Guns: Carry gun reliability

Marko over at "the munchkin wrangler" has an exellent post up on carry gun reliability. As this is a blog, I suppose I should offer my thoughts in response.

I agree that you should always carry a gun that is "no-BS" reliable. For me, that means 400 rounds, with at least three or four different types of ammo, straight through with no malfunctions. I can trust a gun enough to carry it when it's passed that test.

The corrollary to Marko's post is, though, that no gun is guaranteed to be reliable. Boasting that you have a gun that never fails is like boasting you own a toaster that never fails. Nothing lasts forever, and our old friend Entropy will strike your piece, eventually. So I would argue that you always should have some doubt that your gun is going to work.

Sure your GLOCK has been through torture tests...but what if the trigger spring snaps? My personal CZ-75B recently went tits-up after the firing pin broke. And with all semiautos, you're going to need new recoil springs every so often, anyway. As for revolvers as a solution, your old S&W revolver has been a champ - but the trigger return spring is not indestructible on that, either.

Not that you should worry about these things. But they can happen. So when the gun jams in the middle of a fight, do not be surprised. Rather, focus on the front sight, and be pleasantly surprised when the thing actually shoots. :P