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Worst gun you've ever owned/fired?

12K views 180 replies 129 participants last post by  Planetcat 
#1 · (Edited)
Just because I'm bored and off today...

What is the worst gun you have ever owned or fired, and what made it suck so bad? Perhaps you were young and were suckered into some terrible jamomatic, or you were given a crappy gun as a gift and too polite to tell the giver how much it sucked? Share your tales!

Now, if you're an elitist who plans to say "I've never owned a bad gun. I do my research." Or what have you....That's good for you and we're very impressed :p :) If that's the case, at least talk about a crappy gun you fired that belonged to a buddy or whatever. Anyway, without further ado..

-My father had a personal friend who was an FFL, a huge and surly man from Bayonne, NJ. I nor dad realized it at the time but he sold the lousiest garbage guns pop or I ever saw. Among them was some stainless semiauto .22 magnum pistol that looked and felt cheap and had a freaking bent firing pin so you'd be lucky to even get two shots off in a row without either a failure to ignite or, even if it did touch off, a very nasty jam. Luckily dad got his money back. I don't even remember who made the POS.

-The same man also sold dad an Accu-Tek AT-380 in .380 ACP (imagine that). While it actually was a pretty reliable and fun little gun, we had several issues with it: The safety lever just snapped off one day, and the little screw at the front of the trigger guard also broke and had to be replaced. Dad actually kept this for a long time though, until I got a little older and more discerning and was able to steer dad to better choices. Don't get me wrong - Dad's a smart man and wonderful father who is enthusiastic about guns but a little lacking in the more technical/mechanical knowledge necessary to spot potential problems. He's a doctor, not a metallurgist or gunsmith. :D To dads credit though, he recognized from a young age that the Browning HP was an excellent gun and purchased one in the 80's that he kept for a long time. That was the first gun I fired when I was 4.

-Me and dad's first shotgun was what we THOUGHT was a solid, simple, reliable old Stevens 12ga pump gun. We got about 40 shells out of it before the op rod promptly snapped in half, rendering the gun inoperable. We got our money back again, thankfully.

-I inherited a little 9mm Makarov FEG, a Hungarian Makarov clone. This gun was roughly-tooled, ugly and had a pretty bad snappy kick but was actually quite reliable. Except for the entire safety/decocker assembly blowing out of the gun suddenly one day. Even missing all that, she still was reliable! I sold that to my stepbrother as-is for $75 a long time ago. He still has it!

-While my HD Mossberg 500A shotgun is not at all crappy, it LOOKS really stupid and I hate it. It has a Knoxx recoil-reducing pistol grip stock that, while making the gun a lot more comfortable to fire, looks really stupid, especially along with the uglier-than-sin and cheap-feeling Butler Creek tactical forend. Its that squared-off "handle" sort of forend they make (not the chainsaw kind) that I guess facilitates the super tacticool one-handed pumping technique. Or something. Anyway, its cheap-looking, rattles a lot and looks lame as hell. Otherwise the gun works wonderfully though and that is all that matters. I'll eventually get around to changing that forend.

-a CETME that I fully admit I purchased on impulse many years ago because, hey, .308 semi auto battle rifle! The thing was beat-up, harder than hell to cock and jammed all the freaking time. Took it back and exchanged for a lovely stainless Ruger single-action .44 mag. A much better choice.

-A buddy had a 20 ga. DB coach gun made by either Stevens or Stoeger (don't recall) with rabbit-ear hammers. It looked nice but BOTH hammers failed to ignite the primers a good 60% of the time on the first shot. Totally unreliable. We worked our way through a bag full of slugs and buckshot and then he promptly sold it. It was pretty cool when we did manage to touch off both barrels at once but we only succeeded in that a few times each!


Oh, and I feel compelled to note: This may seem like a lot of lemon guns, but compared to the number of good and reliable quality guns I and my dad have owned or still own, these guns make up only a small percentage. :D


OK, your turn!
 
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#133 ·
I have a new contender....Pretty much any shotgun made by Dickinson Arms! We sell them at the sporting goods store I work at (second job, not career). They are obviously made to emulate the general look of better guns such as Mossberg's Marinecoated shotguns, Benelli's more tacticool-type accessories, etc. They are priced attractively and every time I show one to a customer, said cust is some sagging, shave-headed, tattooed vato that thinks its "cleeeean, dawg!" or whatever and is obviously falling for the cheapass, rickety shell-holding adjustable stock or stupid, heavy, poorly-stamped barrel shroud.

While I will admit I have yet to fire one myself, my experience tells me that these things are pure garbage. The finish and fittings are shoddy and MIM'd out of crap steel and the action itself unlocks and falls open if you breathe on the unlocking lever a little too harshly. If somebody has owned one and (for some reason) loved it, I am open to being corrected, but for my part I'm still trying to steer folks to the Mossy 88 Security model on the rack next to the Dickinsons: it costs the exact same as the D and yet it is a FAR better gun; so the hell what if it doesn't have a stupid adjustable stock?
 
#135 ·
I'll probably get slammed, but I have two, both by reputable companies.

The first was a West German Sig P226 that I bought to go through police academy with and to use as a duty gun. This was before I had a computer and before the internet was even really a thing (summer of 1990). It started out very well- reliable, accurate as all get out and fit my hand very well. After about 1500-2000 rds, it became a jam-o-matic. Couldn't make it through a mag without multiple FTFeed and FTEject malfs. Also, the finish was pure crap. When I got out of the academy and started working, I couldn't make it through a shift without the slide, trigger, decocker and slide release rusting badly. Even if I drew it halfway through and wiped it down with a silicone cloth, I'd still find rust freckling on the slide by the end of my shift. I will readily admit that I probably got a lemon, but when I called Sig, they acted like people say that H&K does- the CS rep actually told me that their guns don't do that and demanded to know what I did to "their" gun? When I asked about sending it in, she told me "No, we won't takeit back or examine it because you did something to it". I never bought another Sig after that and never will because of their poor CS.

The second was a German police trade in H&K P7M8 in the early '90's. Loved the gun- accurate as heck, slim enough to make a good off duty gun and excellent trigger. The trouble was that, after about 150 rds, the slide would start to lock open. The slide stop wasn't activated and a bump on the back of the slide closed it, but it was consistent. As I shot more, it would do it more and more often, until it was doing it every round. A good cleaning and it was back to perfect reliability...for another 150 rds. As with the Sig, I'll readily admit that I probably got an abused one with issues and, since it was surplus, I never even bothered to call H&K about it. I'd love to try another but, with the pricing on decent ones nowadays, it will never happen. I sold the H&K and the Sig to a friend, who wanted projects, with full disclosure about the issues. He got the Sig running after replacing a bunch of parts (I can't remember what parts now) but never did figure out the H&K.

Bub
 
#136 ·
My worst by far for me is a S&W 22A. Complete jam o matic. I would have kept it as a paper weight but it probably would have failed as that too.

I traded it to my cousin to tinker with for two boxes of 555 count 22lr, a daisy pump pellet rifle (that I still have and shoot) and some venison jerky.
 
#139 ·
Ruger LCR in .38 spl with Crimson Trace grips. The trigger could easily short stroke, the CrimsonTrace grips would wander a foot or more off zero after a few shots a 7 yards, recoil was harsh and was difficult to shoot accurately. The reset issues aside, the trigger was not that good. My SW 638 Airweight with the Apex spring kit and Hogue 3 finger grips is a far better gun in all respects.
 
#143 ·
Worst to shoot is a buddy's Polish P64, just brutal. I replaced the springs on it and still after two magazines I was done.
Out of the box I agree. Despite reading about this ahead of time with the plan to replace that mainspring, I just had to shoot it with the stock spring. Wow, that DA pull is something like 22 - 24# and I literally sprained my trigger finger. While the general recommendation is to replace it with an 18# Wolff mainspring, I went with the 17# spring and that turned it right around. The DA pull is acceptable and the SA is smooth as butter now.
 
#161 ·
Out of the box I agree. Despite reading about this ahead of time with the plan to replace that mainspring, I just had to shoot it with the stock spring. Wow, that DA pull is something like 22 - 24# and I literally sprained my trigger finger. ......
Jesus, that's like one of those dreams where you need to shoot a BG/monster, but the trigger is so heavy you can't physically pull it.
 
#146 ·
Worst owned - amt 380 or a para ordnance P10.45. The amt was heavy, had a gritty trigger, and I couldn't hit the broad side of a barn from the inside with both doors closed. The P10 was a jamomatic from day one, and I continually put money in to it making improvements like night sights, beaver tail safety, ambi thumb safeties, etc. But never got it to function properly. Runner up was a Kimber SS Ultra Carry that was pretty but didn't like hollow points.
Worst fired - .357 magnum derringer that killed my hand with the first two shots followed up by my currently owned S&W 340PD .357 mag that I bought off an older gent that wanted to return it to a dealer at a gun show but they wouldn't take it back. Saved my self $450 from buying a new one and only shoot .38 spl out of it. Derringer long gone as are the para and amt
 
#147 ·
The worst I've owned was a Remington 597 .22lr. It was incredibly accurate, but it would jam every single shot. The "10 round magazine" at best held 6 or 7 rounds tops. I took a huge loss when I sold it, but I was glad to be rid of it.

The worst I've ever fired was probably a .38 Derringer my mother used to own. Recoil wasn't bad, but it was the least accurate POS I've ever shot.
 
#148 ·
I know you'll find this hard to believe (I still can't believe it); but I had a later model Browning Buckmark that was a jam-a-matic. Luckily, the store took it back and refunded me. I had an early Buckmark years ago that was OUTSTANDING.
 
#149 ·
Had a Browning Buckmark which for me persisted in dropping the magazine after every shot. Once in awhile it might fire two before the drop. My son took it, saying he would try to fix it as he enjoyed challenges. His favorite gun now. Don't think it has dropped the first magazine for him. Only thing I can figure is my thumb was somehow pressing the mag release button.
 
#151 ·
I've always been cursed when it comes to 10/22s. Now I know that there are millions out there that own and love them but never again for me.

I've prob owned 4-5 of them over the years and each time I've told myself that "this one will be better, like everybody else's 10/22." The problem is the ones I've owned either functioned flawlessly yet I could never hit anything with, or were deadly accurate and didn't function well. I stick to bolt and pump .22s and have for years.
 
#152 ·
Polish (Radom) P-64; A nicely made , wonderfully blued little pistol, essentially a Walther PPK clone chambered in 9x18;

While the pistol is very well made (it was a military/police side arm, and mine was in brand-new , never issued condition) and it is dead reliable and has a very nice single-action pull, the recoil is REALLY snappy (right into the web of your palm, very sharp and not anything like a lot of other 9x18 pistols) and the double action trigger pull is, hands down, the heaviest of any pistol I have ever used, since it comes in at around, get ready for it, 25 lbs or so....it feels like you are trying to pull the trigger with the safety engaged it's so heavy, and it's a damn shame, because otherwise it's a great little pistol.....They make an aftermarket spring that takes the double action to around 18 lbs, but that's still quite a bit high.

My other entry is a CETME that I had back in the early 2000's; it was a Century rifle, and it was just awful, with nothing fitting quite right ; it was a single-shot most of the time, and the barrel was canted to boot.....I sold it to a guy who thought he could make it work, and he ended up selling it to someone for parts.
 
#154 ·
Glock generation 4 17. The supposed great improvement. The first Glock I had with the current weak slide finish. As in seeing slide wear in the first week from a duty holster that was equivalant to 8 plus years of finish wear you would see on a gen3 with the frying pan finish. The RTF which baffled me as I have never had problems holding my gen3 guns when wet, sweaty, cold, ect. The RTF weak squares that get damaged and destroyed when the gun invariably bangs into your door frame, perps wall, tree, you know the kind of things that happen to a gun in a duty holster. The same things that can happen to a gen3 gun and not even leave a scratch usually. Once those little squares are gone where is the advantage again? The same gun that was subject to a RSA recall.

Glock will continue improving our guns until they are of a lesser quality than even a HiPoint if the fanboys continue to buy the inferior guns and not call them on their backwards steps. Accurate gun? Yes. Good gun? No. Mine stays in a safe. I don't like it or trust it.
 
#155 ·
Star B. Sad as I have two Star BMs and they are some of my favorite fun guns to shoot. Spent too much time and money trying to get the B to feed. Sits in the safe now.

I have seen the AMT Backup .380 mentioned by many people. I had one and sold it. Really screwed up as I may have had the only reliable one ever made. Got it new-old-stock and it did need some break-in as it was finicky at first. Do not remember how many rounds, but after a while it just started working. Shot it a lot. Carried it all over the place. Not sure why I sold it. Huge mistake.
 
#157 ·
I have seen the AMT Backup .380 mentioned by many people. I had one and sold it. Really screwed up as I may have had the only reliable one ever made. Got it new-old-stock and it did need some break-in as it was finicky at first. Do not remember how many rounds, but after a while it just started working. Shot it a lot. Carried it all over the place. Not sure why I sold it. Huge mistake.
One of the few handguns I have sold at a loss, if you factor in all the time spent getting it to feed reliably. I buffed and polished all the chatter marks out of the slide rails, polished the feed ramp, and spent untold hours at the range loading two rounds, firing one, examining what hung up, and then tweaking each of the 4 mags feed lips until I finally got it 100%. As soon as it would run all 4 mags without a hitch went to a gun show the next day and sold it. While on paper I got exactly what I paid for it originally, given all the time spent went in the hole a bunch.
 
#159 ·
Davis 380 auto. In that case I got what I paid for.
 
#162 ·
2

Two of them come to mind:

1. In 1987 I bought a new Astra Mod 80 in 9mm. Jammed straight out of the box. And too many after that. Cya was what I did to that one.

2. Back around 2006, I bought a new Taurus 650 CIA in .357 magnum. First time we fired it, cylinder locked up. Sent it back to Taurus, they fixed it, I did not trust it, I sold/traded it. I think I was just afraid that it would do what it did before. I learned my lesson though and never have carried an untested firearm for CCW.
 
#163 ·
S&W M&P 9 full size. I went thru 3 of them and finally gave up. #1 worked fine, but absolutely no sear reset thru the trigger, and accuracy was just pathetic. #2 worked good as well, but still a poor trigger and still no accuracy. Dumped both of them w/ full discloser.
#3 a couple of years later and even before I fired it, I noticed that the pistol had all of the older lockwork in it. The gun was built in Nov 2015, 3 years after S&W stopped putting M&P's together w/ the old trigger system. Took me almost a month of phone calling to finally get a resolve on the thing(I am an LEO!). S&W sent me the correct parts(I am a certified M&P armorer), and I brought the pistol up to current specs. Discussion w/ a LE Rep from S&W and we decided that the Assembly branch found a box of old parts and used them rather then throwing them away! After all the heat S&W took over the crappy M&P triggers and their subsequent redesign, you would think that S&W would not let an old style trigger system out the door. But they did, and I got one. No telling how many people got screwed by that stupid stunt. APEX just loves S&W's stupidity.
And then, on top of them, the dang thing had lackluster accuracy! Even with the newer barrel and fit procedure S&W has supposedly implemented. Again, a win for APEX w/ their new barrels.
The more I contemplated what S&W had done, the madder I got. And I have been a faithful S&W user for many years. After all that garbage, I sold all of my M&P's, never to look back or own another one. Too bad, too. That gun has so much potential, but is being mis-handled so bad by S&W.
Just a a side note, S&W is screwing up their revolvers, too. Almost all the internal parts are MIM. S&W loves the stuff. Even the newer J frames(642,637,638, et all.) have MIM barrels! JEEZ LOUISE!
 
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