OK, everyone has that special gun that makes them feel warm and fuzzy all over but what about that special aquisistion that just broke your heart?

Mine was a genuine Oberdorf Mauser Model B that looks mint but won't hit a mule in the ass at 25 paces. What's yours?

One was a Ruger #1 varmint in 25-06. Beautiful stock. I changed scopes , loads etc. Just wouldn't shoot. I've had others that did shoot real well but this one..I had one shot that actually went off the target. Worst shooting rifle I've ever owned bar none.

Another rifle I've always wanted to own ...a mannlicher schoenauer. Finally got it..it shot OK guess but it had the bolt safety, (which was actually a "dead horse" with the scope installed) tang safety, then set trigger. Lots of stuff to go through before firing. I know these rifles have a following , real nice rifles but just not for me..

i had to wait almost 9 months to get my first rifle on my firearm certificate, and when i got it, the bolt would"nt close! someone had butchered the extracter claw(big mauser type),
and it would"nt jump over the rim of the cartridge. the dealer would"nt give me my money back, so he lost a customer, and i now have a great fear of the old style mauser bolts.
buying a gun is like buying a car(or dating a woman) ........u just can"t tell from a qiuck look!

Mine was a Remington 7400. PIECE oF JUNK!!

I had always wanted one since I was a kid reading every hunting magazine I could get my hands on. I even went to the school library to check out back issues of OL and SA. Every one of them had ads. Then in about 1980 or 1981, I saw an ad for the 7mm Express. Holy cow! This was the greatest, coolest new cartridge ever invented. Another kid told me it was just a .280 but I was not to be swayed by his blasphemous jargon. I searched and searched to find a model four in 7mm express, but Remington was not making the model four in 7 express! Blasted!
20 years later I saw a 7400 in a shop and decided I needed a new gun, (as we often do) this particuliar onewas in .270 and I am kid of fond of the .270 so I bought it.

What a PIECE of JUNK! I could never get it to function correctly, it went to 3 gunsmiths and back to Remington. I tried 4831, 4350, RL-19- everything to see if it was some kind of pressure problem etc. I tossed on to Gunbroker a few years back with a disclosure that it was possessed....I got $120 for it.

My tale of woe........

IV

quote:

and it would"nt jump over the rim of the cartridge

If it's a Mauser, they aren't supposed to, unless it's been modified to do so...

I was drunk when I bought this A real pimp gun. I had to get somebody else drunk to sell it


Terry

TC1, Did it shoot?

300 BAR

It was good for about 6" groups at 100. After many cleanings, Scope Changes, and Several Different Loads I traded it in on another Bolt.

Reloader

Mine was a Ruger #1 in 25-06 with a bull barrel. Like a pretty girl that couldn't make love. Wonderful to look at but not good at giving satisfaction.


Without guns we are subjects (or victims), with guns we are citizens

I've owned 2 different Winchester 88's and both of them used to hang up when cycling them. Finally gave up on them even though they were beautiful rifles to look at and bought a Savage 99 which I should have done in the first place.

Mannlicher 1903 6.5.
It looked absolutely great and with a Zeiss scope it looked ready to leap out and grab deer all by itself.
It would struggle to maintain a 2 inch group at 25 yards. It was the only rifle I've had which experienced case head separation.
I have read that others have found chamber and bore were over size. Sadly that was after I had aquired the bugest Lulu it has been my misforetune to have purchased.

A tang safety Ruger M77 in 7 x57....Shot pie plate sized groups at 100 yards, despite everything I tried to remedy it..

Finally peddled it to a guy who hunted deer in the woods in PA and din't CARE about group size as long as it was "minute of ribcage" at 100 yards... First year he owned it he killed a nice 10 point whitetail with it...

quote:

Originally posted by holzauge:
TC1, Did it shoot?

Nope, I dialed that stupid boss thing all over the place. about 2" was the best, most were bigger.

Terry

A Steyr SSG P4K, Keyholed at 100yds. My gunsmith and I did everything to remedy the gun, nothing worked. We retuned it to Steyr. They called it a gross over sight. It took 18 months to get the problem resolved, the gave me a cheque when I returened the replacemnent rifle with the same problem. The P1's shoot the rest I stay away from

Aleko

A Winchester Model 70, one of the new ones in stainless in 338 Win. A client gave me the gun, I spent more than it cost trying to get it to shoot. I had three gunsmiths try to figure out what is wrong with this thing! Best it would do was 2 to 3 inch groups with Remington Core-locks in 225gr. couldn't get Partitions to group better than 6 inches, that's for 3 shots. Hornady's did a bit better with 5 shots into 4 to 5 inches. Nightmare. Gave it to that last gunsmith who sold it at a gun show for $250. So, buyer beware if you buy stuff at gunshows...

So you're the one I got that M-70 from!...... .....DJ

A Savage 99...first the trigger didn't work and Savage fixed that...then the rifle fired on the safe position and again Savage fixed it...then the action locked shut and for the third time I sent it to Savage,....this time fully loaded in the mnagazine....the chamber having a fired round!!!

Far and away the worst experiences I've had was with Savage.....Ruger and Weatherby slightly better but still piss poor IMO.

back in "68"I bought my 8 &9 years old boys each a single shot Noble Arms 22 LR. On Christmas day I took them to a Grand Junction dump for the baptism. I was standing beside my oldest as he fired. My eyes filled with blood and my nose felt on fire. The extracter evidently was crystal hard and broke off sending it through the piece of meat between the right nostril and thr left nostril.I think I was a lttle more than disappointed. roger

An absolutely elegant custom Mauser in 7x57, shot sub MOA, weighed about 7# with a scope. Still belongs to another fella, therefore I hate it.

2 Ruger tang safety 270's. First one I couldn't get to shoot onto a pie plate at 100 yards, sold it and then bought another. Can't get this one to shoot well either. I should have known better after the first one.

BigBullet

Ruger 77, 300 Win Mag, Eject issues, Lousy groups, terrible rifle, only matched by:

Ruger Mini-14, COS syndrome ( couldn't hit shit ), horrible accuracy, wouldn't stabilise heavy bullet.

Real close runner up, Weatherby Vangard 25-06, Jap crap barrel on it was shot out in six months.

Multiple Ruger M77s.

A Armscorp M1A (from Armscorp)that shot like a scattergun. Changed stocks, handloaded ammo, surplus ammo, scoped etc no change.

Parted it out, due to the USGI parts, probably did better $$ wise this way.

My other one is a tack driver.

I've had quite a few disappointing rifles. Here's a prime example:

I had a dead-mint, original Model 70 Alaskan in 338 Win. Mag. that you couldn't open the bolt on after you fired a round of factory ammo without exerting a great deal of force. The chamber was rough cut and left marks like those from a set of Channel Lock pliers on the case just ahead of the belt. I've owned a bunch of pre-64 Model 70s in 338 Win. Mag. that just wouldn't shoot. Also a 375 H&H, etc. I love the pre-64 Model 70, and I've owned over 100 of them. Of those I actually fired, most shot well and functioned superbly, but there have been turkeys as well. They are not the sacred cow they've been portrayed to be over the years.

I've had lots of turkey custom rifles that wouldn't shoot or function well, and these broke my heart the most, and caused the most grief and monetary loss. I'd love to name some of the a$$hole riflemakers who have charged big money and have provided junk that either wouldn't feed, wouldn't shoot (sometime both), or weren't suitably finished for hunting.

I was 26 years old when I took delivery of a fancy-stocked 270 Win. that was a stunner. But the uncaring, idiot stockmaker got my order wrong, and he put MY fluer-de-lis checkering pattern and MY steel buttplate on ANOTHER client's rifle. I got a point pattern and a rubber pad, which I clearly, in writing, had NOT ordered. Pissed, I called him and asked for an explaination, then asked if the rifle shot well. His answer: "How should I know?? That's YOUR job!" And that's the treatment and attitude I got back after forking over some very hard-earned money that I really couldn't afford to waste on what turned out to be non-custom, poor-shooting, high-price, fancy junk. By rights, I should have delivered that rifle back to him in person, but thought better of it.

I'm bitter over that screw-job to this day.....

AD

quote:

Originally posted by allen day:
I'd love to name some of the a$$hole riflemakers who have charged big money and have provided junk that either wouldn't feed, wouldn't shoot (sometime both), or weren't suitably finished for hunting.

Please do. A lot of these clowns build a reputation, then rest on their laurels, or have other 'smiths do the work.

George

Rugur Mini-14. Tried sighting it in once, and couldn't get a group smaller than 4 inches at 25 yards. Sold it to a guy for the down payment on my bride's wedding ring.

Ruger RSM .416 Rigby. Very early model. Wouldn't feed worth a damn. Ruger would not work on it without replacing the stock, since I put a new recoil pad and forend tip on it. It shot like a house of fire, but you had to single load it...sort of defeated the purpose in my opinion.

quote:

Originally posted by woods:
Mine was a Ruger #1 in 25-06 with a bull barrel. Like a pretty girl that couldn't make love. Wonderful to look at but not good at giving satisfaction.

Sex is like pizza: Whan it's good, it's very, very good. And when it's bad... It's still pretty good

I haven't had a rifle I haven't liked yet.

Mod 70 chambered in 3006 wouldn't do better than 4-5" at 100.

Browning Abolt Medallion in 338 win mag, wouldn't do better than 3". Smooth as snot bolt, looked great but didn't shoot worth a horns P!

My first rifle...old small ring mauser of unknown vintage...loved it despite the 2-3" groups 'cause I got my first deer with it so many moons ago...180 grain silvertip in .308 Win through both front shoulders of a big mature old doe.

...then one day it blew up a cartridge in my face as I worked the bolt emptying the magazine. Seems to have had a firing pin problem, and I never know till it went BOOM! I still won't own a cock on close Mauser cause of that design 'feature' of letting the firing pin forward upon opening the bolt.

I fixed it and sold it at a loss without hunting with it again. It had sorta lost its mystique, if you know what I mean!

quote:

I'd love to name some of the a$$hole riflemakers who have charged big money and have provided junk that either wouldn't feed, wouldn't shoot (sometime both), or weren't suitably finished for hunting

Same deal on the Weatherby 25-06, it wasn't bad enough the barrel was shot out in 6 months, then a gunsmith ( idiot ) rebarreled it and did a crappy job and it never shot a decent group again. I bedded it, screwed around with it, it was toast unless I was up for another rebarrel job. I was pissed and still sore about it, but it taught me a valuable lesson in the end:

BE A PICKY ASSHOLE WHEN I SELECT GUNSMITHS TO DO BARREL WORK. In hindsight I have probably saved more money in the longrun over the years than I ever paid for that work on that Weatherby.

Anymore, you want to do my barrel work, I either know you, you can provide references, or you have national reputation I can verify, like Jim Borden.

Bottom line rule for me anymore: Clowns need not apply

My worst rifle?

My very first rifle: a Yugoslavian Mauser.

I had been convinced by a friend that it was relatively easy to convert a surplus rifle over to sporter use for a good hunting rifle. Damn, I should have never listened...

4 years and several hundred dollars later, that Mauser now wheres a LW 6.5x55 and I hope to soon have it shooting. If it won't shoot straight still, I'm going to take the barrel off and take the action over to the nearest torch and slice it like an egg!

This particular rifle has also had a more disastrous effect on me - that one Mauser has grown to several more projects than I can keep up with. My 'smith says I'll be building rifles from now till the day they bury me!

Gotta love those Mausers though...

Tex

Another vote for Remington for the POS Of The Year Award.

My troubles started with the purchase of a M700 BDL in .308 caliber in 1987. No matter what we did, short of doing stock work, the rifle wouldn't shoot groups under 4" @ 100 yards. I sent the rifle back to Remington, as per their request, for service. After hearing nothing for four weeks I called Remington's Customer Service department and was told that they had never received my rifle.

After reading them the date, time and the name of the person that signed for the delivery from the UPS receipt they managed to find my rifle. They promised to get back to me within 72 hours with a report on my rifle. [U]WRONG[/U]. A week later I called them again and get a report that they could not find anything wrong with my rifle after inspecting it. I asked if they fired it to check the grouping it gave. NO, but they would and get back to me.

Again a week later I'm back on the phone and get told they had mailed a report to me and I should have it shortly and to call them back after I had read it. Came by pony express I guess because it took near two weeks for the report to get here. The report said that after test firing the rifle they found nothing wrong and that groupings of 4" @ 100 yards was WITHIN COMPANY STANDARDS. After discussing this with my attorney and a few letters to Remington by him Remington finely refunded my money, [I]AFTER just over 11 months.

Stupid me I figured that this was an isolated incident and a few years later I again bought another M700 BDL. Got it home and dissembled it for cleaning. The inletting of the action looked like it had been done with a box axe by a cross eyed baboon. Again I returned to the store where I bought it, it was a special ordered item as he didn't have what I wanted in stock, and showed him the stock. We again called Remington and again they said return the rifle for service. So I did. To make a LONG story short it only took 9 months to get satisfaction out of Remington this time. I went through this same B.S. with a M870 Marine 12 ga. that I got for a duty shotgun. I sold it (some other sucker has that problem child) and bought a Winchester Defender model and have been very happy that I did. The only Remington's I'll buy now were made BEFORE 1980. Lawdog

CZ 527. The bolt is so rough it's difficult to operate. Average accuracy.

Charles Daly Mauser! POS.

I had two. I'm a lever action nut. So any chance I got to pick one up, I did. The first was a Savage 99 Clip model in .308. It wouldn't hit a lake if it was thrown in it. The second was a 1930's vintage model 94 in 30-30. The action would jam, it wouldn't eat reloads and every now and again, even with new ammo it wouldn't close without a fight.

I have an old German Mauser from 1916 that I spent much time and effort getting it to shoot well and finally gave up and accepted that it's probably been through two World Wars and has simply seen its day. It's got a very pretty stock that I refinished and also redid the bluing. It makes a great wall hanger, and that's about it. Maybe it deserves the rest.
Best wishes.

Cal - Montreal

A Remington 700 8mm Rem Mag out of their custom shop. The only thing worse than the quality of that rifle was the service I received from Remington. Will never own another Remington.

Boy, reading this thread is depressing, kinda makes you wonder about rifles, gunsmiths, shooting, even the sacred P-64 Mod. 70! I have only owned 33 of these and have never had one that will not shoot m.o.a. groups and some were much, much better. My .338s give me excellent accuracy as have the three .375s I've had and the .300 H&Hs were just fabulous, I am pretty lucky, I guess.

I have had two Mannlicher-Schoenauers in carbine form, a 1961MCA in 6.5x55 (not a typo) and a 1956MC in .30-06 which I currently own, both were .6" @ 100 yds. rifles. My elderly, re-chambered Brno 21H roundbolt shoots .280 Rem. warm loads with 160 NPGMFs into .5" very frequently and so forth, even my Merkel drilling is a tackdriver.

Part of this is that I will only buy guns after a very through inspection and they must have minty metal parts as well. I carefully glassbed and tune each rifle and, so far, it has worked for me. I do not doubt that Allen's Alaskans did not perform, these rifles are notorious for cracking their stocks and absolutely MUST be glassbedded to shoot to an acceptable standard...but, my favourite has always done quite well.

My single worst gun was a 20 ga. Ted Williams pump from Simpson-Sears when I was a kid and it was a pos if ever there was one! Mind you, I also had an AyA Mod. XXV sidelock 20 that wasn't much better and a big name English gun that was pretty sad as well. I have a Browning BSS-sidelock 20 that makes the Brit gun look like a club...there are good and bad pieces from every maker, I guess.

Informal count

Mauser - 6
Ruger - 10
Remington - 2
Browning - 2
Winchester - 5
Steyr - 1
Savage - 2
Weatherby - 2
CZ - 1
Charles Daly Mauser -1

Conspicuously missing, my favorite factory gun, Sako! Now I've done it, probably gigged someone into saying they've had a bad Sako.

Is this gonna start another thread trying to defend Rugers?


Without guns we are subjects (or victims), with guns we are citizens