My S&W semi auto pistols are not top drawer for reliability either, despite being in excellent mechanical condition.
I have a pair of Model 39s and one is very reliable with holllow points while the other is a bit iffy with anything other than FMJ ammo.
My Model 59 is about 95% reliable with hollow points - not bad, but not reliable enough for carry. My 6906 is only slightly more reliable.
My CZ-75s have been much more reliable as have my 1911s, and all of them, once broken in and/or with reasonably fresh factory standard recoil and hammer springs will go at least 200 rounds without a failure with my preferred carry hollow points.
——
All that said, the only handgun I would trust out of the box is a Beretta 92.
That’s ironic as as much as I love the inherent reliability of the model 92, they have never fit me well, except for the Type M sub compact. I am in the process of fitting a 92 Compact L out with a short reach trigger and ultra thin grips (the “thin” grips were not thin enough) in an effort to see if it will meet my standards for fit and trigger reach. I hope so, as I otherwise have always liked the Model 92 for its accuracy and inherent reliability.
The Beretta open top slide design eliminates most of the possible ejection related failures, while the more or less straight feed into the chamber with no need for a feed ramp in the frame makes failures to feed a non issue, unless you muck up the works with a shock buffer, or a poorly matched or worn recoil spring that creates slide over run or slide bounce issues, or an out of (Beretta) specification magazine.
They are just flat out reliable.
Of course like Korean War, and in particular Vietnam and post Vietnam era vets who disliked the 1911 as it was “unreliable”, there will be vets who are Beretta 92/M9 haters as well who feel it’s unreliable. With both the 1911 and the M9, the issue is soldiers and Marines who were stuck with worn out guns.
In the case of the M9 it’s also an issue of the US Military having its head up and locked and buying contract magazines from Checkmate, built to government (rather than Beretta) specifications. And the problem wasn’t Checkmate.
In their infinite wisdom the US military ordinance folks decided it wanted more rust protection than the standard black oxide finish and specified a phosphate finish on the Checkmate contract magazines. Unfortunately, that coarser phosphate finished didn’t mix well with the fine talcum powder like sand in Iraq and testing with the much different sand here in the US didn’t detect the problem. Downrange in Iraq however, the sand adhered to the finish causing the spring to bind and rounds to rise too slowly in the magazine resulting in failure to feed issues.
Troops in the field made it worse, believing the springs were out of spec and too weak, disassembling the magazines, stretching the springs and then reinstalling them, often backwards. When Checkmate got approval to use a dry film finish in place of the phosphate finish, the magazine reliability issues were resolved.
It was a perfect storm of the ordinance folks messing with something that wasn’t broken and a failure to properly private proof the system.
——-
Glocks have a reputation for reliability, but they are also one of the most commonly resound or returned handguns around.
Despite 5 generations of improvement the grip still has all the charm of a 2x4 for many shooters. In addition, the striker fired design with all the safety devices tied to the trigger has sharp downsides for concealed carry and requires some special considerations to avoid “Glock leg”. And the requirement to pull the trigger on an empty chamber to disassemble it, still causes more than the average number of disassembly related NDs when the chamber is not in fact empty.
Lots of people buy them, because of marketing hype and fan boy influences, and then discover they just don’t shoot the, well because they just don’t fit their hand well
I have a pair of Model 39s and one is very reliable with holllow points while the other is a bit iffy with anything other than FMJ ammo.
My Model 59 is about 95% reliable with hollow points - not bad, but not reliable enough for carry. My 6906 is only slightly more reliable.
My CZ-75s have been much more reliable as have my 1911s, and all of them, once broken in and/or with reasonably fresh factory standard recoil and hammer springs will go at least 200 rounds without a failure with my preferred carry hollow points.
——
All that said, the only handgun I would trust out of the box is a Beretta 92.
That’s ironic as as much as I love the inherent reliability of the model 92, they have never fit me well, except for the Type M sub compact. I am in the process of fitting a 92 Compact L out with a short reach trigger and ultra thin grips (the “thin” grips were not thin enough) in an effort to see if it will meet my standards for fit and trigger reach. I hope so, as I otherwise have always liked the Model 92 for its accuracy and inherent reliability.
The Beretta open top slide design eliminates most of the possible ejection related failures, while the more or less straight feed into the chamber with no need for a feed ramp in the frame makes failures to feed a non issue, unless you muck up the works with a shock buffer, or a poorly matched or worn recoil spring that creates slide over run or slide bounce issues, or an out of (Beretta) specification magazine.
They are just flat out reliable.
Of course like Korean War, and in particular Vietnam and post Vietnam era vets who disliked the 1911 as it was “unreliable”, there will be vets who are Beretta 92/M9 haters as well who feel it’s unreliable. With both the 1911 and the M9, the issue is soldiers and Marines who were stuck with worn out guns.
In the case of the M9 it’s also an issue of the US Military having its head up and locked and buying contract magazines from Checkmate, built to government (rather than Beretta) specifications. And the problem wasn’t Checkmate.
In their infinite wisdom the US military ordinance folks decided it wanted more rust protection than the standard black oxide finish and specified a phosphate finish on the Checkmate contract magazines. Unfortunately, that coarser phosphate finished didn’t mix well with the fine talcum powder like sand in Iraq and testing with the much different sand here in the US didn’t detect the problem. Downrange in Iraq however, the sand adhered to the finish causing the spring to bind and rounds to rise too slowly in the magazine resulting in failure to feed issues.
Troops in the field made it worse, believing the springs were out of spec and too weak, disassembling the magazines, stretching the springs and then reinstalling them, often backwards. When Checkmate got approval to use a dry film finish in place of the phosphate finish, the magazine reliability issues were resolved.
It was a perfect storm of the ordinance folks messing with something that wasn’t broken and a failure to properly private proof the system.
——-
Glocks have a reputation for reliability, but they are also one of the most commonly resound or returned handguns around.
Despite 5 generations of improvement the grip still has all the charm of a 2x4 for many shooters. In addition, the striker fired design with all the safety devices tied to the trigger has sharp downsides for concealed carry and requires some special considerations to avoid “Glock leg”. And the requirement to pull the trigger on an empty chamber to disassemble it, still causes more than the average number of disassembly related NDs when the chamber is not in fact empty.
Lots of people buy them, because of marketing hype and fan boy influences, and then discover they just don’t shoot the, well because they just don’t fit their hand well
