Almost every single firearm I've ever purchased has had some type of problem right out of the box! Fortunately I'm savvy enough to fix them and move along with a then perfect gun, but it makes me wonder how anyone just buys a new gun that works perfectly straight from the box.
Just a few examples below of guns I had purchased brand new, with problems that were either immediately apparent, or cropped up on the first range visit:
Ruger LCP:
The extractor spring had been cut out of spec at the factory by the assembly worker. The gun had FTE problems right out of the box. I eventually found this problem, and replaced the spring with a new unmodified factory spring that I properly installed (without cutting it!). The problem went away, and the gun has been great ever since.
S&W M&P Shield 45:
Right out of the box, the gun would sometimes have a FTF once per mag. This was an early production Shield 45, and the early mag followers did not have a cut-out in the side to allow them to move past the mag release catch when moving up the mag tube. This would result in them snagging, slowing down slightly, and not presenting the round fast enough for the slide to strip it off. S&W eventually realized this, and redesigned the 45 mag followers with this cut-out molded in. I let them know I was having this problem, and they sent me some of the new followers to install. The problem went away after that!
There was also a burr on the takedown lever, which was chewing up the rear face of the recoil spring and actually causing it to bend out of shape. I found this burr, filed it off, and ordered a new spring from S&W. Again, perfect ever since!
S&W M&P Shield 9mm:
S&W was effing up the spring temper on their mag springs for a period of time, and my new Shield 9mm was one of them... the springs bent out of shape and were not working properly after the very first range trip! I didn't want to bother with more S&W springs, so I just ordered some from Wolff Gunsprings instead. Also, the little pressure-fit cap on the end of the recoil spring was not pressed in fully, and went flying out when shooting. I noticed it was not fully seated when I got it, and figured that wouldn't last long. I had to order a new recoil spring from S&W that was properly made, meaning that little end cap is fully seated. ~6k rounds later, and that little gun is still perfect!
Ruger Redhawk 44 Mag:
The crush-fit barrel was not indexed properly. I first noticed this when I had to drift my windage all the way over just to get on paper! I had to send the gun back to Ruger, where they properly indexed the barrel to center.
Walther PPK - new production:
Right out of the box I was consistently having light primer strikes on the DA trigger. The trigger had a rough clicky spot mid-way through the DA pull, it was locking back with rounds still in the mag, and the red paint flaked off just by lightly touching it. In short, for a ~750 dollar gun it was a mess.
-I replaced the original factory hammer spring with an aftermarked factory standard hammer spring from Wolff Gunsprings - never had another light strike since then.
-The trigger rough click was because the seam of the roll pin in the hammer was actually snagging on the hammer strut during its movement. I had to remove the hammer, remove that roll pin, and reposition the seam of the roll pin so that only the smooth part made contact with the hammer strut. After being reassembled, that gun now has a smooth-as-silk trigger all the way through the length of pull.
-To fix the slide lock, I put a slight angled cut on the slide catch to prevent it from snagging when it's not supposed to (pic below). This was after trying 2 other slide catches from Walther, that all gave me the same problem!
-I also repainted the red parts, after properly cleaning with acetone.
After finally getting all these bugs worked out, the trigger bar snaps in half while shooting!! .... so I replaced that as well. I think it's finally perfect at this point, the new trigger bar was a different shade of metal, so I'm assuming a different (hopefully better) heat treatment. It has been working thus far (knock on wood).
S&W Model 642:
This gun had a very sloppy crown, it was rough and not concentric with the bore... I recrowned it myself. You can see the difference here below.
NAA 22 Short:
Just like my 642, another case of a sloppy crown. I redid that one also. The crown is a very important component to a gun's inherent accuracy, so I hate to see this part botched on any gun. Even if it's a short barrel gun that is difficult to shoot.
In addition, the front sight went flying off while shooting at the range the first time. I JB-Welded it back on.
^With these experiences, I don't understand how the norm is to actually buy a gun that works reliably, and is properly made, right out of the box! Lol
Had I not been able to fix these problems, my experiences with brand name firearms would be one of endless disappointments.
