Disappointing Guns

[TGS]

Thought we should have a thread for this since we've touched on the idea in a few places.

What gun(s) did you have built up in your head, and when you actually got a chance to shoot said gun it ended up being a huge disappointment that destroyed your dreams?

RevolverRob had previously mentioned the Uzi, and GJM and Mike C recently had their chili shat in by B&T's TP9.

What about you?


For me, I'd say it was the HK Mk23. Brilliant on paper, but I at least hoped it would be fun to shoot. Fuck you Tom Clancy and your Rainbow 6 game series that I played growing up.....

[OlongJohnson]

Way back when I started reading about HKs, I read all about the Mk23 and thought it sounded awesome. I have XXXL hands, so I figured I'd be okay. Found one at a gun show, and decided the core audience for the thing is NBA players. I'm not that big.

USP45T is what the Mk23 should have been in the first place.

[deputyG23]

Used SIG P228 I got several years ago. I spent a lot of time on SIG forum back then and those folks worshipped the 228. Saw this one at a good price and jumped on it.
It was just too different from my issued Austrian Tupperware that I ended up giving it to my son who shot it better than I did anyhow.

[Duelist]

S&W Model 29, .44 Magnum, the most powerful handgun in the world. At this range, it will blow your head clean off.

I fired three factory 240gr rounds and gave it back. It was fun to blow up a reactive target with it, and it was accurate, but I’ll stick with more sedate levels of recoil fun. Pain doesn’t excite me. LOL.

[okie john]

I like to shoot anything that doesn't cause me actual physical pain.

But for things that lose their novelty right out of the gate, I'd say anything full auto. Once you get past the initial rush of banging away with something that's verboten to the public at large, then full auto just boils down to muzzle control issues, a long and tedious cleanup afterwards, and a massive ammo bill. It takes a few minutes longer longer with classics like the M-2 Browning and the MP-40, but it still happens faster than you'd think. Other NFA gear like SBRs and suppressors are always cool, though.

I also have very little patience for anything that's inaccurate. That stuff gets squared away with a quickness or it goes down the road.


Okie John

[Glenn E. Meyer]

It was a SW 651 J frame 22 Magnum. I thought it would be a great 'kit' gun. However, with the ammo of the time, it just generated a big blast of seemingly unburned powder. On a paper target, 7 yards away, the target was covered with soot. 50 rounds through it, jammed it so tight with junk that I had to expend almost a whole spray can of cleaner to free the cylinder.

So I ditched it for a Taurus 22 LR - which was another piece of junk but not a disappointment as I didn't expect much.

[BobM]

The AR7 survival rifle. I wanted one for many years and found a really good deal on a new one. It’s reliability was greatly disappointing.

[farscott]

"Coltguard" Colt Trooper MK III in .22 LR was a disappointment. Great action, accurate, but fired cases could not be extracted without a hammer even after it went back to Colt. CCI, Federal, or Winchester made no difference; the cases were stuck in the charge holes. To add insult to injury, it came back with a big scratch on the cylinder that it did not have when it was shipped to Colt.

[TCB]

Our UMP40s at work. One of our FIs told me to load up a couple magazines at a qual and give it a try. They were the super cool guy guns that only Supes and our Boat guys could check out. After the first magazine I handed it back. Meh...crappy trigger. Definitely NOT an MP5.

[mtnbkr]

Assuming we're leaving out junk (Taurus and the like)...

S&W 696: Shot one at a range day with some friends and peeps at another forum. Really clicked with me at that time. When I finally acquired one years later, the bloom was off the rose. It shot well enough, but anything approaching "warm" was unfun to shoot with small grips. Mild loads were kind of pointless IMO. At the time I was looking for a big bore hiking gun, but I never felt comfortable running that gun hard even though it should have been ok (lighter end of the "Skeeter Skelton load"). But, too low felt like a downgrade what with the 5-shot capacity.

Kahr K9 (early blued model): Great size and weight, but suddenly became a jammomatic. After several trips back to Kahr, they replaced the entire gun, which I sold unfired.

Virtually ever 1911 I've fired. Dunno why, they just don't live up to the hype for me.

AR15s: Same as 1911. I've tried a variety of configurations, but never really warm up to the platform. Reliability has been great, accuracy good enough, but just meh. I have one still, but won't be getting another.

Any larger mid-framed 357mag (S&W 686, Ruger GP100, etc): Good guns, but if I have that much weight, I want more power. If I have that much muzzleblast, I want bigger bullets. If I'm going to download them I already have a pile of 38 special revolvers.

TC Contender Pistol: Big and single shot. Didn't feel like a good choice for hunting in the Blue Ridge Mountains and I didn't have access to a long enough range to make it fun for target shooting.

Chris

[Clusterfrack]

I've had some disappointments, but unfortunately it took me a while to realize that the guns sucked. I'm going to cause some butthurt with this, but with this thread topic it's inevitable.

S&W TDAs. My 669 and 1006 looked so awesome, and they were my first centerfire autos. But after I shot them for a year, they turned out to be steaming piles of shit, with trigger problems, frame peening, firing pin issues, and an incredibly stupid number of parts. When got finally an HK USP, I realized that the S&W autos were guns that looked good, but weren't well designed.

Wait for it...

1911s. After being a happy HK owner, I started watching the Unit, and got sucked into the idea that if I shot 1911s then I could be Operator as Fuck. Fast forward a few years, thousands of dollars, and countless mechanical issues including special magazines that degrade over time, special ammo, tuned extractors that are ammo-specific, fitted safeties, a $2500 gun with frame permanently damaged by peening of the slide stop, the flimsy wedge of the ambi safety broke, grip safety sticking, malfunctions that take minutes to never to resolve, and more. I started to realize that these were not guns I wanted as life safety equipment, and I wasn't interested in owning them anymore.

Then I shot a Glock. And holy shit! I shot it as well as I shot my 1911s. Maybe not as tight a group at 25 yds, but in every way I cared about, the Glock was equal to or better than the 1911s. I sold all the 1911s and never looked back. (Except for a brief try shooting USPSA Open Division with a STI 2011, that is now also sold with no regrets.)

Sig p320. This was in some ways a good gun, except for some serious design flaws, including firing when dropped on carpet from 24". I sold them all, at a significant loss.

[Stephanie B]

S&W M53 (https://pistol-forum.com/showthread.php?34588-Jet&p=830609&viewfull=1#post830609). It jammed more than a Kimber .45.

:cool:

[Nephrology]

Beretta 92D. Bought one, threw in a bunch of Wilson parts, put ~75 rounds through it and thought, "It's harder to shoot than my Glocks and doesn't really feel any more special than them either." Sold it at a small loss the next day. I think it's the only gun I've ever bought and sold in the same week.

I think I had been hoping that I would get pleasure out of owning/shooting an all steel handgun, which I thought would spark an interest in berettas/lead to diversifying my handgun inventory with "nicer guns." I have a soft spot for the quality and aesthetic of post-war S&W wheelguns so I assumed this would translate to auto-pistols too.

Turns out I am a total philistine who doesn't give a shit what 9mm service pistol I am shooting because they all kinda feel the same to me. Lesson learned. Turns out my poor taste saves me quite a bit of money :D

[FNFAN]

Beretta Nano -front sight seemed to want to seek life elsewhere. Fed -ok- with ball but the only JHP it liked was Corbon 115. Never could get close to my standard for reliability in a carry gun which is 300 ball and 100 defense rounds.

[ccmdfd]

PPK .380.

Felt cheaply made. Horrible trigger and the slide was sharp as razor blades. Sliced the web of my dominant hand quite well. Very uncomfortable recoil impulse.

Yeah it's Bond's gun, but damn!

Sold it after 1 trip to the range.

[nalesq]

Romanian PSL 7.62x54Rmm rifle I bought maybe 15 years ago. Such a cool-looking DMR-ish weapon should be more accurate, but it wasn’t even better than my AK. I should’ve kept it though, because I can’t believe how expensive they are now.


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[farscott]

S&W M53 (https://pistol-forum.com/showthread.php?34588-Jet&p=830609&viewfull=1#post830609). It jammed more than a Kimber .45.

:cool:

Let me guess; fired cartridge jammed against the standing breech due to the bottle neck case not adhering to the charge hole wall. Only fix was a clean and dry charge hole. I had a nickel M53 that jammed until I learned to swab the charge holes before each and every loading. Made an excellent single-shot revolver, which is how S&W should have designed it.

[randyho]

Colt Cobra. My Glock 20 is far more pleasant to shoot. Stupid physics.

[S Jenks]

New Walther PPK/S in stainless. What a complete and utter total piece of shit. Bought last December. Constant, repeated malfunctions in each of five mags shooting WWB, Fiocchi, Speer Lawman and a bunch of others. About 1200 rounds total without any improvement to reliability. A trip back to the factory without any improvement to reliability. Bought and tried the Wolff spring pack without any improvement to reliability. Broken plastic grips that were replaced by Walther and promptly broke again. No, not overtightened. Cuts to the web of my hand due to an overly sharp beavertail. Only being able to shoot it while wearing gloves is a pain in the ass. Once Walther’s customer service opens back up I’m sending it in again. Replace it so I can sell it NIB.


Franchi SPAS-12. One of the most badass movie guns, period. I found the exact setup I always wanted (rear sight latch on the folding stock, excellent condition) for a steal at $1200.

I took it apart and the receiver buffer promptly crumbled. I replaced that along with the grip plug, o-rings and stock buffer in short order and hit the range - ouch. That folding stock slaps your cheek hard. Using the manual pump you’re fighting the recoil spring so your off hand ends up tired after a tube dump. You have to depress a button to open the loading gate which makes for some awkwardness.

It’s sad to know that Muldoon would have been better off and maybe lived had he carried a wood-stocked 870 Express (or just opened the stock before leaving the emergency bunker with Sattler). I always thought his choice of flashiness was a bit odd for such a serious game warden.

All that being said, I’m not selling it.

[Rex G]

S&W N-Frames did more than wreck my dreams; they wrecked my right thumb, hand, and wrist. This was a case of “feels good in the hand” being a lie. To get enough finger on the trigger, in DA mode, I had to shift my grip a bit farther right, that some later termed the “h-grip.” It took me about five years to understand this, so there was time for me to do plenty of cumulative damage.

[Lester Polfus]

AMT Hardballer.

I flipped a lot of burgers to buy that piece of shit.

[joshs]

Early Gen 4 9mm Glocks. Both of mine were terrible, and everyone else I know who had one also had problems.

Beretta 21a. Mine is threaded. And, it could be a really cool suppressor host if I could just get it to run with bulk pack.

Gen 1 9mm M&Ps. Accuracy was definitely disappointing.

Smith 442 .38. Mine went out of time in a few hundred rounds. Then, the strut/post the hammer rides on broke off. When Smith replaced the frame, the gun came back with the barrel visibly not straight. It shot about how you'd expect.

Sig P226 Wouldn't reset at the short reset point. Sent back to Sig and it came back with the same issue. @JV told me he had the same issue and how to fix it. It worked fine after that, so not too disappointing, but it was pretty disappointing that Sig produced a gun with an obvious defect that should have been discovered in a simple function check and failed to fix it when it was returned.

[trailrunner]

1) Browning Buckmark. I bought this after selling a perfectly good Ruger 22/45 that I got tired of taking apart. The Buckmark was a nice looking gun, but I couldn't make it through 2 or 3 magazines without jamming. I knew that I had made a mistake when I was spending more time unjamming the Buckmark than I had ever spent stripping the Ruger.

2) Kahr PM9. Back in the day, there weren't too many single-stack plastic 9mms, so the Kahr seemed like a good choice, but it was also a jam-o-matic. I sent it back to them at least once, maybe twice, but it never improved. No way was I going to rely on that thing.

[YVK]

Early S&W M&P was the worst piece of shit of a gun I've owned. Small parts falling out of a gun on initial inspection, over 8 inches pattern at 25, and BTF.
Two 2016 Stock 2 Tanfoglios were the best shooting devices that I've owned. When they chose to run, that is.

[Nephrology]

1) Browning Buckmark. I bought this after selling a perfectly good Ruger 22/45 that I got tired of taking apart.

I have never, ever disassembled my 22/45. I probably never will. I just hose it down with brake cleaner and re-lube. Runs great, probably close to 10k rounds by now.

[Poconnor]

Kahr PM45. I was issued a colt 1911 and I really wanted a back up gun in 45 ACP. The PM45 was close to being perfect on paper but mine wouldn’t run reliably. I got rid of it and carried a Colt LW commander 45 ACP as back up and a S&W 642 for the rest of my career.

[Stephanie B]

Let me guess; fired cartridge jammed against the standing breech due to the bottle neck case not adhering to the charge hole wall. Only fix was a clean and dry charge hole. I had a nickel M53 that jammed until I learned to swab the charge holes before each and every loading. Made an excellent single-shot revolver, which is how S&W should have designed it.

It wasn't mine. The owner wiped down the cartridges and the chambers with lighter fluid and then dried them before loading. It still jammed.

[RevolverRob]

1) The aforementioned Uzi - ergonomics slightly worse than a brick, sights that suck, and a bolt that slams back and forth like a shotput.

2) Every 9mm Glock I've ever shot. I still don't get the fascination with them. The mushy trigger, sharp corners, a magazine release that might as well be in another zip code (for me at least). The ubiquity almost over comes these problems, but never does for me. I've tried on multiple occasions, but with guns out there that fit better in my hand, don't shoot left, and have better triggers - I've just never been anything but disappointed.

3) The HK P7. I'll never truly understand the fascination with this gun. A gun of a thousand compromises - squeeze cocker makes me grip the gun weird, heel magazine release precludes the gun from being in a serious fighting gun. That in addition to the heat generated from shooting it. I'm not sure how someone would take a shooting class without a pair of P7s and a set of oven mitts. The redeeming quality, is that the P7 is a very safe gun to carry, particularly appendix. And they do shoot well, due in large part to soft recoil and all steel construction. But at this point, since they're like 2200 bucks - I doubt I could be convinced to buy one for anything other than collection purposes.

[kilo sierra]

S&W 329PD...Scandium N frame .44 that I thought would be a great option mountain biking through Grizzly country and easy to pack bank fishing for Salmon.

They came stocked with wood, Ahrends like units.

1st two rounds single action, followed by 2 double taps at a 7 yard target.

I could not feel my hand from recoil. Not to mention even two handed my recoil recovery started above eye level.

Straight to the LGS I bought it at, traded at a loss on a 45-70. They even tried to talk me into swapping grips for Pachmayr's and giving it another try. No, Fuck No.

I shoot right handed, and write left handed, which is a good thing because if I had needed to use my right hand to fill out the 4473 it would have been a no go.

My hand was buzzy for a couple hours after, and hurt to make a fist for a couple days.

Satan's N frame.

[trailrunner]

3) The HK P7. I'll never truly understand the fascination with this gun. A gun of a thousand compromises - squeeze cocker makes me grip the gun weird, heel magazine release precludes the gun from being in a serious fighting gun. That in addition to the heat generated from shooting it. I'm not sure how someone would take a shooting class without a pair of P7s and a set of oven mitts. The redeeming quality, is that the P7 is a very safe gun to carry, particularly appendix. And they do shoot well, due in large part to soft recoil and all steel construction. But at this point, since they're like 2200 bucks - I doubt I could be convinced to buy one for anything other than collection purposes.

A friend of mine had a fascination with these, and bought two - one to store away, and one to shoot. He let me shoot it, and I didn't hate it.

A couple of other notes on this thread:

Another friend of mine had a M1 carbine, and let me shoot it. At the time, I didn't know the difference between the regular M1 and the carbine, and I thought I was going to get to shoot the former. When he was loading it for me, I thought the rounds looked a little wimpy, and when I shot it, it felt like I was shooting .22LR. I guess it served its purpose, but I'm not sure I would've wanted to go to war with that.

There was a gun I tried to be disappointed in, but failed. The same friend that had the M1 carbine also had a Hi Point 9mm carbine. I felt skanky just holding it, but during our range session, it worked flawlessly and was accurate enough to hit the paper.

[TGS]

Remember, guys, this thread isn't just about guns that suck, are low quality, or that you simply didn't like after trying it out.

It's for guns that were built up in your head as something special (maybe even legendary) and ended up being a huge let-down when you finally got hands on it.

[45dotACP]

Glocks.

Specifically the Glock 19.

Don't hate me yet, Glocks are still fine, I simply became disappointed/frustrated with my inability to get really good with them and ultimately I had too many different guns in the safe. My sister wanted a gun, so I sold her my G17 and G34, and the Glock 19 left last because I used it to get a Light Pin from our own Gabe White, but it left too.

J frames.

Hard for me to conceal in a pocket, pointless for me to wear in a holster. Outside of keeping one in a winter coat pocket, they are inferior to their contemporaries in every way. I'll take a Shield, P365, or a G43 over one as a deep concealment belt gun, or a Ruger LCP as a pocket gun. And shooting defensive ammo through one SUCKS.

The ol' surplus Browning Hi-Power:

Easy to hold, comfortable to shoot, But the stock trigger was garbage, the mag disconnect didn't let the mag drop free, and the gun just doesn't reload quickly at all because the shape of the mag and the mag well. No specific grudge, but the gun got sold to simplify my safe.


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[Duelist]

I have never, ever disassembled my 22/45. I probably never will. I just hose it down with brake cleaner and re-lube. Runs great, probably close to 10k rounds by now.

I’ve had a Ruger MKII standard 4.75” barrel .22 since I was 22 years old. It was my first gun, and I learned how to disassemble and reassemble it without too much fuss. I think it was a little bit of a challenge the first couple of times, but certainly I’ve done harder things.

I got it because I was a poor college student and could actually afford to shoot a .22, and have fired untold thousands of rounds through it. My wife’s first handgun rounds, and our kids first gunshots have been through that gun.

It has had some failures to extract, some brands it doesn’t really like to run with, but overall it isn’t very finicky and does run well. It doesn’t mind being dirty, but works with a wider variety of rounds when clean and lubed.

It has had one parts failure: the recoil spring assembly lost one of the legs on the fork that goes around the assembly pin on the mainspring housing. If I had not disassembled it, I don’t know how long it would have run like that. Ruger sent me a new one for free. Inspection for wear and parts breakage is a good reason to disassemble and clean guns, even if they are a bit fiddly to put back together.

[Baldanders]

My only full-auto gun experience: an AC-556 (folding stock full auto Mini-14).

Destroyed my 80s movie full auto fetish in a few minutes.

Missing fast sucks. Set me on the long path to being a fudd.

I have been underwhelmed by my semi-auto Mini-14 experiences, but no dreams crushed.

[Lex Luthier]

After buying a wall hanger 1879 Remington Rolling Block musket and getting a bunch of specialty parts ordered or fabricated to complete it(this was pre-internet) I discovered that
a) the stock military trigger was hugely heavy (like 12 lbs heavy)
b) the sights were terrible, compared to a late percussion era musket or a trapdoor Springfield
c)the chambers were often oversize, as in mine, which led to splitting *very expensive* custom-loaded cartridges.
d) recoil was quite stout due to the ergonomics.

Dadeteau, Kropatscheck, and Mauser rifles were more accurate. Martini-Henry 577-450 rifles were roughly equivalent, but with better ergos & sights.

Sold on in the early 2000s. I wanted to love it, but it just was not to be.

Still have some cartuchos somewhere.

[LockedBreech]

My only full-auto gun experience: an AC-556 (folding stock full auto Mini-14).

Destroyed my 80s movie full auto fetish in a few minutes.

Missing fast sucks. Set me on the long path to being a fudd.

I have been underwhelmed by my semi-auto Mini-14 experiences, but no dreams crushed.

My two full-auto experiences:

1.) P90 - Pass. Not fun at all. Load a 50 round magazine for 5 minutes then spray 9 bullets per trigger touch. Not fun, expensive, front hold position puts your hand awfully close to the business end

2.) HK MP5 full-size - I would sell my firstborn to keep a burst/semi/auto selectable MP5. Amazingly controllable and fun.

[ccmdfd]

Glocks.

Specifically the Glock 19.

Don't hate me yet, Glocks are still fine, I simply became disappointed/frustrated with my inability to get really good with them and ultimately I had too many different guns in the safe. My sister wanted a gun, so I sold her my G17 and G34, and the Glock 19 left last because I used it to get a Light Pin from our own Gabe White, but it left too.

J frames.

Hard for me to conceal in a pocket, pointless for me to wear in a holster. Outside of keeping one in a winter coat pocket, they are inferior to their contemporaries in every way. I'll take a Shield, P365, or a G43 over one as a deep concealment belt gun, or a Ruger LCP as a pocket gun. And shooting defensive ammo through one SUCKS.

The ol' surplus Browning Hi-Power:

Easy to hold, comfortable to shoot, But the stock trigger was garbage, the mag disconnect didn't let the mag drop free, and the gun just doesn't reload quickly at all because the shape of the mag and the mag well. No specific grudge, but the gun got sold to simplify my safe.


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Man, my experiences match yours to a t!



I can shoot a G17, 34 and even a 42 with decent success. But I struggle with the 19 and 26.



J frames. Yuck, ‘nuff said.



I had a BHP once. Felt nice but had slide bite and the trigger was horribly heavy (10+lbs) and had a mushy, slow and indistinct reset. It went to two separate gunsmiths (big name ones), with a total time away from me right at 2 years, and I spent Wilson Combat custom 1911 $ on it, and it still bit my hand and had a horrible trigger.



cc

[1911Nut]

All the following were purchased NIB:

S&W Model 28 .357 Magnum with 6" barrel. Out of time, excessive cylinder/forcing cone gap, and shot about 6" groups at 20 yards. Purchased new, sent back to S&W once, with no relief. Traded to a gunsmith who thought he could "fix" it.

S&W Model 29 .44 Magnum with 8 3/8" barrel. Horrible trigger, and when I took it to Frank Glenn (a renowned S&W revolver gunsmith), he advised that there were several issues with fitment, including a side plate that was out of spec or warped and had to be forced back into place when removed. He would not work on it. Also had issues with forcing cone/cylinder gap. Sent back to S&W twice, with no relief. Traded for my first 1911 (Colt Government Model), so there was a silver lining to this one.

S&W Model 329 .44 Special Night Guard. Burr in the action prevented revolver from cycling in double action. Returned to S&W. When I got it back, the action was good but the revolver shot 4" to 5" to the right at 10 YARDS!! (This was with a few different brands of ammo, including hand loads, and with cast and jacketed bullets of a couple of different weights, and in the hands of three different shooters.). I think the barrel would have to have been turned or set back to ever get this thing to shoot to POA. Sent it back to S&W a second time and they advised me that it was within standard specification. Traded it for another gun and cash.

Wilson Combat Spec Ops 9. Really wanted this pistol badly and after a lengthy search, was able to land a NIB gun on Gunbroker for $1920, including shipping and FFL fees. Was just certain this was going to be the perfect carry pistol and would also be used to shoot the occasional IDPA match. The gun ran perfectly and was accurate, but for me, the ergonomics of the pistol were terrible. I never was able to get comfortable with it, and always felt as though I couldn't acquire a proper grip on it when presenting from a holster, despite a fairly significant amount of time practicing with it. The good news was that I placed it for sale on GunBroker right at the peak of the Obama driven gun and ammo shortage panic. I placed an $1800 reserve on the pistol, and when the auction was nearing its end, three different bidders got into a bidding war on it and the pistol ultimately sold for $3485! Better yet, the buyer was a resident of my state, lived about 30 minutes away, and we were able to complete the deal without me having to pay any shipping or FFL fees.

[Totem Polar]

It's for guns that were built up in your head as something special (maybe even legendary) and ended up being a huge let-down when you finally got hands on it.

By this standard, the PPK—especially in .380–is a real contender. Scarlett Johansson looks and image; Lindsay Lohan reliability; Alec Baldwin personality.

[Doc_Glock]

Kel Tec P3AT: Never would run right after multiple returns. Kel Tec lesson learned.

Rohrbaugh R9: Great trigger, great size but slippery as hell.

Boberg XR9: Brilliant out of box thinking. Would not run.

UZI 9mm: meh.

Sig P290rs: What a piece of crap.

Kahr P380: would not run.

Browning 1911-22: Small, pinched web, not nearly as fun as expected.

FN 5-7: Massive, shitty sights, not as lightly recoiling as expected. Lasted one shooting session, sold at profit.

9mm 1911s: Meh, heavy, flinch inducing trigger, kinda unreliable don't get the hype.

Beretta 21a Bobcat: Wanted to love, unreliable.

Browning Hi Power: So damn cool, but that hammer bite and tiny sights.

[Doc_Glock]

My two full-auto experiences:

1.) P90 - Pass. Not fun at all. Load a 50 round magazine for 5 minutes then spray 9 bullets per trigger touch. Not fun, expensive, front hold position puts your hand awfully close to the business end

2.) HK MP5 full-size - I would sell my firstborn to keep a burst/semi/auto selectable MP5. Amazingly controllable and fun.

Kinda like full auto 5.56. Pretty much dislike full auto 7.62X39 especially with a wire stock. However...

Shooting a belt fed 308 machine gun on a tripod is one full auto experience that absolutely did not suck.

[ldunnmobile]

Steyr AUG Which I know folks love around here. Now I still think it’s a good rifle don’t give me wrong but I spend some time packing a rifle around and I’ll take my AR’s that are 2 1/2 pounds lighter with a much better trigger every time.

[Nephrology]

The ol' surplus Browning Hi-Power:

Easy to hold, comfortable to shoot, But the stock trigger was garbage, the mag disconnect didn't let the mag drop free, and the gun just doesn't reload quickly at all because the shape of the mag and the mag well. No specific grudge, but the gun got sold to simplify my safe.


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I shot a mag through a tuned BHP and was incredibly underwhelmed. Removed any interest I had in the gun. My friend was surprised I gave it back to him so quickly.

[23JAZ]

First generation M&P 9 was the biggest pile of crap I've ever owned. Parts were falling off that thing it was so bad. I will never buy another S&W pistol because of that POS.

[Toonces]

Walther P5. It was my childhood crush for a centerfire auto. Other than pictures, I knew nothing about it besides what was printed in the brochures. I still have those catalogs from back I the day when I thought it was the best looking “serious” pistol out there. Then 15(?) years after the love affair started, I excitedly got to hold one about 15 years ago and was all set to purchase it on the spot. The grips made it feel like junk. I know I hated the controls, but I don’t remember why. It wasn’t overly smooth when manually operating the slide, and the trigger was meh. Money saved and lesson learned.

I just looked up pics, and I still love the looks. If I ever see another one, I’ll at least look at it.

[lwt16]

Colt Officer's model.....ultimate stainless finish.

Found it used at a gun shop I spent way too much money at in the early 90s. Just always loved the Officer's model and this shiny thing was just what my young heart desired.

It would run hardball fine.......but any and all HP loads were a stoppage per magazine. It was either the fifth or sixth round that would hang that gun up.

Every. Magazine. Full.

Took it to a local smith......paid whatever to get it to reliably feed the Speer flying ashtray load (200 grain?) so I could carry it with that much feared .45 load of the times.

Picked it up and took it out.....mag full of the Speers.......first few shots were fine and then that fifth one jammed..........

I can distinctly remember holding it at belt height, turning it to the side, and glaring at it like a jilted lover.

I had two Springfield Armory government models at the time that ate pretty much everything I fed them so I was hating that Colt. Decided to carry it with hardball and drive on.

Ended up selling it for a loss in 97.

I sort of hope it's at the bottom of some river and a catfish is eating the grips right this second.

Regards.

[Rex G]

Colt Officer's model.....ultimate stainless finish.

Found it used at a gun shop I spent way too much money at in the early 90s. Just always loved the Officer's model and this shiny thing was just what my young heart desired.

It would run hardball fine.......but any and all HP loads were a stoppage per magazine. It was either the fifth or sixth round that would hang that gun up.

Every. Magazine. Full.

Took it to a local smith......paid whatever to get it to reliably feed the Speer flying ashtray load (200 grain?) so I could carry it with that much feared .45 load of the times.

Picked it up and took it out.....mag full of the Speers.......first few shots were fine and then that fifth one jammed..........

I can distinctly remember holding it at belt height, turning it to the side, and glaring at it like a jilted lover.

I had two Springfield Armory government models at the time that ate pretty much everything I fed them so I was hating that Colt. Decided to carry it with hardball and drive on.

Ended up selling it for a loss in 97.

I sort of hope it's at the bottom of some river and a catfish is eating the grips right this second.

Regards.

I can relate. Every Colt 1911, that I tried, smaller than a Government Model, drove me crazy, sooner or later. My Colt Governments ran just fine. My Govt-sized Springfield Armory Inc ran just fine. My full-sized Baers ran just fine, and still do. It was compact Colt 1911 pistols that drove me nuts.

[BehindBlueI's]

Ruger Redhawk .45 Auto/.45 Colt.

I had spun The Wheels of Justification pretty hard on that one. I like .45 Colt as a reloader. I thought I'd get that legendary Ruger tolerance for really hot loads and have the ability to carry .45 Colt in the woods and .45 Auto on the way home. I liked the idea of moonclips. I was excited enough it's the *only time ever* I've bought support gear before getting the gun in hand. I ordered a Simply Rugged holster and moon clip pouches before ever having the Redhawk in my hands.

What I didn't think about is the .45 Auto and the .45 Colt aren't going to have the same POI unless they are loaded the same, which defeats the purpose.

What I didn't know is the trigger mechanism is unique to the Redhawk and it doesn't feel like the GP100. The Super Redhawk does, but not the Redhawk. It's heavier and breaks...oddly if you're used to the GP100.

What I also didn't know is that Redhawks apparently have a known issue with light strikes. Enough so that Bowen has a very lengthy discussion on it and offers parts to remedy this.

What I had no way to know is my particular example would come with a burr on the frame that drug the hammer, exacerbating both problems above. The trigger was even worse then a normal Redhawk and since the hammer was being slowed by the burr the gun was more primer sensitive.

So out of the box I had a gun that was unreliable, that didn't fit my hand with the aesthetically pleasing but too small for me wood grips, that had a sub-par trigger, and that failed to fire routinely. It was also not particularly accurate with .45 Auto, since it was sized for .45 Colt (which it was pretty accurate with).

I finally got it to a functioning gun. Bigger rubber grips that fit my hands, some trigger work and de-burring, a Bowen lengthened firing pin. I never shoot .45 Auto through it because I don't want to adjust the sights back and forth. I could, in theory, get a second front sight on the cheap since it's a quick disconnect, and have one for each but after all the hassle to get it to where it is now I set it aside for awhile as the passion had died. I like the gunsmith who did the work and take more pride in ownership of having him work on it then the gun itself these days or I'd have probably off-loaded it.

If I had it to do all over again, I wouldn't. I'd have just bought a dedicated .45 Colt, and probably an N-frame. I quickly figured out that loads that are within my tolerance for more than cylinder or two's worth is nowhere near "Ruger only" territory and the fun of something I was only willing to shoot 6-18 of, tops, died quickly.

[Stephanie B]

Remember, guys, this thread isn't just about guns that suck, are low quality, or that you simply didn't like after trying it out.

It's for guns that were built up in your head as something special (maybe even legendary) and ended up being a huge let-down when you finally got hands on it.

PPK/s. Deli meat slicers aren't as efficient.

Model 29. Besides the non-recoil-absorbing qualities of S&W target grips, the cylinder release had a sharp edge that, when the gun recoiled, cut open my knuckle. I dulled that with a file, put on Goodyears and then had the damned thing magna-ported. Between all that, the gun was usable and I've kept it.

[Wise_A]

S&W DA autos. I championed them for a long time, and got pretty decent with my Model 59 (pre-everything). While I will admit that they've all been rock-solid reliable, even the 59 with 10-round Pro Mags...well, eventually I got around to trying a CZ75, and acquired an HK USP. No more S&W DAs, the 59 is gonna get sold to the first person I can find to take it. That said, I still really like the single-stack compact DAO 9s, those just seem to work for me. Once the current insanity ends, I think that a CZ Shadow 2 Optics Ready or Orange will be following me home. And probably a P30L at some point.

S&W Model 60 Pro Series. "Great! A J-frame with a tad more sight radius and actual sights!". Noap, just like all the other Js, and still uncomfortable to shoot.

Remington 700 Varmint .223. Lesson learned: Buy barrel twist before anything else. If the twist isn't right, nothing else matters.

[Stephanie B]

Steyr AUG Which I know folks love around here. Now I still think it’s a good rifle don’t give me wrong but I spend some time packing a rifle around and I’ll take my AR’s that are 2 1/2 pounds lighter with a much better trigger every time.

Not to mention that damned gas port.

[psalms144.1]

For me, it would be:

1. S&W 3rd Gen TDAs - really wanted to love them, and they look cool, but I couldn't shoot them worth a shit.
2. An uncountable number of Colt 1911s. I probably had 12-15 over the course of 10 years, and every single one of them was a POS - including guns that were, at the time "state of the art combat pistols." Wouldn't feed 230 gr FMJ factory ammo, that's pretty much not "state of the art."
3. Every Kimber I've seen or held since Ron Cohen got involved with the company.
4. Every Sig I've seen, been issued, or held since Ron Cohen got involved with the company.
5. S&W Mountain Gun in 45 Colt. I sold off a 4" nickled Model 25 in 45C to fund this, potentially the biggest mistake of my life. All to try and shave a few ounces in "carry weight." Sigh.
6. As someone else pointed out, whatever changes Glock made in production circa 2010 with the Gen4 roll out led me to drop carrying Glocks altogether for several years. I'd have to look back at my records, but IIRC, Glock factory replaced five G19s, Gen4 and 3rd Gen both, before I had them send me a G21 which I promptly traded out of...
7. The HKP30. This is what I got into once I dumped the G19. I probably lost 5 IQ points trying to figure out which grip panel/back strap combination "worked" for me. Spoiler alert - none of them did. It was accurate, but felt like a pogo stick when I shot it. Not sure why, but the P2000 felt WAY worse in my hand, but shot much better...
8. The HKVP9. Don't ask why I bought this when I had issues with the P30, but I did anyway, thinking maybe it was the trigger on the P30 I didn't like. Spoiler alert - it wasn't.
9. The UMP in all variants - when we T&E'd this as a possible replacement for the MP5, I couldn't possibly have been less impressed.
10. The Kriss family of SMGs. T&E'd in the 2009 timeframe, and they were horrid. Even getting to shoot free .45 ACP at high speed with a happy switch didn't make these worth it.

[Crazy Dane]

Every .357 magnum I have shot, even dads 4 inch Python. I can shoot .38s all day but I'm done in less than a full cylinder with magnums. It is too loud and obnoxious for me.


The Sig P320. I thought I had finally found a plastic fantastic with the ability to change out grips for different sizes. In short, it left me feel meh about the whole thing. I sold it off and bought the 5 inch GP 100 .44 Special and started a whole new love affair.

[Guerrero]

Some of these are pretty frickin' hilarious.

Probably not to the owners, but still...

[gomerpyle]

The gen 5 Glock 17, 19, and 34. hated the sights, so I sold them....

[alohadoug]

For me (everyone grab your pitchforks and torches) Revolvers and Glocks.
I love the looks and the feel of revolvers, especially old (early 20th century) revolvers. Raised on The Untouchables (movie and tv show on VHS) and other gangster material. Always wanted a Detective Special and a pencil barrel S&W. I'm a former Army guy so my pistol experience was the M9 and M11. Oh, and my wife isn't fond of revolvers. After we left the Service one of the first purchases I made was that pencil barrel S&W and a model 36 both with wood stocks. First trip to the range, the 36 slices the knuckle of my thumb open and the pain from the 10-1 was rather severe. I have some ligament/tendon issues in my thumbs for my service. Turns out that after spending lots of money on grips and then working with a hand specialist who shoots too, we discovered that the recoil forces of a revolver translate into my hand in the most painful way possible. His recommendation: stick to semi-autos. I can shoot .45cal (200gr at 850fps) through a 1911 Government without an issue but not .38spl. I have collected several .32S&WL revolvers that I can tolerate to the point of almost enjoying shooting but nothing for SD. I've had to admit that revolvers are a collect for the sake of collection not high round counts.
As for the Glocks, I bought a G35 to shoot IPSC with in 2005 or so with the intention of making a Glock 19 my edc once I left Hawaii. Turns out it didn't really do anything for me. The trigger was meh and I felt like I was constantly fighting the pistol back down on target. I shoot one match with it. Then reshoot two stages with my wife's Beretta 92 and decided those just work better for me. I've tried other striker-fired and decided that the triggers don't excite me and I'd rather have the TDA.

[Leroy]

Tavor. I was kinda excited, had never even held a bullpup.
It was brand new, my friend was real proud of it, I think it cost like $2K. I am a large human and that gun feels so cramped. Huge bore to sight offset, no room for my left arm, shitty trigger, and $2K. I shot 10 rounds, not even the whole mag, and gave it back. The AR is just so much better.

[David S.]

Revolvers. I’ve shot a dozen or so different revolvers over the years, including some with fancy grips. I think they’re beautiful and can appreciate their history. I want to like them, but I can’t find anything that isn’t completely awkward.

Suppressors. I understand their utility and could see myself owning one on an HD carbine, but I don’t get the fascination with them.

[Glenn E. Meyer]

Wanted a little pocket 22 LR semi - got a PT-22 that was chromed and a very pretty wood set of grips. Totally jammer plus it would eject entire whole rounds or close the slide on an ejecting live round, bending it in half (that freaked me out).

Glock 42, one of the first. It jammed solid on the first round fired and I couldn't unjam it. A friend had a magic trick to do it. Later, it managed to fire out of battery with smoke and flame coming out of the ejection port - scaring me! Went back to the factory and now runs. It won't drop an empty mag, you have to pull it. It's ultimate fate is still unknown to me.

My 19s, and 17 ran fine.

SW 1911Sc Commander. Started out as a jammer and de-staked itself twice. That tanked two matches. I finished one, when a friend lent me his 'truck' Taurus 1911 (go figure). Went back to SW and it settled down. Seems to run fine now.

[Joe in PNG]

1) The PPK. Like shooting a handful of razor blades.

2) A GSG MP-40 9mm. Looked super cool, and I swear I heard the music from "Where Eagles Dare" playing when I bought it. But, meh construction, and just a bullet hose without a stock.

3) One of those .22lr Umermex Uzis. Same as above. Cheap zinc bolt, unreliable, and the sights were seriously off. I had the rear moved as far as it would go, and it still grouped far off target.

4) Uberti .357 SAA. Fun, but the sights were terrible.

5) Norinco NMH 91. My first 'AK', and it mangled ammo more than it fired rounds.

6) Colt 1991 .45 (belonged to my BnL). Underwhelming, and gave me hammer bite.

[Artemas2]

Pretty much everything that is not a glock 17 or 34...
Actually I hate everything about the Glock pistol, but it fits my stupid ET hands and just works/ cheap to maintain.


Currently the CZ Shadow 2 is my newest venture in an attempt to learn TDA for some reason. $400 on grips panels and still don't have an option that fits me. Ergonomic must be code for "European bitch hands".

Beretta LTT: I actually like everything about this except for the recoil impulse. No matter what I do, it feels like trying to hang on to an angry tuna. How guys compete with 92s is beyond me.
1911s: Grip safeties can go fuck themselves
Hk P30: *See "ergonomic" also slide bite
Revolvers: This one might be on me. How the hell do you people hold these things? They make no logical sense what so ever!

I do have to add one more
The Walther G22
I was 12-13 and this gun looked amazing. All futuristic and sleek, that awesome OD green. And Walther! What a solid manufacture. James Bond would have used this gun if he could.
I worked every weekend in the fall and after school, cutting grass, raking leaves, shoveling snow, etc. Found some magazine articles further extolling the virtues of it.
After 6 months of grueling yard work for the neighbors I finally had the $350 dollar asking price. This was the single most amount of money I ever had to my name.
Dad had the FFL get it in and I paid for it. By god this was the most amazing feeling in the world.

After a single range session I hated everything about it. Hot gas in my face after every shot, would not cycle through a single mag without having to completed field strip the gun to pull a jacked up case, POI was nowhere near the sight adjustable range.
I was devastated and betrayed. I still have this gun as a reminder to myself. I also have never owned another Walther product. I did learn recently that Walther doesn't not make the G22. I think that actually makes it worse to me, that they would put their name on such garbage.

[OlongJohnson]

1) Browning Buckmark. I bought this after selling a perfectly good Ruger 22/45 that I got tired of taking apart. The Buckmark was a nice looking gun, but I couldn't make it through 2 or 3 magazines without jamming. I knew that I had made a mistake when I was spending more time unjamming the Buckmark than I had ever spent stripping the Ruger.

That's weird. Mine run great. All I can guess is the top of your breech face may have been peened by the firing pin. If it gets bad, that will jam it up good regularly. They generally leave the factory with a peen ranging from witness mark to fairly significant. Setting firing pin length to prevent contact is the first thing I do. It's lame to have to do that, but I have learned to see most gun as almost-ready-to-use kits that are shipped assembled so you know all the pieces are included.


All the following were purchased NIB:

S&W Model 28 .357 Magnum with 6" barrel. Out of time, excessive cylinder/forcing cone gap, and shot about 6" groups at 20 yards. Purchased new, sent back to S&W once, with no relief. Traded to a gunsmith who thought he could "fix" it.

S&W Model 29 .44 Magnum with 8 3/8" barrel. Horrible trigger, and when I took it to Frank Glenn (a renowned S&W revolver gunsmith), he advised that there were several issues with fitment, including a side plate that was out of spec or warped and had to be forced back into place when removed. He would not work on it. Also had issues with forcing cone/cylinder gap. Sent back to S&W twice, with no relief. Traded for my first 1911 (Colt Government Model), so there was a silver lining to this one.

S&W Model 329 .44 Special Night Guard. Burr in the action prevented revolver from cycling in double action. Returned to S&W. When I got it back, the action was good but the revolver shot 4" to 5" to the right at 10 YARDS!! (This was with a few different brands of ammo, including hand loads, and with cast and jacketed bullets of a couple of different weights, and in the hands of three different shooters.). I think the barrel would have to have been turned or set back to ever get this thing to shoot to POA. Sent it back to S&W a second time and they advised me that it was within standard specification. Traded it for another gun and cash.

My biggest disappointments have been and remain S&W revolvers. Not because of the design, but because of them being shipped in defective condition originally and the factory sending them back to me still in unserviceable condition when returned for warranty repair.

[MK11]

HK P7. Turned into a complete blowtorch within 10 rounds. Also had a chance to shoot the .40 cal P7M10 and while the ergonomics were lacking, it was quite pleasant to shoot.

Glock 48. I like everything about it except how it shoots.

S&W Mountain Gun in .45 ACP. Single worst trigger I've ever experienced in a revolver.

Colt Competition in 9mm. Hesitant to add this to the list because I still own it and enjoy shooting it but after buying into all the Colt hype, I'm underwhelmed.

[BehindBlueI's]

The gen 5 Glock 17, 19, and 34. hated the sights, so I sold them....

That's akin to selling a car because you don't like the tires...;)

[Baldanders]

My two full-auto experiences:

1.) P90 - Pass. Not fun at all. Load a 50 round magazine for 5 minutes then spray 9 bullets per trigger touch. Not fun, expensive, front hold position puts your hand awfully close to the business end

2.) HK MP5 full-size - I would sell my firstborn to keep a burst/semi/auto selectable MP5. Amazingly controllable and fun.

I passed up on multiple chances to rent a full auto MP5 at a shop/range in Cary, NC. Then some ass drove a truck through the front door and stole that, and many, many other guns.

Probably a P-F Sin of Omission.

[Darth_Uno]

Colt Python. I guess after all the hype I was expecting a beam of light to come from the sky or something. It was nice enough, but didn’t blow me away.

On that note, my Baer Custom Carry. I guess I expected the Baer to be somehow “more better”, but I already had nice 1911’s...so it was just another nice 1911.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[Baldanders]

The gen 5 Glock 17, 19, and 34. hated the sights, so I sold them....

If Glock ownership was based on liking the sights, they'd be a niche brand.

(As I have stated: they work OK for me)

[LockedBreech]

Colt Python. I guess after all the hype I was expecting a beam of light to come from the sky or something. It was nice enough, but didn’t blow me away.

On that note, my Baer Custom Carry. I guess I expected the Baer to be somehow “more better”, but I already had nice 1911’s...so it was just another nice 1911.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

I grew up just thinking the Python was a normal revolver, we have my grandpa's and my dad and I shot it all the time. I own it now.

It's a lovely-smooth revolver and very nicely finished, but for me it was never a grail gun, just "the revolver that's fun to plink pop cans with"

That's the inherent tragedy of grail guns. If we build them up too much nothing can reach the heights. But I do like my Colt!

[Caballoflaco]

My first centerfire pistol, a Springfield XD in .40. This was in the early oughts and Springfield has just started importing them. Since I hadn’t learned about forums yet all I had to gun on were what the gun rags said and they loved it, along with the .40 S&W cartridge which was the perfect compromise in the times of the awb and $60-$100 high cap mags. I was pretty damn sure I had just chosen the ultimate in self defense weapons.

Then I took that gun to my first handgun matches, steel challenge, where the high bore axis and snappy recoil made me realize that shootin’ guns good is hard. I sold it after a couple of months and it got passed around our group of regular match shooters like a can of cool whip in a ‘92 Nissan Centra full of Juggalos.

slight drift:
I moved on to a Springfield mil-spec that was awesome after I added some aftermarket sites, a gunsmith-fit beaver tail and bobbed the spur hammer so I didn’t get sprayed with blood from hammer bite. That’s the only gun I’ve ever regreted trading off and I’m kind of feeling the urge to recreate it with an older model mil-spec.

[critter]

I love AR 20in rifles. I like carbines, but adore the rifles.

Biggest disappointment:

Colt Delta HBAR. It just never grew on me. I really have no idea why.

[Olim9]

J frames.

Hard for me to conceal in a pocket, pointless for me to wear in a holster. Outside of keeping one in a winter coat pocket, they are inferior to their contemporaries in every way. I'll take a Shield, P365, or a G43 over one as a deep concealment belt gun, or a Ruger LCP as a pocket gun.

Ditto. I initially got a 442 to use as a jogging gun but quickly discarded the idea once I shot it with wadcutters and it was horrible. No matter how much work I put into it, I would never shoot it as quickly and easily as I could with a 42/43. The draw with the holster I used was slow and awkward.

Some people dig snubbies and that’s OK but I genuinely despise them.

[gomerpyle]

That's akin to selling a car because you don't like the tires...;)

Hmm. good point..... time to sell the car:)

[CompressionIgnition]

For me, it would be:


7. The HKP30. This is what I got into once I dumped the G19. I probably lost 5 IQ points trying to figure out which grip panel/back strap combination "worked" for me. Spoiler alert - none of them did. It was accurate, but felt like a pogo stick when I shot it. Not sure why, but the P2000 felt WAY worse in my hand, but shot much better...

Funny you mention that. I have large hands, yet shoot my P2000SK better than my full-size USP.

[gomerpyle]

(As I have stated: they work OK for me)

im surprised how workable they are. was able to get good hits at 25yds. Just proof that trigger pull is A#1 in getting hits.

of course groups better with Dawson Precision

[Lester Polfus]

Ruger Redhawk .45 Auto/.45 Colt.

I had spun The Wheels of Justification pretty hard on that one. I like .45 Colt as a reloader. I thought I'd get that legendary Ruger tolerance for really hot loads and have the ability to carry .45 Colt in the woods and .45 Auto on the way home. I liked the idea of moonclips. I was excited enough it's the *only time ever* I've bought support gear before getting the gun in hand. I ordered a Simply Rugged holster and moon clip pouches before ever having the Redhawk in my hands.

What I didn't think about is the .45 Auto and the .45 Colt aren't going to have the same POI unless they are loaded the same, which defeats the purpose.

What I didn't know is the trigger mechanism is unique to the Redhawk and it doesn't feel like the GP100. The Super Redhawk does, but not the Redhawk. It's heavier and breaks...oddly if you're used to the GP100.

What I also didn't know is that Redhawks apparently have a known issue with light strikes. Enough so that Bowen has a very lengthy discussion on it and offers parts to remedy this.

What I had no way to know is my particular example would come with a burr on the frame that drug the hammer, exacerbating both problems above. The trigger was even worse then a normal Redhawk and since the hammer was being slowed by the burr the gun was more primer sensitive.

So out of the box I had a gun that was unreliable, that didn't fit my hand with the aesthetically pleasing but too small for me wood grips, that had a sub-par trigger, and that failed to fire routinely. It was also not particularly accurate with .45 Auto, since it was sized for .45 Colt (which it was pretty accurate with).

I finally got it to a functioning gun. Bigger rubber grips that fit my hands, some trigger work and de-burring, a Bowen lengthened firing pin. I never shoot .45 Auto through it because I don't want to adjust the sights back and forth. I could, in theory, get a second front sight on the cheap since it's a quick disconnect, and have one for each but after all the hassle to get it to where it is now I set it aside for awhile as the passion had died. I like the gunsmith who did the work and take more pride in ownership of having him work on it then the gun itself these days or I'd have probably off-loaded it.

If I had it to do all over again, I wouldn't. I'd have just bought a dedicated .45 Colt, and probably an N-frame. I quickly figured out that loads that are within my tolerance for more than cylinder or two's worth is nowhere near "Ruger only" territory and the fun of something I was only willing to shoot 6-18 of, tops, died quickly.

You detailed at least some of those experiences on here and saved me a bunch of money because I was super close to buying one of those.

[TheNewbie]

Sig P232- Small, easy to carry, DA/SA and not reliable. At least the two I had were not. There are about four changes I would make to the P232, and it would be a fantastic carry piece for me.

Glock 42- Excited about an easy to shoot small gun. My two examples were not reliable. It may have been my grip, but I wasn't going to change my grip for one gun.

P2000 V2 9mm- Several hundred rounds through it, and I just couldn't get used to the LEM. That's on me, but in my mind it was the ideal carry gun. Too bad it didn't work for me.

[BWT]

A CZ-75B in 9mm.

I was shooting my Glock 34 with a friend and thought - geez this may be expensive as I may be suddenly not be able to refute how good this is. I had a lengthy first attempt at handguns with a Dan Wesson 1911 (ironically pre-CZ).

I was concerned I’d like the DA/SA trigger, and that the ergos of a thumb safety, slide release, etc. would persuade me.

Definitely not my experience - my thumbs are more curved and couldn’t hit the slide release or mag release without shifting my grip or using my other hand for the mag release. The safety wasn’t in the same universe as a 1911 safety.

The trigger wasn’t great, and probably could be tuned and be a lot better.

But I felt good and re-assured that my Tactical Tupperware was still #1 in my heart.

I was scared it was going to be like my experience with a SA TRP and I just had to eventually get one (I did). It was not that for me.

ETA:

Something about considering something everyone else loves... when you have hundreds (if not over a thousands of dollars) in Glock 17 and 19 mags... own four different pistols that can use them, holsters nights sights, and you pick up something new to try... you’re like “Whew - dodged a bullet on that one”.

[FNFAN]

Colt Officer's model.....ultimate stainless finish.

Found it used at a gun shop I spent way too much money at in the early 90s. Just always loved the Officer's model and this shiny thing was just what my young heart desired.

It would run hardball fine.......but any and all HP loads were a stoppage per magazine. It was either the fifth or sixth round that would hang that gun up.

Every. Magazine. Full.

Took it to a local smith......paid whatever to get it to reliably feed the Speer flying ashtray load (200 grain?) so I could carry it with that much feared .45 load of the times.

Picked it up and took it out.....mag full of the Speers.......first few shots were fine and then that fifth one jammed..........

I can distinctly remember holding it at belt height, turning it to the side, and glaring at it like a jilted lover.

I had two Springfield Armory government models at the time that ate pretty much everything I fed them so I was hating that Colt. Decided to carry it with hardball and drive on.

Ended up selling it for a loss in 97.

I sort of hope it's at the bottom of some river and a catfish is eating the grips right this second.

Regards.

I had a bright stainless Officer's before they came out with the "Ultimate" package with beavertails. Mine did the same thing until a gunsmith suggested using Detonics Combat Master magazine followers. Ran well with those and the ramp polished. Yes the ashtray's were 200gr!

[TheRoland]

Ditto. I initially got a 442 to use as a jogging gun but quickly discarded the idea once I shot it with wadcutters and it was horrible. No matter how much work I put into it, I would never shoot it as quickly and easily as I could with a 42/43. The draw with the holster I used was slow and awkward.

Some people dig snubbies and that’s OK but I genuinely despise them.

I have pretty much the opposite experience. I got a G43 and expected it to be like a single-stack Glock 19. I was disappointed to find it was basically a J-Frame in 9mm that was harder to conceal.

I still carry it because 7 rounds of 9mm is better than 5 of.38SPC, but I'm not any faster or more accurate and I can't safely use floppy deep-concealment holsters with its shorter, lighter trigger. Disappointing.


I've also found every single 5" 9mm 1911 to jam at critical match moments, no matter how great they were outside of matches.

[ReverendMeat]

SIG P225: Always liked single stack 9s for carry purposes and wanted a good ol west german P225 figuring it would carry like my P239 but look not as goofy. Used one came in the shop and I was able to take it out to test fire and gd was that thing unpleasant to shoot. Happily went back to the P239.

SIG P228: I always had a thing for these when I first started getting into guns, I remember buying them in counterstrike every time (even as a CT which is stupid because it does exactly nothing better than the USP they start you off with but whatever I was in love), heard everybody rave about them, praising the lighter weight, shootability, balance, all sorts of things that somehow made them better than the US made guns. Carried well, was reliable, but even after it passed the 2k challenge with flying colors I could not shoot the damned thing for shit and found the recoil impulse downright annoying even compared to my P229 .40.

Traded it in along with my trusty P239 for an M11A1 which was a piece of shit and fuck SIG forever after that one.

[Trigger]

Well, you guys are resurrecting some suppressed memories for me, of pistols that I struggled with, and either fixed or sold.

As was previously mentioned: Gen 1 S&W M&P 5” 9mm. Nice gun on paper, very inaccurate. Made me learn what “dwell” means in pistol operation, such that there was no fix for that pistol’s lack of accuracy. Disappointed. Sold it off.

Les Baer Premier II. Nice gun, until I took it to Ed Cameron for a little tuning. Turns out the factory cut the Barrel link slide stop hole into an oval with a 1/4” round file, in order to make the gun run. I got an education in 1911 design and mechanics as Ed explained to me that the factory did not cut the bridge cut to dimension properly, and thus had to mangle the link pin to get the gun to work. The fix was to recut the bridge cut .030” deeper. I asked Ed to do it all properly, so it got a Kart barrel, hard-fit NM bushing, Wilson link, trigger job and other goodies. Very disappointed the factory did this, but a good gunsmith is worth his weight in gold.

Bought a Les Baer 38 Super, only to discover it has the exact same problem from the factory. Ed got to work his magic on a second pistol. Every Les Baer I have disassembled and inspected since (only about 4-5) has had the same issue. Very disappointed.

Bushmaster ACR. On paper should be the greatest carbine in the world! Piston gas system, ambi everything, folding stock, interchangeable barrels. This gun has everything! Then I shoot it at the range and discover it runs like a slow AK-47, chug chug chug. I could out run the thing on Bill Drills, and I’m not that fast. Turns out the bolt carrier weighs as much as a steam train engine, hence the slow cyclic rate. And those caliber changes? Never materialized. Disappointed, sold it off.

Silver lining to this story? I’m very happy with my various CZ pistols. I’m very happy with my JP SCR-11. I’ve discovered that I like LMOS bolt carriers and love SCS spring systems in ARs. I have lots of ARs now.

[ReverendMeat]

As was previously mentioned: Gen 1 S&W M&P 5” 9mm. Nice gun on paper, very inaccurate. Made me learn what “dwell” means in pistol operation, such that there was no fix for that pistol’s lack of accuracy. Disappointed. Sold it off.


So what exactly was the cause of the M&P accuracy issues? I got a 1st gen that I loved, had a decent trigger, good ergonomics, and was 100% reliable but it was one of two times in my life where I, even as a novice back then, thought I was capable of better accuracy than the gun itself.

[TC215]

Wilson EDC X9. Wanted one for years, thought it would be the perfect gun.

Unfortunately, it feels like holding a bar of soap in your hand and shooting it was very underwhelming. Sold it after 50 rounds.

[TGS]

Wilson EDC X9. Wanted one for years, thought it would be the perfect gun.

Unfortunately, it feels like holding a bar of soap in your hand and shooting it was very underwhelming. Sold it after 50 rounds.

Ooof.

Shit.

That must have stung.

[KeeFus]

Hk USP 45 in full-size and compact. Worst duty guns I’ve ever carried.

It was sold to us as the pistol that Navy Seals (?) were using at the time, early 2000’s, which led me to have high expectations. I had no say in buying them...that is what the Hk fanboy firearms instructor was pushing down admins throat to get rid of the S&W 5906s we were carrying.

[TC215]

Ooof.

Shit.

That must have stung.

I took a hit on it, definitely.

But, “buy high and sell low” is pretty much standard operating procedure for me, seems like.

[Trigger]

So what exactly was the cause of the M&P accuracy issues? I got a 1st gen that I loved, had a decent trigger, good ergonomics, and was 100% reliable but it was one of two times in my life where I, even as a novice back then, thought I was capable of better accuracy than the gun itself.

My understanding of dwell (but I could be wrong):
The cartridge fires and the bullet starts down the barrel. Simultaneously, the barrel and slide start to travel rearward and start the unlock cycle. The unlock process is designed such that the first approximately 1/8” of the slide movement, the barrel it held up in battery with the locking lugs. After this 1/8” of travel, the barrel starts to cam downward, drawn by the geometry of the locking lug and the slide stop. This 1/8” of travel is called “dwell” and allows the bullet to exit the barrel before the barrel unlocks, drops down out of battery and gets all floppy in the slide.

The way the Gen 1 M&P was designed, the barrel unlocked after only about 3/32” of dwell. With a 3.5” or 4.25” barrel, This was enough, and the bullet could clear the barrel within the dwell. With a longer 5” barrel, the bullet apparently could not. So the longer barrel proved to be much less accurate than the shorter ones. There was some discussion of barrel twist rate As a fix, but in my opinion, the dwell was a core design issue. Heavier bullets like 147s needed more dwell than 115s, and accuracy was worse with the heavier bullets. Hence the twist rate discussion.

Additionally, I had more difficulty tracking the front sight during recoil on the M&P. The front sight appeared to track in an oval for me, rather than in a simple vertical line. This was probably due to my grip mechanics, but the bottom line was I could not shoot the pistol well, and my copy had the accuracy of a slingshot at 15 yards. Disappointed.

[spinmove_]

So what exactly was the cause of the M&P accuracy issues? I got a 1st gen that I loved, had a decent trigger, good ergonomics, and was 100% reliable but it was one of two times in my life where I, even as a novice back then, thought I was capable of better accuracy than the gun itself.

For some reason the fullsized M&P 9s had poorly fit barrels to their slides. Apex eventually created Apex Grade barrels that generally fix the issue. They were notorious for getting 8” at 25 yds at best in some samples. You could do a bit better if you were shooting 147gr in some cases, but not always. From what I hear S&W finally fixed those issues in the 2.0.

The M&P40, M&P45, compacts of all flavors, and the Shield series apparently never suffered from this issue.

[Stephanie B]

Well, nobody bought a Colt A-A 2000? Or an original R.51?

[ReverendMeat]

Interesting explanations, thanks. Oddly the single most inaccurate pistol I ever shot wasn't the M&P, but a USP9c of all things

[olstyn]

CZ Scorpion Evo. The ergos are a touch weird (front end feels big and chunky to me, and I don't love the charging handle/bolt release), and for the short two stage match I shot it in (borrowed a friend's just to see what PCC was like), it felt like it was trying to jump around in my hands, possibly due to me not running it right (very limited carbine experience). My understanding is that the bolt is a big, heavy chunk of reciprocating metal, which probably contributes to the jumping sensation. I really wanted to like the gun, but either it didn't mesh well with me or I didn't mesh well with it. I also found the mags to be weird and kind of a pain to load; the 30th round REALLY doesn't want to go in there.

I haven't shot an AR-9 in a match, but the one time I got to try one out on a square range (a "cheap" PSA Glock mag one with a Vortex dot on top), it felt much more natural and controllable than the Scorpion.

[Trooper224]

Thompson M1 SMG: iconic and Sgt. Saunders carried one. However, to my shock and eternal disappointment, the M3 turned out to be a much better subgun.

HK91: it's an HK, so it has to be awesome right? What a cheek slapping bitch that even a 24 pack couldn't make better.

Galil: Israeli, so uber cool points. Turned out to be a pig of a rifle.

Bren Ten: nothing had a higher cool factor in the 80s and nothing was a bigger let down. What a complete clunker.

Colt Officers Model: the gun that convinced me smaller compact guns aren't my jam, especially those that have been cut down from larger ones.

Glock 19: see above. The thing that's as close as possible to a modern everyman's gun feels like it's going to pop out of my hand like a bar of soap.

Colt King Cobra: the real one, not that new poser. Not a bad gun, but very average. It was my first Colt and my expectations were obviously too high.

Colt Python: even a bigger disappointment than the King Cobra. Again, not a bad gun but hardly lived up to its reputation. It made me an S&W revolver fan.

[DMF13]

1911s.

Thought they were great, and wanted them to be great, and even spent lots of time (not to mention money) building my own custom one.

I'm the end they really aren't that great, and for.me the downsides outweigh the upsides. Building one was a fun learning experience though.

[TC215]

1911s.

Thought they were great, and wanted them to be great, and even spent lots of time (not to mention money) building my own custom one.

I'm the end they really aren't that great, and for.me the downsides outweigh the upsides. Building one was a fun learning experience though.

I’m afraid we’re going to have to ask you to leave.

[Clusterfrack]

I’m afraid we’re going to have to ask you to leave.

He can stay over here in my corner where there are no 1911s and no one cares. :D

[Andy T]

I second P7PSP. I picked it up at the FFL, drove to the gun range, shot around a hundred rounds through it, and put it up for sale. All in the span of a single afternoon. Its peculiar manual of arms and heavy weight relative to magazine capacity made it pointless for me. In particular, I tend to grip pistols hard on the front strap. However, on P7, gripping the front strap hard also drops the slide on an empty chamber during reloads.

[DMF13]

I’m afraid we’re going to have to ask you to leave.
https://i.makeagif.com/media/3-13-2016/66ueoj.gif
"I got no place else to go!"

My attempts to post the meme have failed miserably, so.please just imagine Mayo (Richard Gere) yelling at the DI (Lou Gossett Jr.).

[gomerpyle]

The gen 5 Glock 17, 19, and 34. hated the sights, so I sold them....

Also the VP9. Magazine only held 15 so I sold it.

[Totem Polar]

slight drift:
I moved on to a Springfield mil-spec that was awesome after I added some aftermarket sites, a gunsmith-fit beaver tail and bobbed the spur hammer so I didn’t get sprayed with blood from hammer bite. That’s the only gun I’ve ever regreted trading off and I’m kind of feeling the urge to recreate it with an older model mil-spec.

I have to chime in for a sec. I’ve been going through a minor caliber consolidation/herd thinning/paying off debt phase, and have quietly sold/traded off a number of pistols. At one point in there, I walked into my favorite LGS, and there was a minty used NM prefix Mil-Spec in the case, tagged at $459...

With a modest frequent flier discount, it was almost comically cheap OTD, and it shoots and runs perfectly. I’m one of the skinny freaks who can get along fine with A1 hammer and OEM grip safety, so it’s essentially stock, except for a Wilson BP extractor that I put in so I could keep the OEM as a spare (thanks for the tip, P-F).

All of which is to say: they’re out there, crazy cheap, and I’m a believer. Do it.

[BehindBlueI's]

https://i.makeagif.com/media/3-13-2016/66ueoj.gif
"I got no place else to go!"

My attempts to post the meme have failed miserably, so.please just imagine Mayo (Richard Gere) yelling at the DI (Lou Gossett Jr.).

I tried to fix your link but it just goes to a 404 error. If you post a good link in "image" tags instead of "url" tags it should work.

[DMF13]

I tried to fix your link but it just goes to a 404 error. If you post a good link in "image" tags instead of "url" tags it should work.Thanks, but I cant figure out how to get that to work.

Feel to roll your eyes, and say or think, "okay boomer.". I deserve the scorn.

[cornstalker]

S&W M&P 2.0
By all counts it should be the perfect gun for me. It simply isn’t.

Tikka T3 Lite. I just knew the spawn of Sako would be the ultimate hunting rifle. 20 rounds in, I absolutely hated the rifle.

[Totem Polar]

S&W M&P 2.0
By all counts it should be the perfect gun for me. It simply isn’t.

Tikka T3 Lite. I just knew the spawn of Sako would be the ultimate hunting rifle. 20 rounds in, I absolutely hated the rifle.

Can you say more on why? Just curious.

[MistWolf]

What gun(s) did you have built up in your head, and when you actually got a chance to shoot said gun it ended up being a huge disappointment that destroyed your dreams?

Go ahead & laugh- Mine was the .50 Desert Eagle. Big (Strap A Rifle To Your Hip!), beautiful and powerful. It felt solid in the hand and was for sale at Turner's Outdoorsman for $899. Racking the slide, it felt like it was on roller bearings. The magazine was big enough to stuff a 3rd Gen S&W into. I'd go to Turner's at least once a week after work just to stare at it as it lay in the display case, dwarfing even the mighty 1911. It was a time of innocence, before the Desert Eagle made its debut on the screen, before gold plate finishes and long before some crackhead coined the phrase "Deagle".

I lusted for her and in my lust, I put my children on a starvation diet of Ramen noodles. Hollow eyed, I dove without shame into the couches and easy chairs of family and friends for loose change. "OOPS! My keys just fell outta my pocket and into the cushions!"

Then one day at the indoor range, there were deep booms coming from the next bay and flame rings rolled down range. Yes flame rings like from the guns of the Mighty Mo. A heroic figure was firing a Desert Eagle in .50 AE- each thundering shot lighting up the whole of the range like flashes from an artillery strike. He saw me standing, slack jawed and full of envy. He smiled and asked if I'd like to try it.

"Would I!?!" I took the offered pistol lovingly. It was heavy and filled the hand. Then I took the magazine and slid it into the well, released the slide and felt the solid thunk as the slide stripped the first round and locked into battery. Got in behind the behemoth, lined up the sights and touched off the first round. BOOM! The muzzle rose and the pistol slid, rolled & twisted- a vicious beast bent on escape.

I figured that in my excitement I didn't build a good grip so, the second shot, I buried the pistol deeper to get the web of my hand up higher. No go. The large radius of the backstrap kept me from getting my hand up any higher. I did what a could, but the shape of the pistol grip was all wrong for me to get the recoil under control. Once I touched off the shot, the pistol bucked, reared and sunfished like a rodeo bronc and I was just along for the ride. I tried everything. I really wanted to love that big buxom girl. But, I couldn't.

In the end, I went home- dreams shattered- took down the jar I'd been filling with couch money and took my malnourished offspring to McDonald's while I drowned my sorrows in a large chocolate milkshake and smothered them with cold Happy Meal fries...

...but sometimes, deep in the night, I lie awake. Wondering...

[OlongJohnson]

A friend of mine has one.

My verdict: At least a big SA revolver will get through six rounds without a stoppage.

[Paul D]

Walther PPK/S: Interarms import. Heavy-ass trigger and cuts like a mother. Still have it because Bond.

Merkel 140-2 in 470 Nitro: I was looking into one of these guns to supplant my bolt gun to go all Capstick on my next hunt. Heavy as hell. Slow to reload. In a world of red-dots, the express sights didn't do it for me. Not fun to shoot and I love to shoot my 458 Lott. I so wanted to fall in love with it but I was fortunate enough to try it out on the range before sinking all that money into it.

CZ P09. I hated the slide lock and I could modify it or me. Gone.

[gomerpyle]

Interesting explanations, thanks. Oddly the single most inaccurate pistol I ever shot wasn't the M&P, but a USP9c of all things

The uspc9 is like a laser in my hand. It certainly was a better fit fit me than a usp45....

I suspect that's key. Dont even speak to me of the mk23....

[AKDoug]

VP-9. I bought into the hype probably 5 years ago. I bought two. One for my daughter one for me. We spent 4 months and 4 thousand rounds trying to get used to it. It was a train wreck for both of us. We still cannot explain why a pistol that fits your hand so good, shoots so bad for us. We could get good groups slow fire, but speed things up and we were way behind our experiences with our G19's. I passed mine off to my wife, and daughter passed hers off to big sister. Guess what.. both those ladies improved considerably over their G19's.. So younger daughter and I now have two G19's :D Mom and older daughter have VP-9's.

Second one.. picked up Kahr CM9 and CM40. CM9 never fed right. CM40 would eject mags due to several bad mag releases. They were hyped by several magazines as good subcompact pistols, but no dice for me.

[Cyberpunk1981]

For me (everyone grab your pitchforks and torches) Revolvers and Glocks.
I love the looks and the feel of revolvers, especially old (early 20th century) revolvers. Raised on The Untouchables (movie and tv show on VHS) and other gangster material. Always wanted a Detective Special and a pencil barrel S&W. I'm a former Army guy so my pistol experience was the M9 and M11. Oh, and my wife isn't fond of revolvers. After we left the Service one of the first purchases I made was that pencil barrel S&W and a model 36 both with wood stocks. First trip to the range, the 36 slices the knuckle of my thumb open and the pain from the 10-1 was rather severe. I have some ligament/tendon issues in my thumbs for my service. Turns out that after spending lots of money on grips and then working with a hand specialist who shoots too, we discovered that the recoil forces of a revolver translate into my hand in the most painful way possible. His recommendation: stick to semi-autos. I can shoot .45cal (200gr at 850fps) through a 1911 Government without an issue but not .38spl. I have collected several .32S&WL revolvers that I can tolerate to the point of almost enjoying shooting but nothing for SD. I've had to admit that revolvers are a collect for the sake of collection not high round counts.
As for the Glocks, I bought a G35 to shoot IPSC with in 2005 or so with the intention of making a Glock 19 my edc once I left Hawaii. Turns out it didn't really do anything for me. The trigger was meh and I felt like I was constantly fighting the pistol back down on target. I shoot one match with it. Then reshoot two stages with my wife's Beretta 92 and decided those just work better for me. I've tried other striker-fired and decided that the triggers don't excite me and I'd rather have the TDA.

Have you looked at a Walther P99? It is a striker fired DA/SA gun? It is a about the size of a Glock 19 and carries 15 rounds.

[pooty]

so far I loved every gun. only disappointment was going to the 203 range. shoot one of these you'll be wondering, why those beautiful movie fireballs are no where to be found.
hard to aim, and might be the only gun that doesn't sound cool when being loaded or fired irl.


https://youtu.be/HqcDO2pE6H0?t=10
https://youtu.be/wnds62iEb10?t=91

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[Bucky]

Some repeats, Uzi, PPK. Also mentioned, Les Baer Premier II, which is awesome now, but a new gun at that cost shouldn’t require additional work.

Kimber SIS Pro. Such a cool gun, in theory. Cocking serrations are worthless, even in ideal situations. Good thing it had a ledge rear sight. Also, more brass to the head than a first run G4 G19.

S&W 9mm Pro Series 1911. Slide stop notch was cut where the slide didn’t lock back far enough. The slide had no momentum when hitting the release and would not feed. Friend had same gun, and his was cut properly. Sent the gun back with a detailed explanation. They returned the gun with a note they refit the barrel. Also, the grip safety was fitted where a certain grip would clear the trigger only to get a click since it didn’t clear the firing pin safety.

The most disappointing gun still owned is my LCP. Just awful to shoot and not reliable.

[BehindBlueI's]

How about a preemptive one?

For years I've had an unhealthy fascination with the Springfield M1A. I don't know why. I have no use for one other than to occasionally make money into smoke and noise. I seldom have access to a range where it would even be fun to use. But I've built it up in my head as being awesome and AMERICA and fuck yeah all rolled into one. I've never shot one, don't know anybody who has one, and have never even handled one for dry fire.

I'd be disappointed, right?

[spinmove_]

LCP - Damn thing squirmed around in my hands to where recording the split times included readjusting my grip. Couldn’t use the pinky extension magazine floorplates or else rounds would nosedive into the base of the feed ramp around the 4th round. Sold it to someone with different hands than I that could run it better. Replaced it with a 442-1. Haven’t looked back since.

P-07/P-09 - Great on paper. Meh in practice for me. They just didn’t do anything all that much better than my Glocks at the time. Sure they were more comfortable, but there were some shortcomings here and there that could be addressed to not have any issues after I spent around $300 a piece to address. For that much or less I can address similar issues with Glocks and keep driving on.

M&P9 1.0 Fullsize - I wanted to like mine so much, but abysmal groups at 25yds was completely unacceptable. Everything else was great. Maybe a better trigger profile would be nice, but not a deal breaker.

P220 - I loved my P229-1 in 9mm and foolishly sold it off. I love my SP2022 in .40S&W. I do not like shooting the P220 in .45Auto. I’m not sure which I hate more about it, the way .45Auto shoves my hands around in that gun or the serrated trigger. Either way, not an enjoyable experience. I probably won’t ever sell it though because I probably wouldn’t get much for it and it’s a Pre-Cohen SIG, so that counts for something.

[MistWolf]

How about a preemptive one?

For years I've had an unhealthy fascination with the Springfield M1A. I don't know why. I have no use for one other than to occasionally make money into smoke and noise. I seldom have access to a range where it would even be fun to use. But I've built it up in my head as being awesome and AMERICA and fuck yeah all rolled into one. I've never shot one, don't know anybody who has one, and have never even handled one for dry fire.

I'd be disappointed, right?

High maintenance? Yes. Disappointing? No. Like a late sixties muscle car, 308 battlerifles rarely are.

[TGS]

so far I loved every gun. only disappointment was going to the 203 range. shoot one of these you'll be wondering, why those beautiful movie fireballs are no where to be found.
hard to aim, and might be the only gun that doesn't sound cool when being loaded or fired irl.


I have some time on the M203 and Mk19 both from the Marines and my current job.

I love'em. I think they're the most fun thing in the inventory. M2 .50s have never really done anything for me, but the "ploop!" followed by a long wait and boom is something that gets me giddy.

Fully automatic grenades launchers are the tits.


How about a preemptive one?

For years I've had an unhealthy fascination with the Springfield M1A. I don't know why. I have no use for one other than to occasionally make money into smoke and noise. I seldom have access to a range where it would even be fun to use. But I've built it up in my head as being awesome and AMERICA and fuck yeah all rolled into one. I've never shot one, don't know anybody who has one, and have never even handled one for dry fire.

I'd be disappointed, right?

For your purposes I think you'd actually love it. Nothing wrong with buying something you like just because you like it, as long as you keep things in perspective and don't become one of the numpties that touts it as the best rifle America has ever had. Not every gun we buy HAS to be a duty-grade black rifle as if we're fast roping into Abbottabad.

I would recommend trying one before buying as they're awkward handling, but otherwise stop hating yourself and get what you want.

If it makes you feel better and helps you come out of the closet, I own a PSL which is objectively an even worse gun than the M1A. Here's another garbage rifle I own just because they're cool:

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[JodyH]

P320
I have 4 of them with really low round counts that I need to dig out of the safe and sell.
For me they are a whole lot of mehh topped off with a "don't drop it" cherry.
I bought them to try and get away from "snowflake" designs like the VP9 because I was tired of having limited options on gear and accessories, then I came to the conclusion that Glock was the answer to that problem all along.

[BobM]

How about a preemptive one?

For years I've had an unhealthy fascination with the Springfield M1A. I don't know why. I have no use for one other than to occasionally make money into smoke and noise. I seldom have access to a range where it would even be fun to use. But I've built it up in my head as being awesome and AMERICA and fuck yeah all rolled into one. I've never shot one, don't know anybody who has one, and have never even handled one for dry fire.

I'd be disappointed, right?
I was disappointed with the one I bought (I believe it was a Fed Ord) back in the early 90s. It was another thing that I thought would be great but didn’t work out like I thought. I’d forgotten about it til I saw your post.

[Duelist]

Ooh, I had a Yugo SKS, too. All matching numbers, nicely machined steel everything. Not a Chinese part or a stamping to be found.

Most inaccurate rifle I’ve ever fired. I was better off with a muzzleloader if I wanted to hit anything beyond about 20 feet. Within 20 feet, I could use the bayonet.

It was inexpensive and looked cool, but also heavier than a Garand and the same length. But the rifle grenade launcher and sights!!

I turned it and some 7.62x39 ammo into a Ruger Single Six. Much cheaper to shoot and more accurate.

[Caballoflaco]

How about a preemptive one?

For years I've had an unhealthy fascination with the Springfield M1A. I don't know why. I have no use for one other than to occasionally make money into smoke and noise. I seldom have access to a range where it would even be fun to use. But I've built it up in my head as being awesome and AMERICA and fuck yeah all rolled into one. I've never shot one, don't know anybody who has one, and have never even handled one for dry fire.

I'd be disappointed, right?

As a guy who shot 3gun with an m1a back around 2003 and still has it my recommendation if you want to shoot iron sites would be to skip it and get a Garand, even one in 308 if you don’t have one. As a range toy it’s still got the America Hell Yeah factor! And for turning money into noise it doesn’t really give up anything to the m1a except ease of mounting optics and the scope mounts for m1a’s kind of suck and stupid expensive on top of an already pricey rifle.
Plus en block clips have their own cool factor.

[Half Moon]

How about a preemptive one?

For years I've had an unhealthy fascination with the Springfield M1A. I don't know why. I have no use for one other than to occasionally make money into smoke and noise. I seldom have access to a range where it would even be fun to use. But I've built it up in my head as being awesome and AMERICA and fuck yeah all rolled into one. I've never shot one, don't know anybody who has one, and have never even handled one for dry fire.

I'd be disappointed, right?

For what its worth, I've never shot an M1A but I have shot M-14's. Big, bulky, OK-ish accuracy. They were fine for our purposes - sharpshooters operating from relatively static high points on a ship. Wouldn't rush to buy one though. You'd probably be better served by a well tuned bolt action.

Then again, I've owned and loved Garands which have all the same flaws. Go figure :-)

[cornstalker]

Can you say more on why? Just curious.

The fit of the M&P is all wrong. Feels good in the hand when fondling, but live fire was a different story. Texture is obnoxious. Points high despite 18° grip angle. Front sight looks like a rabbit in the headlights on accelerated strings.
The thumb safety model was worse. For me the safety was right in the way and blocks the path to the slide release lever.

The Tikka felt like I was shouldering a boat oar. The stock was oddly proportioned for me. For being a .270, it kicked like a mule. Also, the one I had briefly was not an "x" model so it had the ejection port that was approximately 1.05 times the width of a .270 Win cartridge.

I forgot about the LCP. I expected that to be a disappointment and it still exceeded my expectations. What a wretched little device. I have seen some guys make them sing. For me, I couldn't hit the broad side of a barn from the inside.

[Half Moon]

I can find redeeming qualities in most of the firearms I've owned even if I've decided they weren't for me. Exceptions that come to mind are the Firestar .45 and the PPK/S .380.

But for legendary to meh its got to be the Coonan Compact .357

Read the gun rag articles in the 80's and 90's. Seen the You Tube videos including Miculek banging a Coo-Nan away. Ooh and Aah and much wants!

So we've seen an uptick in Black Bear sightings a few years back and I've got perfectly servicable magnum revolvers but I've also been hankering after getting a 1911 back in the house. I start to thinking a 10 mm wouldn't be a bad fit. Go to the gun store to feel some up and there it is - a brand new Coonan. It's a little pricier than the 10 mm's but - COO-NAN! I pony up and bring it home, visions of fireballs dancing in my head.

Next range trip break it out: BANG (giggle), BANG (giggle), ... CLUNK! Jammed. Clear it, resume, soon enough CLUNK!.

Figure it needs breaking in and the right load. Whatever I try though, still can't get through 3 mags, and often not 1 mag, without a jam. Contact Coonan. They say well it needs break in and a lot of oil. They include pics recommended of oil levels.

I put enough dino-juice on the key points, as recommended, to significantly lower the levels of the La Brea Tar Pits. Out to the range and... CLUNK!

700 rounds in to ownership and got tired of trying to make it work. Finally traded it off for a very nice 1917 S&W (can't have too many, never know when the Hun will rise up again...). Gave full disclosure to trade partner but he assured me I was probably limp wristing it and HE wouldn't have that problem! I could only think: you poor sap, wait until you know...

[Trooper224]

How about a preemptive one?

For years I've had an unhealthy fascination with the Springfield M1A. I don't know why. I have no use for one other than to occasionally make money into smoke and noise. I seldom have access to a range where it would even be fun to use. But I've built it up in my head as being awesome and AMERICA and fuck yeah all rolled into one. I've never shot one, don't know anybody who has one, and have never even handled one for dry fire.

I'd be disappointed, right?

Used an M14 in servitude to Uncle Sugar, also shot an M1A in competition for a while.

I recommend two alternatives:

For 'murica! and fix bayonets John Wayne vibes, just get an M1 Garand. Otherwise get an FAL, it's what the M14 should have been all along.

[awp_101]

Here's another garbage rifle I own just because they're cool:

53959
No idea why, but every so often I get a hankering to collect Balkan military firearms from the late 1800s through the early 2000s. Even knowing the history of the “sniper” 59/66s, they’re high on my “someday when I’m independently wealthy and can blow good money on silly guns” list.

[cheby]

I have had some guns that I did not get right at the time. For example, 1911s, snub revolvers, or HK LEM. However, as years go by I am changing my mind. I found that 1) Those guns have different purposes and I can use them accordingly, and 2) I learned a lot from all and each of them. At the end I do not have any guns that are still disappointing. To me they all have their purpose and place.

[Totem Polar]

Merkel 140-2 in 470 Nitro: I was looking into one of these guns to supplant my bolt gun to go all Capstick on my next hunt. Heavy as hell. Slow to reload. In a world of red-dots, the express sights didn't do it for me. Not fun to shoot and I love to shoot my 458 Lott. I so wanted to fall in love with it but I was fortunate enough to try it out on the range before sinking all that money into it...

That is baller-level disappointment, alright. I tip my hat to you, sir.

:cool:

[Old Virginia]

Sig 365 had something wrong with each couple of months. It got to the point of which flavor of the month now. Got rid of it with full dis-closer and went back to my Kahrs which run like a top. Also use to shoot LCP's. Had so many and all would fall like a cheap lawn chair when any amount of substantial ammo through them. Bought the Kahr (2) of them and three Beretta Pico's and never looked back. The run like sewing machines. Also have close to 15,000 rds now through a Beretta Nano and love the gun. Bought two more and all run fine.

[T Smith]

Back in the late '80s, having never owned (or even shot) a 1911, I began to think about getting one. My cool friends had them and I wanted one too. The reputation of the .45 ACPs recoil was a bit daunting to me but I thought if only one could be had in 9mm, that pistol would be perfect. Unfortunately, I eventually came across an article in one of the magazines announcing that Colt decided to make a special run of 9mm Gold Cups. I made the necessary trip to my LGS with check in hand and a couple weeks later I was able to pick up the box containing my ideal 1911. The first thing I saw was a one-inch shiny buffing mark on the slide in the section where the slide was bead blasted. Somewhat disappointed (maybe the gunsmith at the range would know how to make it right) I took it out to the range. I couldn't keep my shots on paper at 15 yards. After moving the adjustable rear sight as far to the left as it would go, I was rewarded with a nice, tight group - 8 inches to the right of the X. Took in into the gunsmith, who determined the slide was milled off center. I sent the target and gun back to Colt explaining the problem and after a time, got the pistol back and functioning as it should. Shortly after that, I bought a .45 and got rid of the Gold Cup. Disappointing indeed!

[Kyle Reese]

HK93- Gun that is always wanted, but it wouldn’t shoot M193 reliably, had a dogshit trigger, and was heavy and clunky compared to my ARs. Sold it and don’t regret it for a second.

S&W M&P9s- I’ve owned several examples from 2010-2017, and they’ve all been lackluster in the accuracy department. Hard pass.

Ruger Mini-14- Old man bought it for me when I graduated from OSUT, and I 86ed it a few years later. Accuracy was so bad it made my 1951 Soviet SKS look like a Camp Perry special.

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[donlapalma]

HK P30. I tried really hard to like it, but it just wasn't for me.

[Evil_Ed]

Probably going to catch a lot of flak, but...a Beretta PX4 compact. :eek: Given all the upsell here I was expecting a 70's Lincoln-esque suspension soft shooter that could ring steel at 200 yard with just a glance and some minor Kentucky Windage.

What I got was a pre-wetted well worn bar of soap. Even with the large grip strap, that thing just squirmed and twisted around like I was trying to shoot a gun with a very anxious cat as it's grip. I wear XL gloves and think a CZ 97 is just about great, so long as it's not wearing thin grips. A Gen 3 Glock 21 is almost perfect; just needs a little more grip texture. My hands aren't quite gorilla-sized but they're not far from it.

Now, to be fair to the gun and unfair to me, it already had a strike against it because at that time I didn't really see the utility of owning a gun I couldn't put a can on (which was stupid of me) and, given that, I wasn't really willing to throw too much money at it for things like sights or grip treatments. I wound up moving it on for a stupid cheap price, because I just didn't care. Hindsight is 20/20...you can't see the cluebat until after it hits you.

Since then I've kind of modified my position on some things. I've got another one on the way in shortly, and this one I plan on giving a more fair shake to. I really did like how it shot when it wasn't moving around in my hand. This time around, now that I know swapping around grip modules won't help so much and I need to just stick with the large backstrap, I'm going to throw some Talons on there and see if that helps. I've had some bad experiences with Talons before on other guns; I could actually move the Talon grips around on a couple of them when I clamped down. Not very stable. They apparently have a new version out with a 3rd grip texture, which sounds like it's what I've been wanting (grippier than the rubber but not quite skateboard sandpaper like). It can't hurt to give that a shot and see if that improves things. I've never sent a gun off for stippling, but if Talons improve it's shootablity that much, I may very well just do that.

With my luck, as soon as I get it in and take a liking to it, Beretta will announce a new version of the PX4 with a substantially upgraded grip mold which incorporates a texture like the texture on a P320's grip module...which to me is just about perfect...

[Elwin]

Wlather PPK in .380, 1993 Interarms manufacture. First carry gun. It's odd for the "disappointments" thread because I actually really liked it for a couple years. Carried it, and shot it a lot (wearing a glove and constantly reinforcing the web with duct tape when it inevitably lost its fight with the slide). It was even reliable with both ball and Fiocchi's loading of the XTP, and was accurate as hell. The single action trigger was great and I learned to make do with the double action pull.

Then I started gripping pistols the "right" way, shooting drills for time, comparing it to my more recently-acquired P99 and P99 Compact, and carrying AIWB. Suddenly the PPK didn't work so well for me anymore. At all. When I finally gave up trying to mitigate slide bite so I could use the same grip as my other pistols and shoot without gloves, I sold it to my father-in-law (who was consciously doing me a favor) and bought a second full size P99. Probably the best selling/buying decision I've made.

[Sero Sed Serio]

SIG P239: At the time I was carrying 229s exclusively, so thought the 239 would be a good option for deeper concealment. I shoot the double stack SIGs extremely well, but struggled to hold minute-of-silhouette with the 239.

P30: Something about the extended HK mag release causes me to drop mags under recoil. I could barely get through a magazine this happening. Probably a quirky combination of hand/finger size and grip, but it's disappointing because I had high hopes for the gun.

[Wise_A]

How about a preemptive one?

For years I've had an unhealthy fascination with the Springfield M1A. I don't know why. I have no use for one other than to occasionally make money into smoke and noise. I seldom have access to a range where it would even be fun to use. But I've built it up in my head as being awesome and AMERICA and fuck yeah all rolled into one. I've never shot one, don't know anybody who has one, and have never even handled one for dry fire.

I'd be disappointed, right?

I would really like the gun that the M1A is supposed to be. But it's not that. In the best of cases, you'd do well to get 1.5"-2" out of that $1000+ rifle. If you wanted to spend money and make it better, you'd be looking at not just bedding it but re-bedding the damn thing with regularity. It's joked that M1A guys have three rifles--the gun they're taking to the match, the gun that's at the 'smith, and the one that needs to go to the smith. By the time you were done turning it into a passable target gun, you could have had a superb AR-10, or a custom bolt-action. In the latter case, you could be into some aggressively-overbored 6mm and 6.5mm cartridges with 1k-round barrel lifes, and still do less work than that semiauto .308.

It would be okay just as a gun to screw around with, but if that was the goal all along, why not just get a Ruger Mini-14 for a few hundred less and shoot less-expensive ammunition?

Frankly, if I was going to get a 'Murica gun, I would build an M40 clone chambered in .308.

[Stephanie B]

Back in the pre-Internet days, I had a Garand that was a bit of a puzzle. It was a freaking tack driver with Winchester Silvertips, but it threw ball ammo with less accuracy that that pitcher in Bull Durham. I had it rebarrelled, with no change in performance.

I ended up trading it for a custom built 486 computer.

[BehindBlueI's]

It would be okay just as a gun to screw around with, but if that was the goal all along, why not just get a Ruger Mini-14 for a few hundred less and shoot less-expensive ammunition?

Because it's not as cool and I haven't built up the Mini-14 in my head. Quite the opposite.

My main issue is I'm way too cheap to drop over $1k on something that fills no real use a blank firing replica wouldn't. The opportunity costs run through my head, I put in terms of what trip I could take for the same money, and I can't break the wallet open.

[STI]

P320
I have 4 of them with really low round counts that I need to dig out of the safe and sell.
For me they are a whole lot of mehh topped off with a "don't drop it" cherry.
I bought them to try and get away from "snowflake" designs like the VP9 because I was tired of having limited options on gear and accessories, then I came to the conclusion that Glock was the answer to that problem all along.

Thanks for the new sig material Jody!

[awp_101]

Some of my disappointments have been my own fault because I didn't know until much later that I was the problem in the system.

Bryco .380 - The very first handgun I bought on my own, bought it within a couple of months after I turned 21 so 1993-ish. The very first round failed to fully feed and I found out the chamber wasn't finished, it was roughly 1/16" too short.

Rhineland Arms R22 - used a 10/22 bolt and action, 10/22 mags but took HK furniture IIRC. The company was local and I knew the owner in passing because he ran my favorite gunshop before getting into the gun building business. I ordered one of the heavy barrel target models because I was going to be a target shooting fool using a rifle that was cooler than a 10/22 but had 10/22 reliability baked in. Except it didn't. It would barely make it through a 10rd mag without a failure.

Being a rimfire guy, I knew rimfires can be fiddly so I emailed RA with the problem. "Yeah, we discovered a problem. You'll have to grind the bolt down in this spot and chamfer this other place". Excuse me? No, I need to know how to send this back so you can fix it. "Yeah, we really aren't set up for that right now, sorry" and silence after that email.

Beretta NEOS - Bought one when they first came out ( I know...) and found out during the first range trip the trigger wouldn't reset. Sent it to Beretta where they had it for just short of forever. They found a problem with some of the frames in the initial runs of pistols (it was a documented issue on a couple of rimfire boards at the time) and replaced it with a brand new one. Here's where I became the problem: Once I got the replacement I tried to field strip it and the thumbscrew holding the barrel in place wouldn't move. Tried oil. Nothing. Gentle persuasion. Nothing. Less than gentle persuasion. Nothing. Put it up for the night and traded it the next day. Figured out later I was trying to turn the screw the wrong way....DOH!

Special Weapons SW5 - Took forever and a day to get it after I ordered it direct from SW (apparently "in stock" meant they had the kits in stock but hadn't built them yet or something similar). For the price and the wait time I found it "meh" and traded it to my shooting buddy. He put more rounds through it than I had initially and started having problems with it. I felt bad and offered to undo the trade but he was sure he could fix it. I know he through a bunch of HK parts at it but I don't know if he ever got it reliable or not.

USP45 FS - Got a screaming deal on one in a pawn shop because it came in with no mags. Talked them down the cost of 2 replacement mags so I got it for something like $250-275 in 2007-2008. I'd recently seen Collateral and I was ready to make it sing like Vincent did. Again, I was the problem because I didn't know I had no idea how to run a pistol at speed. I didn't even know how to run one faster than 1 shot per second. Traded it to my shooting buddy because he's an HK guy and AFAIK he's still got it.

I'm sure there's more I've forgotten about...

[HCM]

My understanding of dwell (but I could be wrong):
The cartridge fires and the bullet starts down the barrel. Simultaneously, the barrel and slide start to travel rearward and start the unlock cycle. The unlock process is designed such that the first approximately 1/8” of the slide movement, the barrel it held up in battery with the locking lugs. After this 1/8” of travel, the barrel starts to cam downward, drawn by the geometry of the locking lug and the slide stop. This 1/8” of travel is called “dwell” and allows the bullet to exit the barrel before the barrel unlocks, drops down out of battery and gets all floppy in the slide.

The way the Gen 1 M&P was designed, the barrel unlocked after only about 3/32” of dwell. With a 3.5” or 4.25” barrel, This was enough, and the bullet could clear the barrel within the dwell. With a longer 5” barrel, the bullet apparently could not. So the longer barrel proved to be much less accurate than the shorter ones. There was some discussion of barrel twist rate As a fix, but in my opinion, the dwell was a core design issue. Heavier bullets like 147s needed more dwell than 115s, and accuracy was worse with the heavier bullets. Hence the twist rate discussion.

Additionally, I had more difficulty tracking the front sight during recoil on the M&P. The front sight appeared to track in an oval for me, rather than in a simple vertical line. This was probably due to my grip mechanics, but the bottom line was I could not shoot the pistol well, and my copy had the accuracy of a slingshot at 15 yards. Disappointed.

The tracking issue with M&Ps is due to that rounded grip that “feels” so good in dry handling. IME gun’s with flat sides like Glocks, 1911s, CZ etc track better than rounded grips like the M&P or the various HK Spider-Man grips.

On the Gen 1 9mm M&P, a few outliers had no accuracy issues, many had issues with lighter bullets and would shoot better with 147s and some would not shoot well with anything.

The weird thing is the M&P 40, the caliber the gun was designed around, shot well and the .45 models are normally exceptionally accurate.

[Jared]

CZ Shadow 2.

It actually was a good gun, just not a really good choice for me. I’d heard so much about how awesome Shadows were that when I saw this Shadow 2 at a LGS I had to have it. After I think 3 range trips it went back to the same shop on consignment. I think the major problem was that it was just too damn heavy for my tastes. It kinda made a Beretta 92 seem like a lightweight. I never could really shoot it any better than a 92 either.

[Hambo]

How about a preemptive one?

For years I've had an unhealthy fascination with the Springfield M1A. I don't know why. I have no use for one other than to occasionally make money into smoke and noise. I seldom have access to a range where it would even be fun to use. But I've built it up in my head as being awesome and AMERICA and fuck yeah all rolled into one. I've never shot one, don't know anybody who has one, and have never even handled one for dry fire.

I'd be disappointed, right?

Yep. And if you're thinking about a M1 or FAL, they'll be disappointing, too. In fairness, they're all fun for a while, like Okie John said about full auto. It's just that the fun doesn't last long.

[Bucky]

CZ Shadow 2.

It actually was a good gun, just not a really good choice for me. I’d heard so much about how awesome Shadows were that when I saw this Shadow 2 at a LGS I had to have it. After I think 3 range trips it went back to the same shop on consignment. I think the major problem was that it was just too damn heavy for my tastes. It kinda made a Beretta 92 seem like a lightweight. I never could really shoot it any better than a 92 either.

I really didn’t like my Shadow 2 when I got it. Felt awkward in the hand, and gave me a blister with extended shooting. was close to selling it, when I thought I should at least shoot a match with it. Now I have two, and will likely get a third after this shot storm subsides.

Had I sold the gun, it might have made my list as well. Not implying you made the wrong decision, it is a heavy sucker for sure. Just sharing my experience. Heck, my first two G19s were disappointing to me., which is probably an unpopular opinion.

[Tom Duffy]

Back in ancient times, around 1972, I saw a used Dan Wesson revolver for sale at my gun store. It had the 3 interchangeable barrels - 2 1/2, 4, and 6 inches and two wooden grips, one for target and one for concealment. At an impressionable 21 years old, I thought it was the coolest thing ever.
The gun was noted for its short double action and the salesman told me Dan Wesson had left S&W so he could build a better revolver. I was sold.
What a piece of junk. The double action was short and horrible; the action would lock up at random and in retrospect it was the least fun gun I've ever shot. It finally locked up for good.
I still have it packed up and haven't look at it since. I bought a Python, which still works fine, and thought it was the greatest thing ever. Compared to the low bar the Dan Wesson set, it was.
The Dan Wesson left one "experience scar" - to this day, I would never buy a used gun, being afraid I'd be inheriting someone else's problem.

[Kyle Reese]

Add FS2000 to my list. I bought the rifle while home on leave from Iraq in 2007, after drooling over one for about a year. I buy it, take it home, clean it, slap an Aimpoint on and hit the range. The ergos felt like I was holding a giant snapper and the trigger pull was something that belonged on a cheap toy, and not a $2000+ rifle. With tears in my eyes, I sold it a few years later.


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[Bucky]

The ergos felt like I was holding a giant snapper...


I'm just going to assume you are talking about the fish. ;)

[Kyle Reese]

I'm just going to assume you are talking about the fish. ;)

Yup- :)

[Guerrero]

...The ergos felt like I was holding a giant snapper...

Well... it *is* the "tactical tuna."

[Rex G]

Every 1911 I have owned, that was smaller than a Government Model has disappointed, for fit/feeding/functioning reasons, except for two Les Baers, which disappointed because I could not shoot them nearly as well as an all-steel 1911, except from a rest, and did not actually feel any lighter while being carried.

The compact 1911 rogue’s gallery:

Detonics Combat Master

Detonics Mk VII

ODI Viking.

Stainless Commander

Officer ACP, Lightweight

1991-series Commander

Early-Nineties-era Lightweight Commander

Wilson Combat Sentinel

[Seven_Sicks_Two]

Hmmm...

Remington 700 VLS in .260: I picked it up from a shooting buddy when I got interested in 6.5 caliber stuff. 6.5 CM hadn't yet built up a full head of steam and this seemed like "the answer". The twist rate was too slow, and couldn't stabilize the bullets I wanted to shoot. Shooting buddy let me off the hook on the trade.

Glock 43: I really, really wanted to like this gun. Unfortunately, the grip shape never really worked well with my hands. I had an interesting run-in with three sketchy dudes putting on masks in a convenience store parking lot (long before putting masks on was the polite thing to do). Knowing I only had 7 rounds in the gun didn't inspire confidence. I did manage to flip it at a profit though, so that was cool.

Kel-Tec: pretty much everything they've ever made. I always think, "Maybe this one will be different!" It isn't. They're neat concepts that suffer from poor execution. The KSG feels like racking a nerf gun, the Sub-2k slaps your cheek, my PF9 never worked right, and eventually barfed the extractor. I recently went shooting with some acquaintances that were pretty heavy into the Kel-Tec koolaid. Between the three of them, there were well over a half dozen KT carbines (including a stamped SBR). The Sub-2000s were slappy, but ran okay, the sights sucked. Both RDBs shit the bed to the point of requiring disassembly to resolve issues. The weird PLR/SU-16 stamped thing worked okay I guess, but was noticeably crappier than a decent AR.

[Rex G]

In the late Nienties, which was supposed to be when the “good” Kimbers were made, I bought two Classic Customs, and a Stainless Gold Match. None would work with the their own magazines. All were quite accurate. I earned a doctorate in malfunction-clearing. All fed 185-grain match target wadcutters, once I discovered which magazines they liked, but I was/am not a bullseye shooter.

The Classic Customs would not reliably lock open, when empty, with my Wilson mags, or other mags on hand at the time. I installed Wilson Bulletproof Slide Stops, which enabled reliable locking open when empty, but feeding issues persisted. On the advice of firearms training unit instructors, I ordered Metalform 7-round mags, with metal followers. One Kimber Classic Custom eventually became reliable enough, to trust, on the street. The other seemed to insist upon a failure-to-feed about once in every 500 rounds of duty ammo, relegating it to training status.

The Stainless Gold Match was one of the most-accurate weapons I have ever owned. It quickly showed its first problem, however, when it starting failing to extract, as soon as it got warm, from firing. I pulled the extractor, and found it had a backward bend. Ah, the ol’ improper heat-treat issue; no mystery there. Onto the magazines; of course, its OEM mag was failure-prone. It hated the Metalform mags, that were the only thing my other Kimbers liked. I found that the Stainless Gold Match insisted upon Power Mags, which it fed reliably, but it also tried to feed the followers of these Power Mags, when locking-open when empty, so they would not always drop free. This might be OK at a bullseye match, but is no bueno for a street gun. This one did not stay with me very long.

During a patrol rifle certification course, in 2002, while doing transition drills, I discovered that the then-mandated Safariland 070 duty holster was preventing me from getting enough of my skinny, boney hand onto the grip safety. I found this to be disturbingly repeatable*. This ended my days of toting a Kimber duty pistol. I sold both Classic Customs. Sadly, I threw the baby out with the bath water, selling my perfectly good Colt Classic Government, as I tried to embrace .40 Glock-dom. .40 S&W was the mandated duty cartridge, by then, if/when I let my “grandfathered” duty pistols lapse. The G22 seemed to be the least of the evils, for which I could settle. (I switched to a SIG P229R, A couple of years later, when I discovered the OEM short-reach trigger, which enabled me to get enough finger properly-placed in the trigger face.)

I never liked Gen 3 G22 Glocks, but I knew that, going in, so do not list them as being disappointing. Gen4 and Gen5 Glocks are MUCH better, for me.

*My right hand was not aging well, and was losing mass.

[BN]

1911s.


For me it's custom 1911's. For the money spent, they should work all the time. I hated having to go through all the mags I had plus the new ones I bought, plus the other batch of new mags, just trying to find mags that would work all the time. :( Then the cost of all the ammo used up just testing. Probably why I mostly just shoot Glocks any more.

And then there was that Charter Arms Pathfinder back in the day. I just wanted a handy little 22 revolver. :(

[Jared]

I really didn’t like my Shadow 2 when I got it. Felt awkward in the hand, and gave me a blister with extended shooting. was close to selling it, when I thought I should at least shoot a match with it. Now I have two, and will likely get a third after this shot storm subsides.

Had I sold the gun, it might have made my list as well. Not implying you made the wrong decision, it is a heavy sucker for sure. Just sharing my experience. Heck, my first two G19s were disappointing to me., which is probably an unpopular opinion.

I think part of my problem, honestly, was it cost over $1k. There’s something in my brain, once a gun gets to a thousand bucks, it’d better damn near shoot itself. I’ve let go of more than 1 gun that was over a grand because the performance delta in no way matched the price delta compared to a $700 or less pistol.

The second most disappointing pistol I bought was the Wilson Beretta 92 Centurion. Biggest issue there? I shot a pretty lightly modded 92 FS that I had like $600 bucks in as well as or better on every drill I tried as the Wilson...... That was a major case of the price delta ya performance delta thing. I have that gun a lot of tries because I really really wanted it to work out. Sold it about a year ago.

[Odin Bravo One]

KAC SR-25 Mk11.

The example I had was so disappointing, I’ve listed it as one of the pallbearers at my funeral; just so it can let me down one last time.

[awp_101]

I'm sure there's more I've forgotten about...
Not so much a firearm, but a caliber: .327 Federal - all the blast of a .357 without an inexpensive understudy/plinking caliber like the .357/.38 relationship.

I've had a Single Seven and the newer 4" SP101. The S7 was just OK but I could use my stash of .32 Auto in it for fun. Sent it down the road when I just couldn't warm up to it and the chances of finding the other .32 calibers it can fire for less than .38 Special prices were slim and none.

A year or so later I found the newly released 4" adjustable sight SP and fell in really serious like with it. Waited 6 months or so for the bugs to be worked out and bought one. Found out the hard way that while the ejector rod of the S7 didn't care about .32 Auto being semi-rimmed, the extractor star of the SP certainly did because there wasn't enough rim to grab. Traded it off for a 4" .357 GP and haven't regretted getting out out of the .327 game.

[HCM]

Beretta PX4 Compact
HK P7
Glock 43
All SIG DAK guns
Colt Officers ACP
The M14 (not M1A)
FN FALs

[OlongJohnson]

Not so much a firearm, but a caliber: .327 Federal - all the blast of a .357 without an inexpensive understudy/plinking caliber like the .357/.38 relationship.

I've had a Single Seven and the newer 4" SP101. The S7 was just OK but I could use my stash of .32 Auto in it for fun. Sent it down the road when I just couldn't warm up to it and the chances of finding the other .32 calibers it can fire for less than .38 Special prices were slim and none.

A year or so later I found the newly released 4" adjustable sight SP and fell in really serious like with it. Waited 6 months or so for the bugs to be worked out and bought one. Found out the hard way that while the ejector rod of the S7 didn't care about .32 Auto being semi-rimmed, the extractor star of the SP certainly did because there wasn't enough rim to grab. Traded it off for a 4" .357 GP and haven't regretted getting out out of the .327 game.

That's helpful, as I have a recurring itch to pick up one of those. I've typed a few times that if it had a 5-5.5-inch barrel, I'd have done so already.

[Gater]

Another vote for the Glock 43

[RJ]

Wow just noticed this thread...fantastic responses. As a newcomer to guns in 2013, I had zip for context but wanted something "for self defense, you know". I had no clue. In fact I was just tallying up my purchases and later trades today in a spreadsheet because I had been mordibly curious how much money I lost over the last 7 years on various guns.

Out of the buying and later selling, a few stand out as having high expectations and low realities:


Walther PPS M2. I was SOOOO excited about this - small carry gun with 6 or 7+1, and a nice 8 round mag for range trips. Plus it just oozed Walther quality and comfy cozy grip and stuff. Plus there were a bunch of Yoo Toob Internet Experts who went on and on about it. I remember dashing down to my LGS when I found out they had one arrive - and proudly held it in front of the guy to (what I thought) was a thoughtful and approving nod to my sagacity.

Heh.

To it's credit, it shot accurately and never malfunctioned, when firing. But I traded it, along with my early M&P FS 1.0 for an HK VP9, 10 months later. It holds the record for shortest ownership in the guns I've owned. It had a non-reversible mag catch, and while carrying it, twice had the magazine unlatch itself after a bump (I am a lefty). It shot ok, but ultimately I didn't really have a use for a single shot semi-automatic. I completely lost confidence in it. (Amusing anecdote: They placed it for sale in the used guns at my LGS. I saw it one day, remembering the S/N for some odd reason. Now every time I go to my LGS, I see it. No one has bought it I am aware of lol.)


The second biggest disappointment for me (and I am sure I will be drawn and quartered for saying this) was the Glock 26. I'd been shooting my G19 and thought it would make a terrific complement. I thought with commonality of mags, the 10 round capacity, and similar action it would work well. It didn't. I never really warmed up to the fat grip; and it did pretty much what my G19 did, but with 5 fewer rounds. I am thinking when it was introduced, a 10 round G19 was a good (and maybe the only subcompact option) but these days there are (IMHO) much better options for a 10 round CCW. I only owned it for 15 months, probably 10 of which it sat in the safe. It got traded in towards Shootin' Partner's P365. I don't miss it a bit.


Lastly, and this (again) will cause some to grab pitchforks and lighters, was my P30SK LEM V1. I must have read the LEM thread 500 times. Yeah - Cover suspects. Yeah - Decock automatically. Yeah - 1" trigger travel to give you time to think. Yeah - Trigger you can thumb while holstering. It's the perfect carry gun I exclaimed!

Uh-uh.

I took it through my Tom Givens 2 day class in Everett WA. I looked around smugly and discovered I was the only guy in there shooting a LEM. Philistines.

I could not shoot it worth a damn. The short grip (a tertiary problem) caused issues on reloads, but to be honest, the biggest letdown was the LEM. It just did not work out for me.

[Stephanie B]

Glock 23. If I had a mortal enemy, I would have sold it to him, I hated it that much.

[S Jenks]

Walther PPS M2...

To it's credit, it shot accurately and never malfunctioned, when firing. But I traded it, along with my early M&P FS 1.0 for an HK VP9, 10 months later. It holds the record for shortest ownership in the guns I've owned. It had a non-reversible mag catch, and while carrying it, twice had the magazine unlatch itself after a bump (I am a lefty). It shot ok, but ultimately I didn't really have a use for a single shot semi-automatic. I completely lost confidence in it. (Amusing anecdote: They placed it for sale in the used guns at my LGS. I saw it one day, remembering the S/N for some odd reason. Now every time I go to my LGS, I see it. No one has bought it I am aware of lol.)

Rich, when I got that holster from you I realized the same thing - whoever made it forgot to do the cutout for the mag release. Some short work with a Dremel and it’s fugly but serviceable now.

I’m a righty, so it’s my “right arm’s out of service” IWB.

[1911Nut]

Glock 23. If I had a mortal enemy, I would have sold it to him, I hated it that much.

I remember a period of time about 5-6 years ago when it seemed to me that 75% of all the used pistols FOR SALE OR TRADE on every gun forum and in every LGS were either a G23 or a G22.

Never had the (pleasure?) of owning or shooting one, or for that matter, any pistol in caliber .40 S&W.

[45dotACP]

I remember a period of time about 5-6 years ago when it seemed to me that 75% of all the used pistols FOR SALE OR TRADE on every gun forum and in every LGS were either a G23 or a G22.

Never had the (pleasure?) of owning or shooting one, or for that matter, any pistol in caliber .40 S&W.That's how I bought a police trade in M&P40 for less than 250 dollars.

For the cost of a new M&P I had a conversion 9mm barrel that had that gun shooting ridiculously well.

So I believe .40 cal pistols have their place.

Sent from my moto g(6) using Tapatalk

[11B10]

By this standard, the PPK—especially in .380–is a real contender. Scarlett Johansson looks and image; Lindsay Lohan reliability; Alec Baldwin personality.


Just like to let you know that your descriptions almost caused a beverage regurgitation through my nose.

Thanks, buddy.

[Wise_A]

Honestly, I think my new litmus test for people, groups, and foums, is this: "The Walther PPK is not a good gun."

I said that on another forum, and you would have thought I suggested that smokeless powder was overrated. I mean, I think the thing is a real piece of shit, personally, but all I said was that it wasn't good. But then again, I think I was dealing with the own-50-guns, shoot-twice-a-year boomer crowd.

[MD7305]

Kahr PM9
TRP
J-Frames

[HCM]

Beretta PX4 Compact
HK P7
Glock 43
All SIG DAK guns
Colt Officers ACP
The M14 (not M1A)
FN FALs

Forgot one.

Springfield Armory / Linsey’s Combat Operator 9mm.

[BehindBlueI's]

I remember a period of time about 5-6 years ago when it seemed to me that 75% of all the used pistols FOR SALE OR TRADE on every gun forum and in every LGS were either a G23 or a G22.

Never had the (pleasure?) of owning or shooting one, or for that matter, any pistol in caliber .40 S&W.

I think if I'd have shot a Glock 17 first instead of a 22, I would have had a more positive opinion of Glocks earlier on.

[Glenn E. Meyer]

G27 - deluded by 'stopping power' - snappy recoil for little benefit, it became a G26. SW 317 LS - didn't like the trigger. It did serve a purpose as a financial stream backup gun when I was truly broke and a few hundred bucks from selling it got me through a rough spot.

[JRB]

East German Makarov.

Being an AK dork I felt I needed a 9x18 Mak just to match it all. I found the coveted East German Mak in fantastic shape - 100% matching even the holster and mag, and it looked unfired.
I bought a bunch of ammo for it and went to the range, and the fixed sights regulated about 1ft high and 8in right at 7 yards. Tried different ammo, same result.

It had a stiff, creepy DA, meh SA, and with no way to make it shoot where it was pointed I passed it along to a collector. He was excited for its all matching numbers and matching mag etc.

Putting about 300 rounds through it though, I had zero malfunctions of any kind, it grouped very well, and it piled the brass in a small, neat little area. If only the trigger had been a little less crappy and the damn thing shot where it was aimed..

[Joe in PNG]

East German Makarov.

Being an AK dork I felt I needed a 9x18 Mak just to match it all. I found the coveted East German Mak in fantastic shape - 100% matching even the holster and mag, and it looked unfired.
I bought a bunch of ammo for it and went to the range, and the fixed sights regulated about 1ft high and 8in right at 7 yards. Tried different ammo, same result.

It had a stiff, creepy DA, meh SA, and with no way to make it shoot where it was pointed I passed it along to a collector. He was excited for its all matching numbers and matching mag etc.

Putting about 300 rounds through it though, I had zero malfunctions of any kind, it grouped very well, and it piled the brass in a small, neat little area. If only the trigger had been a little less crappy and the damn thing shot where it was aimed..

How accurate does a gun mainly used for shooting zeks in the back of the head really need to be?

[olstyn]

CZ Shadow 2.

It actually was a good gun, just not a really good choice for me. I’d heard so much about how awesome Shadows were that when I saw this Shadow 2 at a LGS I had to have it. After I think 3 range trips it went back to the same shop on consignment. I think the major problem was that it was just too damn heavy for my tastes. It kinda made a Beretta 92 seem like a lightweight. I never could really shoot it any better than a 92 either.

I shot a friend's Shadow once, and I've dry fired a few others, both Shadow and Shadow 2, at safety tables. The weight doesn't bother me, but something about the ergonomics feels slightly off to me. I know that they're great guns, and they pretty much universally have stupid light, buttery smooth triggers, but between the weird feel in my hands and the fact that manual decocking creeps me out, I'm personally not interested in having one, which is something that makes my bank account happy.

On the other hand, if I was looking to get into Open, I might consider trying a Czechmate because decocking isn't a thing in that scenario.

[awp_101]

East German Makarov.
There's another one I forget except mine was Bulgarian. Buddy had one and I thought it was great after putting a few mags through it so I went out and found my own. I don't remember what grips his had but mine had a hole in the backstrap (maybe for the grip screw?) and it didn't take me long to figure out that wasn't going to work for me so I flipped it for something else.

[flyrodr]

For me it's custom 1911's. For the money spent, they should work all the time. :(

Yep, custom 1911s are the one gun I could put both in the "Disappointing Guns" and in the "High Expectations/Delivered" threads. A full house custom is expected to do pretty much everything better than a stock gun, and look like it (better) as well. I have a couple that have delivered - - - absolutely first class.

And without naming names, I've had a couple that didn't run as well as they should. If you've not experienced the wait, the building expectations, and the (usually) immaculate fit and finish, only to be disappointed at the range . . . well, there's nothing positive about your feelings at the time.

[fixer]

Hk usp 9mm.

Total dog. Wouldn’t run at all.

Ruger 44 mag revolver. The hype/reality ratio was way off on this one for me.

[ASH556]

This one: Benelli M1S90, HK Import, NIB old stock on the wall of the shop I worked in for years. When I got big into 3gn I turned my other M1 into a full-on race gun and I picked this 14" SBS up as my dedicated HD shotgun. I LOVE Benelli shotguns. This was just going to be tits. It would ghost load, so it was a 5 + 1 + 1 proposition, which is pretty great capacity for a 14" 12GA. Paperwork cleared and I couldn't get it home fast enough. Set it up RIGHT with a Surefire forend and we were off to the races...not. It wouldn't run Federal LE1321B with the Surefire forend; too heavy.

So, I came up with a different light setup: X300 on a Nordic Clamp. Worked and the gun ran, Yay!

Then came the next issue: Benelli made these with both rifle sight and ghost ring options. I specifically wanted the rifle sight option and that's what I got. Unfortunately the Pattern was 10-12" high at 25yds. At that point I sold the gun. I lucked into the timing with 41F about to go into effect and a local guy wanted the gun badly, so I didn't really lose anything on the deal, but yeah, definitely a letdown.

https://i.imgur.com/9aCHMoal.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/pvExiApl.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/6PNjHZUl.jpg

[revolvergeek]

Not so much a firearm, but a caliber: .327 Federal - all the blast of a .357 without an inexpensive understudy/plinking caliber like the .357/.38 relationship.

I've had a Single Seven and the newer 4" SP101. The S7 was just OK but I could use my stash of .32 Auto in it for fun. Sent it down the road when I just couldn't warm up to it and the chances of finding the other .32 calibers it can fire for less than .38 Special prices were slim and none.

A year or so later I found the newly released 4" adjustable sight SP and fell in really serious like with it. Waited 6 months or so for the bugs to be worked out and bought one. Found out the hard way that while the ejector rod of the S7 didn't care about .32 Auto being semi-rimmed, the extractor star of the SP certainly did because there wasn't enough rim to grab. Traded it off for a 4" .357 GP and haven't regretted getting out out of the .327 game.

I went through a similar progression. I loved the idea of .327 on paper and had a bunch of them; a 3" taurus snub, and then a 5.5" 8 shot Blackhawk and then 2 Single-7s first one 4.5" and then one 5.5". The 4.5" S7 stuck cases like no tomorrow and had to go back to Ruger. The 3" Taurus felt like it was gonna give me a nosebleed when I shot it with full power ammo (and have spent a fair bitof time shooting 2-3" .357s and one 3" .44 mag snub). With the Federal AE 100 grain softpoint load the Taurus and shorter S7 would have everybody at the indoor range walking over to see what I was shooting.

If finally realized that I was more and more just shooting either .32 mag or .32 mag level handloads in them and sold or traded them all off. I should have just kept a couple of them and shot .32 mag and been happy in life...