Author Topic: Best, worst, and mixed emotions semi-auto pistols? (Read 1680 times)

His lordship. · « **on:** February 27, 2004, 10:37:08 AM »

What has been your best, worst, and mixed emotions semi-auto pistol that you owned or borrowed?

My best has been my CZ-75 in 9 mm, very accurate, reliable, decent trigger, good fit and finish, nice feel to the hand. :-D

My worst, Beretta model 21a .22 cal. pocket pistol, the jammo matic tinkertoy. Got rid of it after 2 days, new in the box, it scared me with the jamming for a gun I was supposed to trust my life to! :x

My mixed emotions...Ruger Mk.2 pistol in .22 rimfire. Shot very well for 14 years, well made, good grip feel, nice trigger pull, traded it as I could not take it apart for a proper cleaning with the goofy release switch on the frame back strap, got my money's worth out of it, but too bad about the difficult tear down method. :?

Thanks.

whitecloud · « **Reply #1 on:** February 27, 2004, 11:45:42 AM »

the tear down lever is different,but after a time or two its a sinch.Never had a problem with them. My worst nightmare was a RAVEN, I won it in a card game,A two dollar piece of JUNK. Nothing but stovepipes out of that thing.My best would have to be my rugers,or my sons kimber( I raised him right,he wont even sell it to me!) My most mixed is a wheel gun, a Dan wesson 357 brushed nickel,custom trigger,grips,,barrel. In SA @ 25 YRDS> 2" groups in DA 3.25 groups. Hard up and sold it for $200.00.&^&%&^$%^%#%#$%

papajohn428 · « **Reply #2 on:** March 04, 2004, 09:43:09 PM »

I'm with you on the CZ-75 as a great design, I've got the Italian version (EAA Witness) in 40, and in twelve years it has only hiccupped once, when it was filthy. I've put some of the crappiest ammo on the planet thru it, it just gobbles it up, spits it out and begs for more.
Mixed emotions? 1911 45ACP, case head burst on a factory load, tore up my hand, the stocks, the mag, and my face. Lucky I didn't lose an eye. So while I still love 45's, I just don't trust unsupported barrels anymore.
Papajohn

Robert357 · « **Reply #3 on:** March 05, 2004, 01:11:52 PM »

Best = Colt Model 1903 Model 2 mfg in 1910 in 32 ACP. Operates smooth, has a great history and the model 1903 was the one that John Browning perferred to go shooting with (if it was good enough for J M Browning, it should be good enough for anyone).

2nd Best = Browning Buckmark 22 Target. It has a trigger to die for. Very nice and accurate.

Mixed emotions = FN Model 1900 in 32 ACP. Another John Browning design, the barrel is below the spring and it has a funny hump and cocked indicator way far above the barrel. Neat old pistol to shoot, with a great history, but I feel is one that Browning learned what "not to do" from designing.

kciH · « **Reply #4 on:** March 07, 2004, 08:12:00 PM »

Biggest dissapointment was a EAA 10mm compact...it was a BIG POS, with no relief in sight from the importer...told me it would only handle .40 S&W loads. I asked them why make a 10mm that will only handle the (short) & weak disspaointment that took it's place, and they had no answer. Never got them to take care of their POS, took a bath on it, and will never buy any firearm, of any kind, from them, ever. The fit was, in addition to the total lack of function with factory ammo that produced more energy than a .40 S&W. The finish was good, but of little consequence as a result of the lack of functionality.

Best, as of late, come down to two. My recent fave is a Kimber Target II in 10mm, in stiff competition with a Custom Eclipse II in .45 from the same MFG. These pistols, although not inexpensive, are an exquisite deal. I dare you to present a better value for under $1000 for either of them.

Most dissapointed, may seem funny since you don't expect much in the way of fit, finish, and quality from Ruger, but here goes. I bought a new Super Blackhawk Hunter in .41 Mag. The accuracy is superb, so I guess I should stop kavetching, but the fit and especially the FINISH of the revolver is less than what I'd expect from a 6th grade shop class. Tool marks all over the revolver, big time. Barrel was rough, but I fire lap most of them anyway, so it's moot point. The most dissapointed I've ever been with a new purchase was my levergun to go with the above revolver. While the Ruger is accurate but rough, the Marlin 1894FG is a total piece of crap. It shoots like crap, it looks like crap, and it is a piece of crap. Marlin will do nothing to remedy the situation either. I ordered this rifle special from my dealer, and didn't want to be a heel and leave it with them, or it would have never come home with me. Then I brought it home and brushed a slurry of RUST out of the barrel of my NEW rifle. I took it to tthe range and observed that I could outshoot it at 50 yards, scoped, with a 4 5/8" BH with any load on hand. Offhand, factory open sights on the revolver. The wood to metal fit was a disgrace also, no matter the price. It is a shame to see a, once great, American rifle mfg (censored word) it's customers in this manner. As much as I like to gripe about some Ruger weapons, this Marlin is the biggest piece of crap I have ever purchased....out of roughly 50 new firearms.

dread · « **Reply #5 on:** March 08, 2004, 06:18:17 AM »

Worst=Beretta Bobcat :cry:
Best= Ruger Mark I :grin:
Middle of the Road=Ruger Bearcat

Nice= Colt Frontier Scout(first run) :-)

AZ223 · « **Reply #6 on:** March 10, 2004, 08:53:57 AM »

Worst: My Para-Ordnance P45 when I first bought it; every corner was so sharp it tore my hands up, plus it was my first 1911 semi-auto. I couldn't hit the sky on a clear day with it, and was very disappointed at first.

Best: The P45 when I finally got the hang of it, and managed to get decent accuracy out of the 3.25" barrel. Now it's my favorite carry gun: It's light, fast, and easy to use now that I'm familiar with it. It puts up with lots of abuse, and rarely if ever jams a shell. I think I've had three jams in about six years with it.

Middle: I have a S&W 6906 9mm; it's accurate and lightweight. My only complaint is the trigger pull is quite long. I could fix that with a trigger job I suppose, but would rather put the $$ into a Ruger BH or similar revolver.

Dragon31 · « **Reply #7 on:** March 11, 2004, 10:47:13 AM »

Best (combat) Browning HI Power 1935 ... Best (Non Combat) Ruger MK II
Worst (Combat) Walther PPKS .... Worst (Non Combat) Taurus PT .22
Judgement still out Sig 232

Flash · « **Reply #8 on:** March 16, 2004, 05:31:11 AM »

Best-Combat Commander 38 Super
Worst- Davis Industries 380/Wyoming Arms 10mm
Mixed- Ruger Standard Model
Most Comfortable-Beretta 1934
Most Accurate-Contender
Most Expensive-XP100
Miss the most- Ruger 3 screw

HAMMERHEAD · « **Reply #9 on:** March 24, 2004, 08:54:35 PM »

Best: HK USP 9mm Elite. Pure accuracy in the easiest to use pistol ever.
Worst: Glock 24. Poor accuracy with a mushy trigger. (I was expecting better)

Lloyd Smale · « **Reply #10 on:** March 24, 2004, 11:05:59 PM »

thought there were only two the 1911 and the mark 11

Tc300mag1 · « **Reply #11 on:** March 25, 2004, 02:12:21 AM »

Havent Had a real bad one

But Best would be Ruger Mark ii
Hk usp
Ruger p-90
Ruger Super redhawk

Mixed emotions would be a 1911 dont want to modify frame to accept beavertail so when i shoot it..it tears hands up Old lady likes it though

Mikey · « **Reply #12 on:** March 25, 2004, 03:17:00 AM »

Get a Kings Drop in beavertail grip safety - no need to modify the frame or anything for those babies - had one on every 1911 I've owned over the past 15 years and won't give'm up fer nutin. I forget what they cost but the 'drop in' allows you to return your pistol to stock ifin you're ever going to sell it. Got them in both blue steel and stainless. Find their website - the price is fairly inexpensive and the idea of not having to modify the frame for this grip safety is appealing (at least to me). HTH. Mikey.

Questor · « **Reply #13 on:** March 25, 2004, 03:33:21 AM »

Mikey!!! I need one of those! How do I get it???

Thanks!!!

I'm tired of the calloused area near the web of my hand from the 1911A1 style doo-hicky.

Questor · « **Reply #14 on:** April 01, 2004, 03:53:21 AM »

Mixed: the 1911 as a target pistol. It's an high-maintenance, antiquated piece of junk that just happens to be a lot better than any other 45 for target shooting. Ergonomically, it's a disaster. But the gunsmiths have made a silk purse from a sow's ear and we're stuck with a reliable, durable gun that really needs to be replaced with something of better and more modern design. Pardini tried it and their gun is a promising attempt, but it still needs quite a bit of work before it's as reliable as a good 1911.

williamlayton · « **Reply #15 on:** April 01, 2004, 09:48:48 AM »

The worse was little colt .380. Could not hit a barn door standing directly in fron of it, on the other hand it was ok as far as function.
Best, well, I have two I am fond of. A walther .380, good weapon and will shoot anything and a sig 220 in .45 much better gun than I, will go bang on anything.
Blessings

unspellable · « **Reply #16 on:** April 01, 2004, 10:34:59 AM »

An AMT 380. malfunction junction. Tried three different magazines. Never ever did it fire a full magazine full without some sort of malfunction. Even threw loaded cartridges out in front of me.

Replaced it with a Colt Mustang, goes bang when it's supposed to. Don't hunt prairie dogs with it.

Mikey · « **Reply #17 on:** April 02, 2004, 04:04:02 AM »

Questor: I apologize for not answering your post sooner. I believe King's has a website and I would go there to find the part. Their drop-in no gunsmithing beavertail safeties are quite alright and have never hung up in either of my 45s. I'm sorry that I do not know what their e-mail address is but I'm sure you can find it from the net. HTH. Mikey.

Ka6otm · « **Reply #18 on:** April 02, 2004, 04:17:32 AM »

Here's the website for Kings: http://www.kingsgunworks.com/

Ka6otm

Deaf Smith · « **Reply #19 on:** April 08, 2004, 08:06:13 PM »

Just different makers: the .45 1911 auto pistol. My best is an origional 1911 from 1913 and has been tweaked a bit for realibility and a bit od strength for the old girl like re[lacement springs and such. new magazines and she works flawlessly every time. The worst was a crown city 45 I obtained in a trade just could not get a full mag through the gun tried everything I could think of new springs and mags the works short of major gunsmithing(just was'nt worth the money to me) swapped it to a guy for a T/C barrel. He wanted it for parts. the eh gun was also a non colt 1911 it would work or not hit or miss never could tell when it would jam. Had a bit too much cash in it to trash it like the Crown city so I sent it and a Colt 22 conversion kit to a gunsmoth with instructions to make it a complete gun. when I got it back it was a 22 and worked (and still works) great. In its new form I love it. Well thats my story and I am sticking to it. wish I could remember the name of the 22s manufacturer It was not a colt but some clone by a minor player in the 80's when there were not so many around. Essex! thats it! its an Essex!
Jim L

Old Griz · « **Reply #20 on:** April 09, 2004, 04:14:28 PM »

Best: Glock 21. The most accurate gun out of the box I've ever owned.
Worst: Taurus Millennium .45. About once every 10 rounds you could pull the trigger all the way back and it wouldn't fire. Then when you RELEASED the trigger, BANG!

TScottO · « **Reply #21 on:** April 09, 2004, 05:12:28 PM »

Im one of those that never gets a good operating auto. Here are some of my experinaces in order:

1.   Ruger Mark2- the first type of ammo I tried, cci stingers, wouldnt chamber all the way because my gun has an extremely short chamber. But this also allows it to shoot other brands with top notch accuracy.
2.   Colt Series 80 enhanced- new out of the box it wouldnt feed hard ball more than two in a row even after the aggregation of going through 500 rounds. Took some smithing to get it shooting correctly.
3.   Walther PPK/S (Interarms)- wouldnt feed anything out of the box. I had to send this one back to the factory to get it in working order. Its a wonderful gun now.
4.   S&W 5906- shoots and runs fine but impacts the target 6 inches low with a buckshot type of pattern. This gun also has adjustable sights.
5.   Beretta 92- The gun shoots fine but I got burnt on this deal trying to help a friend out. Live and learn, this will only happen once.
6.   Browning High Power- The best auto I own. Shoots 2.5 inch groups at 25 yards. I like it so much I bought 2 more, a Belgium 9mm and a 40 cal. Great guns!

None the less I still remain a dedicated revolver man. From my experience buying auto pistols is hit a miss to find a reliable one. I dont feel like the guns I chose to buy were of lesser quality when I bought these but lesser quality is what I ended up with. Even though Ive had less than desirable results with autos I still want a custom 1911 as soon as I get my heart right over the issue. I also think an EAA Guardian would be a snazzy lil gun to own.

Be safe,
Scott