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Thread: Best Most Reliable Semi-Auto Pistol

  1. #61
    Boolit Grand Master tazman's Avatar
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    The most reliable pistol will be whichever one you have two of.
    If you have only one, something will always go wrong at some point.
    If you have two, neither will ever give you trouble.
    They do this to make you think you made a mistake buying two of them.
    This works right up till you decide to sell one of them, then the other will start malfunctioning.
    That's how my luck runs.

  2. #62
    Boolit Buddy

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    I have no issues with my Colts. I have owned and shot most of the new and old designs. They ALL have faults and “training issues”. There is NO free lunch. I usually carry a 1911 or a revolver.

  3. #63
    Boolit Master elmacgyver0's Avatar
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    I keep buying guns in hopes of finding one that doesn't work, so far, no luck, the search goes on.

  4. #64
    Boolit Master gnostic's Avatar
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    My 645 S&W cycles with empty cases, I can't remember it having jammed up ever.

  5. #65
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    Quote Originally Posted by gnostic View Post
    My 645 S&W cycles with empty cases, I can't remember it having jammed up ever.
    I've never been a huge fan of S&W autos but I'll give the 645 its full credit. Not only are the 645's extremely reliable, they are some of the most accurate 45 ACP DA pistols ever made. I have yet to see one that will not make nice little groups.

    S&W didn't make the 645 for long before the 3rd gen pistols were introduced (just a few years in the 1980's IIRC). They are difficult to find on the used market because the people that own them, never let go of them.

    And speaking of pistols that will cycle empty casings, I had an Italian made Beretta 92SB that would cycle with empty cases. It was nearly impossible to make that gun not function.

  6. #66
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    Always been a Sig (classic line) & 1911 fanboy...still am, but each of my ugly polys: G19s (gen3 & poly80), G17s, G34 & G22 (gen2), even an early M&P, are yet to malfunction with any ammo I feed 'em, super or sub, oem or swap barrels, suppressed or not. They're also aren't prone to scratches & maintenance is breeze...
    Either you have safe queens that make you feel proud or beaters that make you feel safe.
    ...Speak softly & carry a big stick...

  7. #67
    Boolit Master
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    Have owned a bunch of semis over the years and almost everyone of them choked at some point... The one that I can say that has not is a S&W 6906 that has well over 7K rounds through it almost all handloads.

    It was my duty gun for 9+ years and the only failure was not the guns fault it was some 9mm 147 subsonic ammo...one of the rounds was a pop instead of a bang and the slide failed to cycle. I trained several different shooters on that gun and it never failed to cycle in their hands either... It will eat rounds that will choke a Glock.

    I ran tactical shooting classes and NRA pistol courses for 25 years and would often see 5-7K rounds go down range in a weekend. I can't say that there was any make/model of gun that I didn't see choke...but I can say that the only ones I have seen knock themselves out of service were Glocks. I have had four blow cases when I was shooting them (19, 34, 32 and 40, factory ammo and reloads) and have been standing behind shooters with 19s (2), 23 (1) and 21 (1) who had Glockbooms. One 19 was factory ammo, one 19 was handloads. The 21 was a handload and the 23 was a factory round... I have another co-instructor who blew his 23 with a reload....and have read about plenty more.

    Bob

  8. #68
    Boolit Master
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    Quote Originally Posted by tazman View Post
    The most reliable pistol will be whichever one you have two of.
    If you have only one, something will always go wrong at some point.
    If you have two, neither will ever give you trouble.
    They do this to make you think you made a mistake buying two of them.
    This works right up till you decide to sell one of them, then the other will start malfunctioning.
    That's how my luck runs.
    ..simple reason for that... When you have two they are competing like children to see who they can make dad love more... One leaves and the one left gets lazy as they no longer have to compete...

  9. #69
    Boolit Grand Master tazman's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by RJM52 View Post
    ..simple reason for that... When you have two they are competing like children to see who they can make dad love more... One leaves and the one left gets lazy as they no longer have to compete...
    That makes sense to me.

  10. #70
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    I think most name brands are very reliable these days. I prefer Glock but there are many others that are just as good.

  11. #71
    Boolit Master
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    Although Glocks are very reliable, as a range officer for DOC I saw two that failed to feed with factory ammo. Still, not bad for as many rounds as I saw fired and fired my self with the G22. Glocks are tough, reliable and accurate but for me they do not point in properly. Had a G21 for several years and shot a lot of cast through it without problems but it too points up and left when pointed in. A few years back my wife bought me an XDs in 45 and it has not had any issues in around 1000 rds and is accurate and points in where it should for me. About 1975 I bought an old well used Ballaster Molina that has been 100% reliable since. I shot NRA 50ft indoor for several years with that gun and for a while used 200gr swc boolits loaded backward to make a full wadcutter. None failed to feed and were plenty accurate at 50ft. I have no idea how many rds I have shot through that from light bullseye loads to +p 230s at 930fps. None failed to feed or fire. I have no idea which semi auto pistol is the most reliable but I have two that are very good. Oh, I also have an old Ruger MKI T 22lr that I have put cases of ammo through with out a failure to feed or fire unless the ammo just would not fire. But I suppose the OP wasn't talking about 22lrs.

  12. #72
    Boolit Master
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    Same here, Ruger MK III that's probably eaten more CCI Mini Mags than you could put in a 5 gallon bucket and I can't remember a FTF, FTE, or dud. With any auto you'd better be ready to handle a stoppage, heck even condoms aren't claimed to be 100%!

  13. #73
    Boolit Buddy engineer401's Avatar
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    I never had issues with Sig or FN. They always functioned well. The only time I had problems was when I shot dirty ammo in a Sig 220. I sprayed it with gun cleaner then it shot fine again.

  14. #74
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    You can spot the generational influences in this thread. it's interesting.

    There was a time when there just were not that many choices in full size pistols in America. It wasn't that pistols were rare, they were not, but revolvers were just more common.
    Prior to about the early 1980's, full sized pistols commonly encountered in America were generally chambered in 9mm or 45 ACP. You had 1911's, first generation S&W 9mm pistols, Browning Hi-powers, P-38's, Luger's ; etc.
    There were NO Glocks, CZ-75's had to be smuggled out from behind the iron curtain, the SIG P75 (P220) was something you read about but had never seen. The 40 S&W, 357 SIG, 45GAP, and other cartridges didn't exist. Pistols were either small blow-back guns chambered in .22, 25ACP, 32 ACP or 380 Auto OR mostly military designs and a few S&W model 39 or 59 pistols.

    Then the world shifted and the semi-auto pistol became far more common. Glocks were invented, SIG Sauer's were imported and then made in America, Ruger developed the P-series, the Berretta 92 series became the U.S. military pistol (and production started in Maryland), polymer frames became a thing, former Soviet bloc guns flooded the U.S., S&W made the gun of the week , the 41 Action express took the world by storm.
    (just kidding).

    SO, when confronted with the question, "What is the Most Reliable Semi-Auto Pistol", the answer is colored a bit by your personal experience. Someone that grew up with Glocks, Berretta 92's, and Ruger P-series pistols will have a different experience to draw from as opposed to someone that once viewed a 9mm pistol as a European gun or maybe a S&W model 39.

  15. #75
    Boolit Master mtnman31's Avatar
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    H&k USP

  16. #76
    Boolit Master
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    Quote Originally Posted by mtnman31 View Post
    H&k USP
    Yup USP is built like a tank mine has been 100% so has my HK p30sk

  17. #77
    Boolit Master

    Plate plinker's Avatar
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    The Glocks and quality built 1911's have worked for me, as well as the ruger MKII pistol.

    If you haven't fired a minimum of 10,000 rounds through your "reliable" gun does it even count?

  18. #78
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    Quote Originally Posted by Plate plinker View Post
    The Glocks and quality built 1911's have worked for me, as well as the ruger MKII pistol.

    If you haven't fired a minimum of 10,000 rounds through your "reliable" gun does it even count?
    Interesting standard. I doubt most gun owners have ever fired 10,000 rounds through one of their pistols, or even all of their pistols combined.

    I'm pretty sure I haven't. Does it mean that a pistol isn't reliable up until 10,000 rounds? No, because that would be ridiculous. If a firearm hasn't malfunctioned for 10k rounds, then it is indeed reliable. It is a piece of machinery with moving parts that eventually wear out.

    I believe my new Sig has a recoil spring replacement interval of around 2500 rounds due to it's diminutive stature. If I shoot it to 5k rounds and the spring fails, does that mean that the gun was an unreliable piece of junk? No, it means that I failed to do routine maintenance as instructed and replace normal wear items.
    I own a 2019 Toyota 4Runner. It is one of, if not the most, reliable SUVs on the road. But if I don't change the oil or do required maintenance, or abuse it, and it fails at 50,000 miles, does it mean that it was not a reliable vehicle? No.

    Saying a firearm isn't reliable if it can't go to 10,000 rounds without maintenance or any wear seems unrealistic.
    "Luck don't live out here. Wolves don't kill the unlucky deer; they kill the weak ones..." Jeremy Renner in Wind River

  19. #79
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    Good point about maintenance and consumable parts, although I didn't suggest that it should run without maintenance.

    I personally get fed up with people telling me how superior their new carry gun is compared to whatever. The question I ask is have you shot it much and most of the time the reply is "I put a couple mags through it or a box of ball". I guess thats good enough if you want to look at your guns, however if we are relying on these guns for self defense or under competition GFL.

    RANT OVER.

  20. #80
    Boolit Master
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    Within most brands some guns are much better than others I had a Glock 36 that never made it through 200 rounds with out a failure of some kind I shot probably 2k through it trying to figure it out many of those factory ball different kinds of failures used 4 different mags replaced springs all Glock parts two different Glock armorers looked at and shot no problems it might run 50 or 150 rounds and have a stoppage of some kind.
    I know that is not typical of Glock I had a 19 one of the early ones that came in the plastic box that PULLED the trigger when you put it in the box , the box was stupid but the 19 was a great gun.
    All that said you are right Plate plinker , carry guns need to be proved with the carry ammo before going in my holster no matter who made them , but I don't do 10,000 rounds .

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BP Bronze Point IMR Improved Military Rifle PTD Pointed
BR Bench Rest M Magnum RN Round Nose
BT Boat Tail PL Power-Lokt SP Soft Point
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GC Gas Check