What's Your Most Trusted Gun?

[armedcitizen]

Got any pics?

In 1962 I was being sent overseas for the first time as a brand new Army Aviator. I bought a Colt Python, a Browning HP, and a Randall #14 knife

Jack I'd love to see pics of the Python and the Randall if you have them.

 

[GRB]

The original question asked about which is your most trusted gun or more specifically:

Which gun (or guns) do you trust the most?

it did not ask which is your most trusted ammunition. Going with that in mind, I would choose a bolt action rifle from among my firearms. I have a revolver, semi-automatic pistols, a pump action shotgun, lever action rifles, semi-automatic rifles, and bolt action rifles. The bolt action rifles absolutely have the most reliable actions of them all. A .22 caliber bolt takes less abuse than a higher caliber, so if I had to choose the most reliable firearm that I have it would be a .22 LR caliber bolt action rifle.

Of the bolt action rifles I own, it is a toss up between a Remington 513T Matchmaster and a Mossberg M44. They operate flawlessly. They feed every ammunition type flawlessly when clean or dirty. They are wonderfully reliable firearms. Of course you can think along these lines:

If it really must go "Bang" it wouldn't be a 22 - I've had too many fail because of the priming compound not being consistent in the rim.

Then again, I have had very few failures to fire with rimfire ammunition; probably about the same percentage as with centerfire ammunition and, that is not much. Oh yes, centerfire ammunition fails too. Even the fairly inexpensive (not the cheapest stuff maybe) rimfire goes bang for me 99.9% of the time. If it is the ammo that is faulty, it does not make me trust the firearm any less, it makes me trust the ammo less or the combination of the two less. If the ammunition does not go bang because of a fault in the ammunition, it does not make the firearm any less reliable, it makes the ammunition less reliable. If you seem to be getting ammunition like that there could be some causes such as: poor quality ammunition - remedy: buy higher quality ammo; dirty firearm - remedy: clean it; worn firing pin or weak firing pin spring - remedy: repair it.

Which one always goes "bang" when it's supposed to?

Of course, I also have some bolt actions in higher calibers. I own a couple of Moisin-Nagants, M44s. They are pretty reliable but I cannot imagine myself thinking that these are more reliable than are the two .22 rifles I mentioned. They are surplus com-bloc military rifles; this implies com-bloc military care which in my mind is not the greatest. They also fire a pretty heavy duty round which pounds the heck out of them. Sooner or later this is more likely to lead to a problem in the mechanics of the firearm.

Which one do you KNOW you can count on if and when you need it?

Well, if you are selecting a firearm that you can count on, you should not rule out a choice because of something that is the fault of the shooter.

Autoloaders can stovepipe...pump shotguns can short cycle...a double-barrel holds only two rounds...etc.

Most stove pipes that I have witnessed are due to dirty guns and or shooter error not due to faulty ejectors as some may suspect. If a pump shotgun "short cycles" it is almost definitely because of shooter error. As far a double barrel gun only holding two rounds, that does not make the firearm any less reliable, that is simply a design feature of the firearm. If someone chooses to use a double barrel shotgun as a primary weapon in a firefight, shame on them if they need more than two rounds and cannot combat reload in time. Again that would be shooter error for choosing the wrong gun. That is not something that should make the gun any less trustworthy.


Now back to this specific question for a bit:

Which one do you KNOW you can count on if and when you need it?

As for counting on it when I need it, I would choose a firearm design that I know would to be dependable. I would choose a firearm that was quite versatile. I would chose one that I would know to be inherently strong because of its basic design. I would choose one with which I have experience enough to realize that the particular firearm fits those other criteria. If this particular question had been asked in the realm of self defense guns, big game hunting guns, birding guns, and so on, I might have chosen differently. As it was asked, quite in general as to which 'do you know you can count on', I would definitely opt a .22 LR bolt action rifle as the most trusted firearm I own. Combine one with high quality .22LR ammunition and then the combination is quite trustworthy.

All the best,
Glenn B

 

[woerm]

hmmm, always goes bang when needed...

.32 1903 simplicity=elegance=perfection

eats both jhp and fmj to same point of aim.

M1 carbine same thing

1903a3 long distance is best way to reach out and touch people...

r

 

[dhoomonyou]

Glock 27 (kh)...

 

[33-805]

Pistol: Any Glock I have
Rifle: M1A or AR15
Shotgun: 870

 

[AlaskaErik]

I have two

Both my HK USP Compact 40 and my Glock 23 have never ever had any type of misfire or malfunction whatsoever. Both were bought new and have always gone "bang" when the trigger was pulled and there was a round in the chamber. Sweet guns, both of them.

Erik

 

[rick_reno]

H&K comnpact in 45 acp.

 

[f4t9r]

my sigs always go bang
my fav is kimber gold match always works and is most accurate gun I have seen

 

[Bostonterrier97]

Rifle: Lee Enfield No.1 Mk III
Handgun: Ruger Bisley Vacquero in 45 LC

 

[benEzra]

Handgun: Smith & Wesson 3913LS

Rifle: SAR-1

 

[Bane]

Glock 17 and Wasr-10

 

[PAshooter]

My Glock 19 has never hiccupped... though come to think of it I have a few other auto loaders that I could say the same thing about (CZ-85B, BHP, HK USPc 45, and my Wilson Combat CQB come to mind). Never had a problem with any of the wheelguns either.

As for rifles... my '44 Garand and SAR-1 have never failed to go bang either.

 

[Mornard]

Glock 17 - din't really care for it at first, but now appreciate that it goes bang each and every time

 

[dmallind]

Hate to sing harmony but if you put a gun to my head and said "pick out the pistol you have that will go bang without fail or I fire" I'd go with the Glock 19.

 

[Tinker2]

Kind of a wide opened question. If it is a must shoot type of question then
a double-barrel is my first choice. Two barrels, hammers, triggers,
firing pins, mainsprings, ejectors. Two of everything in one gun. That is
why the big / dangerous game hunters used double rifles if they could get
them. Anything, no matter how good it is or how many rounds have
already gone through it flawlessly, can break. A good double-barrel has two
of everything. They are a darn good club too.

Check with a class III firearms dealer if you want a double-barrel something
you can wear on a belt.

 

[Magnuumpwr]

My most trusted pistol would be my Beretta 92FS. Rifle would be my Winchester Classic Laredo in 300 Win mag. Shotgun would be my Remington magnum super express.

 

[Hot brass]

Para P14/45acp. I carry it daily.

 

[scottgun]

pistol - Glock G27
shotgun - Remmington 870
rifle - Bushmaster XM-15

I hope I'm covered.

 

[MechAg94]

You know, I think I have had a lot more mis-fires with .22 than any other caliber. However, that may be a numbers thing with the ammo since I have probably shot more .22 than any other.

 

[chunk]

hmmmmm

cz-75 browning hi power

 

[GRB]

You know, I think I have had a lot more mis-fires with .22 than any other caliber. However, that may be a numbers thing with the ammo since I have probably shot more .22 than any other.

I do hear this a lot but, maybe I have just been lucky. I can think of maybe 30 rounds of .22LR that have failed to fire for me, and almost 1/3 of them were due to a firearm malfunction (light hits, where case was not or only barely dented). The .22LR ammo that did fail was really dirt cheap stuff or extremely old. Any of the slightly higher priced stuff than the absolute bargain basement stuff has always gone off as far as I can recall.

I have had .223, .38 special and 9mm ammo fail at least that many times each. I have fired lots of these rounds over the years. Some 9mm NATO ammo (the real NATO stuff) was really bad for very hard primers and did not work well in at least a few brands of pistols in use when I was with Customs years ago. It did alright in the MP5s though. I also recall a problem with certain issue .45 auto made by Remington, also very hard primers, the few people who shot 45s on my job at that time all had problems with it. Quite a few with 32 auto (but that again was a problem with a pistol, it needed a new firing pin spring). Some failures with other calibers too but, in those cases very few failures to fire, maybe because fewer rounds fired.

It can and does happen with any ammo.

 

[bpisler]

My #" 65-3 has been perfect over the
last 2½ years.It's accurate with
bullets over 140gr,lighter,faster
loads tend to open up the groups.
I think i've put well over 3,000
rds thru it and it's still very
tight.I also used it to qualify
for my ccw.

 

[dogngun]

The odd couple.

Ruger "Fat" Vaquero, in .45 ACP. Yes, I sometimes carry a Single Action revolver for CCW because I don't have to think about it. It always works.
Also , my Keltec P32. Always in my pocket, always works.

Runner-up, my Ruger Speed Six. Still "New" to me, but becoming indispensable.

Further out there ; my Savage model 10 in .243 Win.

They are all very simple, and all work 100%


Mark

 

[berettashotgun]

Most reliable percentage wise?? Duh-single shot #1, or H&R singleshot rifle or shotgun.What do I use? P-14 or P-12 VERY ammo spefic. Beretta 686 is the pinnacle of reliable over the long haul, froze my wet gloves on the STOCK!!,been in the mud, suffered the hottest recorded Sep 2 in OK history (126F!!!!!) in Snyder,OK, went deep in Ft.Cobb lake one sub-freezing day in jan- along with me, we wuz scuba diving; just not on purpose, but it has always worked and it's seen literally 10's of thousands of rounds.For a carry handgun with the reliable charastics I would feel best with a ruger revolver if I wasn't so anal about my Para P-14 & P-12. They will work for the next 50 rounds or so, I'd stake my familys life on it.

 

[Old NFO]

S&W 19-3
870
Marlin 30-30