What turned out to be the worst gun you've ever owned ???

[Straightshooter2]

J. P. Saur & Sohn Western Marshall in .357 Magnum. It would fire .38s all day but as soon as you stuck a .357 in it, it would lock up. And if you put a Super Vel 110gr. in it, good luck getting the cylinder out in less than 20 minutes. Had a Remington 770 I took a loss on in less than a year to get rid of it and an Illion Bushmaster I wasn't pleased with. I've also had to send a 10-22 and a 22/45 back to Ruger recently although they were fixed and returned rapidly. I shipped the 22/45 on Friday and got it back the next Friday.

CW

 

[LouisianaJoe]

I had a Mini-30.
Notice my use of the past tense.

The early Mini-30's had a .308 barrel and did not group well at all. Sometimes in the 90's, Ruger changed it to a .311. I have one of those and I consistently put 20 rounds in under an inch a 50 yds.

 

[LouisianaJoe]

I bought a Model 39 just after they came out. I could put everything into less than 3" at 25 yds with my Model 19. I was lucky to hit the target with the 39. I sold it and did not buy another semi-auto for over 20 years.

 

[williamlayton]

Sip---I had/have the same PPK and it took a 1000 rounds thru it before it would feed HP's.

The worst of the lot, for me, was a Colt Mustang in .380.
Not only would it not hit the side of a barn--it wouldn't hit the side of a barn from the inside.
Blessings

 

[chief38]

Back around 35 years ago when I did not know better I bought a .25 acp Bauer (stainless steel copy of a Baby Browning). The damned thing was never reliable and the magazine would literally fall out of the gun while shooting unless it was held in place tightly. After numerous attempts by both Bauer and myself to repair it, I finally gave up and sold it. I replaced it with a Colt .25 acp M1908 Vest Pocket Model and that has worked 100%. I purchased both of these tiny pistols just because I liked them but never intended or have carried them for SD as the .25 acp is probably about the worst round for that.

 

[Double-O-Dave]

I've been lucky, but there have been a few: Sig Sauer Model P-220, S&W Model 6946, S&W Model 6906.

I was a die hard Colt 1911 guy in my youth, but had to have one of the new DA/SA .45ACP semiautos when they first came out. At the time, I think me and ol' Sonny Crocket on Miami Vice were the only two guys in the U.S. to own a Sig P-220. I had to pay a premium for mine, which included selling a perfectly good Colt's Government Model to pay for it. While it may have been a great gun, it just did not fit my hand, and I could not hit the broad side of a barn if I had been nailed to it. It was fine for slow fire, target shooting, but I bought it for SD/HD, so it had to go.

I remember back in the early 1980s reading about the new S&W "mini-gun", the Model 469. Wow! I had to have one! Unfortunately, being a poor college student at the time, the best I could do was drool over the magazine photos. Fast forward to around 1988 and I found a nice S&W Model 6946 at a killer price at a gun show. After taking it to the range, I found it consistently shot low for me - like about 8.0 inches low. I tried several different types of ammo without improvement. I contacted the factory, and they sent me the Fed Ex label to return it for warranty repair. They installed a different sized front sight, and returned it to me. I tried again, no real improvement, so back to the factory again. This time, they installed a new barrel, and told me this was the best they could do, and if the piece still shot low, I was out of luck. Well, it didn't work out for me, so I sold it off. Real shame, as I really wanted to like this pistol.

Fast forward about 20 years and I found a nice Model 6906 for sale at a local gun store. I got it at great price, and remembered at the last second to ask if there were any extras. The clerk said he thought it came with a box, and did I really want him to go look for it? About 20 minutes later, he gave me a factory hard box (blue, plastic) that held 2 new, factory magazines. Man, it always pays to ask! I took it to the range, and yep, it shot low for me also. My sad conclusion is that at least the compact 3rd Generation S&W semiautos just don't fit my hand (I had a Model 4006 that shot great for me).

Regards,

Dave

 

[S. Hammer]

Beretta 84FS Cheetah. Expensive lemon that would never get through a full mag without jamming. Even with ball ammo and several different factory mags.

Runner up was an H&K P30LS. I really wanted to like this and make it my primary off duty carry gun. WORST trigger I ever had on an auto, especially on an expensive gun.

 

[Frank237]

Bought a Mini-14 in 1977 which was probably THE most inaccurate rifle I have ever owned. Considering I can talk myself into anything when I suffer from gun lust, the fact I NEVER owned another Mini 14 is rather telling.

Another grossly disappointing gun was my early Walther P-22 from several years back. I do not believe it EVER got through a full magazine without a FTE/FTF. Sent it back to the Factory. It came back with new mags and from that point on it did function ,but never 100%.

Considering the hundreds of guns that have gone through my hands over the past 50 years My list is pretty short. Then again I do not buy hi-point, Llama, Taurus, etc either.

 

[ImprovedModel56Fan]

Charter Arms AR-7 with at least 4 mags. Jammed. Nowadays I would have kept it and found a gunsmith, maybe, but back then I felt that it wasn't worth the trouble, or it never occurred to me.

P.S. I did have a 2" 34 that only liked CCI and Western Mk III Match. Traded it even for a well-used C*** Agent, back when each was worth about $200 retail. My LGS had had the Agent for a long time, and I had had the 34 for long enough a time. We both came out well on that one.

 

[Bat Guano]

Quote: "I was a die hard Colt 1911 guy in my youth, but had to have one of the new DA/SA .45ACP semiautos when they first came out. At the time, I think me and ol' Sonny Crocket on Miami Vice were the only two guys in the U.S. to own a Sig P-220. I had to pay a premium for mine, which included selling a perfectly good Colt's Government Model to pay for it. While it may have been a great gun, it just did not fit my hand, and I could not hit the broad side of a barn if I had been nailed to it. It was fine for slow fire, target shooting, but I bought it for SD/HD, so it had to go."

Likewise. The Force was definitely not with me on that one.

 

[Rule3]

Kahr CW45. Ruger P97. Olympic Arms remake of the Whitney Wolverine. Custom "Green River" Hawken (beautiful "nonfunctional" rifle.)

I like my guns to work. I'm funny that way.

Gee thanks for reminding me!

I had a PM 45 that was the worst nightmare. Went back 4 times, finally I demanded a new gun, which they sent, I tested it, it worked, I sold it, Never again. Lost my arse on that one.

 

[the ringo kid]

Sorry for you Norinco guys but, the Norinco SKS rifle I had, was a jam o'matic and a piece of junk. Every two to there rounds, that piece of ...jammed. I never finished even trying one box of ammo through it. However, I had a Russian SKS rifle, and it operated perfectly.

 

[Coaltminer]

Has to be a single action revolver, touted as a "German Colt" copy, can't remember the name. Fired lots of 22LR, put in the Magnum cylinder, the first shot sent the top strap to ninety degrees, rear slotted sight was never to be found!!! Scary as the devil

 

[dpop24]

AMT Backup .380 without question. On paper, the perfect pocket pistol. In reality, the worst ***, poor shooting, unreliable, hunk of pot metal.

 

[BriPhil]

Mine was a CW380. During the break-in period officially recommended by Kahr I (eventually) ran a total of 450 rounds through it. Of the 75 magazine loadings it took to accomplish this feat, only 8 ran clean for the whole 6 rounds without at least one nosedive, stovepipe, or extraction failure. And it wasn't the LAST 8 magazines, either, so I know the thing wasn't just getting to the end of the break-in and about to become reliable.

 

[Jim R]

In 1983 I bought a Remington 3200 Special Trap. This was what I thought at the time was a very fine shotgun. I did shoot the gun very well but at about 10,000 rounds it started to fall apart.

It went back to the factory 4 times in 2 years. It got so bad that I bought a back up 3200 so I would have something to shoot when my first one was back being repaired. And to make things worse I had to send the back up in for repairs a couple of times.

Years later I met and shot with a guy that had worked and shot for Remington. I asked him about the 3200's. He confessed to me that he was the production manager for the 3200 line of shotguns. He said they were the biggest money looser that Remington ever built. During the production run of the 3200's and for years after production ended over 30,000 of the 42,000 that were built were were either sent back to the factory or to a service center for warranty work.

 

[JayAychOh]

Ughhhh. I'd try to narrow it down to one, but it would be a tie between;

a Ruger Mini 14 in the mid-1980's,
My first two Springfield Armory M1A's in the 70's and 80's,
any one of 6 or 7 Colt 1911's in the 70's and 80's

(Notice how I kept making the same mistakes over and over? My THIRD M1A worked pretty well, but I never did own a Colt 1911 that could be made to work reliably and I finally swore off them. Not 1911's... just Colt 1911's)

 

[RobertJ.]

I had a Charles Daly double barreled 12 Gauge, made by Moruku in Japan. Nicely finished, it was a good looking gun. But unbeknownst to me, when you pulled the rear trigger first, both barrels let go!

I sold it to a friend who said that didn't bother him.

 

[moosedog]

One of the first guns that I bought. A Universal M-1 Carbine. I could have bought an original US Military surplus but was young and foolish.
The gun would fire but parts would actually fall off or fly away as I shot it.

 

[PALADIN85020]

AMT BACKUP - NO - NO - NO!!!!!

I once owned an AMT .380 Backup. Looked nice enough, looked concealable.

Jammed every other round. Total mess to field strip - you need 3 hands and a wood block to hold the slide back. In short, it was a real piece of...work.

Managed to sell it to someone who thought it looked nice enough and looked concealable. I warned him it was not the best gun I've ever owned, which was true even if it was a massive understatement. Hope this warning will help someone else avoid buying one. Don't even think about it. I'm still trying to get the taste out of my mouth 30 years later.

John