General bad luck with Guns

[Capn Jack]

Funny how some guns, pistols usually, are ammo/bullet weight sensitive.
My S&W 469 shoots anything.

 

[MrMillspecer]

A Magnum Research 10/22 clone with carbon fiber barrel. The barrel was a loose fit to the receiver. So bad your scope didn't have enough elevation at 25 yards. Sent it in , it came back with tinfoil wrapped around the barrel to tighten the fit. They make both peices themselves and get a crap fit ? I put a Volquartsen barrel on my old 22 that had to be iced and the receiver heated to fit. Just the way ilke it. Plus a trigger job in a Boyd's stock for a wat better 10/22 , and for less money.

A ATI / Chiappa AR-15 that the recoil spring was secured with a c clip. It broke on thetfirst mag . Sent it in , came back with the same crap design. Fisherman's had them for real cheap. But kinda money waisted except the lower receiver was milspec but filled with garbage that was replaced.

 

[E4mafia]

Nothing yet, had two Taurus PT-22 one came with a warped barrel returned it for a fix.
Nothing I can recall.

First I heard of the Shield doing that, I had heard of the 1.0 Shield 40sw having early production issues just like that.
Is this a gen 1 or 2 ?

From reading around and asking at the LGS. the Shield 45 IS a 2.0 from what i've seen and it matches up because my 2.0 4.25" in 40s&w has the same features. The Shield 45 may or may not have the 2.0 branding on the slide but DOES feature that newer grip texture and the trigger feels like a 2.0 compared to the 1st gens.

Going with 1st gen shields, I had one in 40 but never once had an issue mechanically with it after about 700 rounds. The only thing I did not like about it was the small size even with extended grip and the bark of a 40 out of a 3" being a little too much to comfortably control well for accuracy. I'd say good for heavy handed meat lugs or just a belly gun or bedside fight to your better equipment duty pistol.

I bought an FNX-9 more that fours years ago now and it fired fine with the hammer down for the first shot but would not fire in SA mode. I sent it back to the factory and it works fine now The only issue I find is that would not cycle Winchester Ranger 124gr +P hollow points rounds reliably. Sometimes I got lucky it fires all 17 rounds but sometimes not. Because of this I load my magazines my with Speer GD or Federal HST. I like the Federal HST rounds for SD.

My FNX-9 had an issue like this too only that it wouldn't do a full cycle using cheap range ammo. After a buddies suggestion to swap over to 9mm NATO the gun has ran reliably well. Anything less and it hits issues for whatever reason and I believe the fault to lie in the guide rod being too heavy that it doesn't get a full action unless using hopped up rounds. Now that i've put at least 500 thru with the NATO it now eats cheap stuff like Blazer Brass without much issue. Speer lawman 147 was the other ammo it would only eat at first too.

 

[Tony617]

From reading around and asking at the LGS. the Shield 45 IS a 2.0 from what i've seen and it matches up because my 2.0 4.25" in 40s&w has the same features. The Shield 45 may or may not have the 2.0 branding on the slide but DOES feature that newer grip texture and the trigger feels like a 2.0 compared to the 1st gens.

Going with 1st gen shields, I had one in 40 but never once had an issue mechanically with it after about 700 rounds. The only thing I did not like about it was the small size even with extended grip and the bark of a 40 out of a 3" being a little too much to comfortably control well for accuracy. I'd say good for heavy handed meat lugs or just a belly gun or bedside fight to your better equipment duty pistol.



My FNX-9 had an issue like this too only that it wouldn't do a full cycle using cheap range ammo. After a buddies suggestion to swap over to 9mm NATO the gun has ran reliably well. Anything less and it hits issues for whatever reason and I believe the fault to lie in the guide rod being too heavy that it doesn't get a full action unless using hopped up rounds. Now that i've put at least 500 thru with the NATO it now eats cheap stuff like Blazer Brass without much issue. Speer lawman 147 was the other ammo it would only eat at first too.

I have shot over 3000 rounds out my FNX-9 now and I have shot a bunch a Winchester 124gr NATO rounds. FMJ rounds of 115gr, 124gr or 147gr all cycle fine. I am not sure what they did to fix it back at the factory since they did not say what they did.

 

[LSWC]

Walther P22. What a pile.

I have one as well, and unless I'm shooting Stingers it will fail to eject & fail to feed regularly...
I think I'll bring some dikes to the range next time I go & start trimming the recoil spring until it shoots & feeds normally.

I'd think after 6-700 rounds the current spring is broke in & still remains a little too stout for the cheap/bulk 22LR I normally shoot.

 

[Mikej]

Wish I had known Mike, I wouldn't mind having a second one.
I still have one of those fancy after market triggers sitting in the safe.

Like I said, first gun we ever bought. It was for Wifey. It was probably 2009 and I'd got my first real gun, my gramps pre model 15 S&W. Wifey needed a gun too! I know people like Kel Tec just fine, our real mistake was buying a mouse gun for Wifey! We also have a Ruger LC9, with is terrible trigger pull and it's bite, that has it's permanent spot on the safe shelf because I couldn't get 70% of what we paid for it. She now has a Sig 938 for personal protection.

 

[Alexx1401]

Like I said, first gun we ever bought. It was for Wifey. It was probably 2009 and I'd got my first real gun, my gramps pre model 15 S&W. Wifey needed a gun too! I know people like Kel Tec just fine, our real mistake was buying a mouse gun for Wifey! We also have a Ruger LC9, with is terrible trigger pull and it's bite, that has it's permanent spot on the safe shelf because I couldn't get 70% of what we paid for it. She now has a Sig 938 for personal protection.

Sadly many guns end up gathering dust, or in the used section of a shop after very little use for just this reason. Often this is the result of some counter person at a shop. People who don't have a gun, and often have no or little experience come in asking. Sure that sub compact polymer pistol is great for carry. Seldom makes a good gun to learn with, and often do not work for women. Does not stop some self appointed expert from telling the buyer's how great it is. Long time back when S&W came out with the new Chiefs Special I saw this first hand. Couple guys next to me had just bought one. They were all over the paper with it. One asked me to try it. Put a mag in the head of the silhouette target since it was not peppered with holes yet. It was a nice pistol. They wanted to make sure it was not the guns fault. It was the fault of some sales person who talked them into buying it when they had never shot before. Told them to go back out front, rent a little .22, come back and play with that for a while. Then maybe rent a full size 9mm. Then go back to the little sub compact. It was a sweet pistol, just a poor choice to try to learn to shoot with.

 

[Boboclown]

Sadly many guns end up gathering dust, or in the used section of a shop after very little use for just this reason. Often this is the result of some counter person at a shop. People who don't have a gun, and often have no or little experience come in asking. Sure that sub compact polymer pistol is great for carry. Seldom makes a good gun to learn with, and often do not work for women. Does not stop some self appointed expert from telling the buyer's how great it is. Long time back when S&W came out with the new Chiefs Special I saw this first hand. Couple guys next to me had just bought one. They were all over the paper with it. One asked me to try it. Put a mag in the head of the silhouette target since it was not peppered with holes yet. It was a nice pistol. They wanted to make sure it was not the guns fault. It was the fault of some sales person who talked them into buying it when they had never shot before. Told them to go back out front, rent a little .22, come back and play with that for a while. Then maybe rent a full size 9mm. Then go back to the little sub compact. It was a sweet pistol, just a poor choice to try to learn to shoot with.

My first handgun was a Glock 21. At the time I did not like the grip, I like the new Glock 21 and might consider it again. It being .45 was not an issue, it being too big for my hands was. Now I have a Colt 1911, full sized, no issues whatsoever.

My friend, on the other hand, went with a compact 9mm (Springfield XDM) pistol and couldn't shoot for sh!t with it. Told him he should have gotten a full sized handgun first, because compacts are not good to learn on.

 

[Alexx1401]

My first handgun was a Glock 21. At the time I did not like the grip, I like the new Glock 21 and might consider it again. It being .45 was not an issue, it being too big for my hands was. Now I have a Colt 1911, full sized, no issues whatsoever.

My friend, on the other hand, went with a compact 9mm (Springfield XDM) pistol and couldn't shoot for sh!t with it. Told him he should have gotten a full sized handgun first, because compacts are not good to learn on.

I have over the years helped a lot of people who learned to shoot wrong. Of course the problem was 99.99 % flinching. They started with too much gun. Those sub compacts are great but few learn well with one. Used to be like this decades back with wheel guns. Someone wanted to carry so they would buy some small .357. Of course could not hit anything with it. Watch them and you could see them jerking the trigger. Would put them on a little .22, off a rest, then free hand. After they started making groups instead of patterns, then work them back to the small large caliber and they were fine. This is even worse with women. Too often handed a gun that was way too much for them by the husband or boyfriend. Often some guys think this is funny to watch them get scared. All it does is turn them off shooting and keep them from learning how to shoot well. I first shot a 1911 before I was old enough to go to school but I had shot already and it was an old full size one. They sat me on a chair facing backward so I could rest it on the back. I loved the damn thing. It's also why I always try to get anyone new to find a place with rentals first. Listening to the help and many shops is a poor way to choose. The rental is a lot cheaper than buying something only to find out they do not like it.

 

[WoodsPlinker]

I got a bad AMD65 that even got our Target into the walk of shame at Tri county gun club. I think it had a bad barrel weld as it would throw shots randomly out and keyhole like crazy. Dangerous and couldn't hit the broad side of a barn with it. First time out it keyholed and hit the center stick at 25 yards, broke the target stick in half.

We noticed it had been added to the collection of please don't do this targets at Tri county and I didn't have the bravery to tell them it was from a malfunctioning firearm that I immediately got rid of.

Might still be there today.

Every rifle I've built or purchased before or since then has been pretty golden.

 

[Doc In UPlace]

Had a Cobray Street Sweeper that had stop-pins that kept jamming in the forward position, one of Wayne Daniel's POS's, got rid of it ASAP.

 

[tac]

I've rarely bought a gun that hadn't been tried and tested for the previous 70 -140 years.

tac

 

[Oldsoldier]

Anyone had any bad purchases or lemons from recent trades of purchases etc?


Lately I had two faults,

1: A S&W M&P Shield 45ACP

The gun felt and handled fine however, upon firing only under 100rnds the magazine would keep dropping out of the catch. Tried to adjust my hands and grip to ensure I wasn't possibly bumping it but no. The kick of the 45 kept knocking it out and even so when tilted sideways to be completely free of the mag release button.

Had to return it to S&W and hope they can fix that problem

2: A SIG P320 Compact 45ACP

While this pistol felt perfect and was way more accurate than I was and had a very nice trigger (sounds to good to be true eh?). Here is the problem, while shooting up at wolf creek I encountered the most bizarre malfunction i've seen in my handling time. While shooting I felt the upper slide kind of do a light recoil. Instantly could tell something was wrong, figured maybe bad batch of ammo? checked and the magazine was still inserted. Low and behold the culprit being that the guide rod/spring assembly had completely some how wiggled its way out about half way while firing. This was under 300rounds. WTF?!

Let down again I returned this piece back to SIG hopeful for a fix.

Anyone else had bad luck/experiences?

My 9mm shield had issues with certain ammo types. I sold gun i only keep guns that can shoot anything reliably.

 

[Member 34319]

I've never owned a lemon, however I have owned some that I would say are of low quality or questionable quality.

Taurus PT111. Gun safety key lock mechanism kept digging into the slide, up until I removed it. Sold it a while after.

RAS47. Just like the internet told me so. After a mere 600 rounds the trunion cracked. Sent it in for repair, offloaded it after.

TNW ASR. Quality overall was shot and I put it together. Hammer was peening after 200 rounds, among other issues. Offloaded before leaving TNW.

 

[Boboclown]

RAS47. Just like the internet told me so. After a mere 600 rounds the trunion cracked. Sent it in for repair, offloaded it after.

The AK obsessed folks at the akfiles were right. Who'd have thought?

 

[E4mafia]

Well guys,

I got my Shield 45 back today.

Pretty quick on the return. S&W said they fixed the mag drops by using new followers (though they don't look any different from the ones I had originally) but i'll take their word for it. The invoice came with a paper that said it passed the shooting test and none of the mags shipped with it dropped. The invoice itself listed all the parts of the gun but only highlighted that it replaced "components" and nothing was checked on that sheet. My guess they put 50 - 100 down the pipe to test with no issues then signed off the paper and shipped it back. I can tell they shot it since its got some factory grease on it and the chamber is showing signs of carbon build up.

Gonna try it out in a couple days and see if its actually fixed or not. i'll know within the first mag like last time fresh out of the box. Hopeful to get thru at least 200 without issues.

On second pass:

I notice the mag release still feels a little soft to the touch compared to my 2.0 in 40. comparing between the two everything else seems about on par minus the size and caliber/mag differences. But I swear the 2.0 has more resistance in the mag release where as the Shield 45 feels like it wants to be pressed in ez. I also notice on the 2.0 the mag release button itself is actually different in appearance, it has a cut out thru the actual middle of it top to bottom where as the shields is a solid piece.

 

[thorborg]

For me, I wouldn't call it bad luck; more like "you get what you pay for" sort of thing.
Keeping that admonition in mind, I went ahead and bought a brand new ATI 12 ga over under off this forum a while back, dirt cheap. Just to see if the O/U concept was for me before spending more on something better. Original intent was to replace my single shot 12ga truck gun that I run bird shot, and slugs, on the stock arm band with an O/U I could have one each in battery.
Hoping for a little time for this evaluation the very first trigger pull set me back some as both barrels went off apparently simultaneously.
Not wanting to experience that again, I wasn't able to glean as much info from feeding it one round at a time.
That notwithstanding, I still concluded I'll stick with my single shot, since its lighter, and I've gotten fairly fast @ switching loads as needed.
Albeit I was hoping for more, as I have bought other "cheap" guns which gave me hours of fun without fail, Still,
I consider the monies paid for it disposable as money spent on range fees and gun rental. I got most of what I wanted out of it, know now I don't want something "Better" in an O/U. I knew the odds when I bought it so accept full responsibility for my purchase and in no way hold the seller accountable for anything. I even received free background check thank you!

 

[E4mafia]

Range update!

The S&W shield 45 has been fixed and I had no problems with the mags dropping thru the 300+ rounds I put thru it today.
Gun runs fine and isnt too bad on accuracy I just need more time and control with it. Feels good for a SubCom 45.

If you get a smith shield and the mags are dropping change the followers out. I can provide pics of the updated magazine followers if needed later.

S&W will actually fix things!

Now im just waiting to hear back from the LGS about my sig p320c 45...



Not bad for a subcom45 at 7 yards. I could walk one of those self healing squares out to the 20 yard line with it from the barrier. I feel it'll do for what it is. I know, im a terrible shot but 300rnds isn't enough trigger time to me tbh.

 

[E4mafia]

So I got my 320C 45 back today.

Heres the run down:

SIG says they installed a spring retainer
Tested for function
Test fired for "fucntion"
Meets factory specs

And now the pics.



Heres hoping. Keep in mind the guide rod still drifts lane to lane sitting in the frame meeting the barrel like before. Hopefully I can get past 300rnds without issue. Preferably up to 1k no issues.

Reminder this is what we fixed

As seen there is no retainer at the end of the spring assembly prior to shipping off.

As a recent discovery, the SIG no longer rattles loosely on the upper slide once racked as it did before until cleared and reset. I also notice the end of the guide rod isn't rotating in the frame each time I rack the slide as it was doing before.

For those with the 320 line (regardless of caliber) do any of yours rattle loose on the upper slide when racked and does your guide rod rotate each time you rack the slide? Id say it may be worth it to get the weapon serviced and the guide rods checked to see if they need a spring retainer.

 

[SnapShot]

I had a H&K USP .. that the mag would drop out, realizing that my stupid hands were hitting the ambi release lever below the trigger guard, I promptly sold it, because I lost my confidence with it.