What brand comes to mind when you think of a firearm with quality issues?

[MrMillspecer]

Im not sure of the exact date, but Ive had 4 of 6 700s that went back to Remington or had to get some sort of repair to function properly. Two had really bad headspace issues.

2 of 2 870s had really poor fit and finish. Broke extractors on both and had to replace with aftermarket parts.

I'm still shooting my Grandfather's 700 bdl 6mm Remington. It's been great for 3 generations now. Fantastic trigger and accurate.

My 870 Magnum Wingmaster came with nice walnut stocks and nice blueing. Never had issues with it. It seems well built.

It really sucks how quality has dropped to sell cheap rifles. Riding a past name brand and running them into the ground.

 

[mkwerx]

Taurus. Witnessed a family members gun have numerpus problems, got sent back, next trip out, more problems. Traded in at the shop purchased from for an upgraded model. Trigger shoe cracked on it. Back to Taurus fir fix, the was sold and said family member bought a Glock 26.

Stevens - my Cousin bought a 12ga pump gun from them as his first shotgun. On sale at Big 5. We took it shooting shortly after. Only pump shotgun I have ever seen that is a single shot... feeding mechanism would not work right out the box.

IO - same cousin above got a smoking deal pk his first AK. Shortly after the trigger broke, replaced that. The front sight was crooked and loose. Tried fixing that. Then the piston had issues. He deemed the gun not worth wasting more money over. Won't sell it because he doesn't want to pass on problems to someone else.

Personally I will never buy another Armscor made pistol. I owned a Charles Daly 1911. On one range trip, the cast guide rod shattered while shooting. Tore up the inside of the frame. Required new parts - a gunsmith fixed the frame as best he could, CD refused warranty work on it. I replaced the crappy cast interals with Ed Brown parts, and traded it in on a Springfield XD. So Rock Island, Citadel, et al are no go for me.

Basically - cheap guns are questionable at best, and good reliable samples are the exception, not the rule.

 

[308]

Small caliber handguns have been problematic for me in the past. The Jennings .22 was a jamomatic and had minute of broad side of a bard accuracy. Our Glock 42 was trouble at first until we sorted out that PMC .380 was the problem due to the low ft/lbs of energy not being enough to reliably cycle. Anything above 185flt/lbs is 100% now. A dry bolt carrier on an AR can be a problem too, but I know better than to let that happen, so that problem has gone away.

 

[kmk1012]

I knew a guy who used a Jennings 22 to commit suicide. He was found with it in his hand, jammed.

 

[MrRob96]

What brand you fear would fail you when you need it most?

Using the original question as my guide, I only have a few brands I've personally had troubles with. Interestingly enough, these brands I typically only 1 gun of:
Kimber
Grand Power

Brands I own multiple of and have not had issues that would make me question the gun will let me down:
CZ
Sig
S&W
Beretta

All other brands I own fall into the "I don't own enough of these to conclude I trust the brand implicitly before I ever pick up the pistol."

That includes Glock, Ruger, and Tanfoglio.

 

[NW Backpacker]

Not necessarily related to reliability, but here's a list of gun recalls from the gun-haters. Scroll down to see recalls by manufacturer:

Gun Product Safety Notices

 

[LuckySG]

LLama
Taurus
Sig (think Mosquito)
Herters - a friend had a 44 that literally came apart while shooting it.


1911 unreliable? Pshaw, someone needs to learn to tweak one a bit

I will agree on the Kimber thing, never found one I liked and 'cause I like to jump on wagons

Sig Mosquito problems are a new one to me, what happened?

 

[Mistman]

The Mosquito was very picky w/ammo, constant FTF/FTE, just a pain in the rear. YMMV but my SR22 is a whole lot more reliable for me and will shoot pretty much anything.

 

[Boboclown]

IO - same cousin above got a smoking deal pk his first AK. Shortly after the trigger broke, replaced that. The front sight was crooked and loose. Tried fixing that. Then the piston had issues. He deemed the gun not worth wasting more money over. Won't sell it because he doesn't want to pass on problems to someone else.

Only thing on an I.O that is salvageable is any receipt that came with. You can use it to keep notes on.

 

[Boboclown]

Kimbers and other Custom 1911s I don't get...
...spend thousands of dollars on a new custom 1911, and they tell you it has a brake in of 500rds. So you have to spend another $200 on ammo, and more money on trips to the range, all the while fighting the FTF/FTEs. Best case... break in goes great. it works, but for all your work your once brand new gun that you carefully broke in has depreciated in value because it is now used. Worst case you spent all that money time and effort going through the brake in and the stupid thing still doesn't work right. Seems like they should be able to make them reliable from the factory.
I guess it's easier to replace the warranty/trouble shooting pages in the owners manual with...
***just keep shooting it till it works***

And 1911 fanboys will make fun of our plastic guns, even though they are a fraction of the cost, hold more ammo, and work perfectly from the very first round.

...I still want a nice 1911, but I'll be buying one used, with at least 500 rounds through it. I'll still use and trust my Tupperware when it counts though.

Colt 1911, 70 series government model, ready to rock the moment you clean and lubricate it. I did not have to break mine in.

 

[Mygrainman]

Colt 1911, 70 series government model, ready to rock the moment you clean and lubricate it. I did not have to break mine in.

You don't have to sell me on Colt quality... I'm a believer already.
When I do finally get a 1911 it will be a Colt. Likely with little red triangles on the grips

 

[CamoDeafie]

Of the guns I have had and shot;

Least reliabe had to be the rem 770 30-06 and maverick 88 shotgun... most reliable are the Sarco ar15, 25 year old Hi point 995, 30odd year old Ruger P85 mk2r (that one was recalled when new and repaired/updated) and the nearly 70 year old J.C. Higgins 12ga shotgun.

The rest were in between; a Izhevsk SKS, a Norinco SKS, and the Remington 66 Nylon. These three were rather picky about cleanliness and ammo selection. Had some jams with the Norinco and the Remington. The bolt action 770 had a terrible trigger, and maybe was just the older ammo, but more often didnt want to shoot the remington corelock 220gr soft points... I wanted to like it oh well. Got rid of it a long while ago.
When a gun has a worse trigger and accuracy than even the Hi Point carbine, thats saying something

 

[teflon6string]

ODI Viking 1911 with the Seacamp DA conversion. Jammed like the Allman Brothers on Peruvian marching powder.

 

[Pandaz3]

I have had to return twice a Para Black Ops, it's now good and my son unit #2 has it.
I have had to return a Glock 29, returned back to me, and I still have it.
I have had to return a Ruger American Compact 9MM, fast turn around, I still have it.
I have had to Call FMK, they offered free shipping back or a new RSA to confirm problem and that was my option. The new RSA fixed it. Not a fan of the gun, does not fit me.
I had to return two XDS for recall, a 9 and 45, they worked good before and after.
I had break-in problems with my Remington 887 Nitro shotgun, but worked them out myself.

I have three Taurus, Like and trust them all. Yet to shoot my Kel-Tech PMR30, but do not expect any problems
Ruger wants to molest my 1968 Ruger Blackhawk 357, I'll pass.

 

[alv7722]

Jennings, need i say more.

Jennings, Brico, Raven, Jimenez, and probably a few more from the same co.

Had a Jennings .22 that discharged upon letting the slide go. Worst $50 I ever spent. Smashed it with a sledge and threw it in the trash!!

 

[KKG]

Firearm Recalls and Warnings Index on FirearmsID.com

I really can't say I'm impressed. No Model numbers, just calibers. Not even a Date for when the gun was made. It almost looks like a "Personal" Rant List.

 

[Boboclown]

I was wrong, Pioneer Arms AKs were the ones imported by I.O. Made in Radom, but not by FB Radom. They are a huge no go like American made AKs generally are.

"Odd" how former combloc factories can make an AK worth something, yet others fail to do so. Maybe the myth of AKs being easy to make isn't so true after all.

 

[mkwerx]

I was wrong, Pioneer Arms AKs were the ones imported by I.O. Made in Radom, but not by FB Radom. They are a huge no go like American made AKs generally are.

"Odd" how former combloc factories can make an AK worth something, yet others fail to do so. Maybe the myth of AKs being easy to make isn't so true after all.

If a guy can make an ak from a shovel, theres no reason a real gun maker can't get it right except laziness, ineptness, or greedy uncaring which goes hand in hand with the first two.

 

[Boboclown]

If a guy can make an ak from a shovel, theres no reason a real gun maker can't get it right except laziness, ineptness, or greedy uncaring which goes hand in hand with the first two.

Keep in mind that shovel was reforged and likely got a better heat treatment then the sh!tty AKs. The critical parts were also still made of good metal. Unlike the poor AKs.

 

[The Heretic]

Taurus