Your Favorite Inefficient and Obsolete Guns

MAS 49/56. I’m sure an AR10 is better in every way but it will never be as cool or have the same good/bad (not sure which one) looks as my MAS 49/56.

Dan

1911s.
I kid, I kid! Aside from the engineer in me screaming that a feed ramp integrated to the barrel (or at least a straight feed angle) is a modern necessity and external extractors are so much more effective, a good 1911 is a lovely thing.
I know you can get those, but then it doesn't say 'workhorse' like a plain parkerized USGI m1911a1.

I still like double-barrels. I don't even hunt. They just feel right.
Old bolt actions. Old ones. Clunky, clacky Mosins feel like they'll just never stop working, and the weaker, more complicated straight-pull styles are just satisfying.
En-bloc clips. Yeah, a box magazine is objectively better. You can toss one out when it stops working right, and feed issues caused by sand are fixed as easily as pushing a button and shoving a new one in. But there's something simple, elegant, impressively out-of-the-box-magazine of shoving a clip into a Garand or Carcano.
Not that I've ever handled a Carcano that actually works right (see: Most Italian Engineering), but I like the ideas.

M1 Garand.

Too heavy, too powerful, limited magazine capacity, vulnerable to op-rod damage with hunting loads, relies on flimsy steel clips to run right, and it will try to take your thumb off if you're not careful.

Also more fun than just about anything else you can do with clothes on.

Remington XP-100 .221 Fireball. Contender now has many other calibers,muzzle brakes etc.But my .221 can still take out groundhogs at 150 yards when I do my part.

Springfield trap door, Krag, P-17, '03, 03A3, garand, 30 carbine, 98 Mauser- pretty much my entire milsurp collection. But they are cool.

My cap and ball revolvers.
They're just fun guns.

1911

My Dan Wesson Valor is flawless, but pretty much obsolete. Still I do carry it sometimes.

My Henry 357 lever action. With all the different chamberings that ARs can be had in now with better riffle ballistics than a 357, it's totally obsolete. I still like it better though.

Al-jim19 said:

double barrel shotguns for hunting. I can’t really think of a time when these can’t beat by a pump or semi

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There are many avid bird hunters that disagree.

From the shooter's end?
Or from the projectiles's end?
Or for a given situation(CCW, hunting, HD, targets, LEO duty, military combat?)

My Miruko reproduction of the Winchester 1885 low wall in .22lr. The falling block action is about as obsolete as you can get but with a tang sight it so much fun to shoot. My Marlin 39A lever gun that I shoot in metallic silhouette, again an obsolete action but you gotta love the nostalgic feeling of working that lever.

My single action revolvers would probably meet the definition of inefficient and obsolete yet they're my favorites each and every one of them. Same with a Marlin single shot shotgun that I have, a Traditions Hawken style black powder rifle that I put together, and the Model 1898 Springfield (Krag-Jorgensen), that I refinished; they're all really outdated and somewhat cumbersome to use but still fun guns to have around!

Many consider this low capacity, short barrel, SP101 to be obsolete.
But I still carry it sometimes.
Today, in fact.

I don't own one but I like the Ljungman M42. I've fired an Egyptian Hakim and it was a nice rifle. I can only imagine a Ljungman being even better.

I enjoy my muzzle loader rifles, the trapdoor carbine, the Sharps and my cap and ball revolvers but my most "obsolete" fun gun is my 62 cal flintlock smooth bore fowling piece.
It's so obsolete that I got a Spring turkey and a deer with it a few years back.

.22 lrs, plenty of better calibers with more reliable ignition primers, but these guns just make me smile and help me to shoot way more than I would otherwise. Not to mention a necessity post surgery.

I too find myself enjoying my cap & ball revolvers, single action revolvers, and 357 mag lever action.
I also enjoy shooting my Nagant Revolver and it was just a couple years ago that I got the right ammo for it.
https://www.sgammo.com/catalog/pistol-ammo-sale/762x38r-ammo

I'm a big fan of the 16-gauge.
My first gun was an old Winchester Steelbilt 16 and I love the gauge for nostalgic reasons.
Ammo availability is sketchy at best, it won't do a thing that the 20 gauge won't, and they kick like mules because most are on 20 gauge frames.
But I'll still buy more of them I imagine.

.32 S&W Long. I have three of them, because I'm silly. Oh, and .38 S&W. Only two of those, but if I see another, I'll probably buy it. I reload for both chamberings. Did I mention I'm silly?

Al-jim19 said:

Sometimes you just like something without good reason. Often guns fit that mold. What are your favorite guns that you know are obsolete, inefficient, or objectively-not-the-best for the job you use it for?

For me there are a couple:

Single or double barrel shotguns for hunting. I can’t really think of a time when these can’t beat by a pump or semi, but they’re just charming to me. The wood and steel elicit a nostalgia that the plastic of a modern scattergun just can’t compete with.

Another is the large framed .38 revolver, like a model 10. Heavy, low capacity, and underpowered for their size, they’re objectively beaten in every category by even compact autos or similarly sized magnum revolvers. However, the wear on the finish of an old, blued .38 is something special. When compared to a lot of other pistols it’s pretty obvious there are better guns you could carry, but on a Sunday I like the idea of a model 10 in a well-worn leather holster.

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Love my five shot with lightened alloy frame and Ti cylinder. Very advanced design with MIM parts and "two piece" hammer. Like new with box, papers, trigger lock for same as sale price of Sig 365. Is not life beautiful?

Al-jim19 said:

Another is the large framed .38 revolver, like a model 10. Heavy, low capacity, and underpowered for their size, they’re objectively beaten in every category by even compact autos or similarly sized magnum revolvers. However, the wear on the finish of an old, blued .38 is something special. When compared to a lot of other pistols it’s pretty obvious there are better guns you could carry, but on a Sunday I like the idea of a model 10 in a well-worn leather holster.

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Here ya go OP. Actually that's a M&P pre model 10 but it fits the bill.

Savage 340 in 30-30. I do blather on about it, but it’s inexplicably pleasing and such a wonderful slice of mid-century firearms Americana.

Pedersoli Rolling Block 45-70. The most fun possible without the very real possibility of divorce. Approaching the level of indirect fire at beyond 500 yards but so much fun to dial in.

Savage 1899 in 22 sav HP. Its hanging on by the thinnest of threads.