At what point is a pistol considered "reliable"?

[Hank Dodge]

"Reliable" is to me what is to be expected in a given arm. I have a Les Baer TRS that is beyond reliable. It has over 15,000 rounds through it to this point without even one malfunction. It is tight, smooth, and well fit as a semi-custom gun should be. I also shoot an early Colt Combat Elite that is overall very reliable with tens of thousands of rounds through it. It has loosened up quite a bit since when I first acquired it, but it still runs well. Both these guns work as expected, never any surprises with them.......That is what I consider reliable.

I have a pistol currently back at the manufacturer for a third time trying to get it to function "reliably". I don't expect everything to go right all the time, but a re-occurrence of the same malfunction time and time again is not reliable in my opinion. As to this particular malfunction, it has occurred with frequency since first out of the box. They are saying that it is reliable since it only hangs up for them every couple hundred rounds or so at this point ( a far cry from when it was new and would not make it through a magazine without a failure to return to battery locking it up tight ). They have made the pistol much better, but still not what I would call reliable. When I received it back from them the last time, it only took about 30 rounds before it locked up, and then another 100+ until it happened again. Am I being over critical here?

The customer service fellow is making me sound like I'm asking for too much when I say that I don't want any malfunctions in my defensive carry guns!

So....How many rounds do you consider without a hick-up before a gun is "reliable" enough to carry as a defensive arm?

[Chris J]

I'm not experienced with guns for self-defense, but if I did carry one for that purpose, "reliable" to me would mean it went bang every time I pulled the trigger regardless of the round count, providing it was handled in accordance with manufacturer's instructions.

I would accept that specified maintenance might be required to get that level of reliability. In other words, if the manufacturer (for example) told me it had to be stripped and cleaned every 100 rounds to achieve reliability, I'd buy that, if the gun otherwise seemed worth the trouble.

I would NOT accept a gun for SD if it EVER failed to fire, even once, when properly handled and maintained.

(That said, I own two guns that I think qualify as reliable, and two that don't. I'm OK with the ones that don't. They are for target practice only, and anyway, I don't carry so the point is moot right now.)

[shooting4life]

When it becomes a revolver.

[macey109]

When it becomes a revolver.

great answer

+1

[AragornElessar86]

Until it goes "click" when it should go "bang".

[gorenut]

I go to the range about every week. Every gun I've fired will be determined how reliable it is based on how they performed until the next range trip.

[bsg]

what make and model are you having problems with?

[gorenut]

When it becomes a revolver.

I don't think I quite agree with this. I've had both Ruger and S&W revolvers seized up on me.


I've owned semis that have functioned 100%.. but I've also owned semis that have hiccuped more than I was comfortable with (which I later had to remedy).

So I don't discriminate at all when it comes to reliability.

[Mr310]

When it becomes a revolver.

+2. So true.

[shooting4life]

I don't think I quite agree with this. I've had both Ruger and S&W revolvers seized up on me.


I've owned semis that have functioned 100%.. but I've also owned semis that have hiccuped more than I was comfortable with (which I later had to remedy).

So I don't discriminate at all when it comes to reliability.

I own over 30 handguns, all of them are revolvers except for a browning buckmark. All of my revolvers have been 100% reliable. This collection spans the brands of s&w, ruger and Dan wesson in caliber sizes of 22lr up to 445 supermag. I shoot all bullet shapes in both lead and jacketed. The oldest gun is from around 1918. I have shoot a s&w that still had factory grease from the late 60's and it still worked.
All of these revolvers worked 100% of the time. Compared to the couple of pistols that you say are 100% reliable and another pistol you owned that was not. This is not to say a pistol cannot be reliable, but if what you are looking for is a defensive handgun and not an offensive handgun (if you are going into action you should not be using a handgun as a primary anyways) then the benefits of an autoloader outweigh the inherent reliability of a revolver.

[JTROKS]

A pistol is a machine just like your car. You can't expect it to run forever and never wear out. If your pistol has been reliable for 15K rounds expect to have some work done to it after a couple of K more rounds. If a brand new gun shoots accurately and reliably out of the box to 200 or 500 rounds then it is deemed reliable.

[davbog44]

To be honest, once I have any problems with a particular pistol, I lose a certain amount of confidence in it, and for sure it will never be a carry pistol or HD gun for me. That's assuming said issue (FTF, FTE) can't be blamed on ammunition or me.

That might seem like an overly cautious and high bar, but I have a few SIG pistols and one HK that have never given me a single moment of doubt in over a thousand rounds each for the SIGs and I'm close to a thousand rounds through my HK.

Then again, I have never had an issue with a Smith & Wesson revolver either.

[VictorFranko]

When it becomes a revolver.

QFT

[HKMadness]

What kind of gun is this in question. If i can go 500 rds with no issues. I consider it reliable. If it starts giving me malfunctions within that interval, not reliable imo. I disagree with what the cs guys are telling u that it only malfunctioned every couple hundred rounds for them, that is unacceptable. My usp have given me about 4,000 rounds with 1 issue with my 9 at the beginning (break in issue)

[Blademan21]

When it becomes a revolver.

Back in the old days,we all carried and qualified with revolvers. Once on a re-holster I completely missed my holster and dropped my 586 onto the concrete ribbon. Bent the crane enough that I was "out of the fight". From then on I stood on the grass.
Now we carry Glocks,and I have dropped my Glock,no problems so far. Yes revolvers can be very reliable to a degree,as are semi-autos.
Have a series 70 1911 that Terry Tussey made reliable.The slide can cycle empty brass to battery. It will shoot wad-cutter if needed. My .02 cents.