I've been missing this thread for a while - been too busy to enjoy it.. I come back to look and see that I have gained a reputation for trashing Taurus weapons...

So, here goes.

The one make of weapons that jams more often in lessons I give for Tennessee citizens to qualify for a pistol permit is.........

TAURUS.. It jams a lot, It doesn't work very well. What more can I say, I have NEVER carried on, I very rarely see one in working order - I have tried to mend a bunch of them, I have improved a few too, but this is not trashing the weapon, it is the reminiscences of an old gunsmith. If they made a good gun, I would be very happy - maybe they do, I do not know. What I do know is that it really is the most likely gun in class to jam, miss load, stovepipe, or not go off. It probably has something to do with the inexperience of the owners, but that makes it even more a weapon to avoid carrying defensively, because, believe me, if ever you have to draw your weapon, in defense of your life, you will suddenly have 4 left feet, a fist full of thumbs, no hearing to speak of, and your eyesight will go limited angle monochrome. Color perception goes weird, sound goes weird, and all of a sudden, your hands do not obey you. YOU NEED to have a weapon that is beyond reproach in those situations, because my friends, the the proverbial hits the fan, you CANNOT say "Time out, guys, my gun jammed."

So, sorry it was late, but yes, I do not like Taurus weapons.

Go crazy and buy a Sig Sauer - they do not jam, mis feed, or any other nasty surprise actions.

Of interest, the gun second most likely to jam in class is any Beretta, especially if an inexperienced lady is waving it about.

The third is the most beloved firearm of America, the Colt 1911 - a very nice gun, but NOT recommended for a novice. ( I have one of these, though I do not carry it)

Theo

 

Stovepiping is totally the users fault, my dad used to do that all the time with a Model 1914 Mauser 7.65mm, The gun is superlight and I had to show old iron hands how to hold it so that ot would quit biting him and not stovepipe.

 

I don't agree with that...I have been shooting a Beretta for over 10 years(same pistol too) and almost every weekend.
I have a stock barrel, and one made of stainless for it (threaded on the end for a suppressor in fact)...If the gun is kept clean and not mistreated, I yet to see mine jam...I will also go as far as state I have 30rnd preban clips for my 92 F and it will empty them as fast as you can squeeze them off..and I will place money on it...The gun will not jam!

NOTE: This may not apply to USA made Berettas but as for mine, Made in Italy(A real Beretta)...No other semi-auto can touch it. IMHO of course.

P.S. As far as semi-autos I own a colt .45...a S&W .45 ...a plastic Glock (heh don't get me started on this hammerless weapon) a 380 auto(made by god only knows who) and a .22..I think I do like the Beretta for it's reliability more than any other or my Colt 1991A1 (toss up on these two)...If you have a Beretta that jams I would check it for powder in the clip as well as checking it's spring that feeds it for weakness.
I also stand behind an AR-15 for not jamming too when I hear people say the AK-47 is more reliable... I own both...I can say without question...No it is not...But the key is...Keeping the weapons clean.

 

I am sorry guys - I only state from my experience as an instructor, and as a smith. Give a small statue lady a Beretta, and she may well have problems with the weapon. Same with a Taurus, except it need not be a small lady, many inexperienced people cannot rely on such a weapon.

I personally manage with any weapon, I train on as many as I can get hold of, regularly, and have no problem. A long career with firearms gives me experience so I know what to do when I need to. The people who come to my classes have oft times never seen a gun close by before, so they are hampered by inexperience. For them, and anyone like them, I say do not buy or use a gun that behaves badly in your hands. Remember, they are getting permission to carry a loaded firearm, about their person, in a public place. I want them to be able to use the weapon properly, without wondering if it is going to fire, jam or otherwise scare the pants off them.

For guys like you, all familiar with weaponry, such worries never concern you, but for the newbies such things could mean the difference between living to see your family, or a cold trip to a cold morgue.

Because of that fact, I will continue to mention, when provoked into it, which guns I personally see having problems more often than others.

(When someone cannot fire the 9mm Taurus, or Beretta and would loose their chance to pass, I lend them one of my Sigs, all of which are .45, and they manage perfectly for them. I have never had a Sig do anything unexpected on the range with my students.)

Theo

 

Put thousands of rounds through my Glock model 22 .40 S&W. Sweet firearm.

 

I saw a glock get pulled out of a saline tank, dried with an oily rag, and loaded. It had sat in the saline tank for a week and fired perfectly. It had no damage to anything visible, and the gun went on to fire another 3000 rounds, before getting destroyed. (it was a test weapon, for the UN.)

I have also seen a glock break in half, during a competition, and another go full auto in a practice range. Glocks unfortunately are a good weapon, but i don't like them. The main problem is that whatever glock calls their action, it is just a single action, with no safety.

Theo.

 

Don't get me wrong here guys, I believe in weapon ownership and own a few myself, but I never understood why average citizens feel the need to own assault weapons. And the statistics on getting dead in a confrontation are much higher for a person that brandishes a firearm. The only way a concealed weapon is of use is if you get yours out first and kill the baddy. Now you have put yourself in a position of knowing he is going for a gun before you will actually see one. I personally do not own anything worth dieing for. And yes I do think there are legitimate reasons for carrying a weapon but the pistol in the night stand has taken way too many innocent lives to even be considered by the average citizen. I would just move if I had to even think about my environment necessating the need.

 

Around here we carry a handgun everywhere, it isn't practical to carry a rifle or shotgun everywhere. I must mention that this is on our ranch where coyotes can be anywhere and intruders are quite common as well. To me a handgun is not an assault weapon. The shuck-shuck of a shotgun only works on intruders.

I am quite partial to Para-Ordnance handguns.

 

I didn't mean that all pistols are assault weapons, it's just that a lot of us are a bit mesmerized by weapons that are basically meant to harm people.( myself included, I used to have a thing for the M1 G. and the BAR ) When I was younger it was just role playing. A lot of us ranch kids drove the pickup to school with a couple of rifles in the gunrack. We never thought of shooting the place up or hurting someone though. Now my boys can't even carry a pocket knife or they get expelled.
Then as a young man I always had a six shooter hanging on the shifter in my truck and I kept a junker 30-06 unfer the seat. Well I quit the pistol thing and leaving guns in the truck after they got stolen a couple times. By the way if you can kill a coyote with a pistol, you must be a heckuva shot or your coyotes are a lot tamer than the ones in the Badlands. All the ones we saw there were usually a couple hundred yards off and on a dead run. I did know an old man down on the res. that routinely killed them a pistol but he was a enigma.
The last time I shot my six shooter(357), I loped it out the window of my econoline to dust a suspicious acting skunk. It rang my ears so bad and I was getting tired of the barking. I enjoyed my Ruger 22 auto so much that I just never shot that 357 again and eventually traded it off on some shop equipment.
Well this is turning into a major rant. I guess it's just the times you know. I think we need to be a little more careful these days with how we view weapons since we seem to have a few more angry misguided young people than we used to. It's not that it never happened before( Richard Speck ). It's just that it seems to happen a lot more now.
In my day the shootemups were westerns and Dirty Harry. We emulated the good guys with our 6 shooters, practicing our quick draw. Now the line between good and bad has blurred some and the role models in action movies are some pretty nasty people.
Just curious if you ever had to use a weapon on an intruder.

 

Pointed but never shot, would never think of killing another. I have knocked some drunken indians out with a baseball bat after they broke into our house. Hope I never have to deal with that again, I am so glad we moved off the res.

Usually the coyotes are just getting brave when we shoot them with a revolver at close range, ~50 yards.

 

Amen on the res. thing. Been there and done that. The only time I ever carried my pistol because I thought I would need it to defend myself against another person was a res. story. I was working on the rigs in N.Dak and my crew had stired up some trouble in town. I was on dry watch by myself for a couple nights with all the generators down. I sure as heck didn't sleep or take my hand off my pistola all night.
Also was quite near the whole Wounded Knee thing. I have gotten a bit more sympathetic to their cause in my later years, but that wouldn't change my stance on protecting myself or my family

 

We lived on Fort Peck res. for three years, we had 11 break ins, and I personally KO'ed 3 intruders, the others were calmly persuaded out by a Mossberg 500A. The cops don't do anything if you are white, I believe I have a reason to be slightly predjudiced.

 

Don't sound like prejudiced to me, sounds lika a realist.

 

OK, time to 'fess up to my ignorance. Can someone define "stovepiping"?

 

Let's see here...
I have a Winchester 1200 with a 20" deer barrel and pistol grip for home protection...

The S&W 915 9mm was my first pistol and I do believe that I could put dog food thru it and it would fire. Reliable gun for sure but not highly accurate.

I have a custom S&W 357 snubby wheelgun with nite sites, hogue grips and a bunch of other features... pretty good carry gun if the target is about 15 feet away or less due to the 2" barrel. It hurts my ears when fired even with ear plugs, but you KNOW this suckers gonna fire. (It might not hit, but it will fire.)

Got a Colt hammerless .25 semi at a yard sale and believe it or not, it's a pretty nice little gun! (Won't jam with quality ammo and pretty accurate too.) I would not trust it in an emergency tho.

My 239 .40 Sig is a great gun but the .40 load is a bit hot for me due to a tad of arthritis.

My baby is the Sig p225 9mm with nite sites! This is truly a fantastic gun. Accurate, reliable, light and well designed...
I can't say enough positive things about it.