Deaf Smith
Member
Fail me? Not any carry gun I have but that's cause I don't fiddle around with after market parts.
Nor do I use guns by also rans nor substandard ammo.
My ccw guns WORK.
Deaf
Have a handgun ever failed you?
- Thread starter Hunter2011
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Nor do I use guns by also rans nor substandard ammo.
My ccw guns WORK.
Deaf
wally
Member
I always say: "If you've never broken a gun, you just ain't been shooting enough!"
It happens, its all probability, if you really worry about it carry two!
Extractor broke on my Colt (that I used to used back when I shot local IPSC matches in the 80s). I shot clean up to that point and was able to shake out the empties and single load enough rounds to pass, despite not getting off all 50 rounds.
Failures across all technology generally follows a so-called bath-tub curve. Relatively high failure rate initially (so-called "infant mortality") that quickly decreases as the survivors continue to perform, which plateaus to a low rate and remains there until the "end of life, worn out" failures start increasing the rate as well used items finally fail.
This is why you should be sure to "break-in" your carry gun (to weed out the infant mortality failures before you need it) and probably why your high use range favourite probably shouldn't double as you carry gun. I have a duplicate of my carry guns that I use for practice at the range (~2K/year).
It happens, its all probability, if you really worry about it carry two!
Extractor broke on my Colt (that I used to used back when I shot local IPSC matches in the 80s). I shot clean up to that point and was able to shake out the empties and single load enough rounds to pass, despite not getting off all 50 rounds.
Failures across all technology generally follows a so-called bath-tub curve. Relatively high failure rate initially (so-called "infant mortality") that quickly decreases as the survivors continue to perform, which plateaus to a low rate and remains there until the "end of life, worn out" failures start increasing the rate as well used items finally fail.
This is why you should be sure to "break-in" your carry gun (to weed out the infant mortality failures before you need it) and probably why your high use range favourite probably shouldn't double as you carry gun. I have a duplicate of my carry guns that I use for practice at the range (~2K/year).
ColtPythonElite
Member
- Joined
- Jan 8, 2011
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- 10,477
I had a revolver's hammer mounted firing pin break while shoots a carry qualification course.
Hunter2011
Member
Guys, thanks for all the responses. I was actually thinking of failures that occur while in a SD situation. I've read comments that the pistols were working just fine on the range, but that it would fail the moment you need it most. Like magazines dropping out in the middle of a struggle, or a slide that caught clothing and did caused a malfunction etc. Because in a few SD scenarios you will be in very close quarters to the criminal.
Some people say, that is why they rather carry a revolver.
Some people say, that is why they rather carry a revolver.
My Raven P-25 has failed a bunch of times. It was fairly reliable for the first month. After that not so much. And I've owned it since about 1977 or so. It was almost certainly due to the fact I couldn't get it apart to clean it. That and the fact it was cheap junk in the first place but it was all a broke college kid could afford. I wouldn't have even bought it but after sitting through an armed robbery I felt like I wanted a chance to be on the same page as the bad guys anyway. It was better than anything else I could afford at the time. I guess I could have stolen one of dad's S&W's. 
The part that really stinks is that I didn't even have it with me when I sat through another armed robbery. Probably would have just gotten me killed anyway. The bad guy had a Smith.
The part that really stinks is that I didn't even have it with me when I sat through another armed robbery. Probably would have just gotten me killed anyway. The bad guy had a Smith.USAF_Vet
Member
Had an SKS that would nose dive rounds with Tapco mags. Had some light strikes on hard primers with that same rifle. My other rifles and my handguns have been fully functional.
I did have a Failure to Extract from my Remington model 48 on a pheasant hunt. Never did figure out why. Every other shell has fed, fired, extracted and ejected just fine. Didn't check the shell, just continued on and dropped more birds in the bag.
I did have a Taurus model 94 .22 revolver that patterned at 5 yards like a shotgun at 15. Flipped that without a second thought.
My carry guns have so far been perfect.
I've never had a failure in a self defense situation. I've never been in a civilian self defense situation where a firearm was employed. Combat experiences, never had a problem there, either. I witnessed a failure in combat, but that was a failure in training, and not the weapon.
I did have a Failure to Extract from my Remington model 48 on a pheasant hunt. Never did figure out why. Every other shell has fed, fired, extracted and ejected just fine. Didn't check the shell, just continued on and dropped more birds in the bag.
I did have a Taurus model 94 .22 revolver that patterned at 5 yards like a shotgun at 15. Flipped that without a second thought.
My carry guns have so far been perfect.
I've never had a failure in a self defense situation. I've never been in a civilian self defense situation where a firearm was employed. Combat experiences, never had a problem there, either. I witnessed a failure in combat, but that was a failure in training, and not the weapon.
BTW even my Sig P220 failed a bunch of times after I wore out the recoil spring. After I replaced that it went back to being rock solid though. I'm just glad it didn't fail me at the wrong time. I carried that gun for about a decade. I put a bunch of rounds through it too. I put about 15,000 through it before the recoil spring failed and I bought it used. It had clearly been a duty weapon for a LEO just looking at the holster wear pattern on it. It had a fairly high round count but only for qualification I'd say. Someone wanted a gun they could trust so they traded it off for a newer model. Given it's a Sig they had to have put a few rounds through it to think it wasn't still top notch. It worked great for me. It really didn't fail until I was already carrying a pistol with higher capacity.
It's a Sig and I consider their guns, especially from that period, to be among the most reliable made. And it did fail after a while. You have to watch out for upkeep issues if you fire a lot of rounds through one. That recoil spring is supposed to be replaced after about 7500 rounds so it ran about double the rate they said it would. I'd say it had about 20,000 rounds through it but that's a guess. Someone did fire it more than a few times before I got it. But I wouldn't hesitate to carry it again if push came to shove. I might look into replacing some of the other springs. I'd check the Sig site to see what people had to say about it.
It's a Sig and I consider their guns, especially from that period, to be among the most reliable made. And it did fail after a while. You have to watch out for upkeep issues if you fire a lot of rounds through one. That recoil spring is supposed to be replaced after about 7500 rounds so it ran about double the rate they said it would. I'd say it had about 20,000 rounds through it but that's a guess. Someone did fire it more than a few times before I got it. But I wouldn't hesitate to carry it again if push came to shove. I might look into replacing some of the other springs. I'd check the Sig site to see what people had to say about it.
JWH321
Member
I have had many "failures" in many guns. Guns are machines. They will sometimes malfunction. I work on my own guns all the time with the perhaps silly notion that I'm improving them. It is not at all unusual for one of my "improvements" to render the gun un-workable. I have had other improvements that I could not live without (Apex -- Trijicon). But I always test my work, and I never do anything that I can't reverse. To me, that's the fun of owning a gun..
I carried a gun duroing the course of my employment. I did not "play" with my work guns. I have never had a gun fail me when I needed for it to work. Fortunately, I have actually needed a gun to work VERY VERY few times. After carrying a gun for 36 years at work, I can truthfully say that the primary value of my gun has been its very presence. I never fired a shot in anger. Knowledge that I had a gun most often precluded my having to use it. I led a charmed life I guess. I have held it in my hand a few times. I have thanked God for bringing peace each time.
I carried a gun duroing the course of my employment. I did not "play" with my work guns. I have never had a gun fail me when I needed for it to work. Fortunately, I have actually needed a gun to work VERY VERY few times. After carrying a gun for 36 years at work, I can truthfully say that the primary value of my gun has been its very presence. I never fired a shot in anger. Knowledge that I had a gun most often precluded my having to use it. I led a charmed life I guess. I have held it in my hand a few times. I have thanked God for bringing peace each time.
Those who may have had a gun fail during a bonifide self defense situation are unfortunately probably not around to describe it. I have a Taurus TCP that died on the range, was running fine and then started light striking primers. Not sure what went wrong but the hammer is not coming all the way back when the trigger is pulled, and falling from half cock. Sent it back to Taurus....10 weeks is the estimated time to get it back...10 weeks. Therefore I now own a Ruger LCP.
Armored farmer
Member
I have had a few, but never in a SD situation.
1) I had the firing pin on my Ruger SP101 stick in the forward or "fire" position.
2) A newly acquired, used, Metro-Arms Amigo (that had some issues) became unusable during qualification for my ccp. A new recoil spring solved its' problems.
3) Not a handgun....but I had my 870 Competition trap gun fail me in an ATA shoot-off due to a broken firing pin spring. I was tied for AA runner-up at the Illinois state shoot with 198x200. My oldest son was there with me. Ironically, as I walked out to start the shoot-off, my son said, " go show those high-dollar guns how its' done". LOL I guess I did...I forfeited.
1) I had the firing pin on my Ruger SP101 stick in the forward or "fire" position.
2) A newly acquired, used, Metro-Arms Amigo (that had some issues) became unusable during qualification for my ccp. A new recoil spring solved its' problems.
3) Not a handgun....but I had my 870 Competition trap gun fail me in an ATA shoot-off due to a broken firing pin spring. I was tied for AA runner-up at the Illinois state shoot with 198x200. My oldest son was there with me. Ironically, as I walked out to start the shoot-off, my son said, " go show those high-dollar guns how its' done". LOL I guess I did...I forfeited.
Zaydok Allen
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- Feb 12, 2011
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- 13,274
I had my HD gun fail on the range. This was after I had tested the heck out of it and had it on. Then it started malfunctioning consistently on the range.
It went away.
All my carry guns get tested extensively before I carry them, so I've never had a failure in a bad situation.
It went away.
All my carry guns get tested extensively before I carry them, so I've never had a failure in a bad situation.
d'zaster
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- Aug 24, 2013
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- 514
Kahr P380 - FTF, FTE (they replaced my gun after the second trip back to the factory. The replacement works great)
Rossi 92 - Would not feed .357, lousy fit/finish (bad experience w factory, fixed the gun myself)
Keltec KSG - chips of butt stock internals. runs fine tho (on it's second trip to the factory)
Rossi 92 - Would not feed .357, lousy fit/finish (bad experience w factory, fixed the gun myself)
Keltec KSG - chips of butt stock internals. runs fine tho (on it's second trip to the factory)
Seven High
Member
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- Dec 7, 2004
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- 755
I've had couple of Smith & Wesson revolvers freeze up. They were found to be without lubricant on the internals. Carrying them in holsters with the barrels facing down caused this. I found lubricant inside of the holsters. These days I take them down every six months for clean and relube. No further problems.
TimSr
Member
Wow, sounds like my story, only mine has performed great over the years and I still carry it once in a while. Only problems I had was safey would occasionally get drug to the on position by the slide, so I removed it since it couldn't be trusted to keep a round chambered anyways.
Confederate
Member
It's not unusual for my Jennings J-22 to fall after three or four magazines of .22lr had been shot. But if I strip it and clean it with a dry toothbrush, it works just fine for another 3-4 magazines. For defensive use this is fine as I can't see being in a protracted gun battle with it. I have a Davis P-32 that's like new. It won't shoot even a magazine full of ammo without malfunctioning! Probably a bum magazine. I'm too cheap to buy another.
improperlyaged
Member
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- May 3, 2013
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- 422
Kel Tec PF9. I am not a fan of Kel Tec because of it.
george burns
Member
Never in a fight, but at the range I had several guns over 45 years fail to function. It's almost always been a magazine, feed ramp, or extractor problem. Also in the early days, many auto's just needed to be throated for hollow points. They almost all fed ball ammo fine, but rapid fire of hollow point ammo could and did cause problems before the newer CNC machines took over. I never had a revolver fail under any conditions.
WardenWolf
member
Only gun I've ever seen have predictable trouble was my father's Ruger Mark I. I discovered its feeding problems were due to the rivet for the magazine rubbing on the inside of the wooden grips; the round would slide up more slowly than it should, causing it to misfeed. I dremeled a groove in the grip and that solved that. But right about that point all the springs in the pistol went kaput. Light strikes, weak slide return, etc. I wound up totally refurbishing it.
I did have a scary event happen with my Ruger P90, although it wasn't the pistol's fault. It was my car gun. I went to shoot it for the first time in a few years, and the round in the chamber was a dud. I shot the rest of that ammo and bought a completely different brand to replace it.
I did have a scary event happen with my Ruger P90, although it wasn't the pistol's fault. It was my car gun. I went to shoot it for the first time in a few years, and the round in the chamber was a dud. I shot the rest of that ammo and bought a completely different brand to replace it.
gamestalker
member
I recently had a problem with an M66-5 at the range. I was shooting full house magnum H110 loads, as I often do, and when I pulled the trigger it didn't go bang. I thought maybe I had miscounted, but when I opened the cylinder, I discovered one untouched cartridge. So I loaded up another 6 rounds, and once again I found it had jumped past one, then two. I then loaded it up with 6 +P 38's, and it ran perfect. As it turned out, the MIM cylinder stop was a soft part and had a badly worn flat spot on it. It had enough engagement to handle the 38's, but the full house magnum stuff was too much for the shallow stop engagement. Replaced it, and once again, all is good with the full house loads.
My older 66-2 has had far more full house H110 loads run through it, probably around 5K if I had to guess, and it still runs like a clock. The -5 has probably only had 2K or so of H110 loads, can't beat the older parts I guess.
GS
My older 66-2 has had far more full house H110 loads run through it, probably around 5K if I had to guess, and it still runs like a clock. The -5 has probably only had 2K or so of H110 loads, can't beat the older parts I guess.
GS
edmo01
Member
Let's see, which of my guns have failed (broken)...
- Ruger MKII 22 - main spring pin broke after 6,000+ rounds. Part replaced on my dime.
- S&W model 60 no dash - hammer pivot pin sheared off. S&W repaired it on my dime.
- S&W 642-1 - trigger pivot pin sheared off. Unrepairable... Gun replaced under warranty with a 640-1 Pro Series.
- S&W BG38 - action locked up and mis-fires - POS design... Gun replaced under warranty with a 642-1.
- S&W 640-1 Pro Series - rear sight fell off before first range trip. Gun repaired under warranty.
- Browning BPS 12 gauge - action locked up after ~200 rounds... Don't know the cause, gun repaired under warranty.
- Mossberg 500 - outside extractor broken (one of two) at ~200 rounds. Replaced part (gun would still run with only inside extractor!).
- Colt MkIV Series 80 Government Model 1911 (purchased in 1984 & still own it) - finicky... Would not feed HP ammo before polishing the feed ramp... Standard for 1911s of that day.
- GLOCKS (8 in the house) - not one problem! First one was purchased in 1995. I own a Gen2, 2 Gen3s, and 5 Gen4s.
Based on my track record, guess what Austrian made handgun brand is my "go-to" gun for self defense?
Edmo
- Ruger MKII 22 - main spring pin broke after 6,000+ rounds. Part replaced on my dime.
- S&W model 60 no dash - hammer pivot pin sheared off. S&W repaired it on my dime.
- S&W 642-1 - trigger pivot pin sheared off. Unrepairable... Gun replaced under warranty with a 640-1 Pro Series.
- S&W BG38 - action locked up and mis-fires - POS design... Gun replaced under warranty with a 642-1.
- S&W 640-1 Pro Series - rear sight fell off before first range trip. Gun repaired under warranty.
- Browning BPS 12 gauge - action locked up after ~200 rounds... Don't know the cause, gun repaired under warranty.
- Mossberg 500 - outside extractor broken (one of two) at ~200 rounds. Replaced part (gun would still run with only inside extractor!).
- Colt MkIV Series 80 Government Model 1911 (purchased in 1984 & still own it) - finicky... Would not feed HP ammo before polishing the feed ramp... Standard for 1911s of that day.
- GLOCKS (8 in the house) - not one problem! First one was purchased in 1995. I own a Gen2, 2 Gen3s, and 5 Gen4s.
Based on my track record, guess what Austrian made handgun brand is my "go-to" gun for self defense?
Edmo
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