If a gun you have malfunctions, would you retire it....

The most difficult gun I had was a Taurus 85. It was missing a couple parts for the ejector that I could not find online. I didn't want to send it out. I figured I will get lucky and find the parts on Ebay one day. I did, but over a year went by. Works perfectly now. It always shot fine and the ejector wasn't absolutely necessary. It would eject and retract half way and I needed to push the rest in. Mostly I just didnt use the ejector.
I didnt know the exact size of the spring but if it were damaged I could find a replacement somehow by measuring the spring. I installed a wolff reduced power trigger return spring to make the trigger a little lighter, I had to cut the spring down to size. Worked out well. I have 3 sets of grips for it. It was a great buy.
 
If you mean malfunction as in is not reliable I would get rid of it. If it malfunctioned because of parts wearing out I would simply replace those parts and keep it in action.
 
malfuction means immediately out of service. it goes into the repair/parts/junk bin. if it gets fixed, and fired 200-500 rounds at the range with zero malfunctions, it may work back into the rotation, but - if I have any hesitation or really blink an eye that it might not work, whatever it is, I have a few things to carry, and nothing unreliable is on that list. I've fixed or had fixed a few firearms and do carry them. A new one can have an issue too, so there is that. I have a S&W model 10-7 at the gunsmith to get tuned up, worked fine, but to me IMHO, the timing on a couple cylinders was not as good as it should be, so - its just going to get fixed/maintained before I carry it again - after ample testing which is 200-500 rounds for me. my take is the change of somethign that's fired 500 round reliably, isn't likely to fail on the 501st round if I need it. I don't know the statistics on the chance of that happening, but I'm not sure how else to go about it, so - that's what I do.
 
I don't carry unreliable handguns. And if the malfunction is bad enough (and cannot be fixed) I will sell it. I tried learning to love guns that had moods. Oh it will only work with this kind of ammo or held this way. Then I just got tired of it.
 
Yes, nothing lasts forever. Diagnostic ability is a big part of being a gunsmith, a mechanic-a medical professional.
With a semiauto, finding problems with a magazine is one I have frequently encountered .
My 1973 High Standard Victor acted up-after I don't know how many rounds. Broken extractor. My 6" M-28, the extractor rod kept backing out. A little Loctite solved that.
 
Sorry OP, I can’t help you out with your question. I carry Glocks. Never had one fail on me.






:rofl:





Right…so for all those who are still reading…LOL!

I’d probably only get rid of a good gun when it’s become hard broke and beyond repair.

If it’s a Ruger or a Glock (being serious now), I would send it back for rebuild. I know those two companies are seriously excellent about replacing stuff and making their guns work. I cannot say about others…
 
I will clean it and try to repair it before I get rid of it. If I can't fix it, it goes off down the road. With full disclosure to the buyer.
 
bdickens said:
Would you junk your car because it needed a repair?
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Well, it's not exactly like that but I take your point. I'm not saying I'll "junk" it. Just saying that if you have a gun that periodically malfunctions when everything seems to be in good working order, are you gonna roll the dice?

I have been lucky to have run thousands upon thousands if rounds/shells through the guns I consider HD/SD, but after some troubleshooting & repair, if a particular gun gives you grief or gives you a few malf's would you really be able to trust it?

I have many thousands of rounds/shells through my mossbergs, Glocks and AR's. If any one of em gave me problems intermittently the same way, I'd probably retire it.......
 
Sounds like a 1911 vs Glock thread...

Yes I do. For CCW I only carry what I know works, is reliable, and I can hit with. Currently that is a number of Glocks and a Ruger.

I have 3 broken guns in my gun safe. An older Mossberg 500, a family heirloom - my Dad's series 70 Colt Govt Model 45 with a broken mainspring. And a recent purchase Tisas 9mm 1911 that suffers from Failures to Extract.

I'm not really in a hurry to get any of them fixed as I have other guns that fulfill their roles.
 
Heck no. Not if I can fix it. ""Most"" guns are not that hard to work on and ""most"" times it's just a simple spring or simple part replacement. Now, """sometimes""" it may be beyond me, but not usually. You want to see my eyes light up? Just hand me a broken gun. ( I don't fix broken guns for anyone else, for money or to sell. Only for myself, to keep or maybe give to a family member.)
" That's why God made Numrich and 100"s of others that sell parts."
 
Sick guns go to the "gun doctor" and if they are restored to perfect function they are back in service. Those that aren't are put to pasture.

I won't trust my life to an unreliable firearm nor an unreliable gunsmith (myself).
 

If a gun you have malfunctions, would you retire it....​

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Heck no.
I'll fix it or send it to someone that can.
A malfunctioning firearm sitting in my safe serves me no good and may get someone killed decades from now.

If I'm not around and that defective firearm is given or sold to someone who attempts to use it that's on me. It's a liability.

I'm the same way about cars, TV's, refridgerators, toilets and everything else. If its broke, fix it. If it can't be fixed sell it for parts.
I don't want broke down cars in my yard, broken TV''s and refrigerators in my garage and the same applies to guns.
 
I had an M1911 lock back on me. Disassembled it almost to the bare frame, a thorough cleaning removed accumulated debris, reassembled, good to go.
I find a great deal of satisfaction in being able diagnose problems and solve them. As noted, most firearms are fairly easy to disassemble and reassemble provided one takes one's time, follows the instructions closely, has proper tools.
 
Mechanical things need’s maintenance, and even then they can break. If it can be successfully repaired why not continue to use se it, even for protection.
 
Old Dog said:
Nope.

I've owned handguns that couldn't feed modern JHPs, handguns that wouldn't get through a second magazine without being cleaned first, firearms (handguns and long guns) that demonstrated tendencies for jamming, failing to feed, failing to eject, failing to return to battery, but there was always a cause.

So, just no. I'm pretty confident in my ability to diagnose simple malfunctions in firearms, and I certainly wouldn't retire any gun I'd paid money for simply because it had a few malfunctions.
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I wouldn’t “retire it;” but I wouldn’t carry it/count on it again until I’d fixed it.
 
Everything mechanical will malfunction eventually so the longer I go without one the closer I know I'm getting to the inevitable.
 
Firearms are machines.
Designed by men.
Manufacturered by men.
And therefore can be repaired by men.

For my EDC rotation, each started as reliable; so if it malfunctions, it comes out of rotation until it’s fixed and reliable again.

For range use, some designs aren’t reliable (occasional FTFeed, FTFire, FTE, etc) but they’re still fun to shoot.
 
I understand that often, most often, guns or anything for that matter can be troubleshooted, that's why I was a lil hesitant to mention a specific problem with a specific gun, but as another poster in this thread, under the best conditions and even with the best most reliable guns, some of them can just be moody for no "apparent" reason.

If I had a gun that cramped up from time to time and failed to (insert malf here) I would lose confidence in that gun real fast, I am thinking of a couple Kel Tecs that I really wanted to like and tried to sort out, I decided to get rid of em with full disclosure. I was heartbroken after having had and loved at least a half dozen Glocks, I was quite upset when they stated kicking brass back into my face at the 7500rd mark or thereabouts. I determined it was due to a couple cases of CCI blazer brass 124gr, they never acted up again nor did they really malfunction beside weak ejection (brass dribbling out the port).

Had there been stoppages, I probably would have moved onto a Sig or M&P series.
 
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