the unfired ammo out.
-------------
Hello, all new person here :)

I had the same thing happen with my Glock 17 back in like 1990 when I first got it after a short period of time..I'd press the trigger and it would bottom out against the back of the trigger guard/frame and not drop the striker..in other words it just wouldn't fire; sent it back to Glock and after it came back it never failed again, except for refusing to reliably ejecting aluminum cased 115 grain Blazer ammo..anyway that was a a total failure for sure..

And (!) I also had a similar thing happen revolver wise with a S&W 586: when firing .357's out of it the cylinder would just totally lock up. Sent it back to S&W the modified the cylinder latch pin and it's worked beautifully ever since (they also stamped an M I guess for modified at the end of the serial number)....anyway that was a total failure also!....

[Joe Gunns]

Sears Ted Williams auto shotgun -action bar broke whilst shooting trap.

Transfer bars are the weak link in modern revolvers, and not just on Charter Arms. When I used to pay attention to the SASS boards seemed like somebody was reporting a breakage of the transfer bar on their Vaquero every couple of months. This was back in '99 and 00', so maybe the tendency has been corrected. Also, you are talking about boys putting hundreds of rounds through their guns on a regular basis. However, goes to show that a wise man never assumes the infallability of a firearm, regardless of who makes it.

[cdsdss]

The magazine disconnect broke in the middle of firing one day. I pulled the trigger and there was no resistance. Good thing it was just at the range and not in the middle of a bad situation.

[Rumble]

Yep. Taurus 605 (I was just talking about this gun on a different thread). Anyway, during a range session, the cylinder pin (the springy li'l bastitch that anchors the cylinder in the frame when it's closed) failed to be springy. The gun immediately stopped working--it wouldn't lock up, so the trigger wouldn't pull, the cylinder wouldn't stay in place. It was DRT. And had it happened in a defensive situation, I would have hoped that the first couple rounds did the job, or I might have been DRT.

On the other hand, mechanical things fail, so I was philosophical about it. Got it fixed, and continued to use it until I sold it later.

[GeorgiaGlocker]

No, I own Glocks! :neener:

[AK103K]

No, I own Glocks! :neener:
Glocks break, I had one that did, and it did it twice, too. So, does that count as one what broke, or two? :neener:

[GRB]

When I was still a firearms instructor, I saw a couple of S&W 6906 pistols where the recoil srping rod went forward along with the slide and both hung over the front end of the frame.

I have also seen a Glock 19 do something similar.

I, personally, have had two S&W, and one Charter Arms .38 revolvers wherein the shell casings did not extract because they somehow wound up behind the star extractor. Try firing a revolver like that; all they were good for was for throwing at the bad guys.

I have also seen the cylinders fall off of a number of revolvers, mostly S&Ws because that was what the shooters were issued. This was usually due to shooter error in that they forgot to tighten a certain screw after they had replaced the cyliner after cleaning the gun; although I once saw this happen when the screw was defective.

All the best, GB

[AK103K]

I've had the cylinder fall out of my model 29. The screw backed out without notice and when I lowered the gun to reload after dumping the empties, away she went. I Loc Tite key things on my S&W's now.

Other issues with the S&W's can be the ejector rod backs out, tying the gun up, or if you dont dump your empties muzzle up, you can get unburnt powder under the star, which can tie the gun up pretty good and drive you crazy troubleshooting it if you never heard of it. You'd be amazed at how little it takes to bind the cylinder or even make closing it near impossible.

[AZ SIG Shooter]

I had a Colt Anaconda .44 that the barrel would unscrew and lock up the extractor rod; and this was with .44 Special ammo. Got it fixed and sold it.
I have a SIG P220ST that had the extractor hook break off; I suppose the gun could have been "used" but the double feed before I saw what was wrong was time consuming to clear and in a fight the gun might just as well have been blown.
I saw an Air Force M-16 blow up at the Air Force Academy back about 1975 or so. Upper receiver peeled open like a bananna. No one got hurt, fortunately. Military ammo too....
I have used Smith revolvers for decades and never had a single failure; and I'm talking dozens of gun.
Still, all this brings up the question...do you carry a back up gun?

[WeThePeople]

AZ Sig Shooter:

No, I don't carry a back-up. I have a tough enough time concealing my primary!

[gm]

yup, more than a few. Revolvers,semiauto handguns and rifles,pump shotguns and lever actions.Always unlikely to ever happen again but they did happen,sometimes even getting them fixed right, I still didnt feel comfortable with them nor did I trust them from then on.

[minutemen1776]

My first centerfire handgun (circa 1992) was a Springfield Armory 1911 in .45 ACP. That thing would regularly lock up so bad that nothing short of completely breaking it down would cure it. After going "bang" the slide would get totally stuck somewhere between being fully retracted and being fully in battery. I could drop the mag, but that's about it. I never figured out the problem with that beast of a gun. :banghead: It was inaccurate, too, and I sold it to someone else (who knew it had troubles) for cheap. Fifteen years later, I still have an otherwise irrational dislike for 1911s based on that one experience. :confused:

I also shot a S&W Model 10 to the point that its cylinder would no longer turn. A friend and I took turns firing 100s of dirty .38 reloads through the gun. All the grit finally bound the cylinder. It was kind of like what might happen when you shoot several cylinders through an old blackpowder revolver.

I also had a Ruger .357 that would not function because the ejector rod backed out of the cylinder so much that it would no longer close. A little Loctite fixed that.

[Oohrah]

Nothing that could not be immediately cleared and fired. Exception
was a Win. Mod. 100 in 308, that would short cycle with some handloads.
Pistols 1911A1 GI,cheapie semi autos that once broke in, never. Various
revolvers Colt @ Smith, never. Semi Auto rifles, bad magazine on 30 Carb
the rest never. Bolts, one misfire bad primer. Shotguns not used as
often, never

[10X]

Had a new S&W 27-2 quit in the late 1970s. I pulled the side plate and found the hammer pin sheared off. The metal was pourous. Sent it in to S&W and they repaired it. It worked fine after that. I eventually sold it.

Again in the 1970s, I also had a S&W model 41 quit. All of a sudden pull the trigger and nothing happened. Sent it into S&W for repair. When it was returned I went to the range and within 150 rounds the trigger quit again. Sent it into S&W again. It came back and worked fine after that. I never did trust it or like it after that so I sold it.

Come to think of it those were the last S&Ws I bought.

[The Lone Haranguer]

I've had easily repairable but still disabling parts breakages render handguns inoperable. On two "classic" SIGs (P220 and P228) I had trigger bar springs break. With the trigger bar no longer contacting anything the trigger just swings/flops back and forth in the frame. On a Glock 19 I had the slide lock (the piece of metal with serrated tabs that you pull down to release the slide) retaining spring break. The part fell out and the slide, with the barrel and recoil spring still attached, flew off the front of the frame and hit the ground.

[LT.Diver]

I got into a rather contentious series of posts on this board with a member regarding Taurus firearms. Your story makes my point perfectly. In my opinion Tauruses (Tauri?) are not to be trusted.
I had a PT-22. I shot maybe 50 or 75 rounds through it. It had the worst trigger of any pistol I have ever fired. I carried that gun for a summer time pocket pistol for a few months. I came home on day and found a raccoon in my bird feeder. I pulled the little Taurus out of my pocket, aimed at the 'coon, pulled the trigger and nothing happened. After a little investigation I found that the firing pin was broken in two. Thank God it was just a raccoon and not something or someone more dangerous.
The second complete failure was another Taurus. This time it was a stainless .357. I loaded the cylinder with some 125 grain jacketed hollow points. I fired one shot and the gun was completely locked up. I couldn't pull the trigger or cock the hammer. I tried to open the cylinder but it was impossible. I ended up having to knock the cylinder open with a leather mallet. As it turned out the frame to cylinder fit was so poor and the machining so rough that it was rather suprising that it fired the first shot at all.
Two Taurus handguns and two complete failures. I'll never own another.

[Impala]

When I was just a lad of ten, my father gave to me his Raven .25 MP he said shoot it at that tree, then it shat the bed roy-al-ly:D
sing along with me now!
Seriously though, it was my first pistol experience and wow, the pos had a serious jam after the second round. It had to be stripped to remove the brass.
Lesson learned: don't buy a handgun for under $120!!

[possum]

my xd that broke but other than that no. the trigger bar thing broke near the trigger and the sear couldn't be released, i couldn't even disassemble it. btw it is at sa right now getting warranty repair work done.

[Slinger]

I'm glad to see I'm not the only one with a defective PT145. While enjoying a summer day at the range the take down lever on my Taurus broke clean in half, rendering the gun useless. Even more useless than with the dozens of failures to feed I experianced with the gun.

I got a new lever from Taurus, fixed it, and traded it off... good ridance!

[hounddog]

Mossberg 500. Safety locked up while dove hunting. Not sure if it was crud or what. Took a half hr of working on it to get it going again.
Beretta 96. First 5 times I shot it with wolf ammo. Every round expands and jams in the thing. Takes a cleaning rod and a mallet to extract.
Taurus 605. Probably my fault from dryfire exercises. firing pin return spring broke. Kept firing and seared the firing pin.

[gandog56]

Depends on your definition of completely. I've had some squib rounds that finished my shooting of that piece for a day, but never had something drastically fail that required a trip to a gunsmith for repair. And now I have a nice new Pact High speed dispenser and scale and learned to use the ol' mark one eyeball on the loading blocks before I insert the bullets.

[GEM]

I've had springs break on a Glock 19 and a Taurus PT-22 that would not fire a round with a jam on the next.

However, the most complete failure I saw was one of the new Kel-tec 223 rifles where the plastic frame back by the stock mount just cracked right off, flopping the stock and making the gun totally inoperable. It just fell apart.

[ec-10]

Glock 17-The trigger locked up on me shortly after I bought it. I had been putting that single drop of oil in the wrong place. I stripped it, polished the trigger bar and started putting that single drop of oil in the right place. It has worked perfectly ever since.

Springfield M1-A Standard-During a range session it puked it's extractor out. I could not find the extractor in the grass/dirt. The bolt assembly was re-worked by SA under warranty and I sold the rifle.

Mossberg 500 Persuader-Had the safety jam while shooting 3" slugs. The trigger could not be pulled. I did not touch the safety while firing. The malfunction was caused by recoil. I stripped the gun and gave it an unwarranted cleaning (the gun was already spotless). There was no indication as to why the safety jammed. The gun has worked fine ever since but I have not tried 3" slugs yet.

Ruger GP-100-During a range session the gun locked up. The hammer could be pulled back about half way and would stop. After a strip and clean it started working fine. There was no evidence of why it locked up during cleaning. Traded it for a rifle.

Rossi Puma .357-I forget the name of the part, it's a little collar behind one of the springs. The collar sheared in half and got wedged inside the rifle. The rifle would not cycle. No comment on how I fixed it. Sold it to a pushy fellow at a gunshow.

Walther G22-During the last range session the rifle stopped functioning. The trigger can be pulled but the sear does not release. The "pushrod" inside the action is actually slipping off of the sear due to wear. I still need to order parts.


So in short, my answer to your question is yes. :banghead:

[Nomad, 2nd]

Kahr PM9

Shooting anything.

[Smith357]

T/C Contender, firing pin broke, T/C sent out a new one.

Winchester 1903, trigger spring broke on a 100 year old rifle.

S&W 625, ejector rod backed out, locking the cylinder closed.

and personally witnessed a spanky new S&W lock break, locking the gun with the hammer back over a loaded chamber. It took using a dowel rod to pull the trigger with the hammer tied down to get it open. The gun went back for refund.

[Fun2Shoot]

Yes, I have had a gun totally fail and rather dramatically at that.

My father gave me a Walther 32acp when I moved away from home and out of state (he understood the 'real' world out there).

That Walther was my one and only firearm for years. I had never even shot it, but I just assumed it was fine - wrong!

One day I had a chance to fire it and guess what? The entire slide flew off the gun after cycling the first round fired! :eek:

I mean the slide just flew forward off the frame and landed on the ground in front of me.

If I had ever needed that gun in a real firefight, I would have been in a real pickle if I had needed more that one shot!

My father had the gun repaired years before for the same problem and thought it was OK.

Live & learn.

[bdhawk]

i bought a 'standard arms' 9MM at a gun show. it was a poly frme with aluminum insert frame. after about 200 rouns the inner frame broke up in little bitty pieces. it had a lifetime warrenty and they replaced it quickly and the new one did the same thing. i sold it to a friend for a parts gun, 'cause he had one too. the magazine was a mecgar, high quality. anyway, his frame broke up, too. the company must have went out of business, because we couldn't contact them.

kinda funny.. when it did shoot, it was an outstanding shooter. very accurate. it would have been an excellent carry weapon had it stayed together.

[351 WINCHESTER]

I had a 940 smith that would lock up due to pierced primer. Firing pin was too sharp and ammo was too hot (corbon). Fixed f/p and no more corbon for me. Have a ruger mini 14 pos that was jamming on my son and me too. He handed me the dang thing and I pulled the mag. out, cleared the chamber and threw the whole 9 yards as far as I could. Never did like rugers. I like older s & w's, 1911's, browning.

NAA .22 MAG - Firing pin too sharp for w/w ammo. Was denting the rim and when cylinder indexed across the frame she would not rotate. Took a little off the firing pin and she works fine now.

S & W model 60 - Was teaching my oldest son how to fire a revolver. I told him not to fire it single action. He knew better than his old man. His hands were so small that when he was cocking the hammer he broke the hammer stud by putting too much downward force on the hammer. Revolver continued to fire until firing pin broke several rounds later.


Nothing cata

[hqmhqm]

I was firing a single shot Henry youth rifle, which has just one moving part, and maybe I shouldn't have used high velocity ammo or something, but the bolt broke in half (it is machined with a huge slot in it, which makes it quite weak). It just separated, so there was no way to cock the hammer.

I also was firing my 1894C Marlin .357 lever rifle once, and it jammed up very tightly, I had to unscrew the lever to get the case out. I don't fire .38 specials in it anymore because of that.

[md7]

i have not experienced one. shot my Glock 23 and Sig P226 without any flaws so far.

[mmissile]

I have a broken frame from a Hk Model4. It's .380, and I was shooting it at the range, when suddenly the slide stopped about half way back. The pistol looked bent like a banana, and the trigger loop was busted. I took it apart[difficult] and found it was cracked at the bend also. I think it had been shot a lot before I got it. Maybe modern .380 ammo was a bit hard on it??? The buffer was pretty hard, so that may have been the culprit also. Anyway, I sold all the parts from it, for more than I paid for the pistol.:)

[deltacharlie]

Ruger P89: slide seized up.

Got it fixed, then someone offered me $$ for it, took the offer and don't plan to purchase Ruger ever again (not just b/c of that but also b/c of them getting into bed with the antis by going along with capacity limits ... but this isn't a history thread so I'll stop there).

[Radagast]

S&W Model 66, internal firing pin variant. Broke the transfer bar and locked up the gun. Repaired by S&W service centre and was fine from there.
I also had the same part break in a S&W 60-9, but it continued to fire.

[Avenger29]

Buddy had a new AR-15 and 500 rounds of crappy Golden Bear ammunition. FTF every couple of rounds

It locked up while I was shooting (just my luck), and we had to take it down and spend several minutes trying to unjam it. He and I would take turns shooting the other guns we had and working on it. Took a while to get it ejected. After that, I said, we'd just better put it up and get some better ammo later. Fortunately, we had a 336, 10/22, and a Glock in .45 GAP to have fun with, so the trip was not entirely ruined.

[nemoaz]

I've seen hundreds of failures on 1911A1 and Beretta 96s and a few with Beretta 92s. I think the 96s were the worst, mostly related to a spring in the trigger group.

EDIT: forgot to add that I've seen a few problems with the HK related to the trigger group.

[Mat, not doormat]

If you mean fail as in jammed beyond hope of recovery without major intervention, then yes, in several cases.

1. Internal lock in Taurus PT1911 failed, renedered gun inoperable. Replaced hammer with ed brown, perfect since.

2. Loaded shell slipped past the stop, jamming the action on a Rem 870.

3. Mosin Nagant Carbine had would never, ever, extract. the cases ALWAYS stuck, requiring gunsmith attention all four times I tried to shoot it. never did get fixed.

4. Mix-n-match Win '97: every time I pull the trigger, the bolt blows off the hook on the action bar. This results in a seriously jammed up mess. Still haven't gotten it fixed. Did get another '97, though.

~~~Mat

[hm]

I notice a comforting lack of Sigs in this thread.

[battlecry]

HK P9S in 45. The front buffer housing retention widget cracked and locked the slide out of battery. Wasn't easy to clear either.

[Radagast]

Transfer bar on a S&W model 66 broke, locked the gun up.

[mmissile]

Was firing my Hk model-4. After about 20 rounds that day...bang!, and the slide stops halfway back. After getting it apart..........:eek:

http://i15.tinypic.com/67spg1t.jpg

[Radagast]

I've seen two Sigs fail, both with bulged barrels. Also two Glocks that kaboomed, both .40 with lead reloads, Para Ordnance P14 with a cracked frame, Springfield 1911 that launched it's barrel down range, H&K USP with broken firing pin, Beretta Tomcat with broken firing pin, S&W 4006 with the slide locked closed, I'm sure there are others.

[glen walker]

Just buy yourselves a good blackpowder handgun. Keep it clean and load it properly, and you won't ever have any of these problems that I've been sitting here reading and laughing about! I shoot blackpowder. (well, actually blackpowder substitute Triple Seven; 3f (fffg) to be exact) On my oldest, the one I use all of the time, which is a Pietta replica of the Remington 1858 New Model Army .44, I have made (I swear before God I'm telling the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, so help me God) in excess of 7000 shots over the last 49 to 50 years on that gun alone and I have had only one mishap, and that was a Remington #10 cap that had been wet. I messed around with it and tried to fire it just for the hell of it. It wouldn't fire, so I pried it off and threw it away. My normal powder load is 24 grains, although I have been on 28 thousands of times and up to 31 grains hundreds of times. I have killed 5 Timber Wolves, maybe 3 dozen Coyotes, 1 Mountain Lion, 1 young Black Bear, (shot him in the ear) 3 Panthers (painters), 2 Hoot Owls, 4 Catfish (Blue Channel Cat) Maybe 2 dozen turtles, 6 Ducks, 1 Goose, about 25 Deer (whitetail) 1 big Alligator and 2 little Alligators, 1 Crow, maybe 2 Chickens, about 400 Cottonmouths and Water Moccasins (all together) about 2 dozen Rattlesnakes, 2 Copperheads, 1 Corel Snake, 1 Black Racer Snake, about 300 Rats, 2 Hornet Nests, 1 'Possum, 7 Wild Hogs, and an absolutely uncountable number of Squirrels, Rabbits, and 'Coons. (Not to mention all of the tin cans I have blown to hell in my life) Every couple of months or so I sit here and painstakenly reblue the piece, lightly sand the old Tru-Oil off of the grips and apply a new coat, very carefully examine all (ALL) of the metal parts for undue wear and stress, and check the inside of the bore. It's still clean and shiny in there with good looking, well raised rifling. (twists) (lands and grooves) Well, ya'll have fun with those new fangled toys, and every time I take a deep breath, then let half of it out, and then hold the rest while I sqquueezzeeee the trigger, I'll be thinking about ya'll!..

[Thor Bloodax]

Had a Helwein 9mm auto break off both locking lugs which jammed the barrel, slide and frame into a mass of metal.

[JohnKSa]

Had a Springfield XD lock up on me at the range. Dunno what happened to it--the owner couldn't even get it disassembled--locked up tighter than a drum.my xd that broke but other than that no. the trigger bar thing broke near the trigger and the sear couldn't be released, i couldn't even disassemble it.That sounds about like what happened to the one I was shooting...

It was a rental gun--who knows what it had been through.

Had a Ruger P97 that was defective from the factory. The lever that operates the firing pin safety was a tad too short (casting glitch) and wouldn't reliably deactivate the safety and allow the gun to fire. Irritating. Ruger sent me a new part free of charge and that got it working.

That's it.

[Mojo-jo-jo]

The pin that holds the trigger stationary on the trigger axis on my Kel-Tec P32 fell out. I sent it back to KT, they fixed it and polished the feed ramp and chamber. It's been great ever since.

[El Tejon]

How about having a pistol split in half?:D

Colt New Frontier that I had as a kid. Had it about 10 years, was shooting it and as I cocked it with my left thumb it fell apart in my right hand.

Very exciting.:uhoh:

[Dr.Rob]

Poor HK4

I had an extractor tip break on a FEG hi-power clone.. in a pinch it became a manually operated repeater. Good thing it broke on a range day.


Had a Savage pump shotgun (single side bar) break on a hunt... safety fell OUT. Ruined a good hunting day.

Have a custom 1911 that WENT OFF when I racked the slide... hammer followed down. Good thing to follow 4 rules, it was pointed downrange. Scared the snot out of me though.

[Nomad, 2nd]

SEEN it happen, with S&W Sigma, and a Military M4.

[joab]

When I do buy another it will be a big heavy over build Ruger I have had two transfer bar breakages on Rugers

other than breaking firing pins on guns known for breaking firing pins I have had no other failures
Unless you count not realizing that modern lever guns have safeties

Another Taurus failure
I guess y'all didn't notice that almost every gun maker has been represented in this thread some of them repeatedly, even the "respected" brands
Taurus is actually running way behind the pack here

[Anotherguy]

I had a Taurus 605 a long time ago. While shooting it at the range one day the cylinder locked up. Couldn't pull the trigger or release the cylinder to unload it and it still had a couple live rounds of .357 in it. Called Taurus and they told me to send it back as it was so that's what I did. They replaced the gun and shortly thereafter the barrel on the replacement gun started to unscrew itself from the frame so that the ejector rod wouldn't lock up anymore. Got a full refund and bought a 640 Centennial and never looked back.

[El Tejon]

What's this nonsense about Rugers being "overbuilt"???:scrutiny:

Bah, I can break a Ruger by looking at it, no need to shoot it.:evil:

Behold my power and tremble: http://www.thehighroad.org/showthread.php?t=251038&highlight=Record+breaking

[hemiram]

My FTL Auto Nine blew the extractor on the second shot. The "standard velocity" ammo it needed was almost impossible to find. Most of the standard velocity ammo I tried wouldn't cycle the action completely, so it jammed all the time. What a dog. Idiot that bought it on consignment blew the extractor out with stingers.

The other one was a Colt Python that appeared to be in great shape, but the mainspring broke and it jammed up and had to have a gunsmith replace it, and he checked it out and said it had been shot "a hell of a lot", and it needed the hand, and something else replaced. It was ok after that, and I sold it for a lot more than I bought it for.