We always talk about the best, the finest, coolest... but there is another side... the don't waste your money or down right dangerous...


So to kick things off lets talk about one that will get you killed simply because you don't know...Damascus steel...



Originally Damascus steel referred a hot-forged steel used in Middle Eastern swordmaking from about 1100 to 1700 AD. Damascus swords were of legendary sharpness and strength, and were apocryphally claimed to be able to cut through lesser quality swords and even rock.

The swirl pattens in the steel make this among some of the prettiest guns you'll ever see... but there is a problem...

Prior to the early 20th century, all shotgun barrels were forged by heating narrow strips of iron and steel and shaping them around a mandrel.This process was referred to as "laminating" or "Damascus" and these barrels were found on inexpensive shotguns that sold for $12.These types of barrels earned a reputation for weakness and were never meant to be used with modern smokeless powder, often resulting in catastrophic failure. can you say blow up in your face?

the thing is, you still see these guns pop up from time to time at a gun show... and they work just fine with the old lower pressured black powder shotshells, but when they moved to modern smokeless powder and much higher chamber pressures they didn't change the cartridge... a modern 12 ga fits neatly into the chamber of one these old black powder guns... you'd never know you just made a fatal mistake until you pulled the trigger!


That very pretty steel swirl is your tip off... because of it's beauty there are gun makers today that sleeve Damascus steel over... giving the impression of... but with the safety of modern materials hidden underneath...

Okay now your turns...
So tell me what kind of bad experiences have you had? don't be shy you might just save more than someones hard earned cash

So tell me what kind of bad experiences have you had? don't be shy you might just save more than someones hard earned cash

I bought a Lorcin once.

Dont buy cheap weapons. Never.

I bought some el-cheapo magazines for an AR once.
It was a tossup on whether I'd get a double feed or a fail to feed, after firing one round.

Dont buy cheap mags. Never.
Always get milspec.

Don't buy a $1000 rifle and put on a $20 scope. Dont buy cheap scopes, not even for a little .22. It's not worth the aggravation.


[edit on 13/12/09 by PSUSA]

Yugoslavian AKs or anything else for that matter
If the gun came from any eastern European countries, avoid it like the plague.

Not on the same idea, but, do not buy old surplus ammo.

A few years back my father purchased about 10 ammo cases filled with bullets for our M1 Carbine he got from the Korean War.

Never had any problems with it until-one deer drive I was getting tired of doing all the driving so my friend drove and I switched to standing. So we swapped rifles. He got the M1 and I took his 30 06.

Well when he came out of the woods about 6 deer scattered I dropped one and Tim never shot. He was about 120 yards away and I did hear him say something.

He came up swearing, he said what the hell is wrong with your gun, it shot one bullet and than it jammed.

I never heard his shot. So I looked at the rifle and the slide on the top looked like it was closed but it was not. There was a fraction of a milimeter opening between the slide and the chamber.

It seems the bullet had just enough energy to push out of the casing and also enough energy to retract and pick up the next bullet from the clip.

If that bullet would have gone another .5 mm, that rifle would have exploded in his face.

We disassembled all of the bullets and than threw the brass away.

BE SAFE FIRST.

Never knew that about the old guns. But they are supposed to kept as investments, not for the use.

2nd vote for no Lorcins....

I sold guns for almost 20 years. Never buy anything made by Jennings, Bryco, Raven, Haskell, etc...

These guns were returned over & over again by customers. When you pull the trigger they may or may not fire.

Most eastern european ak aren't that bad, Chinese made AK's are much better 1.5mm thick recievers vs 1 mm thick Euro's. , Higher quality, etc..
Stay away from WASR 10's unless you know what you're doing when it comes to AK's. Front sights may or not be straight, rear sights may or may not be straight, gas tubes may or may not be sraight. recoil springs rusted, scope mounting brackets not on straight, barrels packed with grease, non-matching numbers not uncommon among Euro AK's but will reduce value, (figure that into price). If buying a WASR 10 face to face and it has been re-fanged, make sure its 922r compliant. Also, and most importantly, make ABSOLUTELY sure there is no third hole above the mag release. this hole will be riveted, it is in front of the trigger group rivet and under a convex rivet. This hole was for the auto sear pin. This is considered a MACHINE GUN. ATF no like.

If you do happen to find a clean WASR that is decently built and legal it will only shoot 4-6" groups at 100yds.

So, if all you want is a cheap zombie-killer accurate to about 50 yds. Go for it. Otherwise, spend another 200 bucks and get a Chinese AK

edit: it doesn't matter if hole is riveted or not, welded or not if it was ever there illegal. Fortunatly, most have been found and are rare

[edit on 13-12-2009 by jacksmoke]

I must admit my first thought was any .25 auto. I also try to avoid odd calibers. If TSHTF and you need to scavange .32magnum H&R rounds you might be out of luck.

Also never buy a Davis P-32 or any of their guns. They were recalled for coming apart during firing. They were even sued for injuries that resulted during normal operation.

(edit to add a letter)

[edit on 14-12-2009 by MikeNice81]

If you ever decide to buy an AR-15 stay away from Colt. Their tolerances are not mil-spec and some standard AR-15 parts will not work well with them, if they work at all. The fire control group on the Colt uses (or used to anyway) different size pins than a mil-spec AR-15. Other parts require adapters to get mil-spec parts to work on a Colt AR.

I haven't had great luck with Taurus handguns. Some people love them. Their customer service is terrible (not that it matters during SHTF). YMMV.

Hi-Point for the most part is junk. They do sell a 9mm carbine that has shot pretty well for me, but stay away from their handguns.

IMO your best way to determine gun quality, if you're not familiar with the brand/make/model you're about to purchase, is price. If the price is too good to be true it's probably junk. Don't expect rock-solid reliability and accuracy with a $90 used handgun. "Gun people" know what their stuff is worth.

If you see a price that's a steal at a gun show inspect your potential purchase thoroughly before buying. Bring a bore scope with you. Check for bulges in the barrel. I sometimes bring snap-caps with me so I can test out cycling of ammunition.

Don't go to a gun show or pawn shop with $XXX thinking you'll just buy what you can afford. Do your research first, then decide what gun(s) meet your needs for use and price. There's tons of information on the web for just about any gun you can imagine, take advantage of it!

I know a lot of ladies enjoy the idea of a compact pistol, this is not a good idea if you want reliability over size. A 4.5 to 5 inch barrel will suffice smaller than that and you run
into jamming problems as the rest of the gun will probably be smaller too. You also have to worry about the integrity of the firing pin.

Do NOT buy Hi-Point firearms for any reason. They are known for pin
breaks and dangerous jams.

[edit on 13-12-2009 by projectvxn]

[edit on 13-12-2009 by projectvxn]

good topic....I'm not a gun owner or user......went skeet shooting twice in my life ( not a bad shot i might add for only 2 times ) but all these stories of bad experiences with guns is just almost never talked about unless you are talking with people who know guns...

well this thread is for people who lack the knowledge.....which means, all this info is extremely useful if SHTF....

If it's a SHTF moment and then SRHTF ( S*** really hits the fan ) and your gun has something bad happen, be sure to at least carry a nice blade on you.....

That or at least a sling shot.........you may not kill your attacker, but you might make him think twice after he gets pelleted in the chest with a metal ball flying at 85-170 mph...

When used right, it is lethal......



Is it better to have a 99.999% reliable gun that is older, or a newer gun ?

I'm talking like what are the best of the best old guns to use that still fire like they did back then? and are those better to have then some random new pos ?