What is your "Lemon Gun/Guns" ?

[DocCasualty]

With 30+ guns, I guess I've been pretty lucky, though it seems there are some classic offenders to avoid in this thread!

I would have said my Marlin Model 60 a few months ago but once I began asking questions and found out how ammo sensitive it was, changing ammo turned it into a great and accurate shooter. Don't use Remington Thunderbolt!

If I hadn't known about the need to change the stock mainspring in the P-64 before I bought it, I probably would have dumped it the first day. Only pistol I ever fired that took both forefingers to pull the trigger in DA. However, cleaning out the cosmolene and replacing with a Wolf 17# hammer spring turned it into a great little pistol.

 

[Steve Marshall]

Desert Eagle in .44 Gas escaping on firing. Actually "sandblasted" my shooting glasses.
Mossberg 500 12 Gauge. Would dump rounds on ground. Tried new magazine stop?
Same thing. Sent back to Mossberg, same thing. Gave it away.
Detonics Pocket 9. After about 100 rounds, started jamming. Slide and frame severely
cracked.

 

[WRGADog]

My worst handgun experience

Purchased a CZ Rami 2075P; gun was way to picky as to what ammo it would feed and the trigger was extremely gritty. The only ammo the gun would consistently feed was Speer Gold Dot. Routinely jammed on Winchester Ranger, Remington Golden Saber, Corbon, and Hornaday. In frustration, I returned the gun to my LGS and traded for a Springfield XDM 3.8, which eats any ammo you put in the mag and performs flawlessly.

 

[95cougar]

Several lemon guns come to mind:

Lakefield (?) 64B semi-auto .22- bought new, couldn't get through twenty rounds before the thing began mis-feeding, stove-piping, etc. Fouled terribly with any type of ammo. Was more than happy to get rid of it.

Century "Centurion" 15 AR-15 clone from mid-1990s: the rifle was assembled by Century using surplus parts... it looked like a Vietnam-era M16... was a huge POS. Constantly mis-feed/jammed, etc. Looking at the parts, among others the bolt carrier had been ground down to properly fit. Couldn't stand to look at my 'mistake' for almost a decade before selling it...

IAI M1 Carbine: bought used at what I thought was a great price. Took it to the range, functioned fine with 15 round mags (30 round mags were hit or miss). Stripped the rifle for cleaning one day only to discover the cast receiver was cracked all the way through behind one of the locking lugs- bummer.

Live and learn I guess.

 

[hey_poolboy]

The only lemon I can think of was a Mini-14. Bought one on a whim. Had fun with it, but just couldn't do anything to make it hit the broad side of the barn.

At least not without spending just as much as I spent on the gun in the first place.

 

[Paul7]

Remington 597

Kahr P40

Ruger LCP

Glock 21



On the positive side, my CZ-75 and Sig P-6 have never jammed.

 

[TriTone]

The first one that comes to mind is the Walther P22 5" I had for a while. Worked great for the first 50 or so rounds and then the extension on the end (don't know the technical turn) literally flipped upside down. Horrible design. took it back to the dealer i got it from, to the same guy I got it from, and he said "yah, we've seen a lot of that with that gun, almost everyone who gets one comes in and complains." Gee...thanks for telling me after I bought the gun from you... Never went back there again...needless to say...

 

[VinnAY]

I can't say that I have or had a lemon but a couple come to mind, one had to find a new home because I didn't have the patience to clear 5 jams per 22rd magazine, that was a GSG-5P. The one I do still have is the P22 but I'm trying to have patience and do some garage gunsmithing to turn it in to a more reliable piece.

 

[Jonah71]

My Kahr CW40 is about 1 jam away from making this list!!! I wouldn't trust my life with this overpriced paperweight at all.

 

[dakota1911]

Cobra Patriot in .45 ACP. Landfill time.