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What is your most reliable and accurate pistol and why?

BigDanSBigDanS Senior MemberPosts: 6,598 Senior Member
in Personal Defense #1
And a disclaimer, I purposely did not include revolvers because from a SD standpoint I feel they are the most reliable, although more limited in capacity and harder to reload in a fight, and somewhat harder to conceal because they tend to be wider than a pistol.

Most of you know I love my Makarovs. I didn't buy my first MAK because I knew a lot about it, I bought it because it was cheap, along with a Chinese AK and a Chinese SKS.

As I started to learn more and more about the MAK over the years, I started collecting them and shooting them. I have owned as many as 20 different MAK's at one time.

I have removed the magazines from a variety of them and interchanged them and shot a wide variety of ammo through them all, and I have yet to have one break. Although over the thousands of rounds I have shot I have had a few, and I do mean just a few, failure to feed in a variety of guns, my current Bulgarian Makarov has yet to have a round fail to feed, fail to fire or stovepipe. And that is with at least 20 different magazines passed through it.

As much as most love the 1911's, how many other guns are this reliable? I hear about 1911's being very picky about their magazines. My Glocks approach this but they are not as accurate, even though they deliver a stronger punch.

And this is not about knowing you are going into a fight and bring an optimal gun, This thread is about what you carry all the time and why it is reliable to you.

What determines reliable to you? What is your most reliable pistol and why?

D
"A patriot is mocked, scorned and hated; yet when his cause succeeds, all men will join him, for then it costs nothing to be a patriot." Mark Twain
Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.... now who's bringing the hot wings? :jester:
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Comments

  • JasonMPDJasonMPD Senior Member Posts: 6,056 Senior Member
    #2
    Reliability for me falls in to two categories: functional and mechanical.

    So far, I haven't encountered any noteable mechanical issues with any of my pistols. I had an extractor blown off of a P226, but that was attributed to an out-of-battery discharge. The most functionally fickle pistol I have, unfortunately, is my 1911. I would not call it functionally unreliable, but it is picky about HP ammunition. Federal HydroShoks have thus far been 100% reliable, so I stick with those. No magazine issues as of yet and I am running factory SA mags, Kimbers and Chip McCormicks--7, 8 and 10 rounders.

    My most functionally reliable pistol goes to both my XD45 Tactical and my Glock 30. Never a hiccup from round one, right out of the box. My Kel-Tec PF9 had some growing pains in the first 50 rounds, but that was sorted out and now I don't use any European ammo in it (primers are too hard--not a lot of hammer mass on the PF9). My duty weapon has also performed flawlessly, but it is a Glock--go figure.

    I carry the Glock 30 exclusively for my CCW. The PF9 is my on-duty backup on an ankle rig.

    To be reliable to me, it needs to go bang and land rounds accurately. I'm easy.

    -Jason
    “There are three kinds of men. The one that learns by reading. The few who learn by observation. The rest of them have to pee on the electric fence for themselves.” – Will Rogers
  • Wambli SkaWambli Ska Moderator Posts: 25,047 Senior Member
    #3
    Since your criteria call for the most reliable AND most accurate the end result is decidedly my Wilson Combat CQB. The gun has never failed to go bang since I bought it with anything it has been fed and it is by far my most accurate semi-auto handgun.



    That being said the Glock 21, HK P2000s and the Walther PPS are not very far behind. None of those gun has even missed a beat in the reliability department and for the most part they are accurate enough for the purpose they were created for.
    "Attack rapidly, ruthlessly, viciously, without rest, however tired and hungry you may be, the enemy will be more tired, more hungry. Keep punching." General George S. Patton
  • AntonioAntonio Senior Member Posts: 2,080 Senior Member
    #4
    Most reliable: My Russian-made .380ACP Makarov; has worked with all kinds of ammo I've loaded in it including poorly-made reloads, old ammo in poor condition and irregular local production. Never had a FTF, stovepipe or FTE and when jammed with a dud, it was quick and easy to clear.
    Regarding accuracy, my 1914 DWM P-08 "Luger" has printed pretty amazing groups when I made my part handling those odd sights and using plain-Jane Winchester 115gr. FMJ ammo.
  • NCFUBARNCFUBAR Senior Member Posts: 4,175 Senior Member
    #5
    I want to say ALL my 1911's are perfect and they are dang close but my Glock 17 has NEVER had any problems except cheap ammo's primers since 1996. I don't baby the thing, it get a wipe down and little drop of lube plus freshen up the springs every so often ... my 21C has been the same way since I bought it home 5 or so years back. As to accuracy of Glocks versus 1911's, yeah the 1911's are better but if ever called on both are better than my eyes are now.
    “The further a society drifts from truth ... the more it will hate those who speak it."
    - George Orwell
  • Big ChiefBig Chief Senior Member Posts: 30,122 Senior Member
    #6
    Most reliable, Ruger P-89 9mm, it has never failed to feed any type ammo, factory/reload and always goes bang when I pull the trigger.

    Most accurarte is my Dan Wesson Pointman 7 .45 ACP, and darned reliable to boot. It has had a jam I cleared or magazine issue before.
    It's only true if it's on this forum where opinions are facts and facts are opinions
    Words of wisdom from Big Chief: Flush twice, it's a long way to the Mess Hall
    I'd rather have my sister work in a whorehouse than own another Taurus!
  • dlddld Member Posts: 313 Member
    #7
    Most reliable, for me is my H&K P9S 9mm. Shoots like a dream, accurarte and never fails, second would be my Glock 17 ugly but function-able
  • bobbyrlf3bobbyrlf3 Senior Member Posts: 2,411 Senior Member
    #8
    My handgun stock is limited for now, so my most reliable and accurate is the same gun: Kimber CDP Custom. I had 1 FTE, which was unusual because it was just the one round out of a box of 50, and it hasn't done it again since. I had a Springfield loaded that was reliable and accurate, but didn't like the Kimber Pro-Tac mags I used.
    Knowledge is essential to living freely and fully; understanding gives knowledge purpose and strength; wisdom is combining the two and applying them appropriately in words and actions.
  • Diver43Diver43 Senior Member Posts: 7,321 Senior Member
    #9
    Mine is my Sig P229. It has never once not cycled a round that i fed it, and is very accurate for a duty pistol.
    Logistics cannot win a war, but its absence or inadequacy can cause defeat. FM100-5
  • LMLarsenLMLarsen Senior Member Posts: 8,156 Senior Member
    #10
    All of mine are reliable; if one wasn't and it couldn't be fixed, it would go to the used gun counter. My most accurate is my custom Fusion/Kimber CCO that Sam Hatfield built for me last year. It's a bloody laser!

    CCO_1.jpg

    My most accurate service-grade pistol has to be my S&W M&P45. IMHO, S&W fixed everything that Glock got wrong!

    109306_01_lg.jpg
    (factory photo)
    “A gun is a tool, no better or no worse than any other tool: an axe, a shovel or anything. A gun is as good or as bad as the man using it. Remember that.”

    NRA Endowment Member
  • Wambli SkaWambli Ska Moderator Posts: 25,047 Senior Member
    #11
    LMLarsen wrote: »
    All of mine are reliable; if one wasn't and it couldn't be fixed, it would go to the used gun counter. My most accurate is my custom Fusion/Kimber CCO that Sam Hatfield built for me last year. It's a bloody laser!

    CCO_1.jpg

    Beautiful gun except for the ugly bump on the back of the grip under the safety. What is that, some sort of growth?
    "Attack rapidly, ruthlessly, viciously, without rest, however tired and hungry you may be, the enemy will be more tired, more hungry. Keep punching." General George S. Patton
  • LMLarsenLMLarsen Senior Member Posts: 8,156 Senior Member
    #12
    Oh, be quiet.
    “A gun is a tool, no better or no worse than any other tool: an axe, a shovel or anything. A gun is as good or as bad as the man using it. Remember that.”

    NRA Endowment Member
  • BigboreshooterBigboreshooter Member Posts: 155 Member
    #13
    Probably this one, on both counts.....

    P1010125.jpg
    "When a strong man, fully armed, guards his own house, his possessions are undisturbed. Luke 11:21
  • breamfisherbreamfisher Senior Member Posts: 12,551 Senior Member
    #14
    Don't worry LM. Some folks just have tiny carny hands.

    My most accurate pistol is the Colt Woodsman. In SD, it's either of my 1911's or the Hi-Power clone: all are close enough in accuracy not to matter.

    Reliability? All of them. I don't consider mag issues, recoil spring issues, or extractor spring issues to be "faults" because once I get the right ones in there, they run 100% until equipment failure. My Colt was giving me issues at the SE shoot as I somehow screwed up and oversprung it.
    Overkill is underrated.
  • wolf049wolf049 Member Posts: 217 Member
    #15
    This Kimber shoots better than I can ever hope to and I've never had reliablity issue with it.

    P1010036.jpg
    "To preserve liberty, it is essential that the whole body of the people always possess arms, and be taught alike, especially when young, how to use them."
    - Richard Henry Lee
  • LMLarsenLMLarsen Senior Member Posts: 8,156 Senior Member
    #16
    wolf049 wrote: »
    This Kimber shoots better than I can ever hope to and I've never had reliablity issue with it.

    P1010036.jpg

    WHAT?? Impossible! Everyone on teh intarwebz knows that Kimbers always jam or blow up or misfire or turn to radioactive dust when fired!
    “A gun is a tool, no better or no worse than any other tool: an axe, a shovel or anything. A gun is as good or as bad as the man using it. Remember that.”

    NRA Endowment Member
  • Wambli SkaWambli Ska Moderator Posts: 25,047 Senior Member
    #17
    LMLarsen wrote: »
    WHAT?? Impossible! Everyone on teh intarwebz knows that Kimbers always jam or blow up or misfire or turn to radioactive dust when fired!

    See this one is pretty! It does NOT have that growth under the grip safety :devil:
    "Attack rapidly, ruthlessly, viciously, without rest, however tired and hungry you may be, the enemy will be more tired, more hungry. Keep punching." General George S. Patton
  • LMLarsenLMLarsen Senior Member Posts: 8,156 Senior Member
    #18
    What did I just tell you?
    “A gun is a tool, no better or no worse than any other tool: an axe, a shovel or anything. A gun is as good or as bad as the man using it. Remember that.”

    NRA Endowment Member
  • LMLarsenLMLarsen Senior Member Posts: 8,156 Senior Member
    #19
    And for what it's worth, my old Hardballer still wears a flat MSH, so there!
    “A gun is a tool, no better or no worse than any other tool: an axe, a shovel or anything. A gun is as good or as bad as the man using it. Remember that.”

    NRA Endowment Member
  • Wambli SkaWambli Ska Moderator Posts: 25,047 Senior Member
    #20
    So why did you put junk in the trunk of this one?
    "Attack rapidly, ruthlessly, viciously, without rest, however tired and hungry you may be, the enemy will be more tired, more hungry. Keep punching." General George S. Patton
  • Wambli SkaWambli Ska Moderator Posts: 25,047 Senior Member
    #21
    breamfisher wrote: »
    Don't worry LM. Some folks just have tiny carny hands.

    My most accurate pistol is the Colt Woodsman. In SD, it's either of my 1911's or the Hi-Power clone: all are close enough in accuracy not to matter.

    Reliability? All of them. I don't consider mag issues, recoil spring issues, or extractor spring issues to be "faults" because once I get the right ones in there, they run 100% until equipment failure. My Colt was giving me issues at the SE shoot as I somehow screwed up and oversprung it.

    First I have nice dainty proportionate hands and the only carny handed dude around here has flat MSHs on his guns last I checked, so there...
    SECOND, WHAT DID YOU DO TO MY COLT!!!
    "Attack rapidly, ruthlessly, viciously, without rest, however tired and hungry you may be, the enemy will be more tired, more hungry. Keep punching." General George S. Patton
  • LMLarsenLMLarsen Senior Member Posts: 8,156 Senior Member
    #22
    Because I don't have little carny hands!

    Seriously, the arched MSH just feels better to me; I left the flat one on the AMT in a fit of nostalgia. The very first firearm I ever shot was a Colt from Korea that an uncle had, with the arched backstrap. Guess it stuck.
    “A gun is a tool, no better or no worse than any other tool: an axe, a shovel or anything. A gun is as good or as bad as the man using it. Remember that.”

    NRA Endowment Member
  • LMLarsenLMLarsen Senior Member Posts: 8,156 Senior Member
    #23
    Wambli Ska wrote: »
    First I have nice dainty proportionate hands and the only carny handed dude around here has flat MSHs on his guns last I checked, so there...
    SECOND, WHAT DID YOU DO TO MY COLT!!!

    CARNY HANDS!! CARNY HANDS!! CARNY HANDS!!

    (I expect to hear from our resident shrub anytime now...)
    “A gun is a tool, no better or no worse than any other tool: an axe, a shovel or anything. A gun is as good or as bad as the man using it. Remember that.”

    NRA Endowment Member
  • breamfisherbreamfisher Senior Member Posts: 12,551 Senior Member
    #24
    Wambli Ska wrote: »
    First I have nice dainty proportionate hands and the only carny handed dude around here has flat MSHs on his guns last I checked, so there...
    SECOND, WHAT DID YOU DO TO MY COLT!!!
    Dainty = girly, aka carny.

    Second: it's not your Colt, it's mine. Don't worry Buttercup, it still has the flat MSH. For now.
    Overkill is underrated.
  • LMLarsenLMLarsen Senior Member Posts: 8,156 Senior Member
    #25
    :that: :applause:
    “A gun is a tool, no better or no worse than any other tool: an axe, a shovel or anything. A gun is as good or as bad as the man using it. Remember that.”

    NRA Endowment Member
  • Wambli SkaWambli Ska Moderator Posts: 25,047 Senior Member
    #26
    breamfisher wrote: »
    Dainty = girly, aka carny.

    Second: it's not your Colt, it's mine. Don't worry Buttercup, it still has the flat MSH. For now.

    I will be needing your wife's number...
    "Attack rapidly, ruthlessly, viciously, without rest, however tired and hungry you may be, the enemy will be more tired, more hungry. Keep punching." General George S. Patton
  • Ernie BishopErnie Bishop Senior Member Posts: 6,691 Senior Member
    #27
    1911 Springfield Operator (been reworked internally with trigger, and barrel bushing replaced) 45 ACP.
    Pure stock my Glock 17 is incredibly accurate.
    Both are completely reliable.
    I have used both in high volume tac matches.
    E
    Ernie

    "The Un-Tactical"
  • NNNN Senior Member Posts: 22,621 Senior Member
    #28
    Pistols = handguns = REVOLVERS & pistols
    probably a toss up between a PT 101, 1911, or a baby eagle.
    But, the truth they do not hold a candle to most of my revolvers; the exceptions are a couple of Iver Johnsons.
    My new Signature
  • tennmiketennmike Senior Member Posts: 21,489 Senior Member
    #29
    Most accurate would be my S&W 4566TSW, but it's too big for CCW, at least for me. Next would be my Ruger P95DC. Both are not finicky eaters; they shoot anything I load them with, and I've never had a problem with either mechanically. I like the tritium sights on the S&W a lot, and the dot sights on the Ruger. Makes getting on target quick 'n' easy. Once I get the new sights on the 1911s I may change my mind, though. Maybe that's why I never remarried; too many choices to stick with just one!:beer::roll2:
    A double action revolver is a semiauto firearm. It fires once for every trigger pull.



  • ilove22silove22s Senior Member Posts: 1,010 Senior Member
    #30
    if you ever shot some 22LR autoloaders you will know reliable when you shoot it.

    For my CF AUTOLOADER, they are:

    These have been my best so far. Its not to say they have been 100% no malfunction, but the best.

    Beretta 92
    CZ 75, 85, P01, SP01
    PO 18.9 LDA
    HK P30
    S&W M&P 9
    XD 45

    there are others, but i dont have alot of ammo down range to make that choice. I will say tho, that i woudlnt have second thoughts about using them in a pinch.
    The ears never lie.

    - Don Burt
  • glockman0422glockman0422 Member Posts: 216 Member
    #31
    My most reliable and accurate pistol is my Glock 17. It has never had any type of malfuction whatsoever after thousands of rounds. the thing just keeps going and going like the energizer bunny. Plus i can get some pretty awesome groups with it. A close second has got to be my Bulgarian Makarov it has never had any malfunctions either. I just happen to shoot the Glock better since i have a lot more trigger time with it. My carry gun is a Keltek Pf9 and although it has never had any malfunctions either its a bit harder to shoot accurately. I mean its accurate enough but just not as accurate as the other two.

    Here is a picture of an attempt to do a smiley face with my Glock 17. Not exactly a smiley face but close eough:

    09261015141.jpg

    Glock17002.jpg
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