10 least reliable handguns.

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  • 92FSTech

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    I'm not sure what he's doing wrong with his P320s, but I have probably upwards of 10,000 rounds (conservative estimate) through my 4 over the past 6 years in all manner of conditions, and they have all been superbly reliable. I also work with a bunch of other guys who use them...most don't shoot as much as me, but as a group a lot of rounds get put through them. I'm the armorer, so I'd know if there were problems. There have been none.

    I can't say the same for the P365, and those get shot even less than the 320s.
     

    Sigblitz

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    He was saying 22lr was not a defense round, he doesn't advertise.
    Another video I watched just on 22lr guns, he said they're a defense round and plugged some ammo.
    Most of his videos are these guns are terrible. Buy this instead.
     

    cedartop

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    He has the Springfield Prodigy in there as well. Are they that bad? For $1500 I'd expect much better.
    Kahr 380 looked really bad.
    The early ones are definitely that bad. It is said they have fixed some of the issues. I have not handled or shot a current production model to verify that. Aaron Cowan had a funny post that I will not quote directly but he mentioned having problems with his Progidy, someone chimed in they did too but he sent it back to the factory to get fixed. Aaron said if he was going to send it somewhere it would be to professionals, not back to Springfield.
     

    BigRed3588

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    He has the Springfield Prodigy in there as well. Are they that bad? For $1500 I'd expect much better.
    Kahr 380 looked really bad.
    My FFL makes the majority of his money transferring/shipping firearms. According to him, yes, they are that bad. We were just talking about them Friday and he said he’s already sent so many back he won’t stock them.
     

    BigRed3588

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    I wasn't aware of widespread issues with civilian P320's. I am aware that the military and multiple police departments are having unintentional discharges with them. But not operating reliably is news to me.

    Need to put more rounds through my P320 compact that was issued to the Wyoming Highway Patrol. The agency dropped them a few months ago after a trooper claimed his went off while holstered. I put 200 rounds through it with Federal 115 FMJ and didn't have any issues with it
    I know there were issues prior to the “voluntary upgrade,” but I’m curious to know if you’ve been seeing any reports of the military continuing to have problems with the P320?

    I ask because the bulk of the lawsuits I’ve seen are coming from LEOs. I’ve been highly critical of the negative press the P320 has gotten post-upgrade because there are so many in circulation yet I don’t seem to hear about many of these incidents occurring with civilians or military personnel.

    I’ve probably put 4-5K rounds through the two I own and I certainly wouldn’t have them on my list of least reliable. I had an issue with one, but only because Sig forgot one of the springs in the FCU and it wouldn’t fire. Once they installed the spring and sent it back, I ran 2K rounds of 124gr Gold Dot without any cleaning or additional lubrication. I didn’t have a single malfunction.
     

    DadSmith

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    I know there were issues prior to the “voluntary upgrade,” but I’m curious to know if you’ve been seeing any reports of the military continuing to have problems with the P320?

    I ask because the bulk of the lawsuits I’ve seen are coming from LEOs. I’ve been highly critical of the negative press the P320 has gotten post-upgrade because there are so many in circulation yet I don’t seem to hear about many of these incidents occurring with civilians or military personnel.

    I’ve probably put 4-5K rounds through the two I own and I certainly wouldn’t have them on my list of least reliable. I had an issue with one, but only because Sig forgot one of the springs in the FCU and it wouldn’t fire. Once they installed the spring and sent it back, I ran 2K rounds of 124gr Gold Dot without any cleaning or additional lubrication. I didn’t have a single malfunction.
    I see a lot of used P320's for sale. How do you determine if your used P320 has been upgraded if a person buys one used?
     

    BigRed3588

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    I see a lot of used P320's for sale. How do you determine if your used P320 has been upgraded if a person buys one used?
    If you have the serial number, you can go to Sig’s website and search it. If not, the most obvious indicator is whether the slide has a milled notch for the disconnecter (see pic). Slides on pre-upgrade guns won’t have this. That said, the slide wasn’t the only thing they changed. Multiple parts were modified, both in the slide and FCU. Given the modularity of the platform, the notch doesn’t necessarily guarantee the entire firearm was upgraded. However, my understanding is that a pre-upgrade slide/FCU won’t operate with a post-upgrade slide/FCU depending on the configuration. So, in short, you’d need to inspect it or fire it to be 100% certain the entire firearm is post-upgrade. (Yes, it’s filthy. This is the one I mentioned that hasn’t been cleaned.) 53CCCB49-A11F-4132-8A3B-78B7C1000D39.jpeg
     
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    BigRed3588

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    I see a lot of used P320's for sale. How do you determine if your used P320 has been upgraded if a person buys one used?
    I forgot to include this in my previous reply, but I probably wouldn’t buy one used unless it was the exact configuration I wanted or it was cheaper than what I’d pay for the FCU. My recommendation would be to buy a FCU and assemble it to the exact specs you’re looking for.
     

    Noble Sniper

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    Never had a problem with any of my 320’s…. 1911’s? A properly assembled and maintained 1911 will run and run. Cheap, improperly sprung, crap ammo the list goes on but that can include any pistol. I’m amazed at some of the cheap crap ammo people run in their firearms then wonder why it’s not dependable. You take a good quality firearm with good quality ammo and if you use optics spend a few dollars as well. Cheap gets crap results….. just what I’ve learned and your mileage may vary.
     
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    Squid556

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    Can't say I disagree with his list because that is his personal experiences.

    As far as them lining up with my experiences.... The taurus 22 tip up doesn't surprise me. We stopped stocking them, too many issues. Have also stopped stocking larger caliber taurus revolvers, too many issues.

    The prodigy is believable, 2011s have a history of being hard to make right. I am surprised that 1911s in general didn't make the list. Love em but have had too many people ask me why their 1911 jams.

    Rp9, believe it, had customers unhappy

    Kahr 380, surprised
    320s, surprised
    Angstadt 9mm, surprised
    Sccy, surprised
    Hi point, surprised

    I say these things just based off being a constant shooter and working a shop the last 6 years. Ymmv
     

    Squid556

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    Kinda makes me think to my own list of least reliable. Good bad or indifferent my experiences.....

    Erma EP25 pistol
    Walther P22
    Taurus PT22
    Llama mini max 45
    Poly 80 Glocks
    Taurus G2C
    Ruger 10/22
    Savage A17
    Various 1911s
    Various Turkish auto shotguns
    Ruger LCP II (before ruger fixed it)
     
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    I know there were issues prior to the “voluntary upgrade,” but I’m curious to know if you’ve been seeing any reports of the military continuing to have problems with the P320?

    I remember reading an article last year that some unitis were still having some difficulty with them. someone posted it over on the Sig forum, but I can't remember for sure.
     

    Squid556

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    Why the 10/22?
    Wish it didn’t make it onto my list honestly. I love my 10/22. I shoot it more than anything else.

    Between mine and other 10/22s I get exposed to, I see a lot of malfunctions. It’s taken time and tweaking but I’ve gotten mine to a level of reliability I think is acceptable. However it didn’t come from the factory reliable.
     

    92FSTech

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    Since we're making our own lists:

    Handguns:

    SCCY CPX-1 (Absolute garbage. Thankfully, not mine)
    Taurus 605 (timing issues)
    Taurus 44 (timing issues)
    Taurus .22 Revolver (Can't remember the model # timing issues)
    Rossi M85 (Timing issues)
    Gen 3 Glock 22 W/ WML (Amazing about of feed issues)
    Sig P250 .22 (Short-stroking, light strikes, you name it)
    My Ruger MkIV .22 out of the box (feed issues, light strikes, short-stroking, etc...mostly after a lot of work and Volquartsen parts)
    Ruger Wrangler .22 (bullet stabilization issues)
    Ruger SR22 (extractor issues, wouldn't extract unfired rounds)

    Long Guns:

    Marlin Glenfield Model 60/70 (unreliable ejection, requires extensive tuning)
    PSA 9mm Blowback AR (doubling, OOB discharges)
    Mossberg 930 (Sheared shell latch pins, shoddy engineering)
    Marlin 1894 (This one hurts me because I love mine, but there's a design flaw that leaves the lifter susceptible to wear causing double-feeds. I've had to fix 2, and parts pretty much don't exist these days so that makes it even worse).
     
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    Wish it didn’t make it onto my list honestly. I love my 10/22. I shoot it more than anything else.

    Between mine and other 10/22s I get exposed to, I see a lot of malfunctions. It’s taken time and tweaking but I’ve gotten mine to a level of reliability I think is acceptable. However it didn’t come from the factory reliable.
    I've had stellar reliability with my 10/22's and I don't take great care of them. I'm surprised you've had to modify yours to run correctly
     

    DadSmith

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    Oct 21, 2018
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    Back when I shot matches regularly the 320's choked a lot.
    I would say the top guns I witnessed failing were.

    1911's - A lot of malfunctions.
    XD - Didn't see them at the matches often, but when they were there was a good chance it would not finish the match.
    P320- A lot of malfunctions.

    That said you don't ever really know what someone has done to their pistols or what mags they run. When you need 5 or 6 mags you see people start buying the cheap stuff.
    I also shot for years with a CZ75 and I've heard a lot of people talk about them failing and mine has been boringly reliable.
    Last time I shot I'm competition I used my 92FS. I had no problems with it. That was back in the late 1990's, and early 2000's.

    What are the most reliable handguns being used in competitions now? Not looking for the top one just which ones seem to run the best?
     

    Jaybird1980

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    Last time I shot I'm competition I used my 92FS. I had no problems with it. That was back in the late 1990's, and early 2000's.

    What are the most reliable handguns being used in competitions now? Not looking for the top one just which ones seem to run the best?
    I couldn't really say about now, like I said I haven't really shot matches since 2019. Back then the more reliable carry style guns I would say were Glock, CZ, M&P, Tanfoglio. Caniks, Beretta and Sig DA pistols were not that common back then.

    Like I also mentioned there was always talk of CZ's breaking slide stops and roll pins, but I've never witnessed it and I've shot many thousands of rounds through mine and still have the original slide stop.
     
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