High(er) end or Brand name firearm disappointments.

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JR24 said:
Lol, I don't think so. Maybe the Miata or something.
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When I wanted a 1911 in 10mm when I was in my early 20s I was repeatedly told by a LGS owner who I knew very well (a kimber gold dealer back then) that I didn't want the kimber because I'd actually use it and it would not last. That was back around 2000.

So id go with the Range Rover of 1911s. Wilson or nighthawk may be the Ferrari.

He wasn't a handgun shooter. He never actually recommended any other 1911 either so he wasn't just opinionated toward colt or anything. Back then there weren't many 1911 in 45 much less 10mm. Just said he dealt with far too many returns with Kimber.

BreechFace said:
Those chambers all look rough.
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I assume they are supposed to be fluted like that for less sticking or if not it was just shoddy work. They replaced the yolk, cylinder, mainspring and strain screw according to the paper. It works great now. Super accurate for a 4 inch 22. I'm a handgun hunter and shoot long range with handguns often. That one shot great with aguila super extra it would touch holes at 25 yards. I was actually worried it would shoot far worse after the repair. Timing that 10 shot cylinder would be a terrible job i think. Lol. It shot nice groups when it would shoot but would light strike at least 1 per 10 usually more. But id say its close to as accurate now. I haven't done any sandbag shooting since I got it back but off hand its pretty good. There isn't a big chunk gone like before but to be honest I don't even know if the cylinders are that rough or not now. Ive shot a few thousand rounds and not had a single light strike.
 
crestoncowboy said:
When I wanted a 1911 in 10mm when I was in my early 20s I was repeatedly told by a LGS owner who I knew very well (a kimber gold dealer back then) that I didn't want the kimber because I'd actually use it and it would not last. That was back around 2000.

So id go with the Range Rover of 1911s. Wilson or nighthawk may be the Ferrari.

He wasn't a handgun shooter. He never actually recommended any other 1911 either so he wasn't just opinionated toward colt or anything. Back then there weren't many 1911 in 45 much less 10mm. Just said he dealt with far too many returns with Kimber.



I assume they are supposed to be fluted like that for less sticking or if not it was just shoddy work. They replaced the yolk, cylinder, mainspring and strain screw according to the paper. It works great now. Super accurate for a 4 inch 22. I'm a handgun hunter and shoot long range with handguns often. That one shot great with aguila super extra it would touch holes at 25 yards. I was actually worried it would shoot far worse after the repair. Timing that 10 shot cylinder would be a terrible job i think. Lol. It shot nice groups when it would shoot but would light strike at least 1 per 10 usually more. But id say its close to as accurate now. I haven't done any sandbag shooting since I got it back but off hand its pretty good. There isn't a big chunk gone like before but to be honest I don't even know if the cylinders are that rough or not now. Ive shot a few thousand rounds and not had a single light strike.
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Yeah I don't know which car would fit in the mid range, looks beautiful but of questionable quality/reliability, I'm not a car guy.
 
9x56MS said:
Rocky boots. Had 2 pair and both soles split all the way across right under the ball of the foot. Rocky replace the first pair but then the second pair sp!it in the same spot. Those were the last rocky boots I ever bought.
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Had the same thing happen with 2 pairs of Wolverines. Had nothing but Danners since. Not too happy with the last pair Danners. I can feel cold air going through the Gortex when I ride my ATV.
 
I had shot revolvers for some years. For my first pistol I purchased a S&W Model 59. I really didn't like it. Double stack, decock, the whole deal.
I traded it for a Colt Series 70, and never touched a 9mm for near forty years. A few years ago I bought a Walther P4 single stack 9mm that I quite like.
 
The only gun I had that was a disappointment was not even mine. It was owned by Uncle Sam and forced upon me. The M 16 was a national disgrace. It was egregiously unreliable and had a bad habit of dropping the magazine if it was bumped or jarred. If fired on full auto it would jam 4 or 5 times each magazine. Would have been funny if it didn’t get so many soldiers killed. On the positive side when it did fire it was accurate. Damn thing rattled and squeeked like a rusty screen door. My son tells me the M 4 is a big improvement. Whatever idiot decided to put a varmint round in a battle rifle should have been charged with treason. Just one mans opinion and bias.
 
9x56MS said:
The only gun I had that was a disappointment was not even mine. It was owned by Uncle Sam and forced upon me. The M 16 was a national disgrace. It was egregiously unreliable and had a bad habit of dropping the magazine if it was bumped or jarred. If fired on full auto it would jam 4 or 5 times each magazine. Would have been funny if it didn’t get so many soldiers killed..
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Reference USMC Vietnam "Hill Fights". Ammunition and Rifle problems!
 
9x56MS said:
The only gun I had that was a disappointment was not even mine. It was owned by Uncle Sam and forced upon me. The M 16 was a national disgrace. It was egregiously unreliable and had a bad habit of dropping the magazine if it was bumped or jarred. If fired on full auto it would jam 4 or 5 times each magazine. Would have been funny if it didn’t get so many soldiers killed. On the positive side when it did fire it was accurate. Damn thing rattled and squeeked like a rusty screen door. My son tells me the M 4 is a big improvement. Whatever idiot decided to put a varmint round in a battle rifle should have been charged with treason. Just one mans opinion and bias.
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You must have been in VN in 65-67. By late 60's it was replaced by the M16A1. The magazine fell out if you bumped it against something because there was no fence around the mag release on the "flatside" models. That was quickly fixed. The screwup with the ammo was also fixed. The ammo screw up was totally an Army problem. They changed the ammo from what the M16 was designed to shoot to a much dirtier ammo. The extra carbon clogged up the rifle and the grunts back then didn't clean their weapons. The original M16 had a ridiculous rate of fire (950 rpm). It would empty a mag in 1.2 seconds. Combine that with the wrong ammo and your rifle would foul up. The original M16 was issued in 1963, with the M16E1 coming out around 1965. The new and improved M16A1 was finally issued in 1969, and had fixed all the issues. Most of which were caused by the Army trying to cut corners. Before the A1, the barrels weren't chrome lined to save money. This increased the rust and fouling problem in VN.

I carried a M16A1 and LOVED it. That rifle was standard issue well into the 86.. Fenced in mag release, chrome barrel, stiffer buffer spring to slow the rate of fire (still ungodly fast, I never used auto) And finally, the correct ammo for which the gun was designed, and cleaning kits for all. The 5.56 is very effective. The M16 has gone on to be the most widely produced and used rifle in American history.
 
Commader47 said:
You must have been in VN in 65-67. By late 60's it was replaced by the M16A1. The magazine fell out if you bumped it against something because there was no fence around the mag release on the "flatside" models. That was quickly fixed. The screwup with the ammo was also fixed. The ammo screw up was totally an Army problem. They changed the ammo from what the M16 was designed to shoot to a much dirtier ammo. The extra carbon clogged up the rifle and the grunts back then didn't clean their weapons. The original M16 had a ridiculous rate of fire (950 rpm). It would empty a mag in 1.2 seconds. Combine that with the wrong ammo and your rifle would foul up. The original M16 was issued in 1963, with the M16E1 coming out around 1965. The new and improved M16A1 was finally issued in 1969, and had fixed all the issues. Most of which were caused by the Army trying to cut corners. Before the A1, the barrels weren't chrome lined to save money. This increased the rust and fouling problem in VN.

I carried a M16A1 and LOVED it. That rifle was standard issue well into the 86.. Fenced in mag release, chrome barrel, stiffer buffer spring to slow the rate of fire (still ungodly fast, I never used auto) And finally, the correct ammo for which the gun was designed, and cleaning kits for all. The 5.56 is very effective. The M16 has gone on to be the most widely produced and used rifle in American history.
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Most soldiers I served with wanted to “harvest” (kill) the enemy not wound them but that’s just a jaded old timers grunt opinion. I still can’t abide a black rifle to this day. My Ruger American 30-06 is the most accurate rifle I have ever fired but I had to have the stock dipped in a wood burl pattern before I could warm up to it. Some things can’t be forgotten no matter how hard you try. Not trying to cast shade on those who enjoy AR pattern rifles just not my cup of tea. Good hunting.
 
9x56MS said:
The only gun I had that was a disappointment was not even mine. It was owned by Uncle Sam and forced upon me. The M 16 was a national disgrace. It was egregiously unreliable and had a bad habit of dropping the magazine if it was bumped or jarred. If fired on full auto it would jam 4 or 5 times each magazine. Would have been funny if it didn’t get so many soldiers killed. On the positive side when it did fire it was accurate. Damn thing rattled and squeeked like a rusty screen door. My son tells me the M 4 is a big improvement. Whatever idiot decided to put a varmint round in a battle rifle should have been charged with treason. Just one mans opinion and bias.
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You guys were Beta Testers. :-(
 
Yep and according to most of us it failed miserably but with typical army logic it is now an M 4 and the greatest thing since sliced bread. Now the M 60 and Ma Deuce there are a pair of battle implements non- parole. Best thing I can say about M 16 is I survived it. Not exactly a ringing endorsement but it’s all I got.
 
I tend to stay away from gimmicks and first incarnations for new guns so I rarely get stung by a lemon. That said, I owned a Kahr PM45 that I eventually got to work properly. however, it took a little over 800 rounds of "break-in" for it to do so. while that might not seem like a lot of shooting or some say at least it was fun shooting, I would say that is not the case when stoppages were in almost every 5 round magazine run.
 
JERRY said:
I tend to stay away from gimmicks and first incarnations for new guns so I rarely get stung by a lemon. That said, I owned a Kahr PM45 that I eventually got to work properly. however, it took a little over 800 rounds of "break-in" for it to do so. while that might not seem like a lot of shooting or some say at least it was fun shooting, I would say that is not the case when stoppages were in almost every 5 round magazine run.
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Same thing here with a Kahr .40 cal, the steel ones were good, not the plastic.
 
9x56MS said:
Yep and according to most of us it failed miserably but with typical army logic it is now an M 4 and the greatest thing since sliced bread. Now the M 60 and Ma Deuce there are a pair of battle implements non- parole. Best thing I can say about M 16 is I survived it. Not exactly a ringing endorsement but it’s all I got.
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You hear stories of troops back then ditching them for AKs.
 
bdickens said:
Curious.

They're generally considered ultra reliable.
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Not my Ruger Mark IV, NOR LCP I in .380. Former bought in 2020, latter 2021. I got rid of the LCP two months after buying it. Junk. Some people have cited lowered QC, the new factory, covid, etc. sadly my faith is lowering in their new auto products.
 
tarosean said:
Neither can I. esp. since I didnt win that huge Mega Millions jackpot some weeks back. :(

Just found it laughable that people are calling Colt, S&W, Ruger, Glock,, etc. "high end". At that point what is low end?
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Colt revolvers now days are more expensive than all of those.. many are in the $1-2000 range.
 
I have a baggie that contains broken parts from my Kimber Ultra Carry. It's a tack driver, but mag releases, slide locks, extractors, etc., all broke.
 
Possibly the biggest disappointment that I have had with a name brand gun would be the Savage Hog Hunter. I wanted to try the 338 Federal and ordered the Savage. The gun came in with the most atrocious plastic sights that I have ever seen, and I have had a dozen Remington Nylons. Even the stock sucked stump water. I never shot this gun and was lucky to get my money back.
 
Recent poor experience with two Uberti Revolvers, The Original and the Factory new replacement from Uberti. Both guns failed miserably, and they could not fix either of them!!
After two guns and a year they sent me a check for the purchase price.
 
I really like this thread. Guns that have disgusted owners I have bought and never had a problem with. The M-16A1 I was issued in 1969 was a treasure. Never malfunctioned even when it should have. No war stories but it certainly saved my ummh, posterior. The Taurus line. Except for poor triggers all mine work. Colt's, I have yet to have a bad one. Springfield Arms Hellcat, perfect compact 9 MM. Except for the Ruger 9MM American all my revolvers and semi-automatic are great. CZ.'s without a doubt are my favorites. From the .22 Kit to the CZ 97b and a lot of 9MM's in between just fine pistols.
 
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