Will your pistol operate under worst case conditions without malfunction?

My 1911 I carried during Operations Desert Shield and Desert Storm never failed me even during those 3-4 day dust storms. And it never failed me in the jungle or arctic either.

Trying very hard to see any plausible scenario in which conditions in the videos would apply.

yea I knew when I saw that video it would be making the rounds. Even the people making the video say its a completely unrealistic test. I own more than one of those guns and nothing in that video has any bearing on my decision on whether I would or would not trust them enough to carry

Shawn Dodson said:

Trying very hard to see any plausible scenario in which conditions in the videos would apply.

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Yup. I guess you could maybe make the argument that the military needs to be concerned with how guns function when covered in mud or frozen, but it's not anything I'm concerned with. I don't remember the last time I fell in the mud, and if it's cold enough for my gun to freeze I had probably died from hypothermia long before that happened. I got 18 seconds into the frozen pistol test video and turned it off. The guy in the video is just silly.

I would like to see a test of guns with varying degrees of internal lint and fuzz from being carried for months between cleanings.

Looks like if you subject your gun to such abuse, you'd better be ready to pee on. That'll heat it up, and rinse it off at the same time.

By definition, no, it will not operate under "worst case conditions", because if it is still operating, I can make the conditions worse until it doesn't. Q.E.D.

I'll settle for operating under "reasonably adverse conditions", and I'm fine if my criteria for that don't match someone else's.

Better carry more than one.

In what world are you worried about getting 6 inches of mud caked all over your CCW? The same world where your attackers are gonna throw you in a meat locker with undercover cops swinging from meat hooks.

Good grief.

I don't have 32 minutes to spare to watch the video. But these guys treated this Glock pretty badly and it held up.

» Glock 21 Torture Test (survival-spot.com)

I think that 10 years ago Glock had an edge over the competition. Several others have caught up. At this point I'd feel pretty good with several striker fired pistols in harsh environments. The Sig 17/18 and Smith M&P are pretty good too.

In what world are you worried about getting 6 inches of mud caked all over your CCW?

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True, that is an extreme form of abuse. But if a particular gun can still function in a situation far worse than I'd ever encounter, that gives me confidence that it will work after anything I can throw at it.

I find mud tests quite interesting and somewhat useful as information, but they have more influence on how I carry rather than what. Revolvers are very easy to disable with mud and grit. Likewise bolt action rifles. The Garand has a couple of serious failure points when it comes to mud. In fact, virtually nothing fielded in the muddy trenches of WWI was even remotely proof against mud.

The idea is to know about obvious failure modes ahead of time so they can be avoided. Don't carry 20 gauge shells when shooting a 12 gauge. Don't assume the chamber is empty without checking. Don't assume your gun will work after it's been dunked in the mud; remember, if your bore gets obstructed with mud or snow you'll be out of the fight anyway. If you're worried about fumbling, better carry a spare!

jmr40 said:

True, that is an extreme form of abuse. But if a particular gun can still function in a situation far worse than I'd ever encounter, that gives me confidence that it will work after anything I can throw at it.

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That makes sense to a certain degree, but where is the limit? Once you realize that there is none, before you know it you'll be driving bulldozers over guns, throwing guns out of helicopters, shooting tannerite off right next to guns, and doing all sorts of completely unrealistic stuff to "prove" to yourself that it will "work after anything you can throw at it".

For me, that line between useful information and entertainment is well in this video's rearview mirror

Hartkopf said:

I would like to see a test of guns with varying degrees of internal lint and fuzz from being carried for months between cleanings.

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I did that with rubbing a CZ P-10C around in a combination of dryer lint and cat hair, did two videos of it. Jokes more than anything else, but I did have to pull cat hair out of the gun the second time!

I think this is the link, can't verify from here, from a few years ago.



Edit to add, put the wrong video up, this is the "second one" with the "upgrades".

Hartkopf said:

I would like to see a test of guns with varying degrees of internal lint and fuzz from being carried for months between cleanings.

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One could always just inspect and brush off their gun once a week or so

It made me rethink a red dot. I could see it getting muddy for sure.

I absolutely abhor these artificially contrived "torture tests." I've carried pistols in the worst possible environments for the past forty-four years, humid jungles, scorching sandy deserts, the upper U.S. MidWest in winter (no, never carried in the Arctic) and worst of all, South Florida in summer, Washington Cascades in the fall and inside Crown Victorias in Southern California.

Good Lord -- it's not like those who carry firearms for a living forego all maintenance, cleaning and lubrication of the guns their lives may depend upon.

I don't waste my time on these stupid videos. Ever.

JR24 said:

One could always just inspect and brush off their gun once a week or so

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Mine was "the person buys the gun and keeps it in the underwear drawer for ten years" type lint test.

Shawn Dodson said:

Trying very hard to see any plausible scenario in which conditions in the videos would apply.

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It makes no sense to test a vehicle at 55 mph on a normal road in 55 degree temps. We thrash them on unbelievably rough (and unrealistic even by West Virginia standards) test roads. We set the cruise on 120-140 and let them scream for hours in a 150 degree room(then set the actual speed limiter to well under that on the production models). Same for a gun. If it can survive these extreme examples then it can survive less extreme ones. Your eye glasses are tested to 100mph impacts from a small object. When do you take such hits. Condoms are blown up to stupid proportions during tests..... Holmes didn't exert such force. Its not exactly a "test" if you are using it in conditions you know it's going to work.

Thats just how we test things. Better to over do than to fail.

sevt_chevelle said:

In what world are you worried about getting 6 inches of mud caked all over your CCW? The same world where your attackers are gonna throw you in a meat locker with undercover cops swinging from meat hooks.

Good grief.

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I've never worried much about my gun functioning in such conditions but I do carry Glock. And I HAVE carried my glock in muddy sand marshes for a couple days plus I've worn them caving. They were in fact covered in mud and muck many times. And is not exactly a "ccw" test when a desert eagle is included. More service size

I've also carried my Glock 20 in 0 degree ice storms hunting. So I guess I've tortured my own guns.

And yes the red dot was pretty useless in such conditions when froze over or standing full of snow.


I wouldn't hesitate to use my sigs, Berettas, HKs etc etc in the same conditions. Just stating that I have used my Glocks in those conditions. I did carry a Beretta a good bit in salt water and marshes before I accepted Glock (I was a hater) . Never had an issue

Two pistols come to mind when talking about torture tests
Hipoint
and one in which is getting rave reviews a
Mossberg MC series

Guns are just machines.

Abuse any machine enough and it will stop working.

I can't help but think that my CCW will handle those conditions better than I will. I live life visually disadvantaged and the tools I use to help see clearly, glasses, are quickly made useless with six inches of mud or a layer of ice.

I guess it is good to know where the weak link in the chain actually is, though it isn't in my CCW.

Looks like I need to trade my MK23 for a DE.