Fail

[villageidiot]

I have only witnessed one pistol or revolver break in all my shooting times.It was a Glock that had a trigger return spring break that caused the
pistol to not fire. Has anyone else had a weapon to fail or be damaged
while in the field that rendered it non functional?

 

[Quarterbore]

The only gun I can ever recall not being able to make fire was a Cobray PM9/11 as the firing pins in them were really soft steel and the dumb thing would deform and stop shooting.

Otherwise, I have shot a full auto 10/22 with a suppressor to the point that it got enough dirt that the bolt wouldn't close, does that count :wink:

 

[Ruber]

Saw a Sig P225 and a P226 each fire out of battery launching bits of brass and powder over the shooters within an hour of each other. Both with factory ammo. Bad day for Sigs :?

Also got to see a mini-14 slam-fire through a whole magazine. :shock:

 

[lfpiii]

Auto Ordinance 45 ACP went full auto and then jammed.

Charter Arms AR-7 Explorer Pistol went full auto.

Charter Arms AR-7 Rifle nut holding the barrel broke dropping the barrel.

S&W 64 3-inch barrel. The 2 piece barrel broke off.

S&W 36-0 hammer nose broke.

WWII Remington Rand 45 ACP slide safety broke.

I have about 60 more in a log book. Back when I was in high school I got a job with an engineering company that had a division that tested guns until they broke. I cleaned floors, loaded mags and other things until they later trusted me to help them with the guns.

 

[jforwel]

My original Glock 17 (1988) broke a trigger pin but continued to function and after several thousand rounds broke a trigger return spring. I have three Glocks, and other than these two instances and after many thousands of rounds they keep working!

 

[ddd482]

Auto Ordinance 45 ACP went full auto and then jammed.

Charter Arms AR-7 Explorer Pistol went full auto.

Charter Arms AR-7 Rifle nut holding the barrel broke dropping the barrel.

S&W 64 3-inch barrel. The 2 piece barrel broke off.

S&W 36-0 hammer nose broke.

WWII Remington Rand 45 ACP slide safety broke.

I have about 60 more in a log book. Back when I was in high school I got a job with an engineering company that had a division that tested guns until they broke. I cleaned floors, loaded mags and other things until they later trusted me to help them with the guns.

what a cool job to have- at any age!

 

[Jeepnik]

The most memeorable was my MKI Target. A spring broke, and it went full auto. Ruger sent a new one for free. It was darned easy to replace. Gee, I really like the older Rugers. No plastic, except the grip panels, and you could get wood if you wanted it. And, they never had to be recalled. Oh well, that's progress I guess.

I won't bring up, yes I will, the Matel's Wonder. Thirty years and they still haven't gotten it right.

 

[the fatman]

I saw a S&W with the fireing pin on the hammer pierce a 357 primer and was done for the day. I have seen people shoot rounds with primers only and plug their barrel with a bullet. When I first got my Ruger Alaskan 44 mag I ordered a box of the cheapest ammo that I could find. At the range the cylinder would not always close. I believe the brass was out of spec at the base. As I never again had that problem with other brass. As I have heard all my life anything can happen with something mechanical.

 

[SAJohn]

I had the flat trigger spring on a Colt SA clone break. This is the most famous weakness of the Colt design.

My 2nd generation Colt SAA locked-up in the field one day. I never did figure out why and never had it happen again.

 

[batmann]

I had M 29 4" Smith that would lock up for no reason. I traded it when Smith went to the stainless 629 Mountain Gun. I will not have a gun (or anything else) that doesn't work when you need it.

 

[VAdoublegunner]

I had the hammer plunger break on my Liberty Single-Six (1st handgun I ever bought) one time when I was out squirrel hunting and pinking. If that happens you can't cock it back. I went through a lot of hassle to have a gunshop order me a new plunger (for some reason Ruger wouldn't sell them directly at the time) and after 2 months they got *the wrong #%#$%*part! So I made one with a nail and swiss files. It is still working just fine today, 20 years and thousands of rounds later. I did order a factory one just recently however when ordering some other parts. Apparently they are no longer restricted, and when I told the order person about making one out of a nail 20 years ago she just laughed and asked if I wanted a job there.

Then I had the cocking ears piece shear off of a Ruger Mark II pistol bolt while at the range. Those bolts are 2-piece in case you didn't know. If you start to see a raised ring form on the flat rear section, separation is going to occur at some point. The pistol had probably over 20K rounds through it at the time. A trip back to Ruger fixed it free of charge. I think these days they just have you send the broken bolt in rather than the whole pistol.

 

[Three44s]

80 million gun owners .............

................ own 300 million guns in America ...............

Equals lots of backups.

VIVA the 2A!

Three 44s

 

[RVN11B40]

I had the flat trigger spring on a Colt SA clone break. This is the most famous weakness of the Colt design....

Same thing happened to me with my very first hand gun, a Hawes .22.

REALLY ticked me off! Had it repaired twice and it broke twice. Standard shooting practices, no fanning.

Repaired it a third time and traded if off.

Thank goodness I discovered Rugers SAs.

 

[DuaneH]

Colt Series 70 Gov't. Model with the collet barrel bushing. One of the 4 "fingers" broke off and the loose piece floating around inside prevented the slide from fully cycling.

 

[nn]

Feed latchs and a firing pin spring on shotguns is about it.

 

[96/44]

I have worn out the sears in my MKI, and MKII 22/45 a couple of times. Also wore out the trigger pivot pin on the 22/45, probably at about 50k rounds. Have also had a few centerfire autos start to act up due to weak springs. I accept those failures as maintenance.

 

[Sonnytoo]

Was on a county pistol team yrs ago. We used to have our sears such that the gun would fire with 1/2 to 1 ounce of finger pressure; darned near breathe on it. We didn't have much in regs back then.
We were in a downstairs 50ft range. One fellow on our line had his 1911 .45 ACP go full auto. I think the first one may have hit the target; the second hit the ceiling as the first shot recoiled, and the 3rd shot went through his right collarbone as the 2nd shot recoiled. The bullet went into the wall behind all of the shooters and observers. He went out in an ambulance, but don't think he was seriously hurt.
Sonnytoo

 

[tomiswho]

I was going to make up a story about my GP100 going full auto on me, but I couldn't think of a clever way to do it.

 

[Spike12]

One of my first guns... A pistol version of the 'Survial 7' .22. I think Charter Arms made them for awhile and now I think Henry makes one.

After years of total disgust I took down to my basement, put it on the concret floor and pounded it to very small pieces with the largest sledge hammer I could find. One of my best days.

 

[smoke-eater]

Broken ejector spring in my wife's Marlin 336. Easy and fast to replace.
(not a handgun, I know, but it was the only problem I've experienced in the field.)

Jeff