Have You Had A Failure In Semi-Auto/Revolver That Made It Inoperable?

[45_auto]

Three instances with handguns that I personally experienced that made them inoperable:

Had a piece of grit get under the extractor of a S&W 29 during a reload in a IDPA match that locked the cylinder up so tight that the trigger wouldn't move and it couldn't be opened. So much for that stage. Finally had to smack it open with a wooden mallet.

Had the original 2 piece barrel on a 70 series Colt .38 Super separate at the joint, lock up the gun and blow burning powder and particles of brass back in my face. Safety glasses are a good thing.

Had a Taurus 92 that one side of the locking block broke off and locked up the gun. Sent it back to the factory and they fixed it. Sold it soon after.

Had a friend firing some of my bowling pin loads (they were VERY stout loads) break the slide release on his 1911 and the whole slide came off.

Saw the slide come completely off some semi-auto during a Gunsite class and go downrange. Don't know why, seems like it was a SIG.

I've seen a lot of rifles in 3 gun matches locked up from the extractor jumping the groove or tearing through the rim, then double feeding. Gun is inoperable until you punch the empty out with a range rod or cleaning rod. I believe it's the humidity down here and chambers that are not chrome plated or stainless barrels. They get a little rust in the chamber and lock up the brass.

 

[James K]

For totally disabled, only two, both revolvers. One was a Model 36 that broke its hammer stud. The other was a Colt OP whose hammer broke off at the thin point. I fixed both without a factory trip, but they were completely disabled. Nevertheless, I have had far more temporary failures from autos, failures to feed, and the like. But then I shoot collector guns and have some odd pistols, so if Langenhahn fails to eject, I don't consider it a disaster, as I would never use such a gun for serious purposes anyway. On the plus side are .45 autos; I logged a Norinco at 8500 rounds with no failures, and a 1943 Colt M1911A1 at about the same. (The Norinco was new; God only know how many had been through the Colt before I got it.)

Jim

 

[guardjim]

One of each.
S&W model 10. Had the firing pin (hammer dog nose) break.
WW2 vintage FN P35 (Nazi occupation) version of the Browning High Power. Had the end of the extractor claw break off.

 

[PT-92]

Never an "Inoperable" Failure

I think all of us (that actually shoot K's of rounds per a lifetime) experience either a jam, bad round etc. that results in the need to perhaps 'clear' the weapon which can be done almost instantaneously by a trained shooter. I have found it's always (for me) a result of cheap bulk ammo so I expect it every now and then but I have never had such occur with costly carry ammo.

While not a revolver guy (I actually like them but allocate my funds according to the ammo I have on hand which is 90% semi-auto) I have read more lately of cylinder shell extraction issues' due to bad tolerances' and the like (gun-tests had an article on this) yet I have personally never seen one 'lockup' at the range. In theory this would be a problem if one had to reload for defensive purposes and found he or she had to 'pry' the rounds out.

Point is I think with either platform that "inoperable" failures are an infrequent occurence at best. My Dad (God rest his sole) taught me a long time ago, however, that anything man-made (mechanical) can fail/break at any time--It is precisely for this reasng that I religiously carry a small BUG --it's so small as though IMO there's no excuse not to.

 

[Single Six]

Yes. Two separate times, and with two different guns. One was a Sig P220, the other was the Sig P220ST. The trigger return spring was the culprit in both incidents; snapped in half and left me with a real pricey boat anchor. This is why I always grit my teeth anytime I see Sig ads in the gun books, or hear somebody else singing the praises of Sig. "To hell and back reliability", my *#?!

 

[Choclabman]

A brand new 4" 686 plus.
Locked up at the range firing 158gr .357 mag. Hammer, cylinder, trigger were all frozen. The IL thingy could be seen protruding upwards in the hole. Unlocking the IL resulted in it firing fine for several cylinders, then locking up again.
Sent to Smith and Wesson. They replaced what they called the cam spring.
Revolver was sold as soon as I had it back.


Sent from my DROID RAZR using Tapatalk 2

 

[PH/CIB]

Bought a beautiful old Mauser Luger off GunBroker, this pistol was manufactured around 1972, great bore and internals, beautiful deep bluing and wood sharply checkered grips, looked like it had been fired very little.

Within a magazine or two broke the firing pin, still can't believe it! My gunsmith ordered a new one and no problems since.

 

[JohnKSa]

I've had build up on the barrel/cylinder gap of a revolver progress to the point that it wouldn't turn any longer.

I've also seen two semi-autos rendered essentially inoperable by too little lubrication.

 

[PT-92]

Single Six,

Just curious, did that experience compel you to seriously consider a BUG (if not doing so already)? Murphy's Law is what it is so I'm just sayin' .

 

[Single Six]

PT-92: Oh, yes indeed, my friend: Ruger SP-101. The aggravating thing is, the Sig is my issued sidearm. The same parts failure that I described has also happened to another officer at my agency. Hopefully we'll soon be replacing the Sigs, though.

 

[Tango Down]

Yes. Besides my 1911-compact I let my girlfriend fondle the glock19 3rd gen and it became instantly inoperable to me. Tho worked fine fine for her somehow. Lol DONT show UR ladies UR goodeez. Its like an instant catastrphic failure.

Sent from my SCH-I535 using Tapatalk 2

 

[Pond James Pond]

Mine was a revolver. Astra 680: it was recently discussed in a thread. The cause was dead simple: grit and powder residue build up on the flat crane-to-frame mating surface.

However, until it was identified the revolver was useless: impossible to pull back the trigger.

One wipe and I was back in business!
Lesson learnt.

 

[wayneinFL]

Revolvers:

Model 10 locked up with squibs. Gun range reloads.
Colt police positive 32-20 with a squib. mine.
Model 29 locked up. Not sure why. Range rental.
Model 15 locked up from loose ejector rod.
Rossi with a bad spring.


Semi-auto:

Come to think of it, I've never had a semi-auto rendered inoperable at the range. I've had some malfunctions, but never anything where I had to pack up the gun and take it home.

 

[mikejonestkd]

I experienced issues with both revolvers and semi autos. 99% of the time it was ammo or maintenance issues.
The only true firearm related malfunctions I have had were:

Browning Buckmark that the sight rail screws backed out a bit and it wouldn't fire. two drops of blue locktite and an allen wrench and i was back in business.

A smith 28 that the cylinder was a bit too tight, as it warmed up and the powder residue built up between the cylinder and forcing cone it would bind the cylinder up. A minor adjustment and better cleaning fixed it.

A Smith model 15 ejector rod backed out, it was a one minute fix.

A sig trailside broke a spring, and wouldn't fire. a $2 spring and five minutes and it was back running fine.

A HS hamden victor that constantly needed the magazine feed lips to be adjusted. I finally resigned to only shooting one kind of ammo out of it.

No firearm is 100%.

 

[m&p45acp10+1]

I have had failures in both.

The semi autos were easier fixes. Two squibs from bad factory ammo at the range. One was worn out spring that was replaced when I got home.

The revolver required a gunsmith. The spur on the hammer of my Model 67-1 S&W broke. Luckily the gunsmith had the part for it there. Half an hour later I had the gun back. Once while shooting the Anaconda I had a factory round that jumped crimp, and tied up the cylinder. It took a bit to get the cylinder open without bending the crane, or dinging the cylinder. I chalk that one up to bad ammo.

 

[vytoland]

my S&W revolvers have always been reliable

 

[themalicious0ne]

I have had my ruger new vaquero lock up with the hammer cocked back, im not really sure why this happened a couple times but the trigger will not release it and it takes a little trigger and hammer working to release it. It makes me a little nervous because i've had live rounds in and cant work the cylinder without putting the hammer down.

On a side note, if anyone knows how to smooth this out, please let me know. Im assuming it may be internal and havent really cleaned the trigger or hammer internals. Please help.

 

[Hillbilly66]

Sure have, but none related to the firearms themselves, and nothing that required repair.

Sig 522 - 1000 round torture test with dirty bulk ammo...somewhere around the 800 round mark it started having FTE's.

Ruger Single Six - again, dirty bulk ammo and a long day at the range resulted in the cylinder locking up from all the crud.

S&W 40fs and 40c - Light loads and split cases using Tula resulted in many FTE's and occasionally jammed the slides.

Cleaned the Sig and Ruger at the range, and they functioned like I expect them to when properly cleaned/lubed.

Still using Tula in the M&P's. On purpose. Still have FTE's, etc. Gives me lots of practice clearing malfs...

 

[L_Killkenny]

Yes, 2, both revolvers (not surprising I shoot revolvers much more). First was a .32H&R Single Six. Cowboy loads I bought when I first got the gun were not loaded properly (too long IIRC) and when I closed the gun and tried to work the action it locked up tight. Had to pull the cylinder to get it back in action. 2nd was an old H&R 949 .22lr. Broke the plastic end for the mainspring. Replaced it with a metal replacement.

 

[Kreyzhorse]

I had a Taurus M85 look up solid at the range. Cylinder wouldn't rotate nor would the crane open. At that point, my self defense gun was essentially a rock.

While I had a problem with a revolver, I didn't change to a semi-auto because of it. I did however get rid of the Taurus and replace it witha reliable, well made Smith & Wesson.