After watching multiple nonscientific YouTube videos on torture tests I am curious about users experience and opinions on the reliability of their pistols in extreme conditions. The military does quite thorough and scientific and control testing and thus find some of the results much different than the single YouTube videos. Thanks.

Question:
Which pistol is most resistant to malfunctions after exposure to water, dust, sand, and mud, i.e., dropping in or use in a rainy, or dusty, or sand environments? In addition, I could not list all of the models and generations since then there would be too many questions so some firearms are compressed.

Choices:
Glocks (all Gen's)
M&P (1.0 & 2.0)
SIG (226, 229, M11-A1)
SIG 320
HK (P30, USP)
Beretta 92FS
Beretta PX4 Storm
CZ's (75's)
Springfield Armory (XD, XD Mod 2.0, XDM)
Other (please specify)

Question:
Which of the following firearms are most reliable if not cleaned?

Choices:
Glocks (all Gen's)
M&P (1.0 & 2.0)
SIG (226, 229, M11-A1)
SIG 320's
HK (P30, USP)
Beretta 92FS
Beretta PX4 Storm
CZ's (75's)
Springfield Armory (XD, XD Mod 2.0, XDM)
Other (please specify)

 

I have had issues with my HK and Sigs when they get really nasty dirty. The Glocks just smile and ask for more. In my small little humble testing I've found a glock goes bang pretty much no matter what, every time.

Only guns I'll allow myself to neglect is Glocks. Everything else I get antsy about putting away in the safe uncleaned when the round count get up to 400-600. Not close to being proof that those couldn't go on and on, but with utterly filthy range rentals of those brands I've had my share of stovepipes and other cycling issues. Conversely equally filthy Glocks never seem to stutter, at least I've yet to encounter one that has.

I've already done my EDC G23 to 2760 rds before bowing down to cleaning (yet still feeling that it could've easily gone on). Logic and common sense prevailed--it's my EDC, after all--but now I'm doing the same with one of my G19s (1550 and counting); I'd like to see where this goes if and when I finally manage to stop it. It would be a LOT more financially enjoyable however if I had an ammo sponsor, though...

Mine are much more likely to be fouled by pocket lint than mud, water and sand.
I field test them regularly for that and all seem good to go.

I don't know as i never drop my pistols in mud puddles, sand, dog poop, eel slime, volcanos, or whatever and I bet 95 percent of others don't either. I also don't have experiences with every pistol listed.

As far as cleaning I think a thresh hold would need to be established as in approximately how many rounds. I don't clean my pistols every time I shoot them but I don't wait 5000 rounds to clean them either. I have found that keeping firearms adequately lubed is more important than keeping them squeeky clean.

Glocks, SIGs, HKs and Berettas have all been through and passed EXTENSIVE military testing and real world use. Glocks are The simplest and tend to be easiest to keep running.

Any gun can get a “golden bb” of grit in just the wrong spot to shut it down.

Now the above is not to say that the others on your list suck, as they are all fantastic, just that the ones I listed have a huge resume of been there done that got the tee shirt working in the worlds shitholes.

Since SIG's and Beretta 92FS passed the Army's reliability test why do only GLocks passs all the non-scientific youtube videos? Is the reason that Glocks are the most reliable or these one sample tests are too non-scientific to prove anything.

If we believe the Military Arms Channel torture test of the AREX Zero 1 we would all be buying that gun.

I always clean my firearms after shooting no matter how tired I am. One firearms instructor with which I took training, told me to shoot 500 rounds through my pistols, put them in the refrigerator for a week, and then only keep the ones that function flawlessly. I have never heard of this test before.

Thanks.

Holy crap!!!!! I’ve been here almost 10 years and ya tell me glocks should be cleaned! Say it’s not so

This is a hard one to answer. Who here even neglects their firearms, let alone abuses them by dropping them in mud puddles and such, accidentally or purposely? Getting dirty and/or running dry of lubrication over an extended shooting session, however, is a little more realistic. Here I can tell you the Glock seems to be more tolerant of this, while the SIG "traditional" or "classic" pistol is less so. And this is based on a single example of each (generation 3 purchased in 1998 and P220 in 1996, respectively), not exactly scientific.

I'd say the HK Mark 23 is a strong number 1, followed by the Glock 17/19, then the Beretta 92, Sig P-series, HK USP series in any order.

quote:

Originally posted by sybo:
Holy crap!!!!! I’ve been here almost 10 years and ya tell me glocks should be cleaned! Say it’s not so

Manager at my range says he hates cleaning his guns and that is why he owns Glocks.

I carry a Glock. I clean it each time it gets shot. I can't see any reason not to do so.

quote:

Originally posted by cslinger:
Glocks, SIGs, HKs and Berettas have all been through and passed EXTENSIVE military testing and real world use. Glocks are The simplest and tend to be easiest to keep running.

Any gun can get a “golden bb” of grit in just the wrong spot to shut it down.

Now the above is not to say that the others on your list suck, as they are all fantastic, just that the ones I listed have a huge resume of been there done that got the tee shirt working in the worlds shitholes.

That’s a good list and agreed. I would only add CZ to the names mentioned.

I thought that the HK's followed by SIG's would do much better

Or could it be that the military isn’t the greatest tester of quality on the planet? I mean, we are talking about a group of guys that looked at a recoilless rifle delivered atomic bomb whose blast radius was greater than its range and though “yeah, we can make that work”

Don’t get me wrong. I love the army. But I am living proof that just because the army said it was a good idea doesn’t mean it was...

Plus, those requests are written very specifically, and just because something fits into a certain category of features doesn’t mean it’s better at its overall job

quote:

Originally posted by SSAreGreat:
Since SIG's and Beretta 92FS passed the Army's reliability test why do only GLocks passs all the non-scientific youtube videos? Is the reason that Glocks are the most reliable or these one sample tests are too non-scientific to prove anything?

You need to include the Walther PPQ M2 in both polls.

As long as they are maintained and proper ammo used they all are reliable.

My experience: Any Glock except perhaps G34 MOS that may have been enhanced too much. However, in strong second place is PPS-M2 9mm from Walther. Uncounted rounds including all of the stuff that did not pass gauge test and have yet to have a failure to fire. CCP and LC9S Pro have been problem free, but have not fired them a lot.

quote:

Originally posted by 4859:
As long as they are maintained and proper ammo used they all are reliable.

Yep, pretty much sums it up. Beyond that, it is popularity contest and nothing more. None of them are any more "reliable" than the other. All quality designs that will keep on ticking.

I think Glock, but Beretta 92s have been good for me, too.