Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Ask The Gunwriters Ever have a "bad luck" rifle? Just wondering, I may have one

Not a rant or gripe in any way, just a strange series of occurences with this rifle of mine that makes me shake my head. Ever since I was in high school Jack O'Connor was my hero. I wrote in a thread the other day that I had the chance to meet him back then, and still kick myself till this day (51 years old now) because I had something better to do that week he was in town. What that was that could have been better than shaking my hero's hand is beyond me...

I have long lusted after the quintessential JO rifle..the pre-64 model 70 in 270. After looking for years to find the "right one" I finally found her in an Atlanta gun shop about five years ago in 99% condition and was able to trade for it. No scratches, no blemishes...a safe queen for sure! Time at the range proved that my rifle was capable of groups averaging a good bit under an inch with 130 grain Ballistic Tips, Accubonds, MRX's and TSX's. No matter what, it would not break 2850 fps with any 130 grain load...I had a slow barrel....no big deal though. When my first deer season with the 270 finally arrived, I had my opportunity at hand. I was hunting with the Accubonds and had a standing broadside shot down the sendero at a 140 class 6 point. He had been seen a few times and it was a shame he didn't have any more points for the size of his frame. The shot was right at 140 yards and was dead in the vitals. It would be a short walk into the adjacent pines to recover him no doubt. No blood, no nothing...and I marked exactly where he went in...no luck. The search was exhaustive to no avail. I found him two weeks later when recovering a doe shot on the other side of the farm. He had traveled quite a distance. The shot location was still evident and confirmed by a broken rib just above the heart. I could not honestly tell if I had an exit wound in this case. I cut the antlers off and two days later had a case of sepsis blood poisioning from the stuff getting into some briar scratches on my hand! 13 IV's later and 4 days in the hospital I was good to go. The docs were looking at amputating my hand if the infection had progressed any further up my arm! Fortunately everything was OK.

My second deer shot with that rifle was a nice high racked 8 point that required five shots to finish him off. 130 grain TSX's this time. The first shot, broadside at 175 yards knocked him down, however he tried to get up. Shot #2 put him back down...for a second. Shot #3, same story. Same for shot #4 as well. I only had four shells loaded (took some heat for that) and he was down but still not out. I got down from my stand and finished him off with a point blank shot from my 45. All shots had been in the vitals, but had "ice picked" on him...no expansion whatsoever.

A year later I lost two does shot at roughly 226 yards. Both shots were videoed, and showed probable high shoulder shots with Accubonds that knocked both deer to the ground. In each case they leaped back up and high tailed it, again with no blood trail at all. Two days searching by myself, our son, and a friend yielded nothing. I posted a thread about this last year and was taken to the woodshed about it. I felt horrible. I eventually took another doe with it at 200+ yards with no problem...20 yard tracking job at the most.

This year I decided to try the MRX. After taking two good bucks and assorted does early on, I got the 270 out to try it out on one more doe for the wife. A 175 yard broadside shot off a sandbag rest that morning and it was off to the races again! For fun I had my GPS with me and took a waypoint at the point of impact. Initially there was, again, no blood after walking into ten year old planted pines she disappeared into. Another good search yielded no blood. After about an hour of dilligent searching with no results I blindly lit out through the pines in the direction I would have expected her to run. Eventually I found a blood smear on a tree, then another 20 yards away and there she was. I shot another waypoint with the GPS and the straight line distance between the two points was 321 yards. Note this was not the actual path she followed, although I can't prove it, but merely the distance between the two points. She was hit good in both lungs and backtracking her trail yielded no blood other than the two blood smears. As you can see from the photos it was good old fashion bright pink frothy lung blood.

I am not griping about bullet failures, etc...I just wonder why this seems to happen only with this rifle. Perhaps its only excessive operator headspace. Each deer, except the doe from last year, required extremely good fortune to either locate or finish off. I have never had this situation arise with any other rifle I have shot....just funny thats all. Below are pictures of the "5-shot" eight point and my 321 yard doe from this year. Next year: Nosler partitions and we will see what happens. If it happens again, well then Elmer Keith must have put a hex on it or something.

I have a POS Browning LH 375 H&H (don't ask). that thing fails to fire regularly - but only at game.

If it had any resale value it'd be long gone.

I use it only for recoil practice (and to use up bullets my real 375 doesn't like (or I no longer use).

I had a rifle once that shot great groups off the bench but never seemed to kill game cleanly. Other rifles on the same hunting trips would kill like lightning, but not this one. Bullets and loads that killed cleanly out of another rifle in the same chambering failed to put animals down out of the hexed rifle, with solid breadbasket hits. (I know, from examining recovered game, where the strikes were.)

Sounds weird, but it happened. Finally peddled it, because it just didn't work for me, though it shot exceptionally well.

Dennis

Must be voodoo,guys .I know there are "lucky" rifles,or we perceive it that way;just seems like circumstances conspire in some instances and the game either flops over, or goes a long way...

If it flops over, the rifle in our hands becomes Old Death and Destruction;confidence breeds good shooting and we go and do it again,and so forth and so on....

But,when something in rifle or load or circumstances, (or us sometimes)come together and we end up with wounded,or missed animals,the bad karma sets in and we,and the rifle are doomed...frightening stuff that keeps us awake nights!Scary stuff!

I'm really perplexed at godogs tough experiences with his M70;and a doe going over 300 yards after being chest hit...even though the exit seems good sized,and the shot was well placed through the lungs,could it be that the bullet is a bit "tough" and hard?Dunno.

I'd try a standard 130 Speer Hot Core on those small does;not glamorous,but IME they expand and create a nasty wound;hold together pretty well IME.

I kind of agree with you on voodoo and karma, but one of my instances of "bad juju" included a 130 gr Speer...through the chest twice with total heart/lung destruction. The buck walked away from both hits as though nothing had happened; my buddy broke both front legs with a low backup shot and he caved in. Same load in another rifle produced bang-flops in similar circumstances. Of course it doesn't make sense, but there it is .

Dennis

Dennis: Back before I completely "discovered" Partitions I used the 130 Speer on some western hunts and it did well; so there ya go!Killing animals should be pretty straight forward,but we all have these "anomolies".

I have not had many since I started with Partitions;like JBsays over on the other thread,seems they always expand,and penetrate.Maybe that early expansion they give due to a soft front core is a good thing

I'm getting that way about TSX's... .

Dennis

My Win Mdl 70 270 Win was purchased the fall of 1952. For years I loaded a Hornady 130 bullets with H 4831 powder for the rifle. I have shot mule deer, pronghorn, and elk with that load. I must be shooting the weak ones. I dont recall one that went over 50 yards ,if that far.

Jack would tell you to try 130 grain Silvertips.

Yes, I have a 'bad luck' rifle. I have shot about 10 deer with it, and at least have led me on the chases of my life. I have tried different bullet types, different weights, even different placement. Always the same thing--a long trail and a lot of questions. That gun is going to be sold soon.

OTH, I also have a 'lucky' rifle. It is my Win70 FWT 30-06. I have never lost an animal, nor even missed one, that I have shot at with it. I often don't even bother to reload once I shoot, as I know with good placement that the gig is over. That kind of confidence in a rifle is priceless.

Take up elk hunting, DIY, on public land.

It will lead you to think your elk rifle is a bad luck rifle <g>!

Dunno what to say about your .270, but your line about Elmer Keith cursing it is DAMN funny!

For whitetails, I'm a FIRM believer in Nosler Ballistic Tips. Sure they'll make a nasty hole, but when they hit, they strike the deer down as if by the hammer of thor.

OH lord did I ever have one.

When I was about 16 I saved up my money for ages to buy an Interarms Mark x .270 that I found in a pawn shop. The rifle was like $380 or so with a scope, and a really nice stock. I'll never forget it had a big bronze medallion fitted into the right side of the butt stock, with "1983" really finely engraved and a raised embossing of a big whitetailed deer.I thought I was going to have THE rifle.
I checked the rifle over really well before buying it. The rifling looked stellar, scope was decent, barrel was floated , and it had a good bedding job on it. So I bought it, and it all went down hill from there.
The first time I took it to the range it was shooting all over the place. So I boresighted it again, checked the bases and rings all was good to go. Back to the range, first two touching then goes all crazy again, now the bases were loose. Put it back together. I go to the range after boresighting again no dice. Shooting all over. Now the scope has gone bad, dials spin but doesn't move the reticle. Great, so I buy a new scope and try it again. Now its on paper but shooting huge groups like 4 inches at best most bigger. I tried literally every load I could buy locally, seriously everything from Winchester, Remington, PMC, Federal, all of it 130, 150 grains. Nothing shot better. Rifle had no fouling to speak of, nothing abnormal. Stripped the barrel with barnes copper solvent didn't help, and didn't have really buildup anyway. Checked and re-checked the barrel channel about a dozen times. I even had a gunsmith check the bedding. Everything was good, but the stinking rifle wouldn't shoot better than 4 inches ever, and even that was rare good group. No one else could get it to shoot either.

I was questioning my shooting ability at that point, but I still could shoot my buddy's rifles well enough. I could even shoot my older peep sighted Mauser .30-06 far better then that danged .270

This whole mess took place over a couple year span. I tried everything new scopes, cleaning, different loads, handloads, long seating the bullets(grasing at straws guessed the throat was bad, 'smith later said it was fine too). Finally I gave up on it, felt terrible about because it was a beautiful rifle. I sold the thing for far less than I had paid for it. Now I look back wishing I would have kept it, and spun in a new barrel. Of course part of me just thinks the thing was cursed, and still would have shot like crap.
I guess maybe thats why it was bedded and floated. Maybe some else before me went through the same hassle as me. It certainly was the worst rifle I have ever had. Truly a bad luck gun in my book.

Have you thought about Exorcism?????

Huntz at one point I thought about shooting the rifle to put it out of its misery........

In your situation I would try Corelokts, Hornady Spire Points,or Speer cup & core.

Your velocity level should work well with these bullets.

No flame meant.........

I just have had experience with the aforementioned bullets, along with
the Sierra 110's.

YMMV

I think you mean Exorwizzum......don't you?

I think you are piking the wrong bullets.
I realy do, all the bullets you mention are prety darn tough.
If you went with a sierra or a speer or if you insist on spending a little more monet a nosler balistic tip. Your best bet might be a hornady 130 gr SST.
You just are not pushing those bullets fast enough to get reliable expansion. They are all good bullets and if you were squirting them out at 3100 FPS you likly would get better results.
But with your 2880 velocity, by the time they hit your deer 200 yards away, they are just going too slow to work as designed.
just my opinion
...tj3006

The problem is that you are in Georgia. Just by looking at it you can tell that it is a Northern rifle. It was made N. of the MDL and just wants to be on its home soil. Now if you would send it up to Pa. I'm positive that the gremlins would be happy again.

I suggest that you sell it. You will never feel right about it when hunting.

There really are some situations when a larger caliber or heavier bullet would have worked better.

And no combination of caliber/bullet works every time in every situation. There will be failures, hopefully below 5%.