Revolvers Suck or My Bad Luck

[bassjam]

I've had issues with 2 of my revolvers. One is an Anaconda that has timing issues, it's had less than 100 rounds through it but probably 1000 dry fires. Honestly though, that doesn't surprise me with Colts from that era.

I also had an SP101 I bought used that was build in 2017 that locked up one me once. It was partially my fault though, I was doing quick dry-fires to break it in and short stroked the trigger and I've read before that can happen. I never had another issue with that gun but eventually traded it away.

All guns can have issues though, I had a Glock 23 that like to split cases and then would have failures to eject because the case would be lodged in the chamber, always required a dowel rod to remove the case.

 

[340PD]

First let me state that I have traditionally always been a revolver guy. I learned to shoot on a wheel gun and carry one almost exclusively to protect myself and my family. I have believed what I have always been taught, "revolvers are simpler and more reliable than semi autos".

A couple weeks ago I purchased a brand new Kimber K6s and today I just dropped it off at UPS for a trip back to the factory for repair. This got me to thinking about my recent experience with revolvers and what I discovered shocked me:

In the last 10 years I have purchased 15 new revolvers. Of these, 8 have had to go back to the factory for significant repair!

Note: I don't shoot handloads or give any of my guns a steady diet of high pressure "hot" ammo. I clean and maintain all of my firearms with great care.

So, is it possible that in reality revolvers are not the "simplest and most reliable" firearms or have I just had a run of really crappy luck?

Below is a list of my revolvers that have had to make a trip back to the factory for repair. Notice that this list includes manufacturers with great reputations and those of lesser reputations. FWIW - all of these manufacturers have demonstrated very good service in returning and repairing the weapons.

Ruger GP100 - Broken hand/pawl
Ruger LCR 38 - Cracked topstrap - unrepairable
Ruger LCR 357 - Significant timing problems
NAA Mini 22 Mag - Keyholed every other shot
Charter Arms Undercover 38 - Defective barrel
Taurus Tracker 22lr - Completely locked up action
S&W 642 J frame - Excessive B/C gap - .013
Kimber K6s - Excessive endshake causing cylinder face to drag on forcing cone.

Interesting story. I have owned dozens of revolvers over the last 55 years and tens of thousands of trouble free rounds fired without ever having any parts needing replacement. Remind me never to stand next to you during a thunderstorm.

 

[5-SHOTS]

I also had not a very good luck with my revolvers but I still love revolvers. My next purchase will be a .38Spl, 5 shots snubbie, you can bet on it.

 

[ArchAngelCD]

IMO 4 of the 8 you bought would not surprise me for having problems but that still leaves 4 that should not have. At the price point of the Kimber I'm very surprised you got a bad gun but then again any company can push out a problem gun. Still, unexpected from companies like Kimber, Ruger, S&W and the like.

I have bought 10+ revolvers in the past 8 years and not a one was not correct from the factory so I'm thinking your luck have been off, quite a bit off!

 

[PapaG]

I have been shooting and reloading since about 1958, and with handguns equally divided between semi-autos and revolvers. I have never had an unreliable revolver and only a couple of semi-autos. (One by Llama, the other by Auto Ord). I had one revolver that I couldn't get to shoot accurately, no matter what I tried (an early blue Redhawk 44). I'm not talking a few of each, either. Probably at least thirty or more of each. That said, most of my guns are carefully chosen from the ranks of "experienced" firearms, used a little, used a lot, but solid, cared for and for the most part steel and wood. I have had only that one Ruger that was "inaccurate" (my term/my standards) and I have many Rugers. Smiths, the only ones that I have to work hard to shoot are the flyweight snubbies. Semi autos, Colt, Kimber, Smith, Kahr, Ruger, all fine.
During the sixty one years of playing with these things, my experience has been to stay away from the cheap stuff (Lorcin, Raven, Sterling, and others) and stay with the old players. Shoot, even my black powder revolvers are all fine and they include everything from one of the first Navy Arms 36 Navys through ROA, Uberti and Pietta models, .31 to .45 cal.
I must say that there was a time period during the mid to late 70s when Smith was part of the Bangor Punta group that 75% of the guns we got in went back for repair or to just make them salable. Have not seen that in recent years.

 

[Master Blaster]

Its rare for a GP 100 to break a pawl. The other guns? Try a full size Smith next and your bad luck will improve.

 

[CDR_Glock]

That is unfortunate. I have owned Colt, S&W, Kimber, Taurus, North American Arms, and Ruger. No mechanical or workmanship issues over here.

The Ruger LCR shape just didn’t work for me. It would pound my thumb, badly, whereas the S&W 442 was totally fine with 38+P.

I’d recommend checking the gun before leaving the store for cycling, cylinder issues, or noticeable things.

 

[glocking26]

No it’s not your bad luck. Quality control is non existent with most gun manufacturers today. Make as many as you can and push them out the door as fast as you can. They are all made by people who work piece work. They are called assemblers not gunsmiths. Some companies don’t even test fire them anymore. Sad.

 

[Mosin Bubba]

No it’s not your bad luck. Quality control is non existent with most gun manufacturers today. Make as many as you can and push them out the door as fast as you can. They are all made by people who work piece work. They are called assemblers not gunsmiths. Some companies don’t even test fire them anymore. Sad.

Yep. And revolvers often take some fitting. The "assembly" method doesn't work great for them.

 

[.38SuperMan]

I’ve owned a lot of S&W, Ruger and Colt revolvers plus a lot of vintage military and only had one repair. Recently I purchased a used S&W 25-2 and had to send it in to get a cylinder stop replaced. I’ve put a number of these through some hard paces competing in IPSC with no issues.

I’ve always stayed away from Charter, Taurus and other less expensive guns. I’ve never had the confidence in them compared to the top 3.

 

[Styx]

I’ve owned a lot of S&W, Ruger and Colt revolvers plus a lot of vintage military and only had one repair. Recently I purchased a used S&W 25-2 and had to send it in to get a cylinder stop replaced. I’ve put a number of these through some hard paces competing in IPSC with no issues.

I’ve always stayed away from Charter, Taurus and other less expensive guns. I’ve never had the confidence in them compared to the top 3.

As far as Charter Arms (CA) goes, is that because of it's price point? I don't own one, but I recently seen a few threads and YouTube videos where their revolvers and CS have gotten great reviews... Think the most recent was a PitBull thread on this forum. On the other hand, including in your post, I've been hearing about A LOT of reliability and QA issues with S&W and, to a little lesser extent, Ruger revolvers on the S&W forum, Ruger's forum, this forum, and YouTube videos and their in their accompanying comments.

All of the aforementioned has made me look at Charter Arms, Kimber, and the new Colts over S&W especially... Just wondering if you had any reason on why I should exclude CA other than it's price point, or is it because they're not as good looking?

 

[WiTom]

Never a problem with any of my Rugers( 2 Super Redhawk 44mag, Blackhawk 44 mag, 454) or my 2 S&W. Had 1 problem(ejector rod) on one of my Magnum BFR(30/30) sent it in, came back fixed, great service and turn around. I think just bad luck. Have a Charter Arms 44sp bullpup, no issues.

 

[Dibbs]

I buy only new revolvers, for fear of buying somebody's "cylinder slapped" one. I don't see enough
difference in the new and used market, at least around here, to ever buy used, when a new model,
with it's factory warranty is available.

Haven't bought as many revolvers as the OP, but haven't had any defects, either.

 

[Charlie Martinez]

My cheapest revolver is a Charter Arms 357 (5-shot w/3.5" barrel). Ive had it for at least 30 years & the only thing that I had to do to it was use locktite on the ejector rod because it kept unscrewing after every 25-50 shots. Ive had no trouble with my Rugers, S&W or Colt revolvers however I take very good care of all my firearms. I think that is the key. With my autos Ive had more problems. Once I tried to take take apart a High Standard .22 pistol to clean it & it ended up at the gunsmith. My 1911's need to have the correct spring for each load or they won't cycle. Revolvers don't worry about little things like that.

 

[I6turbo]

I have an LCR that's 3 or 4 years old, and while I don't really enjoy shooting at all, it's never malfunctioned. My three other S&W revolvers and my one Colt were made from 1951 to 1983. I've never had ANY issue with any of them. OP, with as many issues as you've had, I think there must be some bad luck involved.

 

[SeanSw]

I'm going to say bad luck. I've had some too. Every single used revolver I've purchased online has needed repair and the sellers have got away with it every time at my expense. Ruger was kind enough to provide repairs for free but I wasn't so lucky with S&W.

 

[Zendude]

Any gun you buy new is a crap shoot these days. Revolver or semiauto. It’s just the way it is. Just buy a brand that has easy customer service.

 

[somethingbenign]

I'm 2 for 3 semis and 1 for 2 revolvers bought new getting sent back to the factory. It isn't just a revolver thing. In my case the revolver didn't need to be sent back, I was just oversensitive to pressure signs. One of the semis was just a defective front sight so that maybe counts for half since the gun was perfectly operational.

 

[Hondo 60]

The quality of new revolvers today depends on the manufacturer.
I bought a number of guns from Ruger & S&W with no issues.
I bought 3 guns from another mfg & all 3 had multiple issues, requiring several trips home.
(which took MONTHS to repair)
A 4th manufacturer's gun had 2 issues after 500? rounds.
They fixed it better than when it was new!

So atleast in my experience, it depended on the maker, much more so than the type of gun.
Just my 2¢ worth, YMMV.