What is the problem most often encountered?

[Harrier]

Other than out-of-the-box accuracy and running out of ammo...
what problems have you seen most often in guns you've had?
I guess we should qualify it between pistols and rifles (I'm not a big shotgun user so...).

Thinking back, I've been pretty lucky with very few problems in 60 years of shooting numerous guns but I would say the biggest issue that comes to mind with rifles is magazine feeding (I know, its the mag not the gun) and with pistols it is push-off from the bubba trigger job or a sprung yoke others caused from from flipping a cylinder shut while watching TV.

 

[baby huey]

Frankly the more I shoot, the more problems I see. I've gotten to the point I don't really trust any one brand, but I definitely shoot 9mm Glocks more than any pistol. As far as revolvers go, I've had two jam so bad in the last 20 years thatI don't believe the old " revolvers never jam" stuff.

ARs seem to be really reliable for me. My M1 Carbine was garbage. AKs somewhere in the middle

 

[Flash]

I'm probably going to be the exception here, but I don't have a problem most often encountered and I shoot at least twice a week, frequently 3 times. I shoot rifle, handguns, both revolvers and semi autos and shotguns, all O/U or pumps. Because of that I believe that I don't have problems beause I do maintenance regularly and also because I've been lucky.

I've probably been lucky as I've been shooting over 60 years and own quite a few guns, though not as many as some here.

 

[Harrier]

Like you I haven't had many problems.
Thinking about revolvers, most of mine have been S&W with a couple of Colts. The older smiths would sometimes jam the cylinder up when the ejector rod unscrewed itself, that was before one of their improvements, reversed the threads I think.

I had a Rossi 357 lever action that broke the extractor- I fitted a new one from a Browning 92 clone.

All the nit-noid problems I have run into seem to be with recent production stuff.

My Savage 11 had the new style firing pin with a little spring at the rear of the bolt. You couldn't even shoot watered down loads without it blanking primers. I finally installed an older style firing pin with the spring up front and the problems went away.

A new Sig P290 would lite-strike constantly. it went back to them 6 times and they finally replaced it with another- no problems yet.

that's about it...

 

[792mauser]

1911 extractors not being tensioned or cut correctly.
My glock 19 spraying brass everywhere, but reliable as a rock.
Bad aluminum ar15 mags.

And the number one is rust on friends firearms.

 

[Harrier]

Yeah I think maybe feeding issues into and from magazines of all type might be at the top of the list.

The alum AR mags develop cracks at the rear where the top curves over to hold the cartridge. If it doesn't have an anti-tilt follower then nose down jams can be an issue.

With pistols it seems to be the angle of the cartridge as it's presented to the feed ramp- often they are too low.

I find both Rem & Savage bolt rifles a pain to thumb the cartridges in from the top- always have a wrestling match with them.

 

[curtmini14]

seems 8 out of 10 are mostly magazine issues.and failure to properly clean there guns.

 

[knockonit]

well, i'm thumping the wood over here pretty hard for luck, or continued luck, but can say, only issues i've had was with magazines, on pistols, i've never had issues with mags on rifles, well in country had some mags stick, but thats a different story. outside of that always mags it seemed. I will say, and most will call me a foul individual for poo pooing Kimber, but i've bought and owned quite a few, and i have yet to have one run a 100%, now its been a few years since i've owned, one, i tried, honestly tried and i love the look of them, most the fit and finish were great, but when a RIA can outrun a almost 800 dollar 1911 platform kimber, well, there had to be an issue. I own one, a compact (kimber) it runs ok, don't hardly shoot it, so figure thats why its ok, has a big note on it,
"do'nt ever buy another". Went sig, springfield, a few colts, now colts can be finicky, RIAS everyone less one mag issue runs like a top, a few dan wessons, damm nice shooters, love'm to death. quite a few norincos, not pretty, but if i do my part, you don['t want to be within 80yards in front of me.
and a few other off brands, if it don't work i don't keep it, and then there i paras, while they are no more, i have several micros i carry, damm accurate and damm nice.

its kinda how i feel about glock, i have a first gen 17, beat to death when i got it, i beat it to death in a truck , it runs, but i do not shoot it well, i've tried, it just doesn't like my mojo, so its a stand by for those that need a quickly,

I think mags and guns in general have gotten better, but still not gonna buy another kimber
Rj

 

[AZ Husker]

I'm a big 1911 fan, and by far the biggest problem I've seen is improperly tensioned extractors. I fit all mine before I even let the first shot go. Second are mags, especially trying to fit 8 rounds in a 7 round body by some magical follower.

 

[deserttrans]

Feed and extraction issues, generally magazine related.

 

[AZ1]

Magazine related failures

 

[Azbuilder]

seems 8 out of 10 are mostly magazine issues.and failure to properly clean there guns.

Along with old poorly stored ammo or reloading errors.

 

[Ranger1]

:think: Out of the box problems? Even though It just came from the factory final exspection is not like it was in the past. Burs, and polishing of parts and chambers are a must.

 

[Stronghand]

People not using any lube or over cleaning it and removing any lube. Class AR went 3,000 rounds dirty as hell but super greased up and ran without problems. Had a 1911 running around the 2500 mark before I did anything to it and no problems too. Had a guy buy a brand new Glock 21 clean it and bring it out just to watch it jam. He soaked it solvent to get the "rust" out of his new gun not realizing it's grease. The majority of problems with guns people bring out are usually lube related the rest are a combination of improper manipulation or hasn't been touched since grandpa put it in the attic.

 

[Desert Rat]

I would have to say feeding issues, generally associated with mags. I did have a FTF due to a dirty gun, but that was an experiment to see how dirty it needed to get before a failure. Now I know!

 

[87jeep]

People not using any lube or over cleaning it and removing any lube. Class AR went 3,000 rounds dirty as hell but super greased up and ran without problems. Had a 1911 running around the 2500 mark before I did anything to it and no problems too. Had a guy buy a brand new Glock 21 clean it and bring it out just to watch it jam. He soaked it solvent to get the "rust" out of his new gun not realizing it's grease. The majority of problems with guns people bring out are usually lube related the rest are a combination of improper manipulation or hasn't been touched since grandpa put it in the attic.

The un oiled gun..... Or how to give a gun a bad name.

 

[Stronghand]

My favorite was a guy who brought out a Mossbetg 500 from the 70s and the shellsrwere rusted into the tube and one in the chamber. It's cool though for the last 15 years it was serving as the home defense shotgun. Had to use a dowel and mallet just the clear the shell out of the chamber. Never occurred to him he shouldn't have been able to rack the action and not eject the shell. Had a similar incident with a old colt police snubnose 38 special. Rounds rust melded into the cylinders.

 

[zonie77]

Not cleaning them enough causes the most problems for me. Because most modern ammo is pretty clean I don't clean after every shoot, I let it go until I notice issues.

 

[Comanchero]

Feeding issues with hollowpoint ammo. I’ve run a lot of guns, various manufacturers both good and bad, and my most common issue has been a failure to feed certain types of hollow point ammo. Number one reason why I will never load a pistol up with hp ammo and call it good for self defense until I have run a few mags through it to verify correct function.

Second most common failure for me has probably been feeding/ejection/extraction issues caused by blown out/damaged/worn out gas rings, or gas tubes in the AR15.

Third most common issue has been parts breakage. All across various types of guns and manufacturers.

Most reliable handguns in my personal experience has been 9mm Glocks.

Most reliable rifles in my experience have been bolt action rifles.

Most reliable semi auto rifle in my experience has been the AK-47 in 7.62x39.

 

[brandyspaw]

This threads kind of old but I thought I'd add my 2 cents worth. Over the decades that I've been shooting I've found that, generally speaking, guns have gotten better over the years. You just have to be careful to buy the better quality brands and take care of them.

I think that CNC machining has enabled makers to be a lot more consistent in their tolerances and there are less variables in material quality. That's not to say all materials are better as some MIM parts are acceptable while some are far worse than the older forged steel pieces. It all comes down to each manufacturer's level of quality control. Some companies including some old time gun makers have issues. For instance, Remington always built good guns in the past but now have numerous quality issues. You just have to research it as word gets around fast in the shooting community.

Whenever I didn't follow my mantra of only buying good brands I had problems. For example, like when I'd buy a Kel-Tec because they make some interesting guns. However Kel-Tec's execution always seems to leave a lot to be desired resulting in issues. Bottom line- buy the better quality guns to begin with, use good magazines/ammo and you shouldn't have many problems if you keep your guns maintained.