What is your most reliable pistol and why?

[Gödel]

So far have some interesting feedback on this thread. A couple of observations so far:

1. Even though polymer framed, striker fired pistols dominate the market place, with the exception of Glock and 1 or 2 entries for the M&P, they are not dominating this thread and metal framed, hammer fired and hammered fired, polymers are still doing very well.

2. Many of the older designs are doing very well, the Beretta 92, Sig P220 series, and CZ-75 have all been mentioned multiple times. Interestingly enough, all three pistols were introduced within a year of each other in the mid 1970s. Sig P220 (1975), CZ-75 (1975), Beretta 92 (1976). Now if you add Glock to the fray Glock 17 (early to mid 1980s), the bulk of the pistols dominated this thread are pretty old designs.

3. The bulk of the pistols mentioned were designed first for the military market. Sig P220, CZ-75, Beretta 92, HK 45/HK P30, and Glock 17/19 were all first designed for military uses and assumingly had a long testing process in there development.

4. Some of most mentioned pistols on this thread are polar opposites of each other. For example if you look at a Glock against a Beretta 92, totally different philosophy of design and manufacture. The Glock is a very simple almost workman type gun with very few parts which pointed the way forward in firearms manufacture, in contrast to the Beretta 92 which has nearly twice the part count, very finely machined and engineered, and almost a throwback to earlier years of gun making. End of the day, when probably executed both design and manufacturing philosophies seem to work very well.

I'm sure there are other takeaways but these are the ones that jump out for me.

I completely agree that weapons designed to win military contracts are generally more likely to work well than those designed to please retail buyers.


I do think the Glock parts count thing is completely exaggerated and misunderstood. Glock parts counts are based on part assemblies, not actual pieces like the way Beretta keeps track of parts. And a Glock doesn't have two grip panels, 4 grip bushings and 4 grip screws. Once you compare the actual number of discreet parts each pistol has involved in operating the pistol, the difference between the two shrinks until there is barely a difference. Low parts count is primarily Glock marketing. The actual mechanical simplicity is something of an illusion.



If the question of reliability in general was extended to include not doing any maintenance or reliability at very high round counts, I would definitely say that HK appears to have the most durable small parts and springs. But I do think that is a different question than straight out reliability.

[Evel Baldgui]

CZ 75.

[SiGfever]

HK USPc.

[EzGoingKev]

I have a G19 that was pieced together using a Gen3 Glock 23 frame, 30274 ejector, and a Gen2 Glock 19 top end on it. I have a Surefire x300 light on it. The mags have the latest follower and Wolff +10% springs.

I have carried it for years and put about 8k rounds through without any issues.

[czgunner]

My early M&P9 full size, VP9, shield 9 and p239 357 have been 100%.

[sndt1319]

I'm surprised so many people say their 92SF is their most reliable pistol. Mine is my least reliable. I get a ton of double feeds using factory magazines and FMJ ammo. It happens enough that I've basically only bring it out when I want to brush up on the platform before I qualify. I haven't been shooting much the last year but I just got a membership at an indoor range local to me to increase my frequency.

I've wondered if my grip is causing the issue as so many people swear by these guns.

[TactiCool1976]

my G19/17/26 and sig 1911 have the most rounds fired thru them and not a single issue... even my g23 and g20 havent given me a issue, but i havent put a bunch of rounds thru them..

[Gödel]

I'm surprised so many people say their 92SF is their most reliable pistol. Mine is my least reliable. I get a ton of double feeds using factory magazines and FMJ ammo. It happens enough that I've basically only bring it out when I want to brush up on the platform before I qualify. I haven't been shooting much the last year but I just got a membership at an indoor range local to me to increase my frequency.

I've wondered if my grip is causing the issue as so many people swear by these guns.

It sounds like something is broken/bent/wrong in your gun. You should have it looked at. Double feeds - I assume you're talking about a failure to eject or a failure to extract - can have many causes but shouldn't ever happen.

If the gun has ever been fired with steel cased ammo, clean the chamber with acetone. Then check the extractor and ejector. Take any non-standard recoil springs or buffers out.

[Pilot1]

All my pistols are reliable, but I have four CZ-75 variants that I shoot the most. They never have issues, and are very accurate. However, by Browning Hi Power, HK P7's, and the Beretta 92FS have been just as reliable for me. A CZ gets carried the most, and one sits in my nightstand also, so.....

[T2C]

To date, my current Glock 22 is the most reliable pistol I own. It has a round count of 19,000 give or take. The last Glock 22 I owned lasted close to 60,000 rounds before the left rear slide rail on the frame cracked. The pistol still ran when I got rid of it. I've seen 9mm Glocks last a lot longer.