As long as we're being honest....

[Sport45]

I'll change Roy's questions from this thread just a little. Let's see if it doesn't even the score a bit...

Who carries a semi-auto for self defense that has never, ever malfuntioned? 1000 batting average.

Who carries a revolver for self defense that has malfuntioned? Even once?

Please, be honest and use your own experience. If you want to assign blame for the gun failure go ahead, but I just want to know whether these things happened.

Edited to add:

I'm trying to avoid this becoming a general revolver vs auto thread. I'd like to limit the discussion to handguns that have spent time on folk's hips (or elsewhere) as a CCW.

Duty, or open carry larger frame guns are okay to talk about but please qualify posts and mention the role.

 

[Sport45]

I'll go first. I carry a revolver, but it has never malfunctioned. Even once.

 

[Powderman]

Well...

I could say my Colt Enhanced (duty gun) which has never choked, except for bad magazines and my reloading mistakes--but, in all honesty, those are stoppages.

Out of the guns I have carried, I have three that have never malfunctioned AT ALL. I set a personal groups of standards:

a. At least 1000 rounds fired.
b. Fired with different types of ammunition--FMJ, hollow point, etc.
c. Reasonable standard of accuracy.
d. Must have carried on at least a semi-regular basis. Carrying once or twice and sitting in the gun safe does not count.

Thus, here are my winners, in no particular order:

1. Smith and Wesson Model 410. This pistol has a SWEET trigger, and with my hand size, has the perfect reset distance. I have taken this gun to the range and run three-to-seven round bursts through it so fast folks asked me if I was shooting a machine gun. It is an accurate gun as well. 0 stoppages of ANY type.

2. CZ 75B. This is the best feeling semiauto I have. It seems to sink into my hand, points naturally, and just keeps on going. 0 stoppages of ANY type.

3. Glock 22 2nd generation. I have abused this gun hideously at times, but it still shoots extremely well. I did change out some parts, but when it came into the rotation for duty use (I wear it when we go out on Puget Sound) I switched everything back to the original parts. Nowhere close to a malfunction.

I do have other guns that have never choked or even burped--but they're safe guns and fun guns.

 

[BIG P]

Own a 45ACP with thousands of rounds fired I carry every day and have for 15yrs.
never failed to fire or cycle.I own a high end revolver that has failed not once but twice.I love my revolver would never get rid of this gun.But I trust my life to My 45ACP

 

[Sport45]

I own a high end revolver that has failed not once but twice.

Is it one you carried, or wanted to carry but didn't trust?

 

[Mosin44az]

With revolvers, I like to get action jobs to smooth the trigger pull. You have to make sure the Smith doesn't lighten the hammer strike too much! Once I am past that, I am good to go.

I have owned the following pistols that have never malfunctioned:

Glock 19, Beretta 92 (2), Beretta Px4 .40, CZ 75B, CZ P-07 Duty (first one), CZ 82, Taurus 24/7 Pro DS .40 (it's new, 400 rounds so far), Colt Commander XSE, Springfield XD 40 (also new).

The above have all gone several hundred rounds with no malfs.

There are others that have done this with only one or two malfs: Glock 26, HK USP Compact .40.

My champion was my Ruger P95, which went 3500 rounds of U.S. (SAAMI) spec ammo with ONE malf, a failure to fire probably due to a dud primer. It did hate Sellier & Bellot, I admit.

I guess if you are talking around-town conceal carry, a number of the above wouldn't qualify, though they've all been carried in fanny packs while hiking.

 

[PSP]

My first CCW was a revolver, a Charter Arms Undercover. I carried it for about four years until I realized I couldn't shoot it very well, or as well, as my autos. The action loosened up a lot and I wondered about it's reliability. I can't recall it malfuntioning during shooting but it scared me enough to drop it for another.

During the following 31 years I've carried a total of five autos, including the two I carry today, a Kahr and a Seecamp. The Seecamp did malfunction once with some ammo designated for practice only due to it's condition. It has never malfunctioned with carry ammo in 24 years.

The other pistols never malfunctioned. I sold the gun that followed the Undercover, an Astra Constable, but still own and shoot the others, a Beretta 84 and a HK P2000sk. Both have thousands of rounds through them.

 

[blume357]

I'll answer yes to both questions...

I carry a semi-auto that I can't remember it malfunctioning... it may have but I really don't know when... and I have both a Smith and Wesson model 19 and Colt trooper that have both failed to fire on occassion (I suspect it was ammo, but who knows)

 

[Kreyzhorse]

My S&W Airweight 637 has never malfunctioned. It was a replacement for my Taurus M85 that froze up solid after 250 rounds.

The way I see it is that generally speaking revolvers should be more reliable than a semi-auto and if a revolver malfunctions, its time to move on.

 

[leadcounsel]

I rotate guns.

My G23 has never had any sort of malfunction, ever, in the 4 years I've owned and shot it regularly.

My CZ75 compact has also never malfunctioned in that same 4 years.

My Ruger SP101 has never malfunctioned, but admittedly gets fired less frequently because of ammo costs and it's the one I carry least.

Had a Keltec P3AT that was unreliable. Sent it in. Haven't had the opportunity to put it through the tests, but won't carry it until I do.

Why would you chose to carry a gun that has failed you?

 

[Misssissippi Dave]

My Sig P226 has had 2 problems in the last 20k rounds fired. The first I let it run dry and caused it to jam. The second was just an ammo problem. The gun never gave a problem if fed properly and is lubricated.

My CZ 75BD Compact and a clone Alfa proj. Defender are still under 5k rounds fired but so far no problems.

The only problem with the Sig P6 was trying to shoot ammo with hard primers and at the same time using too light of a hammer spring for the pistol. Since putting in a standard P225 hammer spring, not a single problem. I have only fired 6k with the P225 hammer spring.

These are the main pistols I carry. The P6 is normally my first choice.

Cleaning and lubricating a pistol and cleaning the magazines from time to time works wonders to stop problems from happening. Good ammo is also needed.

I have open carried a S&W 10 and a Dan Wesson 15 2V some time ago. Never a problem with either.

I have had problems with weak loads on some cheap ammo in the Beretta 92. That was fixed by using a lighter slide spring until the ammo was used up. It still wasn't a gun problem just an ammo problem. Not a single problem with the Sig P229. These are not carry pistols for me and just used at the range. Do you count batteries dying on a laser? If so the P229 did have batteries die but the pistol continued to work fine.

Over all I have had only problems related to cleaning and lubrication (operator error), wrong spring used, or ammo related problems with center fire 9 mm pistols. When you do things right these pistols work just fine. Any gun can have a problem caused by one or several things combined. Thinking otherwise is foolish to me. This is why you do drills for what to do when you have a problem. Proper care and maintenance will reduce it a great deal, but is not a guaranty a problem won't come up.

 

[Sam06]

I carry Both at different times.

Revolver is a S&W M38 Airweight that I have carried since I bought it in 1981. I don't shoot it all that much but at least 250 rounds a year. That equals 7250 rounds. Most were light handloads for practice. It has had NO malfunctions of any kind. 100% reliable

Auto-loader is a Glock Model 26, I have carried it off and on since I bought it in 1995. I like to shoot it a little more than the M38 so I would say it gets shot about 500 rounds a year. That equals 7500 rounds. I have had 3 malfunctions with it. All were my Handloads. I have never had a malfunction with factory ammo. I have even shot this gun in a few IDPA and 3 gun shoots just for fun.

 

[hoytinak]

Same gun as in the other post...my HK USP Compact 9mm. Used it as my daily CCW for about 8 years. Though I don't carry it concealed anymore, I have been carrying it as my duty gun (private security) for about 2 years now.

 

[chiefr]

Berretta M9 when I wore a uniform and CZ 75 out of uniform.

Sam06, I could not help noticing "Fayettenam" as your location. LMAO and brings back memories. I did a 4 year tour there myself.

 

[Jimmy10mm]

In 45 or so years of shooting many revolvers I've had two incidences of malfunctions. In one case I was a beginning reloader and was loading for a S&W M-29 using Elmer Keith's favored 2400 and Lyman 429421 hard cast bullet. When I ejected the fired cases I had the muzzle pointing down and unburned powder granules fell onto the cylinder between the ejector and the cylinder. Took a couple of strings and tied up the gun. It took me some time to realize what the problem was and once I did I cleaned the granules out of there and henceforth ejected spent cases muzzle up.

The other was a S&W 44spl triplelock target. It was a reblue bought from a friend who was more of a collector than a shooter. When I took it to the range the recoil would kick the cylinder out of the bolt stop and I would have to index the cylinder manually. I sent it to a gunsmith and he opened it up and gave it a good cleaning and that was all it needed. Apparently years of old oil drying up had slowed the works down and once cleaned and lubed it ran like a Swiss watch.

 

[Skans]

I carry am AMT .45 Backup. After changing out the recoil spring, polishing the feed ramp, chamber and a few other parts, the gun is extremely reliable. Still, there have been a couple of times when it gets dirty that it has taken 2-3 pulls of the trigger to get the cartridge to fire (you can do this because its a double action only)

 

[Old Timer]

In over 45 years of carrying a firearm I have had the following experience:

1. 1911A1 while in the Army. Never fired it except on the range. No failures.
2. Colt Lawman III in .357 mag. No failures.
3. Colt 357 in .357 mag. No failures.
4. S&W 686 in .357 mag. No failures.
5. Glock 17. Piece of junk. Refused to carry it on or off duty.
6. S&W M&P .40. No failures using factory ammo. Using reloads I have had several light strikes possibly due to using CCI primers that tend to be a little hard.
7. SW9VE, which is my every-day concealed carry firearm. No failures no matter what I put in it.

My experiences may be atypical, but they are mine.

 

[Webleymkv]

All of my semi-autos have malfunctioned badly enough to prevent the gun from continuing to fire at one point or another. These guns include a CZ-52, CZ-75B, Walther PP, Norinco 213, S&W 1076, and S&W 1911. Probably the worst was an out-of-spec cartridge which jammed so tightly in the chamber of my CZ-75 that the gun had to be disassembled in order to remove it.

Of all the revolvers which I've ever owned, I've only had two that malfunctioned badly enough to prevent them from continuing to fire. One was my S&W 629. That revolver broke its firing pin while shooting Hornady factory 300grn XTP's. Upon examination of the spent casings, I found that the primers were slightly flattened leading me to believe that the ammo may have been overpressure. S&W repaired the gun for free and I haven't had any issues since.

The other was my H&R 999 Sportsman which would not rotate the cylinder when cycled rapidly due to a worn hand. Some slight reshaping of the surface of the hand with a small file cured the problem. I suspect that a previous owner had closed the action (it is a top-break revolver) while the hammer was already cocked thusly rounding off the hand.

All the rest of my revolvers including S&W Models 28, 66, and 21 as well as a Ruger Redhawk, Taurus 445, and Colt Cobra have either been malfunction free or only experienced small issues that would not hamper the ability of the gun to continue firing. These small issues, specifically, included some grit in the extractor channel of the cylinder of the M28 which caused the trigger to be quite heavy until cleaned, a rather tight B/C gap on the Taurus which would cause the trigger to become quite heavy after 50 rounds or so, and an overly light mainspring on the Ruger which would occasionally cause light strikes.

 

[BIG P]

Is it one you carried, or wanted to carry but didn't trust?

IT was a colt Python I did carry and loved it.Would'nt of thought it would let me down but in the moment of need it did.It was a timming issue with the Python that I was'nt aware of.Sent it to be repaired no cost to me 6 mo.down
the road at the range same thing happend again.Still love this thing but shes a safe queen now its a shame because when its right it can show its stuff.
I did lose trust the what if factor was to high for me.

 

[KyJim]

Limiting it to strictly concealed carry guns:

My new polymer SW Bodyguard failed to ignite a round or two when I tried staging the trigger. No problems otherwise, so I have carried it a couple of times.

I have a SW Model 3913 that has never hiccuped. Ruger LCP and Sig P238, no problems thought I don't have a ton of rounds through them. Two of my carry 1911s have had a problem with a specific type of hollow point but no problems with anything else.