what's the worst gun you've ever owned?

[FruitCake]

Jennings 22. It blew apart at the range. It was my first firearm purchase and I was ignorant at the time. I brought it back to the store and asked the clerk if he usually sells guns that he knows are bad and takes advantage of idiots. He said no and I not so nicely ask for a refund or store credit and he gave me a walther 380 PPK for $70 and now I am one of his best customers.

 

[HGUNHNTR]

The worst was probably a rusted out Winchester 67a that my great grandfather used to take his life. Second place would be a Ruger P89, terrible ergos, ugly, but accurate.

 

[Ash_J_Williams]

Second place would be a Ruger P89, terrible ergos, ugly, but accurate.

So why was it bad? Ugly and clumsy don't counter accurate.

 

[thefamcnaj]

Taurus pt709 slim. Complete junk. Ftf, and fte out the wazooo. The gun was so bad Ill never consider another Taurus product.

 

[Damon555]

Taurus PT92. That thing was a pile of junk.

 

[GLOOB]

Taurus tracker. The gun ran very well... For about 30 rounds. Then it wouldn't run at all. After giving it a good cleaning, another couple trips to the range yielded the same results.

That's not the worst problem you could have with a revolver. It could just mean the cylinder gap is too small and there's zero endshake. That's a somewhat good problem to have, actually. Easily diagnosed and tuned to get the number of shots you want between cleanings. You can make the gap bigger, but it's a heck of a lot more work making it smaller. Some aficionados prefer to have tighter than typical gap and don't mind more frequent cleanings.

The worst guns I've ever owned are a tossup between DP-51 and a Stoeger Cougar. The DP-51 dropped the mag when you blew on the release, and the trigger didn't break until it practically touched the frame. It felt like you had to make a fist to get the thing to fire, and the skin of my (not fat, at all) finger could get wedged between the wide trigger and frame. To shoot it, I had to curl my trigger finger all the way to press the trigger with my fingertip. The Cougar grip angle is ridiculous. Just ridiculous.

 

[PT92]

I have been really fortunate in that I cannot say I have ever owned a real clunker. Yet the question did remind me of a Rossi Snub-Nose .38 that I owned new back in the early 80's. It shot real well (I mean really well) and was very accurate for a snub both with reloads as well as factory ammo. The problem was that the barrel started pitting real bad after about 500 rounds so I quickly learned it was not made for anything else other than perhaps HD or CCW/BUG roles, but certainly not for even moderate range use. I wound up selling it to a guy who wanted a night-stand gun (and yes, I not only was honest with him, I let him drive it for a while before he made his decision).
-Cheers

 

[Maple_City_Woodsman]

Unless the parts are not tempered properly, or safely (Rg, Rhom, Tariks, ect.) Then just about any pistol can be made to run reliably.

Guns are simply put, not very complicated machines. I am firmly convinced that 95% of reported 'lemons' could be fixed if the average shooter truly understood what really happens when you pull the trigger.

OP - buildup blockages like you experienced are common on individual revolvers that get built with a tight cylinder gap. A gently flush filing of the forcing cone, followed by a generous buffing would have likely solved the issue.

There are literally dozens of common examples.

People complain about Walther P22s cracking slides - but if people took 15 minutes to radius and buff the trigger bar ears, then that probably wouldn't happen.

People complain that Keltecs need long break in periods - but 5 minutes with a felt buffing wheel would solve that problem.

So many people take a bath selling off guns that they like everything about - just because it didn't magically work 100% at the range. Guns are simple machines that follow sound mechanical principles - not magic talismans. If a gun you like doesn't work, then why not fix it?

 

[RNB65]

Kahr P9. Jamomatic when NIB.

 

[HGUNHNTR]

So why was it bad? Ugly and clumsy don't counter accurate.

They do in my book. Being clumsy and rubbish to look at equal failure in my eyes. Anyway the OP asked which gun was the worst you've owned.........maybe none were terrible.

 

[benderx4]

Taurus 85, Beretta Tomcat, Walther PPK

 

[daytodaze]

I bought my tracker for about $400. I definitely could have pulled it apart and gotten it running... But the gun was already several years old, so I got my money back through another buyer and got my smith for $100 more. Definitely traded up on the deal, so I'm glad I didn't mess with it. Maybe I can trade up to a python someday... Hmmm

 

[EmGeeGeorge]

P3AT, FTE. FTF. Etc...

P32, Rimlocked!

 

[Armed 24/7]

I have had only one: a new Kahr P9. Do they even make this model anymore?

 

[1SOW]

North American Arms stainless 22lr 5-shot revolver with a 1" unrifled bbl. I found it (LOADED) in 5' of water off the Fla coast.

My trigger finger could reach and cover the muzzle. The 'gun' was very attractive in polished stainless with hardwood grips. I could hit a refridgerator inside 10' most of the time, and it was amazingly LOUD, and I mean 'ear damaging'.

 

[IMTHDUKE]

Taurus Judge

 

[orionengnr]

Oh, gee...where to start?
--Colt 1911 (pre-A1) back in about 1982...in all fairness, it was a lot older than I was, and had probably been messed with a fair bit. I basically gave it away.
--Four different Kel-Tecs. In spite of a lot of free parts (and some paid-for-parts, mostly mags), a lot of F&B, a lot of ammo, none of them ever achieved acceptable reliability. Sold each with full disclosure at a significant loss. Strangely enough, my first try at an LCP worked perfectly with all that left-over .380 ammo.
--A Charles Daly 1911. It may have been messed with, but was represented as 100%. I soon learned otherwise. Sold with full disclosure at a significant loss. Are you seeing a pattern here?
--Two Springfield EMPs. By far the worst and most expensive bad purchase I have ever made. The first one experienced every type of malfunction a 1911 can experience, and on the second trip, Springfield kept it and sent me a new one. Wasn't much better, as it made two trips back. I ended up selling it with full disclosure at a significant loss. The new owner sent it back one more time, and I believe he got it working correctly. He offered to sell it back to me recently, and I almost took him up on it...but sanity prevailed.

 

[daytodaze]

1SOW: your .22 might have some bodies on it haha

 

[WardenWolf]

North American Arms stainless 22lr 5-shot revolver with a 1" unrifled bbl. I found it (LOADED) in 5' of water off the Fla coast.

My trigger finger could reach and cover the muzzle. The 'gun' was very attractive in polished stainless with hardwood grips. I could hit a refridgerator inside 10' most of the time, and it was amazingly LOUD, and I mean 'ear damaging'.

I have to agree with 1SOW. That gun was likely used in a crime. The gun itself is also an NFA item, being a smoothbore pistol. You should get rid of it ASAP if you still have it.

How about a Stevens Model 93Y? It's a single-shot .22LR rifle, the youth version of the 92. My uncle gave it to me. The extractor is a piece of junk and slips right off the rim, and new extractors are $15. I'd say that's about $10 more than the gun is worth. I've had the gun completely apart. The trigger mechanism is laughable, and the barrel is held on by a set screw that goes through the stock. Otherwise it rotates freely. It's also spread in a V shape at the back end to keep the barrel in the action. Removal involves using a vise to squeeze the tang shut. The whole gun is potmetal. Absolute hunk of junk. I don't even know if it's accurate because it's too much effort to use a knife to extract the case each time it's shot.

 

[Kiln]

Probably an RG10 honestly. I shot it a little and while loading it I broke off the loading gate...then the front site was lost somewhere at some point (fell off I still have no idea where it went, think it was glued on).

I still have two RG23 revolvers that were made much later that work great despite how much I've fired them but the RG10 is one of the first guns shipped here by Rohm and they aren't worth $50 IMO. RG revolvers and the little .25 auto they made are by no means shining examples of quality but the later pistols are leaps and bounds better than the first models that were converted from blank guns.

If you know me at all around here you'd know that I never condemn a cheap gun and even enjoy guns that are shunned as Saturday Night Specials by most gun owners. Alongside my XDM and CZ pistols I have a Raven, two RG23 revolvers, a Phoenix HP22, and a Walther P22 that all work great (Raven required some mag adjustment).

Of my 20 firearms my cheap guns are some of my favorites.

 

[Reddragon1260]

I have to agree with 1SOW. That gun was likely used in a crime. The gun itself is also an NFA item, being a smoothbore pistol. You should get rid of it ASAP if you still have it.

How about a Stevens Model 93Y? It's a single-shot .22LR rifle, the youth version of the 92. My uncle gave it to me. The extractor is a piece of junk and slips right off the rim, and new extractors are $15. I'd say that's about $10 more than the gun is worth. I've had the gun completely apart. The trigger mechanism is laughable, and the barrel is held on by a set screw that goes through the stock. Otherwise it rotates freely. It's also spread in a V shape at the back end to keep the barrel in the action. Removal involves using a vise to squeeze the tang shut. The whole gun is potmetal. Absolute hunk of junk. I don't even know if it's accurate because it's too much effort to use a knife to extract the case each time it's shot.

That is odd because I work for academy and we sell alot of that little revolver in both 22lr and 22mag the barrel is actually 1&1/8" and has an almost non existent rifling. Its so small I can put it in my hand and turn my hand around and you would never see it.

 

[DeepSouth]

Walther P22, It was nothing more than a mag feed singleshot. I sold it for a BIG loss and to this day I regret selling it, I should have melted it down and saved someone a headache.

 

[csa77]

a century R1A1(fal) that will not feed at all off the left side of the mag.due to its"unibrow" feed ramp.

I wold have sold it be I keep thinking ill take it apart and get an imbel reciver and build it around that...I dunno if its worth it tho.

 

[Sean Smith]

Had an old Kel-Tec P32 that didn't make it through its first mag before it was incurably broken.

Honorable mention goes to a Para-Ordnance P14-45 that had constant misfeeds. Even PO just sort of gave up on it. Keep in mind this was like 10+ years ago.

 

[DM~]

Over the years, i've owned hundreds of rifles/handguns, and by far the worst gun i ever owned was a Ruger semi auto 22 pistol. It was an incurable jam-o-matic POS!

I've owned other Ruger 22 pistols too, but i've never been impressed with any of them.

DM