Quote:
Originally Posted by mjzman
Trying to bring back a 45 year old memory...
Wasn't there an issue with the Model 59 shortly after they came out. Briefly taken out of service or recalled for modification or something? Seems like it was a big story in all the gun magazines of the time, then after six months or a year all was well. I cannot remember what the problem was supposed to have been.
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Oh, yes. Much has been spoken and written about the general "
unreliability" and "
jamomatic" nature of the Model 59.
Remember Phat Phil Engeldrum? And his infamous "Handgun Tests" magazines? His 1979 issue
trashed the Model 59 to an almost legendary degree.
I still have a copy of it around here somewhere.
The truth is apparently a little less dramatic and less widespread than Phat Phil's magazine would have you believe. I can't speak from personal experience, but at least some Model 59 pistols were apparently not reliable out of the box, especially when using hollow point ammunition. Some have said that even after expert gunsmithing and many tries, a few Model 59's still could not be made to work reliably.
The problems were eventually ironed out in late production Model 59 pistols and in the subsequent 2nd & 3rd Gen versions. It's why I waited until nearly the end of Model 59 production to buy one.
