Gun Companies to avoid.

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SomeKid

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So, I have been looking around gun stores at various guns, and some seem interesting guns, but it was by manufacturers I hadn't seen before.

I think the one I saw the most was a Star Arms? I may have the name wrong, and assuming I do, has anyone out there found a gun company that just shouldn't be patronized because of bad products?
 
Personally, I really liked the Star Model B I shot. It's a Spanish gun company, and their guns are inexpensive. The problem lies in the fact that they're no longer made, so replacement parts can be harder to find than for a pistol still in production should you need them. But, all in all, I really liked the Star I shot. It was very accurate and reliable despite looking like it was beat to heck. It was SAO with a slim profile.

So, no, I don't think Star is a bad gun company from my limited experience with them. I'd buy one of those as an inexpensive beater gun if I had the cash lying around.
 
Jennings/Bryco/Jiminez would be top of the list.

AMT. Mine works but they are out of business so would be harder to fix if you had problems with one.

Star is a Spanish company. Magazines and parts may be more expensive but they are not bad guns.
http://www.hipowersandhandguns.com/Critical Look at Star Model BM.htm

You'd probably be better off stating what you're looking for to narrow the field down a bit and then ask for recommendations. Range gun, carry gun, surplus market, on a budget, etc.

hth
 
cue, good point.

Any guns I buy can be expected to hit the range, but I am on a budget, so no Barretts for me.

I already have carry guns and whatnot, I am mainly having this thread as a which companies should I avoid deal.
 
Avoid the Lorcin & Jennings names. Poor quality. I have owned 2 Star PD 45acp pistols and liked them both. Parts and mags can be difficult to get but not impossible. Star makes good quality guns for the money.
 
If this thread runs long enough, you're bound to see every firearms maker that ever existed thrown in by someone who got a lousy one and can't wait to tell someone about it.

Good start on the names listed so far though...:)
 
If this thread runs long enough, you're bound to see every firearms maker
Click to expand...

Agreed, such as S&W will get mentioned in relation to the Sigma, when as a company they don't warrant inclusion.

I'm not sure if manufacturers of lousy firearms (as a company policy rather than one or two bad models) stay in business too long.
I only have problems with some of my shopping list being the wrong (high) side of $1000.
 
My Star B is a fun toy. I had to make 2 magazines from the 3 I had, but now that I put all the parts from 3 dubious mags together, I have 2 good ones. They're 100% reliable now, at least so far.

It's like an early-issue 1911, without the grip safety, in 9mm. A fine plinker, and cool looking if you put new grips on it from Numrich (I got figured walnut ones and oil-finished them to a gloss, and I also cleaned, degreased and refinished the originals. They also look pretty good now.)

The only downer is that most milsurp Stars were stored in oil, including the walnut grips. They'll need serious cleaning with solvent/degreaser.

Mine was $200. Can't complain. Fits in a Triple-K leather molded 1911 holster.

Would I use it for home defense? I would if it were all I had. It works fine. But I feel better with something a bit newer.:)
 
Agreed, such as S&W will get mentioned in relation to the Sigma, when as a company they don't warrant inclusion.
Click to expand...

Interestingly, the Sigma in .40 got a Buy It rating from Gun Tests this month. They acknowledged that it had really soiled S&W's reputation, but then said it's clearly much improved, and a reliable pistol, accurate and easy to use for defensive purposes.
 
-------quote--------
If this thread runs long enough, you're bound to see every firearms maker that ever existed thrown in by someone who got a lousy one and can't wait to tell someone about it.
--------------------

+1

I have seen just about every manufacturer bashed on this forum at one point or another. The best gun maker in the world, if 99.9% of their guns are perfect, is going to have one unhappy customer out of every 1000 sold and it seems like this is the first place those unhappy customers come to vent.
 
I love my Star PD.
In marketing classes they teach you that while a satisified customer might tell 1 or 2 people, a dissatisfied customer will tell everyone.
How about a thread about gun companies we'd recommend? Of course that could turn to bashing as well "how could you possibly like ABC gun co. blah blah".
 
In marketing classes they teach you that while a satisified customer might tell 1 or 2 people, a dissatisfied customer will tell everyone.
Click to expand...

They should also mention that it is hard to recover from a bad first impression.

The Remington 597 is a great .22 for an excellent price, but they first made it with a faulty magazine. It has not recovered from a bad initial reputation. Looks like the Sigma suffers similarly.
 
I would recommend against ever buying a pistol or revolver made by Rohm RG. I truly believe that RG stands for rotten gun. They may make, or possibly made, some finer guns, I do not know, but I had experience years ago with a .25 auto and with a .22 revolver made by them - both were, in my personal opinion, absolute junk.

We maybe lucky in that I do not believe they produce actual firearms any longer due to German gun laws. No we are not lucky because of restrictive laws, just because this, in my opinion absolute junk, may no longer be made.

Remember though that even junk guns can be deadly, I believe John Hinckley used one of their revolvers to shoot Ronald Reagan, and Brady of now anti-gun infamy.

All the best,
Glenn B
 
I cast my vote against Firestorm 1911 knock offs. Many parts aren't standard and can't be swaped out, and they just aren't well put together. Mine had a loose plunger tube that even loc-tite didn't fix, and the slide stop lever would get caught behind the plunger when shot to slide lock. Eventually, it fell off, the thumb safety shot out of the side, and the grip safety then came out into my hand. The pistol literally fell apart in my hand.
 
I disagree with the rohn, you gotta look around, but I found a 22 snubby in 22 short, so much fun, for 30 bucks! but make sure you play and fiddle with all the controls and handles first, something may come off in your hand.
 
I'd avoid Llama. I have a .32 auto that has a litany of problems: hammer following the slide, stovepipe jams, slide biting my hand, ejecting live rounds along with the empty, doubling...

It's a dandy paperweight.
 
If you're looking for something that is reliable and not too pricey, I would recommend looking into the Taurus products. I've owned a Taurus or two (okay, it really was two) and liked them quite well. They generally have decent customer service too. Some people have not had luck with the CS department but my experiences were A+! I now wish I would have kept the two I had (a .38 Special hammerless revolver and a 92 Beretta lookalike). I sold them because I was going through a divorce at the time.
 
Federal Ordnance. Wuz-were or chips & spark boys. They specialized in making junk that they called guns. Poor quality material, poor workmanship but worked great as a movie prop.
 
--------quote---------
I'd avoid Llama. I have a .32 auto that has a litany of problems: hammer following the slide, stovepipe jams, slide biting my hand, ejecting live rounds along with the empty, doubling...
----------------------

My dad has a .380 Llama that is a very nice gun - it is a 1911 pattern pistol (but smaller) and is the sweetest shooting .380 I have ever tried. Accurate, reliable, concealable, and pleasant to shoot.

So is Llama a crappy company that just made one good gun once by accident, or a good company that just made one crappy gun once by accident? Or somewhere in between?
 
I'll save you some trouble. Just don't buy any. Colt is dead and has been turning out crap for fives years. No, ten. Well, maybe 20. Smith and Wesson's locks will self engage every five minutes, the finish is crud, and the trigger sucks. Kimbers are made from MIM parts which will break on first usage. Taurus revolvers are fugly, unreliable, made in Not The United States, and they port all of them. Porting will blind you in broad daylight and burn you so badly your mother will feel it. And she's dead. CZ's are made in Not The United States and they are too cheap. SiGs are too expensive and made in the Not United States. Their customer service sucks. I bought a Rohrbaugh once and when I fired it at the range, the bullet made a u-turn and blew up my house. Then when I sent it back to them, they kept the pistol and sent me coal instead. :scrutiny:

In an attempt to keep this serious, I'll recommend not buying old H&R top-break revolvers. All the ones I've seen were crap.
 
FWIW:

LLAMA: I believe the Firestorm 45's (1911 model) were in fact made for Bersa/Firestorm by Llama, before they folded last year.. They did have a bad rep and did Bersa/Firestorm no favor.. I have a Bersa Thunder 9/Ultra Compact (a misnomer) and a Firestorm FS22 and they are both excellent.

STAR: I believe Star has been out of the firearms manufacturing business for quite a while. (A dedicated Spanish Pistol forum is located at "The Curio Relic Firearms Forum associated with ezboard.). I think Stars had a pretty good reputation, especially with some models. I have a surplus Star BM, and it is an excellent pistol..

IMO the Star BM, and the Walther P1's are among the absolute best surplus pistol deals going. I have one of each, and both are reliable, accurate, and fun shooters. Either "could" be used for self defense if needed, but the Walther P1 is better suited for a home/vehicle firearm simply because of it's larger size.

100_5200.gif

JMOFO

J. Pomeroy
 
Don't buy any 5" N-frame S&W revolver made from 1946 to 1982.
Don't buy any Colt D-frame revolvers: Diamondback, Cobra or Viper.

Save all of these guns for me. :)
 
New poster here, I'm usually on ar15.com.

Try and avoid Hesse firearms. They are now called Vulcan, as someone posted above, but they have a pretty bad reputation for poor quality and almost downright dangerous firearms.
-Matt
 
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