Before I begin with my rant, let me tell you about myself. I learned how to shooting with Diana .177 air rifle when I was six (6), shooting at rats near our chicken koop. I am now sixty five (65) years old and have been hunting and shooting off and on. I am a passable shot, having earned the patch twice at the Appleseed events with a bolt action rifle. So I have some experience with guns and their use, I am not a gunsmith, but I did stay at a Holiday Inn.

Without further a due, here are some bad experiences with guns:
1-Browning Micro Buck Mark in .22 rimfire, brand new it had a light firing pin strike. Sent for warranty repairs the problem was fixed. Later on after some thousands of rounds through it a nylon buffer wore out. I bought new ones on and replaced it. Every once in a while it fails to feed or stove pipes a round. But I like it since it’s very accurate and fits the hand well with new grips. Don’t like the ones the gun came with.
2-Merkel 1620 SxS in 16 gauge, brand new the left barrel’s trigger got progressively lighter, until it fired itself under recoil. Sent in for warranty repair. The trigger was fixed. I like this shotgun a lot (it’s almost perfect) has become my replacement for the Magic Wand (see below).
3-CZ 550FS bolt action in 9.3x62, bought used in almost new condition some time ago. Have fired a few hundred rounds through it. Has the lousy “C” clip holding the firing pin nut, naturally it failed. Contacted CZ they say will send new firing pin assembly. Will wait and see results.
4-JP Sauer Mod. 3000 drilling in 12x12x30-06 bought used but in good condition. Light firing pin strike on the 30-06 barrel, the shotgun barrels have good strike. It misfired on the rifle barrel and sent to a well known gunsmith, he said the gun was assembled incorrectly. Still has light firing pin strike. Has not failed to fire but don’t trust it.
5-Ruger GSR bolt action rifle in .308 win. Bought used but almost brand new. Ejection problems, the ejector rode over the case and jammed. This seems to be a common problem with quality control, since it has been reported for some time even on the Zimbabwe Professional Hunter Proficiency Exam; shame, shame Ruger. Sent for warranty repairs, problem fixed they widened the channel in the bolt and put a stronger ejector and spring. Now ejects like a champ. Really like the little rifle. Very low recoil with the muzzle brake, handy and good accuracy, with the best factory iron sight in a production rifle. I am giving this one a second chance due to the fact it fits me very well and like the Scout rifle concept.
6-Urgatechea SxS in 12 gauge. Bought used in very good condition more than 20 years ago. Firing pins had been worn out by previous user, they had become rounded. Sent out to change firing pins. I hear the problem of soft firing pins in Spanish shotguns is common. Fired many thousands of rounds with it no problems since.
7-Remington Mod. 700 short action in .308 win. Bought new. After firing don’t know how many thousands of rounds through it, the ejector spring broke. Had to take to gunsmith for repairs. You need special tools to repair it. To me this is a bad design feature. But the rifle is very accurate and fits me very well, so I forgive this inconvenience but would not be a rifle I would take in an expensive hunt far from home or trust my life to it.

These are guns that I would trust my life to them; or if I had to somehow live of the land for some time with minimum or no assistance:
1-Browning Hi-Power .40 cal. Bought used, but in excellent condition. Feeds, fires and ejects with no problems what so ever. No jams, stove pipe, etc. Excellent ergonomics and reliability.
2-P64 Polish pistol in 9mm Makarov. Bought used, in good condition some of the blue faded off due to holster ware. Feeds, fires and ejects with no problems what so ever. Have even fired .380 ammo through it (don’t try this, you do so at your own risk) works like a champ. Though the little pistol is vicious to shoot with the 9mm Mak round, but at a target at ten (10) feet who cares.
3-CZ 452FS in .22 rimfire. Bought brand new. Very accurate; feeds, fires and ejects no problems. Fits me very well. The iron sight is excellent. Can’t say enough good things out it. Very simple to maintain and repair.
4-CZ 453 American in .22 rimfire. Bought brand new. Very accurate; feeds, fires and ejects with no problems what so ever. Very simple to maintain and repair. One (1) of two (2) absolutely perfect guns I have been able to own. Though I have had to work on it to get it to my ideal of perfection through a lot of trial and lots of error but finally achieved it. I wish I could take it with me when I go to the happy hunting grounds.
5-Norinco JW-15 in .22 rimfire. Bought brand new. What is a cheap Chinese rifle doing here? Well it feeds, fires and ejects with no problems. Very simple to maintain and repair and reasonable accuracy. Though far from perfect; it’s a copy of the Brno military trainer.
6-Remington 870 LW in 20 gauge for 2 ¾ inch shells only. Bought brand new in the 1970’s when they first came out. This was the Magic Wand! Never failed to work come rain, mud, hell or high water. I pointed it and it went down. Dove, duck or deer when I pulled the trigger it was almost a guarantee hit. It’s as if the gun had been fitted to me to perfection straight from the factory. The bad news is that after more than twenty (20) year of hard use and thousands of rounds, this imbecile (me) sold it. I have been kicking myself ever since.
7-Remington 870 Wingmaster in 12 gauge for 3 inch shells. Bought brand new in the 1990’s. A good working shotgun. Very reliable with lots of possible accessories. But nowhere near what the Magic Wand was.
8-Husqvarna M46 in 9.3x57. Bought used. This rifle is more than eighty (80) years old but works perfectly, uses the Swedish Mauser 96 action. Since it’s a small ring military action it feeds, fires and ejects with no problems, even in the worst of conditions. Very simple to maintain and repair. The firing pin, firing pin spring and extractor can be replaced with no tools the rest can be accessed with a Swiss army knife and a punch (for the pins in the trigger assembly) or a nail if it’s an emergency. Bomb proof iron sights, not as accurate as more adjustable ones but at one hundred (100) yards or so you should hit what you aim at. I have bubba'd the rifle by shortening the stock adding a recoil pad, homemade peep sight, etc. A joy to carry but RECOIL is really bad for someone with rotor cuff issues. Not to be fired a lot.
9-Husqvarna M146 in 9.3x57. Bought used. This rifle is almost eighty (80) years old but works perfectly, uses the FN Mauser 98 action. Very simple to maintain. What can I say that has not been said before far more eloquently than I on the 98 action.
10-M1, The Mighty Garand in 30-06 of course. Bought via CMP. Used in two (2) wars by the USA. Every other rifle after the M1 the US army bought is junk in comparison. Excellent reliability, reasonable accuracy and hits like the hammer of Thor. The only rifle I consider superior to it is the AK-47 and SOME of its derivatives.

So what can you conclude from this.
1-That you should fire your firearm before you go out with it to slay the mighty beasts. It is surprising to me the faith people have in their guns and not have thoroughly tested them with at least a few hundred rounds to check function. They are machines and ALL will fail at some time or other.
2-The simpler the design with large metal parts in the mechanism the more reliable it will probably be all else being equal.
3-Firing pin and firing mechanism are the most common problems by what I have encountered. Maybe some of the experienced gunsmiths can chime here with their knowledge of what are the most common problems they see.
4-Guns of military heritage that have been around for some time are the most reliable when the chips are down. Yes there are exceptions of bad design or bad manufacturing, but these are not the rule. Take the Mauser 9X series of rifles starting with the Spanish Mauser the Model 93 (the Spanish hornet) they were designed for an illiterate peasant army that marched to the front. A few light spare parts; firing pin and spring, and an extractor weight almost nothing and can be changed without tools to keep the rifle working. The CZ 452, 453 and Norinco JW-15 come from BRNO military trainer heritage and are almost as simple as the Mausers.
5-To me reliability is paramount above accuracy, I prefer a rifle or shotgun or pistol that goes bang every time. There is nothing that will get your attention faster than a failure of something your life depends on.

a very worthwhile and enjoyable post, thanks!

And I know what you mean about the "Magic Wand" guns and imbeciles, being one myself several times. <grin>

Happy to see there were no Parkers or Winchesters or S&W in your bad list.

Disappointing.

Brand new Browning Hi-power wouldn't feed or eject properly sent it back to Browning.

Seemed to work but sold it couldn't trust it with my life.

Magic wands any shotgun the has close dimensions to 870's model 12's.

Guns are machinery they all have a working life I can not see that failing after unknown thousands of rounds as a problem.

As a police armorer we replace certain parts on a regular basics to make sure they did not fail when needed.

"7-Remington Mod. 700 short action in .308 win. Bought new. After firing don’t know how many thousands of rounds through it, the ejector spring broke. Had to take to gunsmith for repairs. You need special tools to repair it."

Maybe I don't understand or I'm mis-remembering, but I thought I just punched the retaining pin out of the bolt with a skinny punch to remove (replace) the ejector and spring.

I agree that the push button ejectors are potentially less reliable/more susceptible to jamming up with dirt or shavings than a fixed blade ejector.

Personally, during the ugly end of manufacturing in CT, I had 3 bad Winchester 70's that wouldn't feed because the factory over-tightened the 3 piece bottom metal or had a non-functioning 3 pos safety or mis-drilled scope mount holes or crooked barrel threads (customer service was perfect, though). And a new Tikka that had a bad magazine spring and wouldn't feed (and the mag replacement was 30% of the cost of the rifle). There was a Beretta 28 gauge O/U that wouldn't eject. I bought a 300 Blackout lower that wouldn't cycle. Checked all the normal things, then opened the gas block and found the barrel's gas hole was only drilled about 5/64. Opened it to correct 1/8 and works great. All these are fixed, though, and I'd trust the ones I still have except maybe wouldn't trust the Tikka magazine not to fail again, but I could single load.

I've been amazed by the accuracy and reliabilty of Ruger American predator, Uberti/Taylor Colt clone, Ruger revolver, Glock autoloader, Browning Citori, Wincester 120 Ranger shotgun, Remington 700's, Merkel 470, Finnish M39 Mosin Nagant, S&W model 586, Husqvarna 30-06.

But a used or older gun, I assume might have worn part that'll cause failure. The Husqvarna I really like, but originally would not fire, then would delayed fire. It was just that the sear was gummed up with old gun oil, but scary. Trigger still felt okay.

But these are way different from the new guns that won't fire or require work. I also think all of them are prone to failure and should be checked out when you get them. And you should change wear parts and magazine springs and O-rings occasionally.