most reliable semi?

[jazman]

G19. Has never failed me; I trust it completely.

[thefurball]

Sig.

[cal_ar_shooter]

Glock 22 with more then 6,000 rounds and no jams...

[goathead]

+1 Glock....

I've had 2 XD45's now and they've ingested anything I've fed them without complaint.

As a general rule, HK's tend to be that way as well....

1+ i have two xd's too they also fire everything, also have 2 glock good guns

[JTROKS]

S&W 5906, never failed.

[ifilef]

What immediately comes to mind is GLOCK.

I don't own one now-sold my G17 17 years ago.

After some thought, though, I'd also say Sig, and Beretta 92FS/Taurus PT92.

[draconianruler]

Glock. Sig and HK are good too but if I had only 1 choice it will be a Glock.

[bigchelis]

Glock

GLOCK

[Greg-Dawg]

Have you made up your mind yet? If not...

[oghl888]

I've owned hand guns for a long time, and have owned quite a few of various kinds. No a single one that I've owned for more than 5 years has been 100% perfect. This includes glock, Sig, and CZ's (these appeared many times in this thread). It goes to show that a gun is a machine that requires care and maintenance to work in top conditions, and no one design can guarantee 100% reliability.

Most modern designs are reliable. Sig 226 beat the Beretta M9 in the US government test, though by a thin margin. So is the Sig 226 more reliable than the M9? Not necessarily. The margin to me is statistically insignificant.

Have my G17's been more reliable than my 226's? I can't tell the difference through my years of owner ship. Again the difference is statistically insignificant. Same when you take the CZ75 into account. My first CZ75 did require me to file down the slide release lever on the inside of the frame because it was being pushed by the upcoming round in the mag, and causing premature slide locks. But after that, it's been "flawless" (very good with very rare hick ups such as when the mag spring or recoil spring gets too weak).

To increase your chance of having an as reliable as possible gun:

1) Get a full size (service size or larger) model that's been around for a while. glock 17/glock 34, Sig 226, Beretta 92FS/M9, etc. Compact size guns are inherently more problematic because their design margin is less. If you want an 1911, get one in the higher price range.

2) Don't change springs for lighter trigger pull. Weaker main spring may give you a lighter trigger pull, but it could also give you light strikes. Don't change recoils springs to "help cushion the frame", stock spring weights are usually tested for reliability, and heavier springs may cause FTE.

3) Use the best quality magazines (Factory mags. Mec Gar for Sig/Beretta are fine, Wilson mags for 1911s, etc).

4) Use high quality ammo. Reloads have lower quality controls, and I often get a 1-2 in a thousand that's too weak to cycle the slide fully. I got a batch of 3k rounds that would not shoot accurately from my glocks. The bullets were a tad smaller and were not grabbing the rifling fully. They start tumbling and punch funny looking holes. Accuracy went from the usual less than 1 inch to 5-6 inches at 10 yds. They shot fine from my 226s and CZs.

this brings up a good point: Maybe the regular rifling in the 226 and CZ are more reliable than Glocks and HKs? I don't know for sure. I only had problem with this batch of reload ammo.

5) Test your defense ammo fully with the magazines and springs you will use. 200 rds seems to be the rule of thumb as a minimum. I test my for 500 rds or more.

6) Keep the guns, mags clean and lubed properly (keep your mags clean, disassemble them and clean them). Use light weight gun oil, not grease, if you want reliability.

7) Replace springs regularly. Probably over kill, but worth the price if you want reliability.

8) Inspect your defense ammo. Make sure they are uniform when compared to each other. The bullet should be seated at the same depth, each cartridge should weigh the same. A cartridge that weight more or less by more than a couple of grams should be taken out.

9) if you are new to handguns, learn the proper shooting techniques, and how to hold the gun. Limp-wristing can cause reliability problems.


I probably missed a few points, and someone else will fill in for me. Getting the best reliability starts with a good design (which most designs these days are), and continues with sensible treatment of the gun and the components that effect reliability (mags, springs, ammo, lube, etc).

Good luck (I rather be lucky than good).


EDIT: Let me also comment on Glock failures and kabooms. It seems that the earlier glock 40 and 45 caliber designs were running into some issues when tested (such as the Glock 22 that was thrown across the hall and the rear of the slide came off the frame). These happened early on and the problems have been fixed. The kabooms seems to be associated with larger calibers that don't have fully supported chambers. 9mm versions seem to be fine.

[bohoki]

peterbuilt or mack?