Whats your worst condition gun?

silicosys4 said:

Lets see your ugliest, most beat down, rashed out, roached up rust bucket you own

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........ I have one that meets and exceeds that criteria. .... This picture has been on THR a couple years or so ago when I still wasn't sure what it was. Tapped into the wealth of knowledge here and discovered it's a Llama. It went through the kiln of the chemical waste incinerator I worked at in the mid-1990's during one of the occasional gun burns we did several times a year for various police agencies. It was supposed to fall into the roll-off box with the rest of the stuff after going through the kiln but it bounced out when the box became full. Found it on the floor after the full box got hauled away. Intended to toss it in when the box returned but it wound up forgotten in my locker until I transferred to a coal fired power plant. Took it home when I cleaned out my locker. It's just scrap metal now but it was once a gun buyback piece.

I am taking the liberty of creating a sub-category : Worst Condition Gun That Performs Well. Here is a S&W m.15 I bought when looking for a beater to use as a guinea pig - for learning to disassemble and (hopefully) reassemble. $193 via Gunbroker. MAN - what a sweet shooter! I wound up investing in action refinement and installation of a target trigger , doing nothing to improve the cosmetics. I call it my "sleeper".

Ain't she a beaut?

I have a VZ-24 in 8x57mm Mauser that need a stock and the metal refinished. There is no blue on the metal. The trigger isn’t horrible but needs replaced if it’s going to be a real rifle again. I might have to transformed into a 284 Winchester. The bright spots are no cracks in the metal and all the parts are here.

Picked up a 41 cal philly derringer clone at a gun show about a year ago, the hammer would not fully seat on the nipple. Couple of messed up screws etc. I offered the guy 60 for it and he took it. Been sitting around here so I started with some wood chisels and new screws and now have it firing caps reliably. Still need to do some more shaping but it’s coming along.

that’s the worst one I have.

Edited to add photos

I've got a bag of parts that was poorly refinished previously but will one day be put together as an Ingles 2nd contract hipower.

I've got some pretty impressive dust bunny action going on my EDC.

Just before wiping down:

Right now? My Mosin Nagant M44.
It has a dull speck in the bore. That's it.

Before now, I had a Carcano that someone sporterized. The work and stock rather nicely, but they blocked off the magazine well with an aluminum plate painted black, turning it into a single shot... which doesn't work that great for something that doesn't push-feed. And it was brown. Not polished and then rusted. No pitting, but also not blued. Just... brown.

My first carry gun was a S&W 469. Second-gen auto, compact 9mm. Apparently someone bought it new, it was a bedside gun and then a daily carry and he did his practice with it, and it showed.
Not abused, but everything was browned, it had fingerprints embedded onto it, the springs were worn, and while it never once failed (someone here said "you could shoot rocks out of it if they'd fit in the magazine," and that's absolutely true), between the wear and the grip just not fitting me, I'd be happy to consistently hit the broad side of a barn if I was standing in the stalls.

Dad had an old double-barrel shotgun that was made between 1931-41, he bought in the 70s, and it never got anything more protective than a wipe of oil. Then my parents separated, it stayed in an un-climate-controlled storage unit for years, and looked like it was made of driftwood and brickwork. I caught him getting ready to throw it out and, thanks to a couple week's work and parts from a couple great guys here, got it to showroom, magazine-ad condition. It now hangs in the end of his walk-in closet.
But that's not worst-condition anymore, I just like bragging how I got a fun project, he got his faithful favorite gun back, and I got to enjoy the biggest look of pride I've ever gotten out of him.

Me, I like using stuff that looks like it spent years in a toolbox, the mechanic retired and it went in his tacklebox, it fell off the side, and got dredged up in the old boot cartoon fishermen always catch. As long as it works.

RetiredUSNChief said:

I've got some pretty impressive dust bunny action going on my EDC.

Just before wiping down:

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Aw c'mon!
That's not bad condition. That's just a Wednesday.

I mean, hell.... It still has both sights!

Todd.

bassjam said:

I have a very old Marlin 1892. Dad said his sister's ex-husband was selling it before I was born and Dad thought it'd make a nice companion to his 39 Mountie so he picked it up, cleaned it, and put in in the back of his closet. A couple decades later when I was in my mid teens and starting to get into guns I insisted we shoot it, and we couldn't hit the broadside of a barn. We went to my mom's uncle who was an avid shooter and knew far more about guns than either of us, and discovered it tumbled bullets. IIRC it had about an 10" pattern at 25 yards. Around 15 years ago Dad gave his 4 guns away to my brother and I, and I ended up with the 1892 while my brother got the 39 Mountie. While the outside of the gun is in OK condition with some minor surface rust and an old looking patina and a missing buttplate, and the mechanics function perfectly fine, the bore is pitted with maybe 60% of the rifling remaining. I keep debating hanging it on the wall in my home office, but the only location there's room is right in the line of site during video conferences and I'm not sure it's worth the risk since I work for a large corporation.


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That's a nice old gun, perhaps would be a good candidate to have a barrel liner put in.

Speedo66 said:

That's a nice old gun, perhaps would be a good candidate to have a barrel liner put in.

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I've considered it, I just always become indecisive if it's better to just leave an old gun stock, or make it more useful but no longer original.

A couple years ago I picked up an early 80's era Marlin 39a too, which makes me lean towards just leaving the old Marlin alone.

Worst contrition mechanically is probably is a toss up between these two Iver Johnsons.

Waveski said:

I am taking the liberty of creating a sub-category : Worst Condition Gun That Performs Well. Here is a S&W m.15 I bought when looking for a beater to use as a guinea pig - for learning to disassemble and (hopefully) reassemble. $193 via Gunbroker. MAN - what a sweet shooter! I wound up investing in action refinement and installation of a target trigger , doing nothing to improve the cosmetics. I call it my "sleeper".

Ain't she a beaut?
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How about this 1908 manufactured 97 Winchester that I left "pretty" but had reworked to be safe to shoot. I took a pheasant in 2008 with it.

Oh I forgot about the shotgun. I have an old single shot bubba gun, barrel at 18.5 overall is well over spec, full size stock. Carbon fiber Vinyl wrap on the forearm, and the ejector didn’t work. Was also pretty beat up and a little worn in the bluing. Actually mostly non existent. Steamed the wood but it needs stripped and refinished. Got all the rust off it. Never gonna be showroom. I’ll try to get a pic. I did pick up some converters for it so I can shoot 20, 410, 45 colt or 22 out of it.

Stoeger coach 20 gauge - even so, only the stock is slightly faded on the left side.

Hokkmike said:

Stoeger coach 20 gauge - even so, only the stock is slightly faded on the left side.

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I had one of those that became something of a *truck-gun* once I patterned a couple loads.

The great things about it was that the more worn and beat it got from banging around in back-packs, quads, boats and the like, the cooler it looked.

Eventually, due to some wood repairs, embellishments and bodges, it looked like a stand-up trading post gun from the day.

Now, it keeps a family member sleeping sound in NY state.

Todd.

I suppose the absolute worst condition gun I have is a non functioning Iver Johnson .38 S&W revolver (I assume its 38. it doesn't say anywhere on it what it is)

It rattles when you shake it, the "nickle" is chipped and pealed off, the front sight is filed off, has a dead trigger, hammer locked up,
cylinder is worn out, and either tack welded or soldered into place, has been sleeved in the chambers for what I assume was .22 short.
Surprisingly, the open latch still works like a charm!!

My worst shape firearm is an H&R 20g that was just about to be thrown in the metal dumpster as I was pulling in to the shop via the alley where the dumpster was. The son of the owner of the company I worked for at the time had just exited his vehicle with the shotgun and was headed towards the dumpster. As I got out of my vehicle he looked over and saw I was eyeing the situation, he then asked if I wanted a shotgun. “Absolutely, I do” I answered.
The story is it was left in a yard shed for at least nine years. The previous owner of the home had left it behind and no longer lived in the area. It was really rusty, but oil, steel wool, and lead shot took care of all but the worst of it.

Probably my Mauser Broomhandle. There's some surface pitting, and the bore looks like a sewer pipe. It's in shootable condition, but it needs a couple new springs (the hammer sometimes locks up). Since it's not in collectable condition, I plan on having it restored one day. My next bad condition gun is a S&W New Model Number 3 in .44 Russian. It's also in shootable condition but has been completely (badly) refinished. Bore also sucks. I plan on restoring this one too, eventually.

I inherited a o/u from my dad. His basement flooded so he had to move all firearms upstairs. While stacked in the corner on of my parents cats decided to "claim them". The lever is frozen in place and there are pits on the trigger and receiver. I've cleaned the outside of it. Having trouble getting the lever to free up so that I can actually open the action.

silicosys4 said:

Just for fun, and because I like guns that look like they have a story behind them,

What is your worst condition gun?

Here is mine. It's an Army Special in .38.
I have no idea the history, I bought it as a non functioning parts gun on an online auction because the original hard rubber grips were pristine. I was going to use the hard rubber grips on another gun, then strip it for the internals for use as a parts gun, but it turns out the only thing wrong with it was a $5 part and I ended up just fixing it. The wood grips on it in the picture are aftermarket and were just to check fitment, it still wears the original grips.

There is a little pin that connects the cylinder release to the cylinder bolt that had sheared off, so the cylinder wouldn't open without a hard smack...and whoever had the gun before me had smacked it open and closed so many times there was peening at the entrance to each chamber so rounds wouldn't chamber. After a $5 part and a little bit of dremel work, it chambers rounds and fires just fine.

Its mechanically smooth and tight, and though I've never seen a functioning gun in worse condition...literally no finish left and every surface looks like the surface of the moon, the bore ain't bad and it is decently accurate.

Lets see your ugliest, most beat down, rashed out, roached up rust bucket you own

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Kinda the Ratrod of handguns?
I like it just the way it is.

I had a barreled action (beat up tomato stake) that was really rough, never seen a rear tangent sight torn off like this one, the muzzle was smashed.
Rifling was well defined but dark.
So I wanted to see if I could get it to shoot.
About $230 and 5.5 inches shorter, it shoots ok.
Still has that sticky bolt thing.
It shoots way better than it looks.
Im no target shooter but at 210 paces it can hit a red heet gas additive bottle easily.
Most accurate mosin Ive ever shot.

Steyr straight pull. It was tossed in on another deal literally as "Here, take this too!"

It looks like it was a battle field relic, that someone then decided to sporterize. No original finish, stock has suffered all manner of abuse but remains solid. The bore is actually pretty good. Good enough I even cobbled together some simple handloads for the 8x50r chambering and gave it a spin. Offhand, at fifty yards you could cover the group with a playing card. So the sad, neglected little thing hovers in a corner to someday be cleaned up to at least be halfway presentable and I'll call it my truck gun. It has potential.

Taurus 94 snub. It's my carry around the kingdom gun. It got some rust on the cylinder and frame about 7 years or so ago so I just cleaned off the crusty rust with some steel wool, applied some rustoleum rust restorer paint and topped it with some black auto touch up and it's good to go. It's a good shooter but not a good looker. My EDC S&W 642 is scratched and the clear coat is coming off in places but that too is a good shooter not a looker. My other firearms are in much better shape cosmetically but I don't use them daily like the other two mentioned.

There's a M1841 that needs a carriage. Doesn't do much just sitting on the ground.