What was the WORST handgun you bought?

A tie between a Auto-Ordinance 1911A1..or an early Sigma .40

Both guns purchased new..the AO 1911 peened the frame in around the barrel legs in 50 shots of factory ball...The Sigma lasted a few hundred rounds..with the trigger getting worse and worse until the trigger quit working..

I've owned other turds too...but these were well used old guns..and had reasons for being crappy.
 
Kimel Industries copy of a Ruger Single Six. You could hardly see the rifling in the barrel. Couldn't hit a barn wall from the INSIDE! Potmetal frame cracked from the pressure of the mighty .22 Long Rifle. :(
 
EAA Windicator. Didn't know you could make a gun that bad, even if the company was trying to see how bad they could make one. B
 
Colt Mk III Trooper .357. The powdered metal trigger broke in half while dry firing. DA trigger was terrible, and even a spring kit and custom stocks didn't help. The nickel plate finish was nice, but it was still a--you know what.

I actually didn't own the thing; I could have had it for free and declined.

Also had a 3rd gen SAA in .44 Special. Action was rough, hammer spur way too long and gouged my hand, and it shot way high (NOT an easy fix).

I'm heavy in S&Ws and Rugers, very light on Colts. When my wife wanted a classic SAA she got a USFA. Beautifully made gun.
 
For most expensive gun(s) a tie between a Kahr PM45, went back to the factory 4 times and was finally replaced with a new gun which was promptly sold and believe it or not a SW M 317 kit gun 22lr. The barrel was cooked, the crane was off center, cylinder rubbed and couldn't hit the broadside of anything.

For inexpensive guns a Bersa 380CC. Spent more on shipping than the gun was worth, still never would feed. Jammed, parts fell off, stovepipe etc. Some folks have luck with them. not me.
 
Beretta 84F Cheetah. For all the gun rags claims of ultra reliability with the open slide design, this over priced P.O.S. would never feed more than 4-5 rounds of ball ammo without a stoppage.
 
A Adler Jeager built Bisley type Single Action revolver.
When you fire it the crosspin gets loose and fals off. All the cilinderchambers has a different diameter. I realy don't know how they did that. But the cartridge fits loosly in one chamber and squees in the next. Beside that it is an terrible shot.
I still own it it is a part of my collection and every collection has a bad piece.
 
It was the best I could afford at the time. A Jennings 9mm


Thanks!
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In my case it's an economy of scale because I don't buy junk to start with.

Three didn't measure up.

First was a 2.5" 686, a LH. Short ejector rod didn't eject the empties... not acceptable! Also had one charge hole in the cylinder that would not reliably fire. Every so often that one cylinder hole would just not get it done. Traded it off with full disclosure to a gunsmith.

Second was a 4" 686 that shot WAY low. I even replaced the rear sight with the largest blade available and it was marginally OK, but then even after sending it in to S&W, the barrel was still clocked to the left too much for my acceptance.

Lastly was the Kimber Custom CDP II that would not fire my cast loads reliably. A gun either shoots my stuff or it finds a new home, just like this Kimber did.

That's my story and I'm sticking to it! :)
 
AMT Hardballer, new! Locked up on 35th round. over a year later , no warranty repair. Wal-mart let me trade for a S&W 629 4". much better.
 
A Taurus anything...I've owned three (one revolver, and two pistols) and never again. Same for Kimber...I've owned three, and never again. They just cost more than Taurus, is the only difference.
 
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I try not to buy junk guns to begin with! :D

Now, I have gotten some S&W's with problems, but I can fix those

My grandfather one day brought home a cheap nickel .22 revolver from a flea market. I think it was a Clerke. The thing didn't even have a cylinder stop.... you just had to hope that the cylinder stopped turning when the chamber was aligned with the barrel. I wasn't brave enough to shoot it! :D
 
I had a couple of stovepipes the first time out with my .380 PPK (new era, S&W owned), but that got straightened out to my satisfaction so I can't consider it a candidate for worst gun.

In a different sense of "worst," the most pointless gun I ever laid down good money for turned out to be one of the best investments I ever made. It was an absolutely ordinary .38 S&W safety hammerless from about 1905; the gun had been renickeled, and not with any great skill. I paid about twice what it was worth because I had expressed interest in it and didn't want to look like I was backing out of a gun that had a lot of talk in it by that time. I felt like an idiot, but told myself I had bought an education rather than a gun.

But then over the next several months the guy I bought it from gave me deal after deal on good, even uncommon guns at advantageous prices. The seller told me he'd rather let the guns go to somebody who really appreciated them rather than squeeze them for top dollar from his ordinary clientele. At this point I am both dollars and collectibles ahead because I made that one "ill-considered" purchase.

I have more often had good consequences come from seemingly bad decisions than the other way around. I don't go out of my way to make bad decisions, but in circumstances where things look a little iffy, I may proceed just to see what will happen.
 
AMT hardballer. Rear sight left on the 5th shot and stovepiped 3 rounds per clip.
 
At least mine was cheap! First handgun I ever owned, an Iver Johnson top break in .32 S&W. Paid six bucks, and got about ten rounds with it. Very first shot it came unhinged. Brought it back in a bag, and got my money back.

The only bad revolver I have ever owned, although a Govt .45 that had been "accurized" by squeezing the slide was a big disappointment. How old do you have to be to know that the "squeeze fit" was not an unusual practice?
 
Been lucky

Have some with a really crappy trigger pull but the one that gave me fits was an AMT Automag II. I got it because I really liked my AMT Automag III but the II was a jam-o-matic would not go through a magazine without a jam. As a last ditch effort I went to the gun show and bought one box of every brand of 22 mag I could find. It has not jammed again with ANYTHING! I think from the previous posts that there was something about the investment casting and all SS construction that predisposed these guns to gall. After a suitable "break in" period, in my case. about 200 rounds, things stated working.

I really like my PA 10-45 but it only likes PMC Starfire. go figure. the price of the ammo relegates it to a safe queen.
 
Purchased a Nickeled S&W B/T .38. At the range on the second shot could not find the front sight for the third shot. Discovered the top strap and barrel had departed the immediate area leaving behind the grip, cylinder, and part of the frame. never could locate the parts that had departed.
 
Hungarian R9, a P35 wannabe. Internals all different, only part interchangeable was the mag. 30 lb. single action trigger jammomatic. Traded it for a 2" 10-5 which I still have. Joe
 
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