Embalmo wrote:Guys,
It would not surprise me if the future reviews for the DB .380 put in on a higher reliability shelf than the LCP. Clark Howard often says that you can read a favorable consumer report on Hyundais based on a study of 1,000,000 cars, but if your neighbor has a lemon, you'll never buy one.
"This will be it's third trip to Ruger.I have decided this gun is not fit for carry, defense, or anything for that matter. It is far too unreliable to trust to your life. " This is DEAD ON! Only a fool would trust his life to an unreliable LCP like this; I do not have blind faith in ANY brand of firearm.
The problem I have is if I were an absolute beginner, this thread would make me believe that it's OK for auto handguns to consistently jam, and break. And the .380 round is inherently jam prone because it isn't powerful enough to push the slide back to cycle its operation, as a member in this feed wrote, "...as I believe what was happening is that the low pressure of the .380 was not quite enough to fully send the slide backwards." My bottom line is: Auto handguns, specifically .380s are very reliable, and don't trust your life to an unreliable gun, no matter how pretty it is, how much money you've spent on it, or what name brand it is; It's all about "bang bang", or "click click". This thread may single handedly turn the whole world off auto handguns.
Embalmo
I have to say that this one, out of all of the posts on this topic confused me the most and I am truly just looking for clarification.
1st you say that it wouldn't' surprise you if the Diamondback ended up being more reliable as a whole than the LCP which you yourself carry. Then you take a quote from somewhere stating that an LCP is taking it's 3rd trip back to Ruger. And thirdly you state that .380 autos are very reliable.
My response to this is that your probably right on the 1st statement, a new gun company with what appears to be a totally new design is bringing to market a firearm that may very well have much higher overall and long-term reliability than either KT or Ruger, both of which are known to be, as a group, plagued with issues. Everyone who's ever seen an LCP knows that Ruger clearly copied the KT design and apparently did little or nothing to improve upon it. Not to say that your LCP is not perfect in every way, it may very well be, and I believe what you say, but as a former owner of 2 of them I can tell you that my experience does not match up with yours, and I have also been the oh so pleased owner of a total Lemon KT, of which KT was neither quick to help remedy the situation, actually fix the gun, or treat me a decent human being.
I don't know where your quote about an LCP going back to Ruger three times came from but it is just one of literally hundreds of similar stories regarding the model overall.
As for the reliability of .380s, especially mouse guns, I think that clearly there are many issues surrounding the reliability of the early market entrants in the lightweight category. I don't believe that the heavier all metal mouse .380s have these issues, at least not that I have read. I am again very happy that you found one that works and that you are happy with, a good friend of mine has one as well. I believe that as a class of guns (lightweight polymer pocket .380's) that all potential buyers should be wary of them in general. These are shrunken down to a point where the tolerances of production must be so tight that I don't think many producers can consistently make them to the exacting specifications required. This may turn out to be that case with Diamondback, but I would not make that judgment based solely upon this one reviewers experiences.
Again and for the last time, I will state that I took it upon myself to try out a new to market gun. And while I have very honestly and openly shared with all of you my experience, I believe that you will find many more very positive reviews of the DB380 out there as well. I and Diamondback themselves readily admit that I just plain got a bad one. The good news is that they have been totally on top of it and proactive in making me as a buyer whole.
I give them major kudos for 1. breaking the mold of the polymer pocket .380, 2. standing behind what they are producing, and 3. being honest and honorable with their customers.
I have not ever and will not recommend the purchase of this gun nor any gun (Caveat emptor), but simply tell the truth about my experiences. That's it for me. I will update when I get the DB back and how it goes from there. I hope to have good news for everyone but if not I will again share it with you. Regardless of the cost of ammo, it is a darn fun little gun to shoot.