Pistol reliability

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If you were going to pick a semi-auto pistol, based solely on reliability,(snow, rain, heat, mud, bad ammo, being shot at, faulty magazine springs, the works)hat would it be? (For the purposes of this thread, I don't care if the M&ps have a bad trigger, or about the glock's grip angle, just about reliability)
P.S.:The "glock torture test" just didn't seem extreme enough to me.:uhoh:
 
Actually, was hoping for specific model information, if anyone's ever done a very harsh test between specific pistol models.
Thanks!
 
if anyone's ever done a very harsh test between specific pistol models.

The military is the only ones that do thorough testing, usually because they can afford it. Guns used by the military of the world are some of the most reliable when it comes to function after poor treatment.

All the Glocks (Austrian Military) are very reliable, as is the Beretta 92 (US military), SIG 229 (US military) Browning Hi Power (Canadian and British), mil spec 1911's (old US military), etc. That's not to say you don't have to unclog the barrel if its full of crud but rinse them off and they'll most likely fire.
 
Glock 19 or Sig P229. The M&P, X/D, and the latest Beretta's should be considered as well.
 
Colt 1911 in .45 ACP. Very little will stop it. On top of that you can disassemble it in no time with next to no tools and reassemble it and go...
 
Only pistol that passed the independent NATO torture tests, CZ P-01.

Not saying the mighty Glock etc can't do the same, just not seen the records....:evil:

The pistol must be 100% reliable in extreme conditions, the following is a list of some of the minimum requirements.

Must be able to complete the following without failure:

4000 dry firings
3000 De-cockings
Operator level disassembly 1350 times with out ware or damage to components.
Complete disassembly 150 times, this is all the way down, pins, springs etc.
100% interchangability, any number of pistols randomly selected, disassembled, parts mixed and reassembled with no failures of any kind including loss of accuracy.


Safety requirements:

Drop test
1.5 meter (4.9”) drop test, this is done 54 times with the pistol loaded (blank) and the hammer cocked. Dropping the pistol on the butt, the muzzle, back of the slide, sides of the gun, top of the slide, in essence, any angle that you could drop the gun from. This is done on concrete and 0 failures are allowed! A failure is the gun firing.

3meter drop (9.8”) 5 times with the pistol loaded (blank) and the hammer cocked, This is done on concrete and 0 failures are allowed! A failure is the gun firing.

After these tests are complete the gun must fire without service.

The factory contracted an independent lab to do additional testing on guns that previously passed the drop tests. These pistol were dropped an additional 352 times without failure.

The pistol must also complete an environmental conditions test:
This means cold, heat, dust/sand and mud.
The pistol must fire after being frozen for 24 hours at –35C (-36F).
The pistol must fire after being heated for 24 hours at 70C (126F)
The pistol must fire after being submerged in mud, sand and combinations including being stripped of oil then completing the sand and mud tests again.

Service life:
The service life requirement from the Czech police was 15,000 rounds of +P ammo!
The pistol will exceed 30,000 rounds with ball 9mm.

Reliability:
The reliability requirements for the P-01 pistol are 99.8%, that’s a .2% failure rate.
This equals 20 stoppages in 10,000 rounds or 500 “Mean Rounds Between Failure” (MRBF)
During testing, the average number of stoppages was only 7 per 15,000 rounds fired, this is a .05% failure rate, a MRBF rate of 2142 rounds! Over 4 time the minimum acceptable requirement.
The U.S. Army MRBF requirement is 495 rounds for 9mm pistols with 115 grain Ball ammunition.
 
Just talking about reliability....Sig 'em

Only a few thousand rds through mine with "0" incidents of any kind, but I know several others with many thousands and no problems.
 
Maybe I didn't understand the question, but IMHO no pistol can be called reliable if its magazine has a faulty spring.
 
A Mak is the Babe-Ruth-all-time-great general purpose pistol, the slant six of semi-autos.
Unfortunately, by it's nature it's not powerful enough for a lot of us. I won't carry anything lower in power than a 9x19mm. Apparently the Russian military and police agree, having replaced the Makarov with a locked breech 9x19mm design.
 
Sig P226/8 or a Glock.

Just shot my brand new G32 for the first time over the weekend. I was mixing up four different hollowpoints plus throw in a few fmj's in the mags just for the hell of it, she never flinched.:D

My P226 would feed empty shell casings.
 
I have put several thousand rounds through my g26 and cz pcr. Both have been reliable. The cz failed to fire on some bad primers I ran into. The g26 had one hick up on what I believe to be an under powder failure to eject. Both of these were ammo related not gun. Trust me when I tell you I have spent wayyyy to much money on ammo....but I believe pratice makes perfect...well at least better.
 
Glock 17, Glock's first pistol, designed in response to a military RFP, not political pandering. Designed from the git-go to be soldier proof.
 
Glock 17, and I am proud to say my Wilson Combat CQB has never failed.

And like another poster has already said, faulty magazine springs will cause any gun to malfuntion.
 
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