ourway77
Member
How many out there have pistols that jam? With factory ammo? If so what ammo were you shooting excluding reloads.
Pistols That Constantly Jam
- Thread starter ourway77
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Panzerschwein
member
I've never had any pistol constantly jam. Probably my worst "jammer" has been my Romanian Tokarev and I wouldn't be surprised if that's from the old worn out magazines I have for it, and it only jams about one round per box of ammo. It's purely a range gun for me and not a regular shooter or defensive piece so it hardly bothers me.
bannockburn
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I have had one: a stainless Walther PPKs comes to mind. My brother had a Mauser HSc that was imported by Interarms back in the '70s that could readily be expected to jam constantly too.
TomJ
Contributing Member
I had two, a SA EMP and a CZ SP01. The EMP was sent back 4 times, at which point SA offered me the choice of another gun at no cost. I had them send a 1911 Loaded Lightweight Operator. CZ sent me a new SP01 after the third time I sent it in. Both jammed regardless of what ammo I used.
"Jam" is a term lacking a specific definition. I look at it as "failure to feed" exclusively, with stovepiping the leading cause. Most are caused by a magazine stripping dynamic which allows the round to pop up and miss the chamber striking some other part of the barrel shroud, or accompanied by another round with it. It's less the gun than the magazine. Right now the M17 is accused of it - but only with round nose ammo. The specified hollow points feed just fine! One point to that is the hollow points are heavier than the light round nose used in the test.
That leads to magazine spring weight under loaded conditions as a factor. If rounds are ejecting before the slide can control the feed then the slide speed vs mag spring weight is out of kilter with one ammo vs another. Maybe we are asking too much for guns to shoot "anything we shove in them" as a condition of use, when in reality we usually settle on one. Defensive or competition carry doesn't require chasing around from 95 to 165 grain bullets. Some combinations of gun and bullet weight are known bad actors yet there are a large number of new shooters who insist that whatever they like be accommodated.
I think we ask too much and are creating the situation with the plethora of bullet weight. Coupled with shorter barrels and faster slide speeds, it's frequently acknowledged the more you chop them, the more common it is to get problems. Fast slide speed means higher mag spring pressures to present the bullet in time to be fed into the chamber, and the harder we push this combination the more problems are popping up. Literally.
As people report which guns they had problems with keep in mind how many are boutique variants instead of plain jane designs with a long history of use. In that light this thread has a lot of value.
That leads to magazine spring weight under loaded conditions as a factor. If rounds are ejecting before the slide can control the feed then the slide speed vs mag spring weight is out of kilter with one ammo vs another. Maybe we are asking too much for guns to shoot "anything we shove in them" as a condition of use, when in reality we usually settle on one. Defensive or competition carry doesn't require chasing around from 95 to 165 grain bullets. Some combinations of gun and bullet weight are known bad actors yet there are a large number of new shooters who insist that whatever they like be accommodated.
I think we ask too much and are creating the situation with the plethora of bullet weight. Coupled with shorter barrels and faster slide speeds, it's frequently acknowledged the more you chop them, the more common it is to get problems. Fast slide speed means higher mag spring pressures to present the bullet in time to be fed into the chamber, and the harder we push this combination the more problems are popping up. Literally.
As people report which guns they had problems with keep in mind how many are boutique variants instead of plain jane designs with a long history of use. In that light this thread has a lot of value.
I had a well worn Hi Power that had frequent issues. I traded it off (with a full discolsure) before I could troubleshoot them out, but I am sure all could have been fixed. I currently have a Hi Power Practical that is very reliable.
JR24
Member
I've only had one that frequently jammed. A ultra 1911 that didn't like ammo longer than about 1.22" OAL.
I just loaded a special short load for it when I hit the range, it always fed hollowpoints fine.
I just loaded a special short load for it when I hit the range, it always fed hollowpoints fine.
FL-NC
Member
My problem guns are either fixed or eliminated.
beag_nut
Member
My Czech 24, made in 1928 (?) would jam with non-round-nose (ball) ammo. Made sense, since that's what the pistol was designed to fire 'way back then. So I worked on the feed ramp, and now it shoots jacketed hollow-points with ease (.380 ACP).
Vern Humphrey
Member
Amen. If I still have it, it doesn't fail.
Ruger MK3. First 1500 or so ran fine. After that, 2 per magazine, give or take. But it had one of the soft extractors that went into 10/22/MK. I don't know if Ruger has fixed it on production models or not, but a $12 Volquartsen extractor fixed it, now back to no jams several thousand rounds later. Also a poorly made 1911 that had some obvious issues. The feedramp looked like a wall. It was 22°
bassjam
Member
I had a Glock 23 3rd gen that had 4 FTE's in about 1500 rounds, which was enough for me to not trust it so I got rid of it.
Twice was with winchester white box, and 2 other times with Wolf steel. Every time the brass/steel split or bulged and stuck in the chamber, requiring a dowel rod.
The only other one was an LCP that had a few FTL's in the first 100 rounds, I don't remember which rounds I used. Since then I've put about 1600 rounds through it without another problem so I assume it just required some break-in time.
Twice was with winchester white box, and 2 other times with Wolf steel. Every time the brass/steel split or bulged and stuck in the chamber, requiring a dowel rod.
The only other one was an LCP that had a few FTL's in the first 100 rounds, I don't remember which rounds I used. Since then I've put about 1600 rounds through it without another problem so I assume it just required some break-in time.
Gets me thinking "dirty gun" . Because of the ammo, 22s are this way. They get dirty easily, and start to
malfunction. Give the gun a deep cleaning, and remove all the crud. I can't say clean guns don't jam,
just IME they are rare, compared to malfunctioning dirty guns.
malfunction. Give the gun a deep cleaning, and remove all the crud. I can't say clean guns don't jam,
just IME they are rare, compared to malfunctioning dirty guns.
Riomouse911
Member
The majority of jams I have had have been either magazine related (I isolated the misfeed jams to a specific mag) or ammo related (Bum individual rounds). I can't recall any one gun I have owned jamming regularly no matter which mag or ammo I used...but I did have a S&W5906 issued to me that would FTE a lot. I'm sure that guns' problems were due to an extractor issue.
Monac
Member
At a gun show, I bought a Husqvarna M1907 that had been converted to 380 ACP from 9mm Browning Long. It would not feed ANY rounds from the magazine to the firing chamber. I would not say it always did it, because I sold it at the same show the same day. (The shooting range was only a short distance away, and I was very eager to shoot the gun, for some reason. This was 30+ years ago.)
That was the worst I can remember. My Mitchell Arms stainless steel Luger jammed a fair amount, but someone else here has one that is quite reliable, IIRC.
That was the worst I can remember. My Mitchell Arms stainless steel Luger jammed a fair amount, but someone else here has one that is quite reliable, IIRC.
shoobe01
Member
+1000. Now, zero. Over the years, many. Then if no good specific single reason (mags, dirt, a broken part) it goes away. Usually, to a gun show, so never buy anything from me at a gun show!
P.S. Let me dogpile on "jam." It is either non-specific, or means something very specific that you probably do not mean. I have had one SA revolver that jammed periodically, and when the Ruger P85 was first out we tried one and it had a link jam that required a big hammer and a vise to get unlocked. "Stoppage" is the generic.
EAA witness wonderfinish compact 10mm with a 40 barrel. Had it at the range with me as the "extra pistol" this past week. I have some old no name 40's I got in an ammo box at a gun show some 15+ years ago, the rounds keep on nose diving and jamming on the feed ramp. Winchester white box does better but not perfect. I have a henning guide rod in it which might be part of the problem as i wonder if the slide is going back far enough to properly pick up the top round in the mag.
rskent
Member
I had a Colt XS Commander that jammed on everything. I literally couldn’t get through a magazine without some kind of failure. It didn’t matter what I tried to feed it.
Not a total loss. I learned a lot about 1911’s getting that thing to run. When I sold it, it did run very well.
rskent
Member
I disagree. If your gun stops or doesn’t complete its cycle for any reason, it’s jammed.
I had 1 gun that jammed every round. Wouldn't go into battery. I had bought it used from a gun shop. Took it apart and found that the pocket that the extractor fit into was suppose to be a blind hole, but it was machined partly through the bottom of the slide. Letting the post on the extractor rub on the lower. Filed it down and the gun ran like a champ. Just never could find my brass, as it would throw the brass (32 ACP) somewhere unknown.
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