Guns that surprised you/ guns that disappointed you

[obsessed1]

What guns have you owned that enter surprised you or disappointed you. Please let's not turn this into a make / model bashing thread unless you have actually owned the gun.

My entry is a Midland in 30-06 I found on my LGS consignment shelf. Price tag was 350$. Rifle came with a banner 3x9 in extremely high rings. The barrel was covered in surface rust the stock was horrible and the bore extremely dirty. I managed to walk out with it for a total of 180$. Once home I replaced the rings( low) and cleaned the bore, dealt with the rust, and stripped and finished the stock. I used 8 coats of tongue oil and the birth stock isn't a complete eye sore in my opinion. First load I tried was a 180 interlock( Flat base) over a decent charge of IMR 4064. At 100 yes all three rounds touched recoil was surprisingly soft. This gun continues to put these bullets in under an inch even with other shooters.( My wife shot a 3/4" group a few weeks ago) for a 180$ rifle I'd say it more than exceeds my expectations

[catnthehat]

I had two that have really surprised me , the first was my first Ruger #1A in 243.
That rifle couldn't get a better than 1.5" group with ANYTHING or anyone behind the rifle!

I tried everything, finally , rebarreled it with a spare 308 Anschutz/Krupp barrel I had,, and it turned into an incredible shooter.
The last one was also a Ruger, this one a 1B in 270win - I should have realized something was amiss when it had a 22" barrel, the 1B's came with 24's and 26's. Bore was bad and throat was gone, but the price was right!

First shot would often be "right there", but subsequent shots could be anywhere within 3 feet at 200 meters!
That one finally got it rebarreled in 280Rem with a Shilen, Sendaro taper and the quarter rib changed to a picatinny rail and it is an incredible shooter.
There have been others, but those two really stick in my mind as far as disappointments go.
One that really surprised me was a 1947 M70 in 270- kicked me like a mule but would consistently print three shoot groups under 1/2 "" at 100 yards.
Accurate but I did not like to shoot it.....
That one turned me right off the Pre64 stock design - they just do not fit me.
Cat

[elkhunter11]

My biggest disappointments were a pair of Weatherby Mark V rifles in 257wby and 300wby. I bought both for a good price at a store closeout, and although both would shoot sub 1-1/2" at 100 yards, they wouldn't do much better, no matter what load I tried.

My biggest surprise was a Smith &Wesson 1500 varmint in 223 that I bought from Lovetts many years ago. I paid just over $300,and it shot five rounds into less than 1/2" with multiple loads.

[ghostguy6]

The one that really surprised me was a Sabbati Rover 600 in .223. The fit and finish is very good for such a cheap gun. What really surprised me was its a 1/4" MOA shooter out to 300 yards with cheap ammo to boot. The first time I shot it I thought I got one hit on target but when I looked it was 3 rounds in a tiny clover leaf.

The one that disappointed me the most was a savage axis. I didn't have very high hope to begin with but the flimsy stock, horrible trigger, poor fit and plastic mags that broke all the time made it total garbage. I had to re work the chamber, polish the trigger components just to sell it. Best thing I ever did to that gun was trade it for a 20ga cooey single shot.

[heymshooter]

Mod 70 in 30-06 bought in 68
3 shots touching at 100 with a 3x weaver
has a 22" tube -I have always thought to re-barrel but
Really!

[Smoky buck]

Biggest disappointment was a savage b mag wsm first one had a weak firing pin causing it to miss fire majority of the time multiple brands of ammunition. Returned for another and the action never felt smooth. Just cheap all around finish and poor assembly.

It just felt like slapped together cheap junk so I sold it for a loss. Last savage for me

[Flight01]

Spent $350 on a used mossberg atr in 270. Moa out to 400 yards with factory nosler 140 ballistic tips. Just a good shooter. I only have hunting rifles, Best shooter I have.

[markg]

The rifle that surprised me most was a Savage 110 .204 That rifle was an amazing shooter. It liked any ammo I ran through it and shot MOA or better with just about anything I put down the pipe.

Most dissappointing was a Savage Axis 25/06 It was a good shooter but was clunky and the trigger was horrible. The build quality was not as good as the other savages I had owned to that point.

[fordtruckin]

Two that surprised me were both 9mm pistols. A CZ P09 I wasn’t expecting much from and it had a surprisingly good trigger and was darn accurate. Then there was the FNS9. Thought more of it and the thing was absolutely horrible. Trigger was like dragging your face across broken glass and pouring salt in the wound.

[Twisted Canuck]

My best surprise was my first hunting rifle, bought a Remington 788 in .308 for $275 back around the turn of the century. I had heard they were a very accurate gun for a 'budget' Remington, and it really was. It stacked 165 gr partitions in nice little groups. It was pretty ugly, but I refinished the stock and that helped cosmetically. I finally ended up trading it in on a Remington 700 B&C Edition in 7mm08, and it is even more accurate, and quite a pretty rifle. I still kind of miss that 788, but I will say I never trusted the safety on it. Just slinging it on or off the shoulder was often enough to take safety off, brushing against my pack.

[Scottmisfits]

Disappointment was a Tikka T3 in 30-06. I was just never happy with it. I couldn't get it to shoot where I was happy with it.

Surprisingly was a Remington 783 in 7mm Rem Mag. That's what I used this season and I found a good load for it. I took two shot all this season and both resulted in quick, clean, one shot harvests. It's nothing beautiful to look at by any means, not a great stock, etc, but it shoots and I find it comfortable to carry and shoulder.

[Justfishin73]

Benelli R1---30.06 semi -auto. Absolute garbage

[freeride]

stevens 200 in 270 with the cheap cheap stock... the thing could right out shoot!

the bad... well i bought a rifle awhile ago that was 4x the price of that stevens that couldnt group at all no matter what. The machining left a lot to be desired too. Mag that could only take 2 rounds not 3 etc... I am not putting down the name as it could have been a 1 off for the company. Mistakes do slip though Q&A

[Dubious]

Most disappointing was a Weatherby vanguard in 30-06 it would just never shoot trued everything short of swapping barres. Sold it for 300$ because no one would but it off me

Most surprised by the tikka t3 series rifles. They have never lived up to there reputations online unless you do a barrel swap.

[Jerry D]

Biggest surprise would be my cz452.

Went to the local gun store to look at .22 rifles. Didnt have much knowledge on models at the time. Was considering a .17 as well.

Sales guy was one of the better old timers. Limited selection available in bolt action. Think the only rifle he had was a left hand cz452 lux. Never heard of cz before.

It was 100 or 200 more than the other right handed models but it was slick. I said alright, ill take it. Was $595 or something if I remember correctly.

After owning and shooting it the last 10 years, I bought one of the last cz americans 452s thanks to a member here pointing me in the right direction. Cz makes a great rimfire.

Disappointing, possibly bought a used .25-06 from the classifieds here after reading a single article about .25-06 and elk. I liked the browning abolts at the time, they may have lots of parts, but they feed reliably and are smooth handling. One was posted, nice medallion model with the boss system with convention recoil. Turned out its only a 20" barrel and the boss makes it a 22" which is a little short for this cartridge. None the less, have shot many deer with the 110gr accubond and am happy with performance and low recoil!

[6.5 shooter]

Savage .17HMR total junk... bought it after the guy at the gun store raved about what a good gopher gun they were...walking wounded and a magazine that would fountain the shells after about the 3rd. refill..Swore I would never buy another .17 after that.

Well long story short... .17 CZ HMR came up for sale on the forum for a very good price...now I own 3....

[huntinstuff]

Cogswell Harrison 30-06 with just 2 groove rifling. Excellent shooter

Stevens model 200 in .243. Tackdriver

Savage 99 in 308 win. Hands down the most inaccurate rifle i ever owned

[Gade81]

Biggest surprise to me was a rifle slandered on these forums up and down for years. New about 6 ish years ago, a Remington cdl in 30-06. The absolute best shooting rifle I’ve owned. Also the best trigger I’ve had shot, except my cz 223

[mooseknuckle]

Biggest suprise was ruger 22-250 i bought from a forum member, he said it was accurate, but darn!! made me look like i knew what i was doing. Biggest disapointment, same gun cuz i was stupid and sold it.

[Lost Arrow]

I bought both a Parker Hale 30-.06 and a Lakefield Mossberg 12 gauge in 1988 for a total of $300. Both new. The rifle was total garbage. Sloppy trigger, the bolt had so much play. All I could afford then was a cheap scope. It shot a lot of deer and some moose, just never shot anything pretty. It's a poor carpenter that blames his tools but that rifle was an exception.

[timsesink]

Originally Posted by Lost Arrow

I bought both a Parker Hale 30-.06 and a Lakefield Mossberg 12 gauge in 1988 for a total of $300. Both new. The rifle was total garbage. Sloppy trigger, the bolt had so much play. All I could afford then was a cheap scope. It shot a lot of deer and some moose, just never shot anything pretty. It's a poor carpenter that blames his tools but that rifle was an exception.

I had a 30-06 PH as well. Complete garbage. Had the rifle 2 years and sold it.

[xx06]

Bought a Marlin xs7vh in 223 a few years back, a great shooter. Can put 5 in 1/2" most of the time. I had a Marlin xs7 243 that was a great shooter too but I sold it. Wish I never did.

[Coiloil37]

The just right carbine was the one rifle I wanted to love for a little toy and ended up hating almost everything about it. I took it out shooting once, brought it home and sold it.




The kimber Montana surprised me with how the factory and aftermarket stock absorbed recoil. At 6lbs 15 ounces scoped and chambered in .338 win mag I expected serious abuse but it feels better then the browning a-bolt it replaced.






And the little XCR surprised me with its accuracy.




Here’s 20 rounds at 100 yards shot as fast as I could pull the trigger through that xcr. With one mag change maybe 25-30 seconds. It was hell on wheels for coyotes.

[bubba300]

I traded a 270 in a vanguard for a rem 700 in 300 weatherby mag about 8 years ago.It was pretty beat up,I cleaned it up with wipe-out,started load development with 200 gr accubonds and imr 7828.That rifle always kept the groups under a inch threw the starting load,then I settled with a fairly high load that was around 3/8 of a inch with 3 shots.I then armour coated barrel and action and refinished the stock.Did some longrange target shooting with it and it was a great shooter,sold it for a good price as I had a 300 rum also at the time,but always wished I still had it.
Had a Browning BAR in 30-06 that suprised me also.

[fps plus]

Best Remington 788 22-250 Was spooky accurate.

Worst. Ruger RL 257 Roberts . Tried bedding 3 ways , shot hundreds of $ of bullets and powder trying to get it to shoot. Gave up and put a new barrel on .

[sns2]

Bought a Forbes rifle when they first came out. Took the gun apart to clean and the stock broke like a potato chip. Sent back to dealer and was shipped a replacement. Safety cutout looked like a blind monkey stoned on crack was playing with a dremel and did the safety cutout. Straight back to dealer for a refund.

Another lemon was a Mossberg 930 semi auto. Read all these great reviews. Not. Most expensive single shot shotgun I ever owned.

[KGB]

Originally Posted by Coiloil37

The just right carbine was the one rifle I wanted to love for a little toy and ended up hating almost everything about it. I took it out shooting once, brought it home and sold it.




The kimber Montana surprised me with how the factory and aftermarket stock absorbed recoil. At 6lbs 15 ounces scoped and chambered in .338 win mag I expected serious abuse but it feels better then the browning a-bolt it replaced.






And the little XCR surprised me with its accuracy.




Here’s 20 rounds at 100 yards shot as fast as I could pull the trigger through that xcr. With one mag change maybe 25-30 seconds. It was hell on wheels for coyotes.

Hey what caliber and model is that rig? I’m asking about the XCR.

[KGB]

And the little XCR surprised me with its accuracy.

Hey what caliber and model is that rig? I’m asking about the XCR.

[Coiloil37]

Originally Posted by kgb

and the little xcr surprised me with its accuracy.

Hey what caliber and model is that rig? I’m asking about the xcr.

.223

[JD848]

Weatherby mark v light weight in 7mm rm, 1700 buck brand new 20 years ago. it would shot a few dead center then a few 5 inches to the left high. took it to a gunsmith he check it out ,looked at the crown said good to go. I changed scopes, rings , bases you name,same crap. Never seen a rifle do this.

Finally I had two packs of 50 rounds and fired the whole lot in in no time and it was smoken. Brought it home cleaned it up and told the store owner to send it back ,they sent it back to Weatherby and they gave the store back a brand new one. I exchanged in the store without touching it.

Wasted a 100 rounds of 7mm but it was either that or the bumper, I busted a 270 savage over a trailer hitch, put the barrel in the hole where the pin goes and jumped on it twice and it bent that barrel real nice. Junk is junk throw it away.

If the gun isn't good for me I don't sell it to some other person,it's garbage destroy it and move on. Never sold a rifle that didn't shot right, sold some I just didn't like due to the fit or just got tired of it or didn't use.

I really dislike stories about the gun shot like crap so I sold it. No integrity what so ever ,unless you sell it for parts.

I guess the two rifles that surprised me the most,tikka T3 6.5x55 and T3 223 with a 1in 8 twist,they shot crazy good and I still own them .


JD