Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Rifles Unexpected Disappointments -Hunting Rifles You Thought You'd Like, But Didn't

Having found the responses to the previous thread I started on the subject of hunting rifles that proved to be unexpected pleasures to be interesting reading, I thought I'd try the flip-side of that coin.

I'll start with one of my biggest all-time gun buying disappointments -my first Ruger No,1B....

The first rifle I have any independent recollection of having any desire to own was the Ruger No.1, As a little boy, I would practically drool over the advertisements for them in my father's American Rifleman magazines.

I started saving for one when I was seven years old. It would be the No 1B -a compromise between heavy barrel accuracy and light barrel portability, and it would be in .30-'06, to serve any hunting I might want to do, and perform well in the recreational target rifle role.

My "Ruger No.1 Savings Plan" got tapped in to and side-tracked along the way. First with a .20 caliber Beeman R-1 pellet rifle; then with a 20 gauge Ugartechea Shotgun and arranging a payment plan to buy a Griffin and Howe on a 1903 Springfield barreled action from the childless widow of my pediatric dentist -a man who became a mentor and shooting buddy in my late teens.

When I was 19, I finally had my funds built up to get my "dream rifle."

The first disappointment was that I couldn't find one in .30-'06 anyhwere in Southern California. I couldn't find anyone willing to order me one, either. I did find a No.1B in .270. I figured that might be as close as I would get, so I bought it and a Leupold to top it off with.

The second disappoint was discovered in shooting the thing. It was as accurate as I hoped it would be, for the first ten shots or so. After that, any semblance of accuracy vanished.

The third disappointment was allied to the second -the thing took an insane amount of scrubbing and the use of some pretty strong copper solvent to get the bore clean.

That's when I noticed something my much younger and slightly stupider self should have paid attention to before any money changed hands -the bore was a mess of chatter-marks. My heart sank. If all I wanted the rifle for was to shoot a few rounds to confirm zero, and a couple more in fall to collect game, it would have been fine even with the rough internal bore finish. But I wanted my "dream rifle" to be a "range toy," too. And the barrel, as it was, wasn't going to get 'er done.

My fourth disappointment was Ruger's renowned customer service after the sale. In this one instance, I was definitely not impressed. After over two years of back and forth with Ruger, they finally replaced the rifle.

The happy ending to this story is that during the period that I was trying rather unsuccessfully to get Ruger to fix my first No.1 to my satisfaction, I found what I really wanted in the first place -a Nol1B in .30-'06. That rifle exceeded expectations, shooting a .770" group on the first try. I still have that one, and it's been a joy for the last 28 years. More "happy ending" is that Ruger ultimately sent me a new No.1 to replace the first one. It was excellent, too. I traded it to a personal friend for a "known good" No.1 Tropical in .375 H&H -a rifle that I still own today.

That first one, though -the rifle of my childhood dreams- was a dud.

Anybody else buy what they thought was going to be "the one" only to be supremely disappointed when it didn't meet expectations?

I guess I can say I've never had a bad rifle, some shot better than others but all would work for what I needed it for. Im not a target shooter if i can hit minute of deer or coyote im happy.Biggest disappointment I've had was a s&w shield. I had just turned 21 and got my carry permit when they first came out. Loved the feel of it so decided it'd become my first cc gun. Firth range trip the magazine would fall out every time I shot it. So back to s&w get it back same issue sent it back and when it returned I sent it to the range with my dad he said it was fixed but I had no confidence in it and traded it soon after.

Tikka T3 in 338fedeal.

First gun I ever bought was a Remington 710 in 7mm RM. The rifle itself was cheap, as expected, but I didn't realize how absolutely cheap they were. The round wasn't pleasant to shoot either.

Savage 99 in 308.

Care to elaborate?

Here in cyberspace, Tikka rifles seem to have a veritable legion of fans. So I'm curious as to specifics regarding what you might not have liked about it.

The 338 Federal chambering is an interesting one.

I've never had a Savage 99. I've long had a desire to get one in .250-3000 Savage, though. So far, I haven't found the right intersection of condition and price. I did have a Savage 1895 in .25-35 that was a fun coyote gun and general plinkin' rifle.

I'm curious as to the specifics about your 99 in .308 that caused you to find it lacking and whether your displeasure was limited to that specific example, as was the case with me and first No.1, or if you just decided that the 99 platform in general didn't meet your needs as you perhaps hoped it might?

Years ago I bought an encore. Loved the pistol set ups. I bought a few rifle barrels. 270/ 204. They both shot great. No problems with them.
I thought I would like it but after hunting with it a while I didnt care for it. Rather just have easy to handle straight comb bolt action rifles. As I get older and more experienced I get less interested in any gimmicks and novelties.

Browning A bolt in .243. Biggest POS I ever owned. It would not shoot. Only rifle I never regretted selling.

Mine was not representative of the 99s. I can't remember the model but it had a magazine. It shot minute of barn at best, terrible fit and finish, and was not reliable. I was young and dumb and had to have a Savage 99. A waste of hard earned money at the time but it was a giant POS. Thankfully the shop owner took pity on me and allowed a nice trade in on a Sako.

I'd love to have a nice 300 but like you I haven't seen condition vs. price point intersection yet.

Ruger 77's! We've had four of them between my son and I and none of them were shooters. We bought a Mark II in .270, 7mm Rem mag, and .338 Win mag. None of them shot so we ordered a new Hawkeye All Weather .270 and while it shot better than the others, it still wasn't impressive. But the thing that did the Hawkeye in ultimately (I can live with a 1 1/4" gun) was how easily it rusted in our humid weather. It rusted before my blued rifles did. Between those Rugers and three Husqvarnas that wouldn't shoot to please me, I swore off CRF's and buy only push feeds now.

As a young man, I always liked the Weatherby Mark V's but I was in no danger of being able to afford one. I really liked the "California" look of the rifle, and those Weatherby calibers were good for killing game that was miles away.

Now that I could afford one, I find that no matter how good they look to my eye, they just don't fit when I shoulder them. Too short and comb too high I think. I might buy one in 300 Weatherby just to have it and look at it.

I'm confused...please explain why CRFs are more culpable to rust than push feeds?

Ithaca lightweight deer slayer 12 gauge. Just about broke my nose shooting 1-1/4 oz.slugs.

I never said anthing about CRF's and rust. Only said my All Weather was prone to rust.

I've had a few over the years. Some that come to mind

Sako 22 hornet. Pretty disappointing in workmanship and accuracy

Savage 24 combo guns. Seemed like such a great idea when I was 12-13 but later after getting one I was sort of lost as to it usefulness.

I have had 2-3 remington 788's. OK but not anymore accurate than most off the shelf rifles and really sort of cheaply made. I prefer my stevens 200 by quite a bit for a budget rifle.

For years my grail was a 16 ga o/u. finally got a citori and it just never seemed to fit me like my skb.

I have owned 2-3 7x57s a model 70 fwt, a #1 and a Mauser, none shot that well not bad but not great and I never got the speed that others claim. It was always a struggle to get the accuracy and speed I can get more easily out of my 308 and 270 and the deer never seemed impressed by its reputation more than the others.

Most sxs shotguns. Never shot that well with them and for all of their reputation for being reliable I've had more trigger, extractor/ ejector issues with double guns than with repeaters. Am I the only one that ever noted that double gun affectionodos sp? will regail you about all their benefits and superior reliability but in the next breath tell you they have a guy that is great at fixing poi problems, loose ribs, triggers, broken ejectors etc. ask a pump gun shooter who his guy is and 9 out of 10 will go huh? The 10th will probably tell you about the time he slipped getting into the duck boat and broke the toe of the butt off when it hit the gunnel. He got a replacement off ebay. I will admit to having a pretty likeable Uggie sxs that I bought because I have a group of friends that like to hold sxs shoots and look down on my model 12.

There have been others but those are a few.

Early 90s Ruger Mini-14 Ranch Rifle in stainless. Most miserable rifle I've ever owned. Never did get it to shoot better then a pattern. Finally traded it for a VLS 223. Still don't miss it.

Apologies. Reread your post and the light bulb flickered on!

Savage never chambered the 1895 in 25-35.

I've bought lots of factory rifles, expecting to be disappointed....in lots of cases, I wasn't disappointed.

This was not unexpected.

No problem. I often read posts too fast myself and get mixed up.

Wby Mark 5

H&R Buffalo in .308 Win. Every time I fired it the action would break open. Bye, bye.

Sold my Ruger #1 in .280 Rem not because it disappointed but because it didn't fit my hunting needs. Bought a Ruger All-Weather in .280 Rem as a replacement. Much better.

Sold my Savage 110E in .22-250 after several thousand rounds when the barrel went. Daughter #2 called it "homely" and she was being charitable. But that sucker could shoot until the barrel went, 5 shots into a group you could cover with a dime.

Also sold my Ruger American that Dad gave me. After two years, two different scopes and many different types of factory loads and handloads, I still couldn't get it to shoot. Bye, bye.

Browning M-71 .348 carbine. I thought I had to have it, as a means of scratching the big bore Winchester levergun itch. I found it to be extremely well made, and very accurate after I installed a receiver sight on it. I also found it to be heavy for my tastes in a lightweight woods loafing rifle, recoil was not all that bad but more than I care for. The more I worked with it, the more I asked myself "why". Since no trips to the north woods for moose or bear were in my future, away it went down the road. (I did whack an unfortunate groundhog with it- splattered across the landscape.)

Three - one rifle, one handgun and one shotgun.

Rifle - Win M70 FWT SS/walnut in 22-250.. Keyholed the shots - found out it had the wrong twist from the factory.. I sold it (before I got into this business - now I wish I had it.. )

Shotgun - Perazzi TM-1 Special.. I couldn't miss at 16 yards with it - but couldn't hit a damn thing at 27.. For $3 grand it wasn't worth hanging onto when I could take any of my SKBs and hit birds at long range rather easily..

Handgun - AMT Automag II in .22 mag.. I, and the company at the time, tried everything to make that pos work.. OFF it went.

Got talked into trading for a Winchester 94 Big Bore in 356 by a huckster. It wouldn't keep 3 shots on a dinner plate at 100 yards no matter what load I tried. It went down the road. Nice looking gun but never could make it shoot.

Model 100 Winchester in 308. I bought it for my wife. We both liked the looks of it but it didn't feed reliably nor would it group consistently.

Ruger Mini 14. Same as most of them. Patterns rather than groups.

Ruger 77 7x57. Never really warmed up to it. It shot well but it just never really grew on me. I like the cartridge and I like the 77, I have one in a varmint model 220 Swift that I really like, but that particular rifle left me cold.

Ive always been a fan of the weatherby Mark V rifles, action design, 60 degree bolt lift and the 340 weatherby ballistics... but hated the idea of hunting with a fancy flashy wood stocks,or scratching one up badly, and they reflected light like a chrome bumper on a new caddy ,when you pay well over $1600 for a rifle its a P.I.T.A. if you need too replace the stock,

I'm glad they are now available in synthetic stock versions. and those fancy wood stocks were as durable as cotton candy in a rain storm, so I purchased a fiberglass fibermark stock and had it camo striped with dull tan,dark green and gray,as soon as they became an option for my wood stock. the subsequent 340 wby rifles I bought for both my sons were the fiber mark versions, then they came out with the stainless synthetic stock version and I bought one, as a back-up to my old dependable 340 wby
every one of those rifles is accurate with my hand loaded 250 hornady bullets and H4831 but I vastly prefer a carefully epoxy bedded synthetic stock that you can touch up if it gets scratched with a bit of dull spray paint.

I have gone through many styles as I look for perfect mousetraps.

Weatherby Mk 5 Accumark in 280AI- It was very accurate but the recoil profile was horrid. Though I think it was more that stock shape that didn't fit me. A 280 should not hurt more than my magnums.

Savage 24 - Conceptually great for bumping grouse and bunnies but another swing and a miss for me.

Kimber Montana and Classic - They are just too small for my size.

The 338-06 and 35 Whelen chamberings. Had one of each and felt they gave 300 WM recoil and were a step down compared to 30-06.

Steyr Mt rifle. The 20" barrel was handy and the gun was exceptionally accurate. Just too darn heavy and the handling wasn't right for me.

HK 45. I liked everything about it until I started shooting it. Can't explain it, I just never warmed up to it.

Model Sevens, an Encore, four, out of six, Model 70's and two Sakos.

Here's a MkV that was bordering on being a disappointment, until the revised bedding and stock work warmed it up.

Two different Ruger #1s, both in 7x57. One was a 1A light sporter, the other a RSI. Both looked and handled great. Both suffered from the same long throat and scope mount that is way too far forward even with offset rings. I have always loved the looks of these two #1s, but could not make them work for me.

Bought a Stainless and wood M70 when they first came out with the Left hand version in the late 90s. It was a 30-06. Could never get it to shoot better than 3" groups at 100 yards with ammo it lied....worse if it did not like it. Finally was so frustrated I traded it in on the same rifle but with the BOSS. Hate the loos and noise of the BOSS but this 06 is a tack driver.

Any rifle that says Ruger on the side is a disappointment. Any rifle that says Remington on it is about 2% better than one that has Ruger on the side of it.

Dink

Remington Model 7 SS in 260 remington...bought one of the first ones to show up in the area. Disappointing accuracy

Salvage 110 in 300 WIn mag...poor stock design, worse accuracy

Kimber 84m in 7mm-08, sent back to kimber only the original barrelled action returned, everything else was replaced and I mean everything. I wish I still had the returned gun, they did it right on the second go around.

Model 70 SS Classic in 338, should have never left the plant.

700 KS 7mm Rem mag that was a single shot, fired its first shot at the range and then needed to pound on the bolt handle with the palm of my hand a few times to get out the shell. It went back to the "custom" shop for a few months. Bless their hearts

Other then those mentioned above no issues with anything else. I mean every rifle with a few exceptions needs tweaking . These were past the point of tweaking.

Kimber 84L in .270WIN. Warped stock out of the box and when it was returned for repair they scared up the finish. Never again.

Bravo Company Precision AR-15. Shot 4" groups. After numberous emails and messages left on a phone THEY NEVER ANSWER. They finally returned one email that said "keep shooting it and hopefully it'll get better." Never again.

+1 on the Ruger 77s

donsm70

Kimber 84m Classic in .260. I couldn't really warm up to the ergonomics of the gun, but could have dealt with that if the accuracy had been worth a crap. I tried half a dozen loads and two factory ammo and all groups were between 2.5" and 3.5". I took it to a friend that shoots competitively and has forgotten more about guns and handloading than I'll ever know. He spent 6 months trying to get it to shoot and the best he could do was 1.25" but the bullets were seated out too long and would not fit in magazine. So a year after I bought it, I sold it at a $15 loss. :-)
I feel pretty sure with some gun-smithing and lots of patient loading, we could have made a decent hunting rifle out of it, but why? I have since bought an x-bolt 7-08 ($300 less and 8 oz heavier) that shoots 1/2" groups out of the box and a Model seven .243 ($350 less and 8 oz heavier) that shoots 1" groups with factory ammo.
I certainly expected more from an $850 rifle.

Sakos

Browning BLR in 7-08. It just felt clunky and the trigger was only so-so.

Oh...and a Marlin 1895 45-70. The barrels was screwed in to the receiver so crooked that I couldn't use sights other than the stock open sights. Shame too, the gun shot really well, but I wanted a receiver sight on it.

Model 7 .260. : Easily the most inaccurate rifle I have ever squeezed a trigger on. Nothing could be done to that thing to bring it under 6 inch 3 shot groups @ 100 yards.

TC Encore: Three of them (.223, .22/250..25/06) none no better than 2.5 - 3.0 inch groups and that stock just didn't work well for me at all

Mine was a Smith and Wesson 7mm mag, (Howa manufact) I hunted for years with a Ruger 308 Ultralight, and decided I needed a Magnum, when it was offered for sale by a co-worker. Bought the 7mm mag, and never cared for it. Can't say it didn't shoot, but can't say it did shoot, as I only shot it a couple times. I just never could get used to the weight and length of it, it always felt clubby.

Luckily, I kept my Ruger. Sold the Smith and Wesson after a couple years for what I bought it for. Don't know if it ever became collectible. Anyone know?

Same experience with my Mini 14. It's been gone for decades.

Another disappointment for me was a Remington 7400 in 308. Totally unreliable. Sold that long ago as well.

Ruger , seems to be the most popular name in this thread

Yeah I had 2 Rugers that had issues. And one Remington, although it was a shotgun.

A ruger number one in 25/06 and a remington 700 in 243. Both unable to shoot groups instead of random patterns. A Rossi 357 I bought before I knew better that tangled its own internals while shooting. Otherwise about 200 other guns I can't really complain about. Pretty good track record honestly

Winchester 100 .284 Win. Loved the cartridge, loved the looks and handling qualities of the rifle but its accuracy was so abysmal, you'd have had a hard time committing suicide with it...

Savage 99 .308; Ruger 77 several cartridges.

I have only had one rifle that I couldn't wait to get rid of. It wasn't because of accuracy either. I had a savage axis in 243 that was accurate as all get out, but the whole long action only and trigger that you almost needed a winch on didn't impress me at all! Sold it to my buddy and it is his go to rifle. He liked it so much he bought another one in 308. He did shoot my 300saum and he got surprised when the gun fired, he wasn't expecting it because he was used to the heavy pull of the savage.

Fair enough. I stand corrected. It must have been an 1899, then. It's been 30 years since I sold it, but I seem to recall it saying "18Somethingorother" on the barrel. It had a thin schanbel forened with some kind of thumb-slide deal inset in it, like a take-down latch. It had checkering on the fore-end. The buttstock was checkered at the wrist and it had a kind of perch-belly shape to it. The safety was a sliding affair down by the lever when the rifle was in battery. When it was cocked, a little brass-colored pin popped out of the tang or rear of the action. It had a little window cut-out, so one could see a "round counter" on the brass-colored magazine spool. It wasn't drilled and tapped for scope mounts but did have a Lyman peep sight on it. I remember paying about $250.00 for it in 1983. All I really knew about it then was that it looked like the 99 in .250 Savage that I had read about in a book by a guy named Roy Chapman, or Roy Andrews -or maybe it was Roy Chapman Andrews... Whatever... It was from reading some book that I got the notion I wanted a .250 Savage rifle. While the rifle I bought wasn't in .250, it was at least in a .25 caliber cartridge, and coolness just oozed off the thing. I used to to shoot it a lot at the old Fish Canyon Rifle Range in Azusa, CA and there was an older gentleman there who always seemed to be the there when I was.... He'd always nag me to sell him the rifle. I caved in when he offered me about double what I had paid for it. That much I do remember, because I used the money from selling the rifle to that fellow to buy the Ruger M77RL Ultralight in .250 Savage that I've been shooting ever since. . So yeah, it was probably an 1899. Thanks for the correction.

My dream gun was a Remington 700 Mountain rifle in .280 Remington. I did not like the butt heavy feel of the stock. I traded it for a 7mm Weatherby for less than I could have bought another stock. The magnum shot better to boot! I did not look back.

Voere O/U 20 gauge/222 mag
Ruger 77's, inaccurate, blocky, and heavy
Newer Savage 99's with the removable magazine, horrible triggers
Weatherby Orion 2 O/U 20 gauge
plenty of others.

best rifle for me is a Savage 99, except above

a late 90's vintage Marlin 336C with that crappy safety.

Was Minute of Barn.

In high school I wanted an M700 in 22-250. My dad bought me a Ruger 1A in 243 for high school graduation instead. That gun shot 6" groups at 100yds. Absolutely horrible. Not to mention, not a fan of a single shot hunting rifle.

Few years back when I first got into rifles I thought I needed a big magnum for shooting little whitetails across big bean fields. Found a used BAR in 300Mag in a local shop. It was one of the original style, not the newer Safari model, and had beautiful wood. Never got any decent groups out of it, but then I never shot it much. That thing kicked like a young mule even as heavy as it was. Guess it just didn't fit me well. I traded it for a BAR Longtrac 30-06 that is plenty accurate for my uses and is much more pleasant to shoot. Largest cartridge currently in my arsenal is a 7Mag and can't say I really need it for anything I hunt.

I bought a Remington 742 from a buddy when I was still pretty wet behind the ears and had just started deer hunting. I had it about 3 months before I sold it, haven't missed it a day since - in fact it's the only gun that I don't regret selling.

Roy Chapman Andrews, the great Mongolian dinosaur hunting expedition leader and scientific generalist of Flaming Cliffs fame. RCA and China missionary Harry Caldwell were often cited in pre-WW2 Savage ads for their use of the Models 1899/99 and RCA's use of the 1920.

A Savage 1899 in 25-35 with a cocking indicator pin in the receiver would be vintage 1912 to 1917/18. Savage made Lewis machine guns during WW1 and didn't continue to catalog the 25-35, 32-40, or 38-55 when civilian production resumed post-WW1.

A Browning BLR in .358 Win. I already had two Win.94's, a Savage 99 and a Marlin 336 (32 Win Spl.) and liked to play with all of them. Just wanted a .358. Browning was not well balanced, felt clunky, lever throw was way to long, geometry was way wrong for use with iron sights, and accuracy was so-so. Sold it after firing two boxes of ammo.
About the same with a Savage 24. Seemed like a good idea to have one. Clunkyiest long-gun I ever owned. Accuracy non-existent over 50 yds but I'm sure that was the max design range for this type of weapon so not really knocking that. It was just that after a while every time you picked it up you asked yourself "why?" and set it back down. Went on it's way via the want adds.

Remington 700 BDL in .30-06, hated the feel of the action, mediocre accuracy. Definitely not up to the reputation.
Remington 700 .30-06 ADL, .30-06, rough action, Tupperware stock, but it was accurate, but not very useable.
Remington 700 Mountain rifle, 7x57, fixed mag. About as accurate as a slingshot. Felt good, but useless.

Haven't owned a 700 since.

Ruger Mini Thirty, four in groups with its best ammo with a horrendous trigger pull.


Ruger PC-40, cool tough as a Sherman tank. A trigger that took two good men to pull. Wish it was in .45 ACP.


Remington 673 in 6.5 Rem Mag, fast and accurate. Rifle weighed a ton. Wasn't as compact as it could have been.

Savage model 24C. 22lr over 20 gauge.

One of the extractors had a burr from the factory and wouldn't work.

.22 was inaccurate as hell and the 20 gauge kicked like a mule.
The stock would scratch if you looked too hard at it.
I bought it new when I was 14 and sold it to a friend by the time I was 15.

Much happier with a Winchester 1200 in 20 gauge and a Ruger 10/22 back then.

Dan

Didn't like this new rifle (30-06 EW):



......as much as this old rifle ('56 30-06 fwt):


Tit for tat, the EW wouldn't keep up...

Three different Kimber Montanas. Most expensive inaccurate POS's I have ever owned. Sent them back to Kimber for "check ups". Came back just as bad as before. Sold them.

Should have gotten Tikkas!

Ruger M77 stainless.
boat paddle 308.

My shotguns shoot better...

Browning T-Bolt .22 made in 1969 in Belgium, a Grade II with beautiful wood. Shot everything but Stingers into a 6" group at 25 yards. Stingers went into 2" at 25 yards. Had two gunsmiths look at it but they couldn't do any better. Traded it off.

So the action type determined the accuracy?

Went into the lgs for a pound of powder, walked out with left handed Savage 110 in .338 Win mag. Got home and found the stock cracked. The shop made good and repaired it, I found a Lee Six fiberglass stock finished it and swapped it out. Put a couple hundred rounds thru it and decided it kicked to damn much. Sold it and bought an 06. I have its little brother, a 110 built in 59 (my birth year) short action in .308. Much better handling.

I didn't like mine (same gun in .30-06 UL) either until I found what it likes to shoot. Absolutely love it now.

I must say my Kimber Montana... would not even chamber a factor round... that was the first trip back to Kimber.... Happy day when I finally sold that POS

I purchased a Remington model 7 ss .308 shortly after the rifle was introduced. Absolutely horrible by every measure... CP.

Ruger m77 RSI in .308


Kicked like a bish and couldn't shoots four inch group.Plus it was ugly.

Saying this may get me banned, but every custom firearm I've ever had made falls into this category. They just don't live up to the expectations I had for them. I have much luck finding an off-the-rack model that's close to what I want and tweaking it just a bit.


Okie John

When I was hunting elk a lot I thought a 7 1/4-7.5#,scoped,300 Win Mag would be the ultimate rough country elk rifle. Never mind that I had one weighing 8.5#'s that was a hammer and had killed bulls with it,but delusion has no boundaries.Neither does stupidity.

So I had a lightweight 300 Win Mag built to the specs and worked up loads with 180 and 200 gr Partitions.

It kicked like a mule,despite a good stock,and after range sessions my head and neck hurt and I felt like I had gone a few rounds with a professional boxer.I learned my lesson,pulled the rifle apart and built something else. This was quite a few years ago and ever since have thought lightweight 300 magnums ain't such a hot idea.

I love my Tikkas in smaller cartridges, but every time I see one in 300Mag for sale in the classifieds I'm not the least bit tempted. Ouch!!

Let's see...
Uberti Rolling Block 45-70 - weighed a ton and was minute of wall at 75 yards.
Sako (Forrester I think) in 7mm Mag. After 5 different bullets and 5 or 6 powders, the best group I could get was 2.5". See ya!
Beretta Silver Pigeon 12 gauge - didn't fit and just plain hurt to shoot.
Colt HBAR 24" - Best group I ever got out this beast was around 2". Sold it to a friend who had the same problem (I warned him about it) and he has since sold it off.
After reading all of the others, I know I've left a few off. But those are the one's that stick in my mind.

That one would have been a good candidate for a barrel chambered to 257 Weatherby.

Savage 99 358 win, great gun but I never fell in love with it like I thought I would so I moved on and it went down the road.

MM

Another SS Ruger Mini 14, purchased about 1979. Had it drilled and tapped, and mounted a Leupold 2-7x, the worst scope I ever had.
I could throw rocks with better accuracy.
Finally traded it straight across a few years later on a Ruger 77 in .243, and since made a half dozen of the best shots I may ever make.
So, good trade.

Original LNIB Browning T-Bolt.

Too much plastic!

CZ 527 Varmint. Great rifle - just didn't do it for me ergonomically.

-Mini-14 with an aftermarket medium barrel
-CZ 527 carbine
One wouldn't shoot and the other didn't fit me. I like my Handi-Rifle so I'm 1 for 3 on .223s so far.

Ruger 1B in 223-red pad. Beautiful stock and I really like the design. Over a thousand rounds with a dozen bullets and powder, free-floated forend, upward pressure, o-ring, etc. Never could get it to group consistently.
I will probably try another one some time as I hear others have better luck-must have just gotten a bad one.

I've had two different Savage 110s, a 22-250 and a 270 Win, and although they shot well enough, I just didn't like the looks of them and couldn't get used to the safety or the bolt release. To me the safety should have been where the bolt release was!! I know, it's a bit petty but I just didn't like them.

Another Winchester Model 70, bought it for my wife in 74? a 243 XTR. She used it for several years and took many deer with it. After many years and my knowledge and reloading came about I wanted to see what it would do. Found it would not do better than 2 1/2" at 100 yards, and not often that good. Tried everything, bedding, new scope, new rings, different stock, reloads from light to heavy bullet different seating, different powders, you name it I tried it. Only rifle I have ever owned that I could not improve or at least find "one" load it shot under 2". Going to try a new barrel next..

A nula .25-06, after reading all the hype on this forum i had to have one. Didn't like how i couldnt eject a loaded round, as the receiver port is to small. Then that clunky azz safety felt like i could snap it off any time i used it. I actually like my kimber .308 and .243 much better then i did my nula.

Any Remington 600/660 or Mohawk 600. I can hardly walk past one without buying it. I cannot tell you have many I have owned but I handle it, shoot them for a bit and the love is gone. No particular reason I can put a finger on, sort of like a one night affair.
Tikka's T-3's are the same way with me,I have owned quite a few but they do not stay long.

drover

I had one of those, and it shot good until the throat started to go. When it got to 1.5 MOA, a friend said he'd like it, and as far as I know, he still has it. He just doesn't shoot it much, a couple times to confirm zero and if he's lucky, a couple times during the season.

I also had a .308 Remington 700 BDL, a beautiful rifle, but wouldn't do better than 2.5", no matter what. I traded it for a .308 Savage 14 American Classic, which I traded in on a .308 Ruger All-Weather. I still have that one.

the last couple Rem 700's I came across were terrible... poor workmanship, never could get them to consistently shoot anything.

243, 223 22-250 sps stainless, trying to get a decent calling rifle, no dice with any of them.

tried aftermarket stocks, bedding, aftermarket triggers, checked the crown etc. was all money down the rat hole.

moved on to tikka and savage...

Every Savage I've owned just never lasted long with me. I think I've had two or three 17HMRs and about the same .22LRs. I've had a .223, .300WSM and one of those solid bottom, left port, right hand actions I put a .243 barrel on. I could get them to shoot usually, nothing spectacular, but acceptable. I just don't have any love for them. Hopefully I've learned my lesson with them.

Bob

mathman: I made it into a 7 Rem Mag.....MUCH better!

I'd be curious to know what vintage the 700's were. I have a first year 300RUM that's heavy as hell at 14lbs but I love the thing, shoots great. Also have a rem model six that's a tac driver but hurts way worse than the RUM. Still playing with the mini 14. Can't say I've had a bad rifle.....yet.

BobinNH,

My .300 WM in a Brown Precision stock weighs 8.75 "ready to hunt" but unloaded. I like it just fine. Very accurate, very shootable. I will trust you that I would like it a lot less if I figured out how to take a pound out of it.

I will build a light .270

I rode the Mini-14 bus. Expectations were the ONLY thing it could consistently hit.


DMc

ss model 7 in .260,kimber classic in .708,cabelas 700 mountain in .708 all gone now.

1 Rifle, 1 scope....

Century Arms Centurion M98 30-06. Bought this when I was 19, by the time I got it to where I liked it it was 20 years, and literally every part replaced but the receiver and barrel.

Weaver Super Slam 2-10x50...not really the scopes fault. Optically it was excellent, tracked perfectly...just couldn't like that 50mm objective, looked like that damn Hubble. Replaced it with a 6x36(not as good optically, but no slouch and looks much better on the rifle), but I wouldn't be at all opposed to giving the 2-10x42 a try.