Most overrated firearm

[Fang]

What do you think the most overrated firearms, short or long, are--and why?

To show that this is not just an enumeration of personal prejudice, first on my list is the 1911. We have Jeff Cooper to thank for talking this handgun up while badmouthing other models to the point that the 1911's reputation far outstrips what any handgun could meet. Modern 1911s are a crapshoot where reliability is concerned, the spate of aftermarket snake-oil mags available pollutes real understanding of what makes a reliable 1911, and you can't pass a gun magazine rack without seeing the latest gussied up incarnation of one. 1911 fanboys can be obnoxiously crusty, and the gun is awfully large and heavy for a capacity of 7+1. I'm a big fan of the 1911, but it's not the be-all, end-all of handguns.

On the flip side of things, Glocks are similarly overrated. They were revolutionary when they came out, but now they're just another polymer pistol. Their reliability is overstated: Glocks use uncontrolled feed and are susceptible to limp-wristing. Per their fanboys, though, the latter has nothing to do with the design and is entirely operator error. Glock's penetration of the law-enforcement market has less to do with their performance than Glock's marketing and sales acumen. To be fair, they're good guns, just overrated.

On the rifle side of things, the AR is definitely overrated. For one, their accuracy is overstated: FN rejects M16s at 4 MOA, and civilian ARs are not likely to hit MOA accuracy without a heavy barrel, free-floated. Even when their accuracy potential is met, it's more than required by the 5.56 cartridge, which encounters a nonlinear drop in power within a couple hundred yards when it drops below the fragmentation velocity. ARs can be tarted out with any number of accessories and gadgets, but this doesn't make them objectively better--just more attractive to someone who wants to attach something to the gun. Like Glocks and 1911s, ARs are fine guns, but are saddled with more reputation than they can meet.

[Clinotus]

I see that you immediately got the cream of the crop with the honorable or in some minds the dishonorable, mention of the GLOCK. Here goes anyhow.

Magnum Research’s Desert Eagle. Any other handgun of that size, scope, and weight would be nothing more than a presentation cased gun inside a coffee table. It has always been a niche gun, but the flow of dedicated love due to its sheer size and wow factor, for me at least, clearly place it firmly in this category. But I’m not one to take the credit here even for pointing the finger; I’d like to share this with All of the agents in the Matrix, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Laura Croft, Bullet Tooth Tony, Chev Chelios and everyone else in Hollywood that has placed this gun on an alter.

Good luck carrying it without a cross body sling, even better luck finding a holster. Sure you could hunt with it, but in that price and range you would be better off with a Smith and Wesson .500 or .460 –both of which with you would only lose 3 rounds of ammunition, but you would have a true big bore platform that’s not secretly a small framed rifle with a rotating bolt assembly.

And here is the part of my post where I need to watch my back from now on wherever I go: HK Semi-Automatic pistols.

I’ve fired them, held them, cleaned them, but never fawned over them. I don’t get the hype at all other than to salute an outstanding marketing plan that has laid the wreath of top operator status at the feet of HK for any of their pistols. Reliable?: Outstanding. Dependable?: Outstanding. Remarkable?: Not compared to a Sig Sauer or any of the other mid-level firearms available for purchase. And certainly not worth 25-50% more of the cost of any of those other mid-range firearms.

[larryh1108]

This question opens a can of worms. Yes, this is an opinion type question but whether you try to or not, you end up insulting another's child. Calling a man's gun over-rated or worse yet, junk, and you may as well call his wife a prostitute and his kid ugly. This is a no win scenario!

To help this along, how about you also state an under-rated gun as well? That would add balance. 1911's are just fun. There are 1911 snobs but those snobs are found for almost every make. Show me a Brand X gun and someone will surely have a better, nicer, more tweaked and has better parts. You can own a $300 1911 or a $3000 1911 and the owners are equally happy with their babies. However, the one has an extra $2700 for upgrades? If the owner is happy who cares how much he spent or how many "upgrades" he has?

[Fang]

Agreed, some people can take offense if their pet firearm is called "overrated", but that doesn't mean it's bad. I think 1911s are one of the two best semi-automatic handgun designs ever created (the other is the Browning Hi-Power, which is definitely underrated), but 1911s are still overrated despite being so incredibly good. The size and ergonomics aren't for everyone, and if you went by gun magazine covers you'd think they accounted for 90% of the market. (Although it's pretty astonishing that a design nearly 100 years old is still one of the most popular on the market.)

[.45ACPLove]

the other is the Browning Hi-Power, which is definitely underrated

i agree 110% there. the BHP is such a fine shooting pistol, yet people knock the dog piss out of it.

my rifle submission for this may not be ovverrated as much as it's misunderstood. Any of the Barrett .50 cal rifles. Due to movies and video games I have come across many people ranging from kids to adults that think it is the end all be all of sniping rifles. I heard a tale from a Marine (former buddie's roommate) that had gotten back from iraq a few months before, about how he shot and killed something like 8 insurgents at just under 4 miles with a barrett. not only was he not qualified to be a sniper, but he wasn't even a decent shot at more than 200 yards with an Ar. The movies show alot of accurate long range, rapid fire, pounding through walls to get to people with these rifles. This kind of stuff obviously influences the weak. While these rifles really do quite well, they aren't able to live up to that kind of hype.

[pkuptruck]

hello all. from the semi-hillarious outback of Detroit...
( no really... our mayor, city council, etc.. its a hoot to live around here...)

Hard to really name an "over-rated" pistol. each has a purpose and a place..
Me? I like whatever fits me. Currently that is a few 1911's, a makarov, a HP knockoff ( KBI P9r ) , a few SW revolvers, etc.

but, with folks I know, and even some I dont... the total devotion to a company and its products...for purely innane reasons...

Example? reminton Model 710. What an abortion this was! It was HUGE, clunky, poorly made, and even poorly designed and they STILL couldn't keep it below $400... but yet.... Rem-lemmings made excuses for it and pretended to love it... Wonder why it disappeared?????

And of course, you have the over-rated types of pistols... that is, anything over $1000.. I don't give a damn if it was made by Buddist monks with nothing more than mud, wooden spoons and one rock to share between the 200 of them... Aint a pistol around worth that much. Hell, you could have one made custom for less, with better function.fit , reliability... But because it has a name like Springfield, or Kimber... it automatically gets a "passing" grade... SIGH.

And of course, the early 1000 series Smith pistols. What complete abominations they are/were. I have never seen , or heard of one with a trigger pull of less than 12", and 45 pounds.... but, since they were a SW, they were great! BAH!

So, thats a pretty good intro of me, eh? Bitching and complaining...:o

[Clinotus]

Welcome aboard pkuptruck!

I definitely agree with you. Once the price point hits the $800 mark I start to wonder if I *really* need it, and I'm a gun owner who is one of the first to do the old "You dont have to need it to want it argument.

[pkuptruck]

Welcome aboard pkuptruck!

I definitely agree with you. Once the price point hits the $800 mark I start to wonder if I *really* need it, and I'm a gun owner who is one of the first to do the old "You dont have to need it to want it argument.


:biggrin:

Me too. Luckily, my wife tends to turn a blind eye to my "other" obsession....

Actually , it has helped when my three boys joined the service... ( at different times.. of course..) My AR gave them a bit of an edge when they encountered it at boot camp... as did the 1911's and P9R. Since they were little snots they loved to shoot.. ( but for whatever reason... didnt care much for hunting..? ) Each of them scored Expert first go around...
And one even got better. ( to his mommas dismay... that earned him a ticket to the sandbox for 20 months... as a 50 cal gunner for the VIP tansports around northern iraq...) He made it back safely though...
and hios mmoa's happy and thats what counts!

I tend to "collect" weapons, as once I have them, they never seem to get traded or sold or ?, when I see another one that promises to make me happy!

[Fang]

I've got one to add: Thompson submachineguns. I've never fired one, but got to handle an example at the SHOT show. It's enormous, heavy, balances strangely, and the full-auto versions have separate fire selectors and safeties. Also, I took the magazine out and couldn't figure out how to put it back in. You can now get a rifle that can hold more ammo (given the proper mags), hits harder, is accurate at longer range, and weighs nearly half as much. Furthermore, the recoil mechanism for the gun was designed to make use of a physical principle that turned out not to apply, resulting in an overly-complicated blowback mechanism.

Poor General Thompson: His designs never did too well. He also designed a semi-auto rifle that used interrupted threads to delay the bolt unlocking. Unfortunately, the operating handle cycled so fast that it would sever someone's thumb if it got in the way. The rifle also ejected cases so hard that they would end up embedded in wood.

[.45ACPLove]

if u ever fire a thompson, u'll understand