Failure rate (real world)

[gbeecher]

Thought I'd throw this out there: what is you're personal experience with semi-auto handgun failure percentage? I have a Hi-Point C9 (no jokes please, I do like my C9..) Mine has 342 rounds fmj fired for 2 double-feed and 2 fail-to-feed. 7 trips to the range, approx. 42 to 50 rounds each range trip. Trips #1, 4 and 6 = no failures. I spray it with RemOil inside and out after each shooting session. Overall percentage = .011 or 1%.

 

[BSA1]

Beretta 92FS; No failures. Eats rounds like they are candy.

1911's; Another boring set of guns that gobble up my reloads also.

CZ 82; yawn

Ruger P-89; Developed light hammer primer strikes. I replaced all the springs as I brought the gun used with unknown round count and is over 20 years old.

P-64; failures to feed and eject due to weak magazine springs. I cleaned the magazines and they are feeding ok but I need to make new springs for it from Makarov magazine springs.

So to answer your question I do not tolerate malfunctions. If I can't identify the cause such as weak old springs or bad ammo such as high primers I don't keep the gun.

My personal standard is the gun must gobble 500 rounds of ball ammo without any failures that I can not identify the cause of before I consider it reliable. If it is for S.D. then I only carry ball ammo until I run a couple of hundred of whatever carry ammo I am considering. So I am looking at 700 rounds before carrying.

 

[gbeecher]

Beretta 92FS; No failures. Eats rounds like they are candy.

1911's; Several that gobble up my reloads also.

Ruger P-89; Developed light hammer primer strikes. I replaced all the springs as gun is over 20 years old.

What do you attribute the 1911 failures to? On my C9, it's the angled feed ramp and cheaply made magazine. The C9 by the way is a blowback operation.

 

[9mmepiphany]

A couple of observation from my personal experience and bias

1. I won't carry a handgun for defensive purposes which won't feed 200 rounds straight. It used to be 200 rounds of the ammo I was planning on carrying, but I've come to accept that if it will function with the last 50 rounds of my carry ammo, I should be OK.

So 150 rounds of what ever I have around and than 50 rounds of whichever JHP I'm going to carry, without a bobble, before I consider it reliable enough to use for defensive carry. If it bobbles, I start over again at Round #1

2. I would expect any reliable gun to be able to go 300-500 rounds in a day without a bobble...training class...and wouldn't expect to have to clean it before it reaches 1k rounds.

Just on a personal note: There are many lubricants on the market which offer better lubrication and preservative qualities to your gun than RemOil

 

[lpsharp88]

What do you attribute the 1911 failures to? On my C9, it's the angled feed ramp and cheaply made magazine. The C9 by the way is a blowback operation.

Don't think his post mentioned any 1911 failures.

1911's; Another boring set of guns that gobble up my reloads also.

Seems like boring indicates 100% reliable

To the OP:
G26 = No failures yet - 777 rounds
M9 = No failures yet - 317 rounds
G17 = No failures yet - 251 rounds
Springfield 1911 = Under 10 thru roughly 1500 rounds, none in the past 700 or so.

I know it's not a high round count by any means

 

[Vodoun da Vinci]

Beretta Px4 subcompact - 2 failures to feed in about 2000 rounds. Both in the hands of my Wife and when the gun had less than 500 thru it.

Glock 26 - about 1500 rounds thru it. Never has failed. Not even a hiccup.

2 Colt 1903 Model M's in .32 ACP...one is 96 years old - 6 mags between them and about 3000 rounds of Sellier & Bellot, Fiocchi, Winchester flat noses, and a lot of hot hand loaded 75 gr. Flat Nose lead. Not one failure.

Colt Officers ACP - Unknown/uncounted rounds over almost 30 years. A lot. Never failed.

It's pretty boring now so I'll stop...

VooDoo

 

[tightgroup tiger]

Ruger SR": 2 failure to ejects in over 5 thousand rounds. only right after I clean it.

S&W Shield 1 failure to eject in 900 rounds. only right after I clean it.

I'm seeing a pattern here.

PF-9 You name it, it happens, at any given time. It's hanging by it's giblets in my safe as punishment.

 

[LKLive13]

I have over 1K rounds of ball, 100 rounds of Federal Hydra Shok, and 50 rounds of Hornady Critical Defense through my XD-9 Subcompact and have zero malfunctions that I can remember. Although I did have a bad habit of riding my thumb on the slide release fooling myself into thinking I had one more round... sometimes I cant count...LOL!!!

 

[Hometeached1]

Here's mine.
(1) Glock 19 4,276rds. 350rds of different JHPs. 1 FTF(underwater), 2 with weak reloads. Fail rate=0.07016%.
(2) Walther Colt Rail Gun .22lr 1,095rds 1 FTE with Tunderbolts. Fail rate=0.09132%
(3) Glock 30sf 403rds. 100rds of 230gr. HST. 32 malfunctions with 200gr. SWC reloads. Fail rate=7.94004%
Hope this is helpful.

 

[Schwing]

I am pretty paranoid with the guns I carry. I make sure it is reliable before I trust it. My 92fs had about 2k rounds through it before I started carrying it. I have thousands of rounds through it now and have never had an FTF that wasn't my fault (some reloads with bad oal etc). Unfortunately, it just doesn't make for a good CC option.

I bought a .380 Bersa thunder intending to pocket carry it and had about 500 rounds through it when the trigger spring broke. I got it replaced and it broke again at about 300. Got it fixed yet again and have about 600 rounds through it with no FTFs. I will do a few hundred more before I pocket it. Naturally, I am skittish.

My XD .45 has never had an FTF either (except with semi-wadcutters). Once again, just not great for CC.

Most of the time I carry a revolver... I am not of the thought that they don't have issues either but that little LCR just fits in my pocket and goes boom every time I pull the trigger.

 

[chris in va]

I had some FTE with my CZ 75bd due to weak mag springs, then a full stop when the barrel bushing sheared off on my 97b. Nothing yet on my P01 or Kadet slide 22.

The trigger return spring snapped on the '95 Sig 220 I had, INOP until I sourced a new one. Common failure point.

 

[jjones45]

My glock 23 and hk usp45c both have thousands of rounds with no failures. M&p 9 about 1500 with no failures. Ruger sr45 1 ftfeed with roughly 600 thru it. Walther ppq 40 m2 only 25 rounds no failures ( long story short, I haven't got to shoot it much yet)

 

[csa77]

my kimber never had a failure until around 6,000 rounds- the extractor lost all tension. I took it out , bent it and it works great again.

my Hi Power has never once had a failure ~7-8,000 rounds.

my gen 3 Glock 34 failed to feed many times when it was brand new , after 300 rounds it started working reliably. its still a pretty new gun so I dont know
how it will pan out.

 

[HB]

I've never had any issues from my revolvers (including a single six) aside from sticky extraction using S&B 9mm in a Blackhawk.

In semi's I had one round not go off in hundreds through a Tarus PT92, probably ammo related. I had one jam in a glock 17 in hundreds of rounds but the gun was soaking wet due to a summer shower.

I recently traded the glock for a Charles Daly Hi Power. I've put 52 rounds through it thus far (nearly all steel cased) without issue. With the Hi Power I intend to keep an accurate round count. I don't think I'll be getting rid of it anytime soon and now that I can find ammo I'll let you know in about 500 rnds.

HB

 

[AK103K]

Ive got a Glock 17 with an honset 60000 rounds through it, and the only stoppages Ive had, were either intentionally induced with snap caps, or a couple of reloads that had primer issues. Other than that, its like the Energizer Bunny.

I also have a 26 thats got over 20000 rounds through it, with basically the same results.

Actually, out of the 14 Glocks Ive owned, I only ever had trouble with an 80's era Gen 1.

My 17 SIG's, and 6 HK's, worked like the Glocks, and were pretty boring too, if you think stoppages are exciting.

Aggravation wise, my 1911's were the worst of the lot. Over the years, Ive owned close to 40 of them, and the Colts and GI guns were the only ones I ever trusted to put in a holster. With a "reliability package" done, they pretty much ran like the Glocks, SIG's, and HK's. The Springfields and Kimbers were the worst of them, and the most trouble and aggravation.

 

[aka108]

I have owned a good number of 9's over the years and several 1911's in 45 ACP. The 1911's have been sold and the only remaining 9mm semi auto is a Star M30. This is the only SA with the exception of a Walther P4 that I have had that has never failed to function. Star is no longer in business but did produce some very reliable handguns, also some not so good. The M30 was probably their best effort.

 

[Hangingrock]

9mmepiphany: I won't carry a handgun for defensive purposes which won't feed 200 rounds straight.

It may not have been on this forum but an individual versed in statistics offered a statistical number in regards to probability of failure.

 

[GeneS]

Gen 2 Glock 17 with somewhere north of 30000 rounds. Total of 2 failures to feed, both on the same day. I just couldn't believe it. Narrowed it down to my own reloads. Bought a gage from Dillon and never had another problem.

Sig 226 9mm, near 1000 rounds, never an issue.

Sig 220 .45, close to 1500 rounds, no issues.

Glock 26 1000 or so rounds, no failures.

Browning Hi Power Mk 2, close to 1200 rounds, perfect with FMJ, some failures with hollow points (failure to feed, would not go completely into battery).

Colt Government Model Series 70 .45, bought in 1981, jam-a-matic until it was worked over. Since then, it has been 100% reliable for over 5000 rounds.

Kimber fullsize 1911 .45, had a hiccup every 50 rounds or so for a while. It finally "settled in" and has been 100% reliable for probably over 2000 rounds.

 

[LiveLife]

These were shot with various factory FMJ/JHP and jacketed/plated/lead reloads without issues. Hoppes #9 and Breakfree CLP used (with occasional leftover motor oil from oil changes):

- Gen3 Glock17 50,000+
- Gen2 Glock22 countless match reloads using Montana Gold FMJ/JHP reloads and even more 9mm FMJ/JHP/plated/lead reloads using KKM/Lone Wolf conversion barrels
- Gen3 Glock22 same as Gen2 G22
- Gen3 Glock23 10,000+ and 9mm reloads
- Gen3 Glock27 10,000+ and 9mm reloads
- M&P45 fullsize 10,000+
- M&P40 fullsize 10,000+
- Sig1911 Railed TacPac 7,000+ (tight chamber requires more frequent cleaning but will reliably feed/chamber spec ammunition, even SWC reloads with factory and Chip McCormick 8rd Power Mag)
- RIA Tactical 7,000+ (Glock of 1911 - With looser tapered chamber, will feed/chamber even sloppy lead SWC reloads with Chip McCormick 8rd Power Mag)
- Taurus MilPro PT145 SA/DA 6000+ (Glock of compact 45 - With looser chamber, will digest sloppy lead SWC reloads all day - Replaced my G30 that refused to feed SWC reloads)
- Taurus 768 TCP Stainless 1000+ (Yup, I must be lucky with guns. I use Winchester PDX1 JHP and plated RNFP reloads)

 

[tuj]

wow bds, that is impressive.

I shoot quite a bit and the most reliable I have is my Pardini SP. 20k+ round count, 3 malfunctions.

In the real world, you should plan for your pistol to jam. It happens more than people think. You should drill malfunctions and carry a spare magazine.

 

[Datsun40146]

S&W 3913NL At least 9,000 rounds and has never jammed, double fed or malfunctioned. I use it for IDPA, USPSA, and IPSC. It's been shot so much that the frame/slide is starting to get loose and sloppy. Keeps right on ticking with WHATEVER cheap ammo I can find

 

[MarshallDodge]

....

1. I won't carry a handgun for defensive purposes which won't feed 200 rounds straight. It used to be 200 rounds of the ammo I was planning on carrying, but I've come to accept that if it will function with the last 50 rounds of my carry ammo, I should be OK.
...

I agree and my personal test is 500. I carry factory ammo but I reload some warmer and standard loads with heavy and light bullets as well as FMJ and hollow points for testing.

A 1% failure rate would not give me confidence in a pistol, I would like to see something less than .01%.

My current carry gun is over two years old, averaging 500 a month, and I have had one failure to feed in that time which I believe was an ammo problem. When I ejected the round there were copper jacketing pieces that were clogging up the chamber. Even if I count that one, a .0008% failure rate shooting mostly hollowpoint reloads is good enough in my book.

 

[holdencm9]

I don't have the exact round count and number of jams but I'd venture a guess that it is less than 1 in 1000 overall.

A 1% failure rate would not give me confidence in a pistol, I would like to see something less than .01%.

A noble goal to have less than a 1 in 10,000 failure rate, but I think your 1 in 500 goal is more realistic. Besides, even a 1% failure rate, which isn't good, means you have a 99% success rate. If you have to fire 5 rounds in a self-defense situation (which I think is the average) then you have a less than 5% chance of encountering a jam. If your pistol has a 1-in-500 failure rate, then you have less than 1% chance of a malfunction during a 5-round defensive use. (Actually probably even less, assuming your defense ammo is more reliable and more powerful than your practice ammo.)

The most important thing is to have confidence of course, but a look at the numbers helps to settle on a realistic goal to gain that confidence.

 

[1911 guy]

Guns are mechanical devices, so failure is always on the table as a remote possibility. Having said that, it should be remote enough that round count between malfunctions should be measured in cases of ammo, not hundreds of rounds. Using myself as an example, I use 1911 type handguns only, all chambered in .45 ACP. I've taken quite a few formal training classes as well as lots of trips to the range for fun and drills. I've had several malfunctions in several different pistols. But if I can remember how many rounds since the last time, it's time for some trouble-shooting or a trip to a gunsmith.

 

[JohnKSa]

If I were using quality ammunition and seeing a malfunction rate of more than about 0.3% (3 malfunctions in 1000 rounds) then I would be concerned and wouldn't consider that gun for use as a self-defense weapon.