Most disappointing gun you've owned?

When para came out with the lda i went to a range and rented one before buying. The trigger locked up so bad the range officer said it had to go back to para. I commented that it seemed weird and he said not really. That gun had been back several times already....i passed on the lda
 
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dmarbell said:
Archon Type B for me. I read and watched the reviews, and found a used one within driving distance. It was supposed to be easy to shoot, low recoil and accurate. I could barely keep the group inside the 5-ring on the 25-yard NRA target at 7 yards. At my age and training level I didn't have time to screw with a pistol like that. Merrily on its way.

Oh, and it looked like the Varon-T Disruptor from Star Trek Next Generation.


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I miss my Archon, one that I sold and regret.
 
My worst was a Diamondback DB380 when they first came out. Looked like a baby Glock with similar takedown arrangement. I was looking to replace my Keltec P3AT for summertime pocket carry duties. Although there was nothing wrong with the Keltec.
So I eagerly purchased a new DB380, took it out to the range with plenty of ammo. I ran two mags worth and thought “we’ll, I like how it feels but it was hitting about 4” off point of aim at 7 yards.” But then it got ugly. At round 52 the internal trigger bar broke and rendered it totally useless. I couldn’t believe it, especially given the price. So I sent back for warranty repair. When I got it back I offered it up as a trade toward something else made by another manufacturer at a dealer that sold Diamondbacks. I won’t be so quick to be an unwitting R&D tester to anyone’s new models in the future. By the way, I replaced the P3AT with a Ruger LCP and have no complaints. It also shoots to point of aim and can consistently hit a pie plate from 15 yards.
From other posts here, looks like there are definitely some “must’ve been made on a Monday” situations out there. Or probably more like, “assembled by the new guy at the factory” and made it through QC when it shouldn’t have.” I hate to hear that.
My Keltec sub 2000 (first Gen) is a tack driver at 50 yards and my cousin’s Ruger American in 5.56 is also a tack driver. But my own Ruger American, not so much…
 
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Ruger KP95 DAO. Loooong stiff trigger pull, wierd ergonomics for my hand. Couldn't hit close to where I wanted.

But Silver Lining! Got it in a package deal at a show, held onto it for a decade+, traded it for a Saiga & a touch of cash at another show. The guy hesitantly offered me $10 over what I paid for it as trade value. I probably could have gotten more, but I was happy to say goodbye to it.
 
I have a tie. I bought a Colt Wiley Clapp Commander in 9mm and a Kimber( I know) Ultra Raptor in 9mm and neither one functioned reliably. They both needed tinkering right out of the box to work correctly. Had a forum member help me troubleshoot and fix the issues, then sent them on their way. But such is the life of a 9mm 1911. Lesson learned.
 
B00ger said:
Little background: I have started to enjoy collecting military surplus firearms. So when a Polish P-64 recently came up for a great price, I jumped on it. I was absolutely thrilled. I had never shot one, and this one looked absolutely mint. Got home and the pistol was awesome. Great transaction with the member here getting it. Everything awesome. Ordered about 200 rounds of 9mm Mak and bided my time before I could get to the range.

Finally, last friday I was able to sneak out for a little while and give it its first shots. I loaded the first mag, loaded, aimed, fired...and though "That cant be right...I must have been holding it wrong." All of the recoil ended up square in the palm of my hand and my support hand to a hard wrapping to my fingers. So I fired again..."Ouch...what am I doing wrong?" I tried multiple holds, adjusted my hands, gripped it in many different ways. And after 50 rounds, a sore hand, and a minor slide bite, I decided that these P-64's were designed to be fired extremely rarely, mainly when executing undesirables or something. Not sure if its the grip size, my hand, my skill, or I wasnt holding my mouth right, but I was completely unable to fire this thing with any ounce of enjoyment. The accuracy was fine, and it ran perfectly fine, but its shape/recoil profile is just anti-me.

So, I am still thrilled to have it in the stable as a beautiful example of post WWII eastern european firearms, but man...the other 150 rounds I have is pretty much a lifetime supply for me now.

So, it got me thinking: Has anyone else ever been super excited about a firearm only to shoot it and become completely underwhelmed?
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That would be my Sig 250 sub compact. That trigger is heavy as hell. I also have a P-64. Do not shoot it often, but do like it.
 
Infamous1 said:
I love mine, I bought it off of a member here. Drove to a buddies house and consistently rung 4" steel at 200yds with the ammo that was in the case with it.
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Mine too. I killed squirrels with mine at 100 yards. Wish I still had it.
 
Infamous1 said:
Mine was the Calico M100. I seen one at a gun show with an underfolder stock and fell in love. I figured that would be a sweet squirrel gun/backpacker. Could not afford that one but kept the thought in my mind. I ran across one a few years later missing the magazine at a price I could afford. Grabbed it up and thoroughly cleaned it. Put a sweet sling on it and single shot it some. Ordered a magazine for it 🙄 (as much as the gun). Loaded it up and charged the mag only to have it blow apart and dump 100rds on the ground. Put it back together and messed with it off and on for awhile and never got it to cycle correctly. Tossed it in the safe and haven't thought about it in years until this thread.
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Calico was a cool looking gun, never seen one in the flesh.
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Never had any issues with it but I disliked the Ruger SR22. Didn't like the way it felt and hated the takedown method.

As for some mentioned above, I've never had an issue with an LCP (have 3) or any XDs which I have multiples of in .45 and 9mm.
 
ECNC said:
That would be my Sig 250 sub compact. That trigger is heavy as hell. I also have a P-64. Do not shoot it often, but do like it.
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I forgot all about the 250. I was an early adopter. Paid 650 new and couldn't hit within 6" of where i aimed. Reliable- yes. Accurate- noooooo sir.
 
Mr. Bggs said:
couldn't hit within 6" of where i aimed. Reliable- yes. Accurate- noooooo sir.
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If that were my criteria, I’d have a lot of guns to sell. 😢
 
I'm far from a marksman, but after letting several skilled shooters try and agree that it just wouldn't put em where they should be going. I dumped it with full disclosure for a big loss.

Guy that got it gave it to his wife so when they competed at the range, he could always win.
 
I purchased a used Taurus model 94. Loved the way it looked and was very accurate. Problem was the cylinder would bind after about 35 rnds and it was very difficult to pull the trigger and difficult to manually cock the hammer. Sent it back to Taurus and after a week they told me it was within specs . I convinced them they were wrong and on the next attempt, the smith changed the hand. Got the gun back and it was still the same.
I took it to Piedmont community college Gunsmithing School where I am currently a student. Diagnosis was out of spec spacer/ bushing that allowed cylinder to move forward and bind on back end of barrel . I measured and made a spacer that was a bit longer. Installed it and gun now runs fine. I just don't have any faith in Taurus repair shop.
 
Glock 43X. I love everything about it except shooting it. The trigger shoe does not jive well with my fingers and is painful enough to blister in under 50 rounds because of crazy trigger slap. The 43 never bothered me, just something about the 43X. Last straw was shooting the 43X with an Airweight at the range. I was enjoying shooting the Airweight more than the 43X and shot 100 rounds of .38Spec instead of more through the 43X. Spent about a case of ammo and a few 43Xs before I called it quits. Moved back to the Glock 26 for magazine compatibility and ease of shooting.
 
Taurus G3c. My first gun. Got so excited about it. Read great reviews on it. Got one for an amazing deal. Felt good in my hand. Shot fmj flawlessly. But then it would be picky on hollow points. Continuous failure to feed on certain ammo (Speer Gold Dot if I'm not mistaken). Not gonna have a gun I can't rely on.
 
JoeR said:
My Ruger 22/45. I'm always surprised when it can make it through a whole mag without a jam. It's especially sad because it is such a tack driver. It just won't feed reliably.

Joe
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This is interesting. Sorry to hear about your experience. I would try a good cleaning and a different mag, along with good fresh ammo (CCI standard velocity)… as these guns are generally really good about eating any ammo. IMO, these along with browning buck marks are some of the better semi auto 22, when it comes to cycling most ammo options
 
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Glock 29SF for me. I wanted to love this one, and I almost kept it anyway. It was my first Glock, and my second polymer framed handgun. I didn't care for the frame flexing while shooting, and I had to immediately replace the sights. It didn't like hard primer French ammo, was getting light strikes, but only with that ammo. What really killed it for me in the end though was reliability.

When I'm thinking of adding a new carry gun I like to find out how dirty I can let it become before a problem occurs, or until I hit 1000 rounds, whichever happens first. Well I'd got to the point where I was preforming this test on the G29, I cleaned it really well before starting, so that it would have the best chance, and it only made it 253 rounds before failing. Glock perfection my ass, it was a failure to feed, the Glock couldn't handle a dirty feed ramp, shooting FMJ ball ammo. I cleaned it, shot it one more time to make sure it was just because it was dirty that it failed, and then sold it. I've toyed with the idea of buying another one, because I want a 10mm in a carry size, G20 is to big, so are 1911s, for me. I know Springfield and S&W make one now, maybe I'll try one of them instead.
 
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Mr. Bggs said:
I forgot all about the 250. I was an early adopter. Paid 650 new and couldn't hit within 6" of where i aimed. Reliable- yes. Accurate- noooooo sir.
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Jeppo said:
If that were my criteria, I’d have a lot of guns to sell. 😢
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I bought a Glock 27 once for $150 cause the guy swore it was defective and shot to the left. But ended up every handgun he bought shot to the left….
 
Burt Gummer said:
I bought a Glock 27 once for $150 cause the guy swore it was defective and shot to the left. But ended up every handgun he bought shot to the left….
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It really had me thinking i was that bad until several buddies who are Def not bad said the same thing. The guy who gave it to his wife loved it and said it was his favorite gun😂
 
The one gun I just knew I was getting rid of was a SCCY. It hurt like hell to shoot it.

But I think the most disappointing gun I've ever owned (expectations vs reality), was a S&W M48-4. Not that I couldn't hit what I was aiming at, but because the blamed cylinder wouldn't turn between rounds. I would have to pop it out, turn it, then pop it back in, just to be able to fire another round.
 
Sig P290RS. Light strikes and won't feed hollow points reliably from factory. Sent it back to factory. Polished the feed ramp, cleaned up firing pin channel and sent back with different magazines. They did fix it, but I still didn't trust it to carry so it got sold back to the dealer and I got a Shield instead.
 
Samsgreen said:
I cant believe I'm the first to say H&K P7. I bought mine for no other reason than beauty, if it wasnt that it would have been gone long ago. They suck to shoot, if/when you do find ammo they will feed.
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I really liked mine, other than it getting really hot after a few mags. Great trigger, low bore axis and very accurate. Mine feed everything. Sorry that you got a lemon.
 
Jeremy43 said:
Ds arms rpd was complete trash
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Damn...mine has been excellent.

Samsgreen said:
I cant believe I'm the first to say H&K P7. I bought mine for no other reason than beauty, if it wasnt that it would have been gone long ago. They suck to shoot, if/when you do find ammo they will feed.
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Blasphemy! :D

I've been interested in P7's for decades - and that's the first time I've heard that. The worst thing I ever heard was that it was "awkward" for the first couple of mags, but after that even the doubters warm up to them!
 
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