Thread: The Handgun Reliability Thread

This thread is an opportunity for you to share your experiences relating to the reliability of your handguns. Round counts without failures, catastrophic failures, worn parts, good experiences and bad. I'll start:

1. Kimber Custom II .45- No failures, round count 200-300 ( current gun )
2. HK USP .45- No failures, round count 100-200
3. Ruger 45 ( old style ) no failures
4. Colt Combat Commander ( mid-eighties model ) , constant jam-o-matic

Every revolver I've ever had has been 100% reliable, Ruger, Smith & Wesson, Dan Wesson.

Obviously, this sort of thing pertains mostly to defensive handguns, but I like all my stuff to work right. I'm very interested to hear from Glock and XD owners too, as well as any of the polymer guns, which are all vaunted for reliability, and rightfully so. My only plastic pistol was the HK, a tremendous gun, but just didn't fit my hand like a 1911. I love the 1911 platform, but I know other guns are great too. Oh, and let's try to keep this civil.

I have many options in handgun, but chose to carry a Glock every day.Long history with 1911 while a great gun some times can be ammo sensitive. The most unreliably gun H K VP 70 Z kept having issues with firing pins. I slip a 642 in my pocket when the Glock wont work. the older I get the more I enjoy shooting Revolvers.

i have a kahr cw40 with 400 or so down it with 0 probs

a smith sigma 9mm with close to 1000 rounds down it with 0 probs

Originally Posted by jdc123

This thread is an opportunity for you to share your experiences relating to the reliability of your handguns. Round counts without failures, catastrophic failures, worn parts, good experiences and bad. I'll start:

1. Kimber Custom II .45- No failures, round count 200-300 ( current gun )
2. HK USP .45- No failures, round count 100-200
3. Ruger 45 ( old style ) no failures
4. Colt Combat Commander ( mid-eighties model ) , constant jam-o-matic

Every revolver I've ever had has been 100% reliable, Ruger, Smith & Wesson, Dan Wesson.

Obviously, this sort of thing pertains mostly to defensive handguns, but I like all my stuff to work right. I'm very interested to hear from Glock and XD owners too, as well as any of the polymer guns, which are all vaunted for reliability, and rightfully so. My only plastic pistol was the HK, a tremendous gun, but just didn't fit my hand like a 1911. I love the 1911 platform, but I know other guns are great too. Oh, and let's try to keep this civil.

Funny you mention that. I set out to get an HK USP and also found that it didn't feel right in my hand. I have pretty big hands, which was one issue but the other is that the angle of the action in relation to the grip seemed "off". It "felt like" it wanted to shoot high. Poor description I know but I don't know how else to describe it.

I too went with a Kimber Pro CDP II and it's a great gun. Sadly, I'm not too good at counting rounds (shame on me, i know). I've had one jam at the range when using army surplus ball ammo and i chocked that up 80 year old brass/power.

Other than that...no failures.

Glock 17 9mm 10,000+ rounds (X sevice pistol)----flawless
Glock 21 45ACP 1000+ rounds----flawless
Springfield XD40 40S&W 1500+ rounds-----flawless
Sig Mosquito 22LR 1000+ rounds----ammo sensitive
Several Browning Buckmarks 22LR 10,000+ rounds----flawless
Several T/C Contenders 223REM, 6.5TCU, 45LC/410, 44REM MAG, 45/70GOVT 1000+ rounds----flawless
Beretta Bobcat 22LR 1000+ rounds----most part flawless
Ruger MarkII Government 22LR 1500+ rounds----flawless
Flawless=normal opperation

Originally Posted by cuttingintime

. I slip a 642 in my pocket when the Glock wont work.

Say what????


Did ya hear that Dinger

My carry gun is a Les Baer Custom Carry, the commander size. It has around 1500-2000 rounds down it. With it the first 150 rounds I had issues all the time with it, then I picked up Wilson 47d mags, from that point on zero issues. My problems were with the ####ty mags Les sends out with his guns.

I also have a M&P 45. I had some FTF with it, but it was ammo problems. I started reloading lead SWC's and didn't seat them far enough. I went back through and seated them deeper and my problem was solved.

My problem with the M&P is I can't shoot the thing for ####. My POA and POI is way way off, no idea why. My 1911, I have no issues whatsoever with it.

I have the M&P for sale, I'm wanting another Tupperware gun, I'm more than likely going to get a Glock 30.

My only issue with my 1911 is the speratic ejection, spent brass is all around me. Being a reloaded I like to save my brass, so it causes issues with finding brass back. The M&P, I could put a Mason jar out and catch every piece if I stood in one place.

One other issue I had with the M&P, finding a holster off the shelf. You can find holsters all day for the 9&40, but not the 45. All my holsters I had to do trial by purchase. It's something you don't think about with a handgun until you have a odd gun...

Originally Posted by TheGenius

My carry gun is a Les Baer Custom Carry, the commander size. It has around 1500-2000 rounds down it. With it the first 150 rounds I had issues all the time with it, then I picked up Wilson 47d mags, from that point on zero issues. My problems were with the ####ty mags Les sends out with his guns.

I also have a M&P 45. I had some FTF with it, but it was ammo problems. I started reloading lead SWC's and didn't seat them far enough. I went back through and seated them deeper and my problem was solved.

My problem with the M&P is I can't shoot the thing for ####. My POA and POI is way way off, no idea why. My 1911, I have no issues whatsoever with it.

I have the M&P for sale, I'm wanting another Tupperware gun, I'm more than likely going to get a Glock 30.

My only issue with my 1911 is the speratic ejection, spent brass is all around me. Being a reloaded I like to save my brass, so it causes issues with finding brass back. The M&P, I could put a Mason jar out and catch every piece if I stood in one place.

One other issue I had with the M&P, finding a holster off the shelf. You can find holsters all day for the 9&40, but not the 45. All my holsters I had to do trial by purchase. It's something you don't think about with a handgun until you have a odd gun...

Don't sell anything until the chase is over we need the whole arsenal.

Originally Posted by TheGenius

Say what????


Did ya hear that Dinger

LOL!!
Yep!

Sometimes the little wheel guns fit better than anything else.
The little G26 is still a LOT bigger than a little 642, and the snubbie .38 is better than harsh words and a pointy stick.

Been eyeballing the various sites for a bargain M65 or 640 for a while now.
The wife keeps snagging the G26 when I need it.LOL!!

Nothing wrong with a good wheel gun.

Stay safe!
Dingeryote

Originally Posted by TheGenius

My carry gun is a Les Baer Custom Carry, the commander size. It has around 1500-2000 rounds down it. With it the first 150 rounds I had issues all the time with it, then I picked up Wilson 47d mags, from that point on zero issues. My problems were with the ####ty mags Les sends out with his guns.

I also have a M&P 45. I had some FTF with it, but it was ammo problems. I started reloading lead SWC's and didn't seat them far enough. I went back through and seated them deeper and my problem was solved.

My problem with the M&P is I can't shoot the thing for ####. My POA and POI is way way off, no idea why. My 1911, I have no issues whatsoever with it.

I have the M&P for sale, I'm wanting another Tupperware gun, I'm more than likely going to get a Glock 30.

My only issue with my 1911 is the speratic ejection, spent brass is all around me. Being a reloaded I like to save my brass, so it causes issues with finding brass back. The M&P, I could put a Mason jar out and catch every piece if I stood in one place.

One other issue I had with the M&P, finding a holster off the shelf. You can find holsters all day for the 9&40, but not the 45. All my holsters I had to do trial by purchase. It's something you don't think about with a handgun until you have a odd gun...

Bring a couple hundred rounds of .45 when you drop off those chickens.
I'll set the Poppers up and give 'em a fresh coat of paint so you can run my haggard old G30.
It would be good to heat the thing up and get the crusty Blueberry goo blown out of it.

Stay safe!
Dingeryote

Forgot about the Ruger SR40C 40S&W 100+ rounds----flawless so far and getting to be my favorite now just to find a LH holster so I can carry it.

I love my hand guns, here's how they break down.

#1 Glock-27 My daily carry gun Never a failure of any kind. 1000+ rounds
#2 S&W .38 airweight, the one with the hammer 1000 rounds
#3 Keltec P-11 9mm My "yard gun" for working around the five acres. It's smaller and lighter than the
Glock. 100 rounds
All of these guns have never had a failure of any sort, nor would I tolerate any in my or my wife's
carry guns. These three are all very accurate.
#4 Star BM 9mm This was my yard gun, it was prone to jamming with the wrong hollow points in it.....
But it broke the barrel connecting link on the firing line for my wife's ccw qualification.
#5 bunches of other stuff, but I never had problems with 'em nor are they carry guns.

Originally Posted by b1rdman

Funny you mention that. I set out to get an HK USP and also found that it didn't feel right in my hand. I have pretty big hands, which was one issue but the other is that the angle of the action in relation to the grip seemed "off". It "felt like" it wanted to shoot high. Poor description I know but I don't know how else to describe it.

I too went with a Kimber Pro CDP II and it's a great gun. Sadly, I'm not too good at counting rounds (shame on me, i know). I've had one jam at the range when using army surplus ball ammo and i chocked that up 80 year old brass/power.

Other than that...no failures.

Yep, I'm not taking anything away from the HK, if the truth is known it's probably the best pistol I've owned, but it just didn't fit. Might try one of the newer HK 45's one of these days. I also know the Glock is a fine weapon, but it sure don't fit. These XD's and XDm's are very interesting though, and that little XD subcompact might find a spot in my stable some day.

Originally Posted by dingeryote

LOL!!
Yep!

Sometimes the little wheel guns fit better than anything else.
The little G26 is still a LOT bigger than a little 642, and the snubbie .38 is better than harsh words and a pointy stick.

Been eyeballing the various sites for a bargain M65 or 640 for a while now.
The wife keeps snagging the G26 when I need it.LOL!!

Nothing wrong with a good wheel gun.

Stay safe!
Dingeryote

Love my J-Frame!

Originally Posted by ancy

Glock 17 9mm 10,000+ rounds (X sevice pistol)----flawless
Glock 21 45ACP 1000+ rounds----flawless
Springfield XD40 40S&W 1500+ rounds-----flawless
Sig Mosquito 22LR 1000+ rounds----ammo sensitive
Several Browning Buckmarks 22LR 10,000+ rounds----flawless
Several T/C Contenders 223REM, 6.5TCU, 45LC/410, 44REM MAG, 45/70GOVT 1000+ rounds----flawless
Beretta Bobcat 22LR 1000+ rounds----most part flawless
Ruger MarkII Government 22LR 1500+ rounds----flawless
Flawless=normal opperation

Them big bore Contenders are a hoot, ain't they? My Daddy had a custom .444 Super 14 back in the eighties that would cloverleaf four shots at a hundred yards with handloads. All business, lots of fun.