What is the worst firearm you have ever used / owned?

There are some real howlers out there, even some of the 'modern' ones. Pistols, rifles, shotguns etc. Some can be diamonds while others are fit for the sledgehammer and a deep lake somewhere.

I'll start first with mine which I had in the 1990s and 2000s.

The L85A1 SA80.

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These were a balls-up from the beginning. Poor quality plastic (I saw parts snap and come off like you wouldn't believe). The select-fire lever if accidentally pushed too far up (to just past 'R' setting) prevented the trigger re-setting (unless you flicked back from behind manually). The safety catch was not thumb operated, meaning you had to remove either your use your trigger finger or your other hand to activate/de-activate it.

Accuracy was good along with the SUSAT (ACOG-esque optical sight), but there was often 'play' or wobble between the upper and lower receiver. The sling was advanced and nice to use but it was a bit of a chinese puzzle to get used to.
It was shorter than the SLR but fired a .223 varmint round. No good for fighting with a bayonet and if you were left-handed there was no option but to fire it from your right shoulder, otherwise you got hot brass ejected into your face!

This rifle got pumped out en-mass for the British Army back in the 1980s and hardly anyone I know liked it. Many wanted the SLR brought back. Heckler and Koch did a minor parts upgrade in the early 2000s making it the L85A2 but it's fundimentally unfit for a total war. I hope this thing is out of service before we have one.

Well that's my little rant.

What's your worst firearm?

A reproduction of a Remington over/under derringer in .22LR. It was a gift to me and I tried shooting it. It wasn't cheaply made or anything like that, it was just too small to get a decent grip on and was inaccurate as hell. It was difficult to hit a 55 gallon barrel at 5 feet... I am not kidding.

Worst - Beretta PX4 9 mm. Nothing inherently wrong with the gun, but I thought it looked stupid and felt stupid in my hands. And I'm not a 9 mm fan to begin with. It was a duty weapon for a while, so fortunately I didn't spend any of my own money on it.

Best - Kimber Custom II TLE. Best gun I've ever owned. Love everything about it. Everything. Beautiful gun, and a shooting piece right out of the box.

I know there are many who like the P90, but for me, I just don't care for it. This thing is huge and all edges. If you've never fired one, think holding a book with a trigger and for some unknown reason, Ruger made the entire thing with a slick finish. I mean slick. Grab the back of the slide to chamber a round and the safety/hammer drop is in the way. Grab the front and you have to grip to stop your fingers from sliding. Bulky? Don't get me started. For a single stack, holding 8 rounds, it's the chunkiest grip I've ever tried to get my hand around. Admittedly, I don't have the biggest hands, but I've seen folks who have bigger hands than mine say it's a stretch. The forward trigger guard, where you'd normally rest your index finger is so smooth, your finger slips off when firing. Recoil is good, nothing harsh or uncontrollable and accuracy is great. I like the DA first round, so you don't have to carry cocked and locked. It's not a bad weapon, just the worst in my collection.

I worked for a dealer/manufacturer/gunsmith near las vegas for a couple of years so was lucky enough to put many guns to the test. Ill avoid ergonomics and guns that weren't mine to shorten my post, butthere are two guns in particular that really stand out to me. The first 'worst' would have been my pre-ban open bolt cobray m-10(semi). What a nasty machine. I had always coveted one from childhood. The slapping forward of the bolt made it inaccurate as heck and I broke a LOT of parts before I sold it for good $$$. Not to mention the WEIGHT. Sheesh! lol Our shop had an NFA one that never had an issue though, so maybe it was just mine.
The next one that comes to mind, and I hate to say it, was my AMT Automag III. DIRTY HARRY COOL! But never got it to cycle reliably with any type of storebought ammo and paid for it thrice over in parts/repairs. But it cycled incred fast and threw an incredible fireball from unburnt powder of store bought .30 carbine rounds. WOAH! But alas it as well, was sold long ago. Would have loved to still have both today just for collection pieces. But no love lost really.

I was young and stupid and bought a TEC-9.
Probably LESS accurate than a Tokarev,CERTAINLY not as durable ,you needed a HAMMER to get that take down pin to move it and if you weren't careful the PLASTIC reciever cracked.

originally posted by: DAVID64
I know there are many who like the P90, but for me, I just don't care for it. This thing is huge and all edges. If you've never fired one, think holding a book with a trigger and for some unknown reason, Ruger made the entire thing with a slick finish. I mean slick. Grab the back of the slide to chamber a round and the safety/hammer drop is in the way. Grab the front and you have to grip to stop your fingers from sliding. Bulky? Don't get me started. For a single stack, holding 8 rounds, it's the chunkiest grip I've ever tried to get my hand around. Admittedly, I don't have the biggest hands, but I've seen folks who have bigger hands than mine say it's a stretch. The forward trigger guard, where you'd normally rest your index finger is so smooth, your finger slips off when firing. Recoil is good, nothing harsh or uncontrollable and accuracy is great. I like the DA first round, so you don't have to carry cocked and locked. It's not a bad weapon, just the worst in my collection.

Just looking at that pistol makes me wary. I agree it's a nice looking weapon but quite over-flash. The grips look pretty good though. Maybe best as a wall hanger? More for show and not for go?

originally posted by: TopCat1

The next one that comes to mind, and I hate to say it, was my AMT Automag III. DIRTY HARRY COOL! But never got it to cycle reliably with any type of storebought ammo and paid for it thrice over in parts/repairs. But it cycled incred fast and threw an incredible fireball from unburnt powder of store bought .30 carbine rounds. WOAH! But alas it as well, was sold long ago. Would have loved to still have both today just for collection pieces. But no love lost really.

What a shame! Can I ask what caliber it was in? They made those babies in .357, .44 and even .50 AE!!!
I think maybe reloading / handloading your own bullets was the way to go with the AMT?

originally posted by: cavtrooper7
I was young and stupid and bought a TEC-9.
Probably LESS accurate than a Tokarev,CERTAINLY not as durable ,you needed a HAMMER to get that take down pin to move it and if you weren't careful the PLASTIC reciever cracked.

Did the magazine pop-off if you gripped it for firing?

I haven't owned a ton, but I couldn't wait to rid myself of the Taurus TCP .380 that I had for an everyday carry. The ejection port wouldn't allow the Critical Defense ammo I had to eject when just cycling rounds manually (they'd do fine when firing, though), the magazine ejection button would sometimes release the magazine while in my holster, and I had more feeding issues than I'd have liked before I had to polish the feed ramp. The grip was tiny, even for my medium-sized hands, and the sights sucked. All of this combined to give me a lack of trust in that firearm if I ever needed to use it.

But at the time, the price was right, and as they say, something is better than nothing (generally speaking). I've since sold it and moved on to a S&W Bodyguard as its replacement, and I love that little thing for a nice, reliable EDC for the summertime. Winter time usually finds my S&W M&P .40C on my hip, and I love that gun, too.

a reply to: WatchRider
It was chambered in .30 Carbine. The Automag II was chambered in .22 mag. Id love to get my hands on one. But yes without a doubt handloads would have improved performance, unfortunately there were low quality components despite the high pressures it was built for. Very different from the .44 and .50 in appearance and design, but definitely a handful and quite the experience lol

originally posted by: WatchRider

originally posted by: DAVID64
I know there are many who like the P90, but for me, I just don't care for it. This thing is huge and all edges. If you've never fired one, think holding a book with a trigger and for some unknown reason, Ruger made the entire thing with a slick finish. I mean slick. Grab the back of the slide to chamber a round and the safety/hammer drop is in the way. Grab the front and you have to grip to stop your fingers from sliding. Bulky? Don't get me started. For a single stack, holding 8 rounds, it's the chunkiest grip I've ever tried to get my hand around. Admittedly, I don't have the biggest hands, but I've seen folks who have bigger hands than mine say it's a stretch. The forward trigger guard, where you'd normally rest your index finger is so smooth, your finger slips off when firing. Recoil is good, nothing harsh or uncontrollable and accuracy is great. I like the DA first round, so you don't have to carry cocked and locked. It's not a bad weapon, just the worst in my collection.

Just looking at that pistol makes me wary. I agree it's a nice looking weapon but quite over-flash. The grips look pretty good though. Maybe best as a wall hanger? More for show and not for go?

I've never had a P90, but if they're anything like the other P-series guns (and I've owned a couple of P95s), they're definitely not 'wall hangers'. The 95s were very tough, reliable, durable handguns, and even had better than decent accuracy. The drawback was that they had all the ergonomics of a brick, but for most purposes that didn't involve concealed carry, they're very, very good choices in the budget category.

A Jennings .380. Bought it for 99 bucks at a dept store in town. It was the first gun I ever bough myself. Went to the sand pits loaded her up. Took aim on a rather shady looking metal pail. Squeezed the trigger. Shot was 5 feet wide and something broke inside it still sits in my junk drawer to this day. 20 years later.

a reply to: BlastedCaddy
Good post. I would have liked to list a Jennings "anything" lol, but never personally owned one. A friend had a .22 that would 'burst' 2 or 3 rds at a time right out of the box. Dangerous. And good knowledge for anyone considering one. *4u2!

For me it was the Taurus judge public defender. don't get me wrong, the judge is a well made firearm, and great for certain applications (shooting snakes), but for self defense, and personal protection its useless. From 25 meters, shooting .45 long colt I saw one of the slugs get stopped by the 1×1 target frame. I'm talking a little 1 inch piece of pine wood that the slug couldn't penetrate. Guess the short barrel, and cylinder gap let's to much gas escape, causing the bullet fired to lose back pressure. Anyway, I wouldn't reccomend the judge unless you just want a .410 to carry in the woods for snakes.

My favorite pistol, and you might laugh at me here, is the s&w SD 40. Hands down, the best bang for your buck self defense concealed carry pistol you can get. My opinion though.

a reply to: WatchRider

Actually, for reliability and accuracy, I'd bet my life on it. It's never failed to feed, jammed in any way or to chamber any ammo I've put through it, which is a lot. It's just so damn chunky. It's literally like carrying a brick in your pocket.

A high standard 22cal semi auto called "sport king"
Most jamming up p.o.s. I ever owned. I was better off throwing it at the target.

Friend of mine had a Lorcin .380. Man what a piece of crap. Every other round it jammed. Don't know if he still has it but that would be an excellent gun for a police dept buy back program.

I have seldom seen an out of the box pistol that didn't need "tuning"
That being said, my AMT 8 in bbl automag in 22magnum that I waited months for delivery on, just didn't make the cut.....
Another I I got that was crap was a S&W 38 short .....you could watch the bullets drop to earth only feet in front of you......

a reply to: stirling

That being said, my AMT 8 in bbl automag in 22magnum that I waited months for delivery on, just didn't make the cut.....

They were very hit and miss.
I had an Automag II that never failed to cycle for me.
And I know other people that got bad ones.