How many lemons...

I've had none. Guess I'm lucky.

A Kahr P380 THREE times for stovepiping and erratic ejection. They did pay shipping each time. They finally replaced the frame, and the gun now works like it should. They did not compensate me for the FFL transfer fee required, as the pistol now had a new serial number. Irked me a little, but the gun was now so good I forgave them.

A Ruger LCR .357 THREE times. They also paid shipping each time. The recoil shield was cut wrong, and bent cartridge rims. Ruger never admitted it was a problem, even when I sent cases with a portion of the rim bent by recoil, but they finally replaced the pistol with a new one. Also required an FFL transfer due to new serial number, and this was also uncompensated.

A Beretta PX4 subcompact in 9mm. The front sight was loose in the dovetail, and the rear sight had to be moved too far right for the pistol to hit center. They paid shipping this one time, and got it right the first time.

A S&W M&P .45 for jamming with 230 grain JHPs. S&W paid shipping. They did some undescribed polishing and fixed it right.

A S&W Bodyguard .380. The laser battery cover setscrew backed out, and wouldn't allow the slide to go to full recoil. They paid shipping, and fixed it.

A Ruger GP100 (blued) that developed stiff rotation on some chambers. Ruger replaced the barrel and that fixed it. I never received a satisfactory explanation as to what had actually occurred. I was very surprised at this one, as the GP100s are usually bulletproof.

A Kahr PM40 due to it breaking magazine followers. They polished and removed a few mm's of the feed ramp. Hasn't reoccurred.

A Keltec 9mm many years ago, that had a broken extractor.

S&W sent me a new improved magazine latch for a M&P .40 due to many of the first batch of them dropping magazines.

Beretta sent me a new rear sight for a .22 Neos due to the sight elevation adjustment screw not holding position.

Beretta sent me replacement magazine followers for the PX4 SC .40 magazines. The original followers were flimsy. The slidelock holdopen portion wore rapidly, and failed to engage the slidestop. I replaced them with followers for the full sized PX4 magazines, which are much sturdier.

Kahr sent me replacement followers for the PM40 mentioned above.

Kimber sent me a new barrel bushing for my Custom Classic series I 1911. The original bushing broke and launched to recoil spring and cap 20 yards downrange.

Sounds like a lot, but only a small percentage of the handguns I have and have had. Most worked correctly right out of the box.

Out of the several hundreds of guns I have owned, I've only had one factory-required problem. A Taurus Tracker in 44 mag was sent to Miami 4 times. The 4th time it still wasn't right. It sits in the safe collecting dust...(I'm sure you're REALLY surprised to see "Taurus")

I can't recall all the guns I have bought and then sold over the years. The only two I bought new with problems were a Iver Johnson Pony and a Kahr PM9.

I bought the Pony about two years before Iver Johnson went under. The breech face of the slide was not machined correctly leaving a little ledge. The barrel hood would hit the ledge about once every few rounds preventing the slide from going into battery so it would not fire. I sent it back and got a refund.

The Kahr PM's inside trigger parts were not properly installed. They rubbed against the magazine keeping it from dropping. That was fixed but the frame of that gun was so soft it twisted too easily. It was not reliable enough so I sold it.

The only other handgun I sent back was an old Ruger NM Blackhawk that I bought used that had a bad repair job someone had done on the hammer and transfer bar. They fixed it right for no cost ( and a new pair of WOOD grips ) and it works fine now.

A couple of Smiths (I've only owned three) and a couple of Rugers (I've owned eleven). All revolvers, all bought new.

One of the Smiths is pretty and pretty inaccurate...it's about to go back the third time. Sucker for a pretty face.

One of the Rugers never should've been sent back. Wince when I think about it. Lost more than I gained on that one...how you learn, I guess.

Just one,.......

.....a Taurus 605 in stainless. It went back twice. The blued one runs excellent.

A Keltec p-32, Keltec p-380, Charter Arms 38 sp., and a now out of bis 380 acp from Talon arms (Who had the best cust. service and fixed the gun).

My RIA 1911 couldn't hit the broad side of a barn from the inside. But Armscor took care of me and I got a brand new gun out of the deal. That's honestly the only gun I couldn't fix up by myself easily.

My STI came with an extractor that needed to be tuned badly, but I fixed it myself. Irked me pretty good, because it cost me about $100 in range time and ammo, but it was worth it to learn how to do it myself.

Sent a Walther P22 back several times. They made no repairs till I included a video of the ammo used, loading, shooting, and repetitive malfuntions with each type of ammo. Even then it was a POS.

just one. a ar-7. put twice what it was worth into fixing it. jammed every 3-5 rounds. tried every possible thing I read online. ended up selling it. I loved the concept for the survival rifle. but will never touch one again

I've had two S&W revolvers, out of the box, that needed repairs.

The first time, I didn't look carefully enough at the 686 at the store. It had a canted barrel and a rear sight that didn't adjust properly. Smith fixed it in three weeks and sent it back.

The second time, I ordered a 60. Wiser than before, I was more careful about examining it in the store. It had a misaligned barrel, a bent front sight, and a top strap that did not line up. I sent that one back and bought a Ruger.

Handguns, I can think of only one, off-hand, that I sent back to the factory. Shotguns and rifles are another matter.

Lemme try and remember all the guns I've owned:

Mossberg 500
Taurus PT911
Beretta 92D
Kahr E9
Colt 3" DS
Colt New Agent (9mm)
Taurus PT905
NAA .32 Semi-Auto thingie
Ruger SP101
Lee-Enfield No4 Mk1
Ruger Mk1
some sort of SKS
... and I may be missing some

The only lemon I've ever had, and it pains me to admit this, because I really like the company:

Rock Island 3.5" 1911

As you can tell I've been pretty darned lucky and my only lemon ever was arguably a really finicky design.

I would consider myself a pretty darned satisfied gun buyer/trader.

[edit]
Just remembered my other lemon! And EAA Polymer Compact in 10mm. The frame bent so bad when shooting that it jammed up the gun.

A Phoenix Arms HP slide cracked, was replaced.

A Rossi 971 firing pin broke after probably 1K rounds. Trip to Interarms and it broke on the second round. Had a smith install a K frame firing pin.

That's it. I've had a few things break on high round count guns, since, fixed.

The PF-9 I had needed fixing, but Kel Tec blamed ammo. Blazer Aluminum, Federal, WWB, remington umc, Speer Gold Dots in 115 gr and 124 gr +P, PMC... None of it wanted to extract.

Kel Tec would tell you that I didn't have a lemon. I kind of agree. I just call it, "owning a PF-9".


My other pistols have been flawless.

I've owned 40-45 hand guns over the years and only two had to go back, both were Taurus revolver's the only Taurus's I've ever owned. All my S&W, Rugers,Colts Brownings and H&Rs have been flawless.

I had "THE PARA ORDNANCE FROM HELL" . I wanted a small 1911. I did not want to carry cocked & locked. I bought a C45 LDA. It was the most accurate gun I ever shot. I thought it was going to be an excellent carry gun. I put a lot of rounds down Range. It was very unreliable. After a year and Three trips to Para, They replaced it. As soon as I got the new gun I thought, "I am not going through the process of breaking in another 45 1911." As unreliable and the pain in the but of sending it back, it was no fun. The experience spoiled my want for a small 45. I sold the new gun without ever cambering a round. I now carry 357 and 38 Revolvers and love it.

I currently ahve around 60 firearms, maybe 15-20 of them I bought new, I've never had one that needed to go back to the factory.

Me neither.

I don't buy all that many new guns, as I prefer older S&W, Colt, SIG, Winchester, Browning, etc.
And they very rarely ever have problems.

While I have seldom ever bought one with a problem, I fix it myself if I do.

rc

I've never had a lemon. I've bought and sold probably more than 3 dozen guns both new and used. Had a persnickety colt, but that was about it.

The only factory repair I've ever had was on a Para Warthog that I bought used. My gunsmith determined that the frame was cracked and sent it to Para. They rebuilt on a new frame and returned it to my gunsmith at no charge. I ended up paying my gunsmith's shipping costs, and since it was a "new"gun, I paid an FFL transfer fee.

Probably a total of 30 guns over the years, one "lemon"

Zero out of 20