"each time thereafter become incrementally easier, therefore,
if a semi-auto fails to fire or eject the first time, the odds on it happening again are greatly increased."
Lazy-B, I can't agree with that at all. Not meaning to sound disrespectful, it borders on superstition. Starting in the '70s and going through the '90s I was issued three Sig 226s, three Sig 228s, and three Sig 229s. I also bought at least one of each for a personal gun. I can't even estimate how many rounds I fired through them. One 228 and one 229 were shot so loose (and carried in adverse environments) they had to be retired, but were accurate and reliable to the last round.
Throw in a mix of 220s and a 239, and the flawless round count only goes up.
I've personally owned 13 Colt 1911s in various configurations. I had a single accidental discharge in the mid-70s that I blamed on the gun, but thereafter it never missed a beat, even with my hand-hacked hand loads. For YEARS! Not even the magazines.
Colt 1911s were my carry guns until the late 70s when we got Sigs.
S&W 4516, 4006, 6906, 915, 745, various iterations of the 39, and more recently a pair of S&W 1911s and two M&Ps, one 9mm, the other 357Sig, all functioned without a miss.
Our training officers were daemons and made scenarios intended to cause operator error and exploit any weakness in the gun. In the course of training I did see a couple people inadvertently eject a magazine, or fail to fully seat one. This is during intense training under great stress.
As to failures, I did see a magazine floor plate pop off, scattering the rounds in the dust, giving me incentive to always carry a spare.
Occasional failures to feed, fire, or eject, were always operator error or ammo problems. I did see a couple guns fail to go into battery when the slide was released, but those were guns being used intensely in training. Hit the back of the slide, worked fine.
A lot is made of the "limp wrist" problem, and 1911s get the wheelbarrow share of the blame. I have taken all of my Colts, and those of others, held them upside-down pulling the trigger with my little finger and have NEVER had it happen.
I also went through several Beretta 92s that never coughed. One of our sons was professional military, now reserves, and went to the desert four times, each time issued a Beretta. He said they were poorly maintained and gun handling was terrible, but not one ever missed a beat. He has owned five.
I have competed in IPSC and IDPA for years and seen quite a few autos fail. In ALL cases these were guns "optimized" or openly modified to be race guns. Having raced cars for years I know that when you build anything to run at the limit, sometimes it goes over. Most recently, at an IPSC match I saw a guy with a whizz-bang hi-cap blaster with doo-dads hanging off its nose, slots and holes in the slide, a trigger with a woodpecker problem, sights even an elephant could use, and a funnel on the bottom for feeding eight-inch shells. He couldn't keep it running to the end of a single stage.
My M&P Pro? Never missed a beat, and I shot it with either hand.
I think, with nothing to back it up, that most of the complaints come from the early days of autos when there were problems, and from competition guns. However, I knew people since 1972 who used Browning Hi-Powers, and not one ever said they had a failure.
Double feed? Failure to feed? Failure to extract? Sure, it happens. But not on sound, well-maintained guns. Lubrication is critical. A gunsmith on the Sig forum has a guide for lubrication worth reading. BUT, *I* have used autos with nothing to lube the slide but dust, and they worked fine.
You'll see many people in these forums talk about springs. Good springs are critical, but before you replace one, do your research and then work it out at the range before you put it in your holster.
Ammo is another potential problem. If a gun is not working with reloads, try more than one quality commercial brand through it. ALL autos were made for SAAMI standard pressure rounds. The popularity of +P and +P+ means problems will manifest. Early 1911s are said to have problems with hollow-point bullets. In 1972 I had a military-issued 1911 (probably made during WWII and rebuilt with military parts) and a Colt commercial Series 70. I bought several boxes of Super Vel, which had a hollow point that looked like a railroad tunnel. All fed fine.
A few years ago one of the gun writers delved into the "mysteries" of the 1911 and why all the modifications are so popular. He pointed out that competitors wanted to shave thousandths of a second off their times and did things such as the beaver tail, speed bump, lightened slides, and slicked up actions. Each one aggravated some other feature of the gun that was not a problem for us every-day shooters. The early S&W 1911Sc (pre-E) had a problem where normal hands using normal grips did not depress that speed bump enough to disengage the safety. Competitors who clamped down with 400 pounds of force had no problems. We pansy-hands did.
I'm fine with revolvers, but they have an undeserved reputation for reliability compared to autos.
I had a Vaquero that would bind up without warning, locking with the hammer half back. It went to gunsmiths and to the factory without resolution. Dumped it.
Had a Colt, Python I think, that every so often locked with the hammer not quite to fully aft and so could not be fired double-action.
Had an Anaconda that looked as though it had been dragged behind a truck for few thousand miles. Pulling the trigger full aft would not release the hammer. Sent it to Colt for rebuild. They did a fabulous job for a very reasonable price, even replacing the barrel.
I have ragged on Taurus guns a lot and still have a bad taste in my mouth for them. HOWEVER, you'll find a lot of people on this forum who have had no problems. I still have a PT92C
In terms of flat-out failures, I've had more revolvers do that, than autos.
Timing is a big issue, it seems. I don't know what the heck people do with their guns, but I received several .357-Mag revolvers that shaved lead like cheese slicers. One Colt Trooper actually rattled when shaken.
A 329 had to go back to the factory twice. After only a few hundred rounds, the yoke broke. Then, I sent it to Cylinder and Slide for some modifications and they said they wouldn't touch it until S&W replaced the hand and retimed it.
I bought a S&W 327TRR8. Before I fired it I handed it to one of our sons, a LEO. He grabbed it by the barrel, said "Heh," and showed me that it wiggled in the frame. Back to S&W, who replaced the entire gun.
This is not a whine about revolvers. I've had a number and still do. They remain my first choice for backpacking and day hiking. Just as for autos, if they are quality brands in good condition and lubricated correctly, they are fine and I relied and rely on them often.
Just a suggestion: if you have actual problems with an auto (not reacting to rumors or claims), have it checked by a QUALIFIED person, and then find an instructor who is familiar with it, to evaluate what you're doing.
