What's the Worst POS firearm you ever owned?

General General Discussion
1

Once upon a time, when I was all AK47 all the time, I got talked into trading a Clayco pre-ban Ling Hua factory AK for a CAR-15 clone. Not knowing anything about AR’s, I believed the gun shop owners when they told me that their home-built CAR-15 was just as good as a Colt.

Worst firearm mistake I ever made.

This piece of dogshit was a “parts gun.” Whether true or just marketing hype, the gun shop claimed it was built with “mil-spec surplus parts from a National Guard armory.” I should have run right there.

The gun fired maybe three shots, then jammed up so tightly you couldn’t even open the bolt. Since I was in law enforcement, I knew the former sheriff’s armorer, and I had him look at the gun. He criticized nearly everything about it: no staking to the bolt carrier gas key, no staking to the castle nut, the extractor was bent, there was no silicon insert in the extractor spring, the internals were semi-auto and so could not have been from a military source, and the piece-de-resistance is that he could tell the bolt rings had failed and that’s why it seized up.

When we finally got the bolt open, the gas rings had partially shattered. Fragments of the rings had stopped the bolt from moving. He examined them closely, and they were all of different thicknesses and one was a little too short. In a nutshell: that gun shop had put the gun together from floor sweepings.

We took the rifle back to the gun shop, hoping to raise Hell and get my Ling Hua AK back, but it was too late. They had sold it (or so they claimed). My former sheriff armorer buddy did his best to suggest to the gun shop owner that he would make sure none of his law enforcement contacts would ever buy anything from that shop if I didn’t get my money back. Well, the shop didn’t have enough cash on hand (or so they claimed).

So I literally cleaned that gun shop out of every case of 7.62x39 (back when ammo was cheap), every AK mag they had, every Chinese mag vest, and so on. The shop’s shelves were almost bare in one corner when we were done.

Lesson learned: never EVER buy a parts gun. EVER.

I had enough ammo to shoot my other AK’s for a couple of years, enough mags that I didn’t have to buy any more until right before the ban, and enough Chicom mag vests to start my own platoon.

But I sure wish I had my Ling Hua AK back. :sad:

2

Two actually.

A Spanish Star B. 1911 looking 9mm. Couldn’t get through a mag without multiple issues. I only paid $100 for it and traded it pretty quick. This was about 10 years ago. Knowing what I know now about guns I wouldn’t have even looked at it.

2nd was a Browning HiPower. Bought it about 6 years ago. Dated to mid 80s if I’m not mistaken. Same issues as the Star B. Couldn’t get through a mag without a stove pipe or failure to feed or some other type of failure. Traded it on a S&W 1006

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3

I almost bought a Star B at a gunshow once just because it was in Pulp Fiction.

4

I bought it because it was a cheap 1911ish that shot cheap 9mm. It wasn’t meant to be anything but a range toy since I couldn’t have an ambi safety

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5

Winchester Model 94 Big Bore 444 Marlin. Wouldn’t cycle worth a crap. The more I tried the worst it got. Bought it new and Winchester didn’t want to know anything about it. I think they were between owners at the time (early 2000’s). Traded it for a Marlin 444 and haven’t looked back.

NYH1.

6

I have had generally pretty good luck with my firearms being the type who tends to do a fair amount of research prior to buying. But, pre internet and new to guns, first gun I purchased with my brand new CCW and being a broke college kid, was a S&W Sigma .380. It was what I could afford at the time. It was reliable and never game me major issues, but it was a real POS of a gun and a real low point for S&W when they were owned by those idiots who almost tanked the company.

7

Auto Ordnance Thompson pistol, many years ago. BIG disappointment.

8

When I was a kid, my dad had a Browning Hi Power that couldn’t get through a mag of even ball ammo without jamming. Soured me on the pistol maybe forever, although people tell me that one must have been a fluke.

9

I have the same reaction and have been told that same exact thing

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10

Bushmaster xm15 e2s Dissipator and Remington 1187P both were complete pieces of shit.

11

Rock Island 1911 Tactical. Wouldn’t run reliably with their mags, Wilson mags or Chip McCormick mags. After it jammed up hard one day I ditched it and picked up a Kimber Stainless II. Oddly enough, the Kimber ran great.

12

Ruger MkII 22/45

I hate this word–HATE–but it was the quintessential “jam-o-matic.”

13

AMT Hardballer.

14

S&W E series 1911. Giant POS, firing pin safety in it wouldn’t function correctly after two trip to S&W it was always a guess on if it would go click or bang. Wouldn’t own another one.

15

Late Gen 2 Glock 23. Phase 3 malf, slammed unejected cartridge into the slide. Early Gen 3 Glock 31, same type of issue, the frame was the issue, it was out of time. The problem followed the frame amongst multiple uppers.

The above were meant to be good guns, but were total garbage. I have a wasr-10 ak the was 250$ and technically a POS, it however has been a great gun with no issues. I say this not being an AK guy and owning that one AK and probably 15 very high end ar15s.

16

Mine was a MKIII 22/45. Finicky feeding and minute of barn door accuracy no matter the ammo.

17

Taurus Thunderbolt .357
It just is not made to have enough intrinsic stoppage at the tube, so an extra round can came out and cause MOAJs.
It also lacks repeatable precision in the action, causing rounds to sometimes not feed right.
If it had about 10% more time on the drawing board/R&D, and 10% more manufacturing effort, it would be really cool.
But periods of working great with too frequent jams relegates it to not even fun as a range toy.

S&W Model 15
I bought it in the 80s, it was made in the 70s. Must have been something wrong with it. The DA pull was so hard it was literally painful. One of the few guns I have ever sold.

P14-45s
Mid 1990s
Worked great. Liked it. So got a limited as well.
Then extraction issues. That don’t get better no matter what extractor is placed or fitted now. The limited worked great. Then the front sight fell off. Any front sight replacement is so hard to fit, by the time it is fit, it will fall loosen up off within a few thousand rounds. Just not made for long term, heavy use when all is said I guess.

Mag fed shot guns.
Saiga 12 and my son’s MKA 1919
Tons of fun when working
Tons of time dicking around when they are not

Romanian PSL
If I shoot corrosive ammo, not matter how well I clean it, it will get gunked up at the tip of the piston in the housing where it comes off the barrel. It will want to stick and not let the bolt be pulled back. And I hate the PSP scope. I don’t feel like printing off pages of shit to go to the range with and mess with four screws sighting in some funky, offset scope.

Mag fed 30-30s, .225 Winchester, etc.
Not a damn one has ever fed for me. They become mag not fed single shots.

FA91 HK clone.
Loved the railed top, I hate the HK scope mount.
After a few dozen rounds it would heat up and I could not pull the op rod back.
The receiver was dx’ed and it became an expensive parts kit for a rifle built on a PTR receiver.

18

SKS. It fired with safety on and without the trigger being pulled. I think adding Chinese quality steel to a bad fire control design makes them all an AD waiting to happen.

19

I went through a weird pocket pistol phase for a while and the Taurus 738 TCP .380 was by far the worst gun I have ever owned. I should have known better but the price suckered me in to trying it out.

20

Depends on the parts, depends who made it.

I have a few Bulgarian AK builds on Nodak receivers that are perfect. But if you aren’t knowledgeable about such things, as a general rule avoiding parts kit guns is a good idea. I’ve seen some terrible ARs and FALs.