Finally put 500 rds through it!

[Freightman]

Traded for a Llama 13+1 45 the other day and it was NIB so I did a throat job polished the ramp and slicked up the the rails went to the range with a lot of ammo and after 150 rds it started feeding real well. It is accurate and heavy and also very big gripps because of the double stack mags.
I know you have had a bad expierence with the Llama, but I have zip in it and it is fun and with a little work it works fine, except for my big old hands that it bites bad, so a beavertail and a new hammer will be my next project next week.

 

[Snowdog]

Yep, you'll find plenty here who badmouth Llama.
Some of these folks speak from personal experience, who I'd wager are very few; some folks simply ape what they've heard, having absolutely zero experience with the subject at hand.

Some folks who are short on overall firearm experience attempt to make good by repeating what they've heard, sometimes from others who are in the same boat and have repeated what they've heard. The problem begins when these folks pass along this information as personal experience. Beside folks not using their turn signals, this is my greatest pet peeve.

Though Llamas simply cannot compete with the likes of Colt, Kimber et al in the 1911 market in terms of quality, they are certainly not in the same quality camp as Lorcin, Davis and Bryco as some here would have you believe.
However, it is true that Llama does have more lemons than your average firearm manufacturer. In many cases, Llama workmanship leaves much to be desired.

From my knowledge, there's nothing wrong with a Llama if you've found one that works. My Minimax has proven to be a good value; I have yet to have a failure to feed, fire or eject. Unfortunately, I've only put around 300 rounds through it as it sometimes pelts my forehead with an empty case, something that can be fixed, but I just haven't gotten around to it. More of a glitch than a malfunction, nothing a little tinkering with the extractor or ejector won't solve.

A friend of mine who also owns a Minimax (his only .45acp) has put a staggering amount of ball ammunition through his Llama without failure. There are no indications it's going to fall apart anytime soon.

If you find a Llama that works, there's absolutely nothing wrong with them, the trick is finding one that does. From what I can figure from my personal experience, about one out of every four Llamas chronically malfunctions. That's what makes a Llama purchase such a crap shoot. Looks like you fall in the 75 percentile. Enjoy your Llama!



My Llama Minimax has proven reliable, as most do...

 

[albanian]

"Yep, you'll find plenty here who badmouth Llama.
Some of these folks speak from personal experience, who I'd wager are very few; some folks simply ape what they've heard, having absolutely zero experience with the subject at hand.

Some folks who are short on overall firearm experience attempt to make good by repeating what they've heard, sometimes from others who are in the same boat and have repeated what they've heard. The problem begins when these folks pass along this information as personal experience."

I agree 100%. I would go one step further and say that this apeing happens when people are talking about good guns also. The Makarov and the CZ-75 come to mind. I know they are decent guns but if you believed what everyone says about them, they are the only guns worth having. I had a Mak and I got rig of it because it wasn't a great gun. It worked fine but it was crude with harsh levers and a heavy trigger, the grip was square and awkward. The sights almost didn't exist, it hit about 10" high and it was not especially accurate. The CZ-75 has it's flaws also. Bad SA trigger, ect.

My point is, you should not believe everything you read because most of what you read is from people with either no exprience of their own or no mind of their own. I almost bought a Llama mil-spec 1911 about 2-3 years ago but I didn't because of all the bad stuuf I had heard about them. Since then I have bought a bunch of guns that have spotty reps and I found out that many of them are fine guns that had a problem once and the rep stuck with them. Star pistols for example, I have heard bad things about them but from my exprience, they are fine guns and can be had for little money. I would buy a Llama if I could look at it in person first. The one I pssed on was like new for $150 and it looked and felt great. :banghead:

 

[wally]

My experience with Llama is from watching others with them on the fireing line at the gun club -- rarely empty a mag without jamming on ball ammo.

I'd like to buy the Llama Micromax 1911-style .380, but the ones I've looked at recently were very rough, so I passed. Looked carefully at a used one for a good price but it was pretty clear it'd be nothing but trouble since the top of the mag feed lips were all boogered up from someone trying to clear jams or make it feed.

I fail to understand how Llama can still be in bisiness and Star is belly up -- Star's were generally pretty good, just very heavy for their size/caliber. I've a Star BM 1911 style 9mm surplus gun ($140 from www.jgsales.com) that isn't much to look at, but is a nice shooter.

--wally.