List the guns you have owned that did not live up to their reps.

[albanian]

Only list guns you actually owned or as good as owned, i.e., someone close to you owned and you got to shoot it as often as you liked. List as many as you want. Give reasons if you can.
Here are some of mine that didn't quite live up to the hype:

1. Makarov, not accurate, bad trigger, tiny sights, nor-ergo grip.

2. Walther PP .32acp, kicked way more than it should for the cal, heavy DA trigger, one of the only guns that gave me slide bite.

3. Glock 36, this is my brother's but I have shot it a lot. Not very accurate, trigger stings finger, recoil is really bad and it jams once in a great while. I like nothing about this gun.

4. High Powers, sorry but for a "Legend" this is a very ordinary pistol in my book. I don't see what all the hype is about when you compare it to modern pistols.

5. Kahr P-9, just not as well made as the all steel Kahrs.

 

[Willyboi]

Man,

I bought a Springfield Operator about a year ago. This was the first 45 I bought. I thought it shot fine. The gun never jammed, it was real tight, no feeding problems. All the hardware was match grade....

Then about 4 and half months ago I wanted a 45 I could have fun with. Run tons of rounds though get cheap replacement parts. Well I shot it the first day and was pissed. It shot 5x better than the Operator. What a waste of a $1000 bucks. I could have had 3 WWII models and 2 cases of ammo for the $1500 bucks I spent on 2 Springfields!!!

Willyboi
-Better to be Judged by 12 than Carried by 6-

 

[CAnnoneer]

Not live to the expectations?

Well, the airsoft guns I bought in my youthful naivety - a G3 and a MP40 - both inaccurate coughy POS's. Also a Chinese pump-lever air rifle - loud, crappy sights, annoying to load, bent barrel. I gave away/sold all of them.

Thankfully I have no complaints with the true firearms having just started my collection with a sweet Ruger KP89T.

 

[Malamute]

1911's

I just wasn't impressed.

Half dozen or so Colts, a Detonics pocket size, and the current Springfield that is a real piece of work. Some have said I am 1911 jinxed. Even some other peoples guns fail when I shoot them and they fail after I shoot them.

I've fired thousands of rounds through my 1911's, just never had one that came anywhere close to Smith revolvers for reliability amd accuracy,or point shooting ability.

One of those moments recently, I said to the guy whose gun quit being the bastion of reliability that it had been a few minutes before, and I said "I'd FAR rather have 2" .38 than a 1911 for defensive gun, I KNOW the 38 will always work. At that moment I knew I'd never ever carry an auto again as a "real" gun. Fun to shoot, but I'd never trust one like a Smith 29. I could live very happily with no auto pistol in my life. After shooting game with 230 grain ball ammo, I'm REALLY not impressed with the killing power of the 45 auto compared to semi wadcutter 44's or 45 Colt's. Hollow points would help, assuming they don't infringe on the already lesser reliabilty (in my experience) but the other factors when compared to revolvers just leave me underwhelmed.


Have broken 2 transfer bars in Ruger single actions, 2 different guns. i no longer believe the hype about them being "indestructible". Very good guns, but NOT indestructible.

 

[Cueball]

One of those cheap Raven 25 autos. It was a piece of crap and one of the first guns I ever got as a young man many years ago. I wised up and sold it quickly.

 

[nyresq]

a stainless springfield 1911 when they first came out with the factory "loaded option". I paid as much as I would have for a colt enhanced and while the fit was good, the gun just never "felt right" to me. The grips felt like they were plastic instead of wood and the finish on the steel was somewhere in between a matt finish and a polished... not really one or the other. I guess it was a "good" gun, but it didn't have the feel of a high dollar 1911. It was just "there"... nothing special, but nothing bad either. I can't fault it, it just didn't "fit me".

I sold it a short time later and bought a colt XSE commander, sent it to Clarke for a melt down and a front night sight. I couldn't be happier with it.

 

[denfoote]

Only one: Kel-Tec P3AT.

 

[IZinterrogator]

Glock 23. Perfection, my butt.

 

[Chipperman]

Makarov jammomatic.

 

[larry starling]

Kimber Eclipse! Pistol was a jamomatic. wouldn't feed half the time and I had numerous FTE and the POS wouldn't return to battery when it did work. I tend to think that a $1000 gun shouldn't need a break in period....

 

[albanian]

I have two more to add to my list:

Kel-Tec P-32, if this gun had the rep of being a jam-o-matic POS, it STILL would have been overrated! World's crappiest gun that cost more than $50.

Springfield V-10 Longslide. This had all options and I had hoped that it would be a target gun but it never shot any better than a stock 1911 with fixed sights. It had sharp edges everywhere which made it very uncomfortable to hold. The entire point of the target sights and longer slide and bbl are for enhanced accuracy. Basically it was just an expensive heavy and big 1911 that shot like mil-spec. Not bad but nothing that could be considered target accuracy either.

 

[nero45acp]

1911's. Six of the seven I have owned needed work to make them even fairly reliable. None of the seven have been 100% reliable, even with professional gunsmithing, quality magazines, and factory ball ammo.

Walther PP/PPk. (agree with Albanian) Lousy trigger, ammo sensitive, more recoil than other pistols of the same caliber.


nero

 

[Tropical Z]

I heard great things about the "Helwan" 9mm which is a copy of a Beretta 51 (???) and ordered up.Big mistake---that gun was garbage.

 

[armoredman]

Springfield 1911A1. Gah. Also, not a pistol but close - Uzi Model B - worst jammamatic I ever owned. Oddly enough, one of the guns I traded for was the above mentioned Springfield....

 

[berettashotgun]

A Kimber.turd.Remy 7400.road apple.CZ-50,goes full auto if you limp wrist; no thanks. at least it's a 32. Have para's now,nothing but serenity.

 

[dk-corriveau]

That would be all of my guns!

They are all accurate and function great. I just can't shoot worth a damn. :banghead: Ok, I'm not quite that bad, but I could always shoot better. That being said, I am still working on it and probably always will be! So I guess you could say they haven't lived up to their reps in my hands!

Ah, and Kimber's Tactical Extractor has certainly not lived up to it's reputation! Not a single failure to eject in 2,000+ rounds.

 

[Gunz]

Mine is a P230 SIG.

With all the hype I hear about SIG's legendary accuracy and feed reliability and how the 230 is the Holy Grail of 380 sized pistols, I say, "Maybe yours, but not mine."

The gun is full stainless. It is the older W. German proof-marked ones. It is okay. It does jam with FMJ ammo from any maker. I can shoot a few rounds and expect some malfunction. It has been cleaned, and checked for rough edges and such in the ramp and barrel fitment. Springs have been changes. Factory mags in stianless and blued have been used.

Oh well. It is a nice paper weight. Since I only buy and do not sell, it serves as a gun which may or may not work, so I do not carry it. It is used for emptying older ammo now at the range. I have no worries about the intermittent jams. I am trying to "wear it in" with multiple round-count to see if things improve.

My Walther PPK and PPK/S have been the really accurate and reliable shooting 380 pistols, surprisingly.

 

[lee n. field]

One of those cheap Raven 25 autos. It was a piece of crap and one of the first guns I ever got as a young man many years ago. I wised up and sold it quickly.

Actually that one is living up to it's reputation.

Makarov jammomatic.

1. Makarov, not accurate, bad trigger, tiny sights, nor-ergo grip.

Still got 'em? I'll give you-all $25 ea, for parts guns.

 

[shield20]

Kimber Pro Carry HD II - VERY big let-down after expecting so much - darn ^%$#& external extractor. It WAS accurate though.

 

[ChuckB]

Bersa Thunder .380... I heard so much about their accuracy, shootability, and 100% reliability. First two- correct; reliability was awful, even after 2-3 trips back for warranty service. It's gone now. I miss it not. A Smith 637 has replaced it, and it is, of course, 100%.

Chuck

 

[Black Majik]

Springfield Armory M1A.

Its accurate, its very reliable. It is relatively easy to field strip.

But for $1400 I paid for it.... it feels like a SKS. The gun isn't spectacularly accurate, and the krinkle black finish absolutely sucks balls! It chips, flakes... I gotta wash my cheek because black paint would flake on me. So I swapped it out with a wood stock. Much better.

Next there was a huge gap betwen the handguard and the rifle stock. Blah, fitting on those guns were absolutely crap. But they do work. The finish looks kinda thin also, so it looks like it'd wear easily.

But the price I paid I might as well set up a quality bolt rifle with scope/rings/mounts. Such as a PSS.

Way overhyped, that M1A.

Edit: Whoops! an M1A isn't a pistol. Well still, my last and only Springfield Armory gun. Their 1911s dont impress me either. Especially that overly done up Trophy Match. Haha...an Loaded with checkering and adj. sights.

 

[dairycreek]

SIG 1911 It was brought out with a lot of hype but the early results were pretty disappointing. First time I took it out of the box (new) the front sight fell off. The hammer was misaligned. The slide would not stay open on the last shot, and other problems too numerous to mention. In truth, SIG eventually made good on everything that was wrong with the gun but they never were able to fix my disappointment. :banghead:

 

[Moonclip]

Yes SA is overhyped, especially the XD which is just a repackaged HS2000 Croatian pistol that sold for much less.

Most of my guns have some quirk or oddity like not liking a certain ammo or some other minor detail though.

An inaccurate, jamming,Makarov? Interesting, some are more accurate than others though and I guess some people it just does not fit well.

Glocks are overhyped too I think. I like some of the concept and reliability but I find them generally less accurate than most Makarovs.

I had a friend who resisted getting a SKS, got a Yugo one. He admitted it was obvious it was more expensive to make and better quality than his mini 14.

Kahrs are overrated it seems but I admit I have not fired one yet so I have little to say about that.

 

[Dave Markowitz]

CZ-85.

It kept prematurely locking the slide back. It's gone.

 

[Black Majik]

Ya know Paul,

now that you mentioned the XDs.... I'm convinced that the people at Springfield Armory have absolutely no idea how to finish a pistol!

First, the M1A I mentioned. The krinkle design looks cool, yeah, but the finish is the worst holding finish ever.

Next, the XD probably has the most rust prone and thin finish ever. ALL XDs I see at the shops usually have worn edges already from handling, and the finish looks to be really thin. The Turners at Fountain Valley actually had a XD that had light surface rust near the rear slide serrations.

The TRP I once looked at, I'll say the ArmoryKote looks pretty nice, but their hardchrome was pathetic. Look at the Stainless/hardchromed TRP at The Stockade. Its still there, it always has been. Check near the dustcover, on the slide the finish is wavy. I mean really bad. Looks like toolmarks with the finished covered over it, I dunno, but the waviness just doesn't look right on a $1300 or so pistol.

Their stainess guns are just stainless with a polished slide flat. Really ugly on the Trophy Match for some reason. Yet I think their most durable finish would be their regular plain stainless guns.

...hmm....