worst semi-auto experience?

TRanger said:

All the Kimber pistols are vastly over-rated.

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I couldn't agree more! I've owned a couple, shot several more and sold quite a few to customers who had their mind made up. I consider them the Cadillac Escilade of the 1911 world. They are nothing more than a Chevy Tahoe all dolled up with eye candy.

You get about $600 worth of pistol for $1200. Lots of MIM parts dressed up in a very attractive package.

My worst experience was with a Colt .380 Mustang. Kept stove piping. It was more me than the gun. I have big hands and I just couldn't get a good grip on that sucker.

I will not purchase a semi auto pistol in a caliber less than 9mm. I made ONE exception, and that was a Sig Sauer P-230. I purchased it solely because it's one of the original P series pistols and it filled a hole in my Sig collection. I did take it to the range to ensure it went bang every time to which it did. If I HAD to CCW a .380 semi auto pistol, it would be a Sig Sauer P-230.

When it comes to semi auto, I stick to big named manufacturers. Colt, S&W, Ruger, Sig Sauer, Glock.....etc. I'll never buy a Kel Tec, AMT, Taurus, Kahr, Hi-Point...etc. Those are like "B" rated movies.

Well, after reading every post....I think.....seems no one has purchased a Lorcin. Nor have I, but a friend did. :roll:

Well shucks, I bought a Jennings 22LR NIB for $38.00 and it works perfctly with W-W 22LR ammunition. AND...it'll hit tin cans all day out at 25 yards...
And so it goes...

Lol I have had a Jennings .22 and an AMT Backup .380 (Single action with grip safety) both were great guns.

I had a pretty bad experience with hi-point once. It was a 9mm. It stove piped every other round or after 2 shots in, sometimes every round. Gave it to a buddy of mine with full disclosure. I think he had the manufacturer replace it already.

I have had two of them. And both times where when I splurged and spent money on a higher priced gun. The absolute worst was a Smith & Wesson Performance Center 45 carry gun back in 1994. It was so unreliable. And was as accurate as a bent arrow. At 5 yards I had a hard time hitting the back stop, no less the target. It would have missed the barn even if I was inside it. And it took a while to get through the 6 round mag as it jammed constantly. I sent it back to Smith and requested a test target when they sent it back. I took it to the range and it was only slightly better. I had the friend who also owned the gun shop I used to do business with test it out. He couldn't hit much of anything with it either. I showed him the test target and he thought what i did. It looked a lot like someone took a pencil and poked holes in the target. I can't prove that. But it sure did not look like a target that was shot with bullets. If I had the time I would have driven up to the Smith factory and found the guy who supposedly shot that target and had him repeat it in front of me. I don't think he could have. But I will never know for sure. But I do know two guys who are both good shots could not get even close. I traded it in and swore off Smiths. Now I love their revolvers. And I know a lot has changed in the company since then. But if you gave me a Smith semi, I would probably trade it in on something. But depending on the model, might try it out first.

The second was a Kimber. Not going to get into it, except to say, after much frustration, it was traded. Now before someone says anything about trading off bad guns. I made sure the dealers who I traded them with knew of the problems they had. I know the guy with the Smith sent it to smith again. Not sure how it turned out. Not sure what he did with the Kimber.

Bill

A Thompson (Auto Ordnance) 1911 that I bought in college in 1986. I loved that gun but it wouldn't feed reliably for hell. It came very close to going for a swim in the river but it got sold to a local dealer with full disclosure.... Now that they are owned by Kahr I am almost willing to give them another try. Almost.

Having a 1911 go full auto has been likened to a religious experience...

dachshund said:

Having a 1911 go full auto has been likened to a religious experience...

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And the full power cameth forth, like a flood!

mxkop said:

TRanger said:

All the Kimber pistols are vastly over-rated.

Click to expand...

I couldn't agree more! I've owned a couple, shot several more and sold quite a few to customers who had their mind made up. I consider them the Cadillac Escilade of the 1911 world. They are nothing more than a Chevy Tahoe all dolled up with eye candy.

You get about $600 worth of pistol for $1200. Lots of MIM parts dressed up in a very attractive package.

Click to expand...

And a very well advertised package.

MIMber ... The Monster Cable of 1911's ...

REV

+1 on the Kimber observation....

revhigh said:

MIMber ... The Monster Cable of 1911's ...

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BWAAAA-HAAAA - now that there is funny! :lol:

loaded round said:

Black: I'm surprised you had problems with P345. I own one and have put, at last count, over 600 rounds of hard ball through it w/o any problems whatsoever. It is my nightstand pistol, and has been for the past 2 years.

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It was one of the early guns. Plenty of them were rife with issues, and this Forum burned with debate. Now, I loved the feel and ergo's of the gun, but it really was an ultra lemon.

S&W 4506-1.

I could not hit a barn wall, standing inside the barn with that gun.

Don't know if it was me or the gun, but I gave up and sold it after pumping over 500 rounds through it and went back to my 1911.

I picked up a Para Carry 45. I owned it less that 3 hours. Bought and went to the range and it had so many issues I took it back and was able to get a refund.

The worst was a Kimber Ultra Carry II Stainless. I saved up for it because I wanted one so bad. I got it and it never once fed a single magazine without a failure. Sold it off with a full disclaimer and never looked back.

Sig Hammerli Trailside 22 LR. Read the reviews and bought one new when they first came out. FTF, FTE, Slide stop peening, and failure of the slide to hold back on last shot. Returned to factory. Factory exchanged for a new Trailside. Same issues. Returned to factory. Factory exchanged for a second new Trailside; (My third pistol). Same issues...traded it off for a song and cut my losses. They knew it was junk and yet kept selling them...No Sigs for me ever again, don't care how good their centerfire pistols are.

The Preacher

I've bought a "lot" of handguns and only 3 have been nightmare guns.
The first was a Charles Daley 1911, I fanniggled with that POS for months trying to get it to run.
Finally sold it for dirt cheap with a disclaimer just to get it out of my sight.
The next was a Para 14-40 that I bought from a local fella that swore it "ran perfectly".
It wouldn't get through a full magazine without choking.
It was a beautiful gun but I wasn't wasting ammo on it trying to tinker with it.
I ran it right back to his house and got my $$$ back.
The last was a Kahr CW 45 that would fail to go into battery about once every other magazine.

WIL TERRY said:

A Kimber rimfire Target. It has 14,000 rounds through it . Shoots like a 22 rifle. Of those14,000 rounds EXACTLY twenty five magaziness full have gone through with ten consecutive shots. The other 13,000 + have had three to four jams per ten rounds. Of the ten magazines I bought all but three , at $25.00 a piece, would not feed anything and are in the bottom of the Cheyenne river at Wasta.

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Sounds like my wife's SIG Mosquito. The most aptly named gun I've seen. It sucks in so many ways. Feeding issues, ejection issues, firing issues, and a trigger only Bloomberg could love. Mags are way to expensive. No wonder SIG only gives them a 1 year warranty.

I had a S&W 22a that I just didn't like. It shot well and gave me no problems, but I just didn't like it.

My friend had a Glock 27, the first Glock that I ever fired. Three or four rounds was all I could bear. The recoil was worse than my .44 mag.
Oh, I almost forgot about the Tarus tip barrel .22 I bought for my late wife. Our fingertips turned white trying to pull the trigger. I sold it to a young man at work for what I paid for it.

WAY TOO EASY answer! Day my CO pointed a 1911 at me as a target (unloaded/no mags in her possession THANK Gawd!) when I was down range hanging targets for her to attempt to qualify for the 3rd - AND LAST - time - or get kicked out!!!

Yeah, I know, probably NOT what you were looking for or expected, so...

Next worst: first, last and only time I ever fired a 25 auto chromed/pearl gripped "pimp gun" (imo). Chewed the web UP on my hand! Had it been mine - (and Thank Gawd it wasn't!), I would have long tossed it into the woods and never looked back!