What is the LEAST fun gun you ever fired, one that hurt you

Without a doubt the worst gun for me has to be a surplus 8 mm Model 98 Mauser carbine.

A friend bought it for about $30 from a barrel of surplus rifles at Woolco back in the early 70's. It was sporterized for weight reduction which was the last thing this cannon needed. We test fired it with a box of surplus ammo and it was so horrible nobody wanted to fire more than two shots before they handed it back. It had a terrible trigger, the muzzle blast felt like a mild concussion and the the blow to the shoulder from the recoil was fierce.

I don't know how any German soldier could shoot that thing in battle for very long without getting punchy and I suspect it may have been one of the reasons they lost the war.

My buddy says he still owns it and has never fired it again since that day.

Worst recoil I ever experienced was a .50 cal Lyman Trade Rifle with a stout charge of black powder, launching the ramrod I neglected to pull from the barrel. Found it about 50 yards downrange.

The least enjoyable gun I recall firing is the LCR that I have in .38 Special. I don't know what it is about that gun but it's practically PAINFUL to shoot. And I like magnum handguns, I think that a full-power .357 is just right in terms of recoil and overall enjoyable feel. There's something about that LCR that just does not work for me. And accuracy wise it literally will barely stay on an 8"x10" sheet of paper at 10 yards. Possibly the worst choice I've ever made in a gun purchase.

1945 Liberator pistol.
Followed closely by the AMT Backup.
Not that my XP-100 was much fun in .308

tark said:

For me it was an 18# Thomas Bland 4 bore. Wasn't holding it correctly. Broke my collarbone. Charge was 385 grains of 1F and a 2000 gr. conical bullet. 240 ft. lbs. of recoil. A .458 in a nine pound rifle ha 70.

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Actually that load would put you up around 300 ft/lbs of recoil. My normal 4 bore load is 450 grains of powder with a 1700 grain ball. I shoot that frequently and have never had any trouble with it.

NEF Tracker II. Single-shot 18” barrel 12 gauge slug gun. That sucker hurt!
Still, I wish I’d put a good buttstock pad on it and kept it.

A Winchester hunting rifle in 458 WinMag.

One round, my shoulder had a bruise for a week.

Nope.

DG

It didn't really hurt but got a nice scar from a PPK

Mossberg 835 turkey gun. 3.5” MagBlends partially separated my shoulder!

Have a friend that was complaining about how much a 50 BMG kicked. Asked if I had ever shot one. I said yes, but I didn't remember it kicking at all. It was some time later that I told him all of the 50s that I shot were attached to the top of an M60 tank.

My .54 TC Renegade shooting 120gr BP under a 407gr Maxiball off a bench. Offhand was the only way I could shoot that thing. That way it was like shooting a shotgun. The Renegade would black/blue my right cheek after only 3-4 shots.

Hundreds of rounds (not sure how many) in rapid succession from an M-2HB on a tripod. It got so hot the oil on the barrel was flaming. The concussion from it made my whole upper body and head feel like I’d been in a car accident and bounced off the steering wheel

Another vote for the Mosin Nagant 91/30 with the metal butt plate. A box of rounds through a .303 SMLE mk III wearing a t-shirt hurts too.

Guess I am the only dummy to fire a Red Rider with the lever open?

shooting a pistol grip 12g like a pistol was also not the brightest idea.

Six gauge flintlock shotgun with three ounces of shot shooting station one low house at skeet.

I don't usually buy any firearm that I have not researched to death, so don't usually come home with a gun that I do not like.
My wife is a different story. When told her that I wanted to buy her a handgun for protection, she quickly agreed. She picked out a S&W Bodyguard .38. I tried to tell her that it would not be a fun gun to shoot, but she wanted it so I paid for it.
Even with light .38 loads, that gun just sucked! it was accurate enough, but the small grip and light weight just made it feel like you were gettin smacked in the palm with a ball peen hammer every time the trigger was pulled.

I have other S&W revolvers that I really love, but the Bodyguard .38 almost turned me off of Smith & Wessons. Just a nasty little gun!

tarosean said:

Guess I am the only dummy to fire a Red Rider with the lever open?

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No, you are not, and thank you for bringing that memory back to me!

1961 M1 Garand with grenade adapter and grenade on the end of that thing. Used a large blank and that thing hurt and dang near knocked a ~135 pound kid on his butt.

James Robinson said:

Hundreds of rounds (not sure how many) in rapid succession from an M-2HB on a tripod. It got so hot the oil on the barrel was flaming. The concussion from it made my whole upper body and head feel like I’d been in a car accident and bounced off the steering wheel

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Had a similar experience but it was with M16s. That was back in the days of full auto not 3 round burst. Cooked the oil out of the barrel. Thick smoke poured out of the rifle until it caught on fire. Threw that rifle down, grabbed another one and kept shooting. Never really cared for the M16, but after they cooled down each one of them still worked perfectly. Had a little more respect for them after that day.

With no surprise, I am with many prior posts. My least fun rifle is a two way tie.
1) Ruger No. 1 in 450/400 Nitro Express, 3 inch; aka .400 Jeffery Nitro Express.
2) 1903 Springfield action restocked and rebarreled to .458 Winchester Magnum.
The Ruger is designed to be a lighter type rifle, but the Springfield is - to my mind - about three pounds too light. My least favorite to shoot is which ever I shot last.
Handguns, I find .44 Magnum in full, umpah-whoopee loading to be quite rambunctious. I have a S&W 29 (old pinned barrel type) and a Ruger - flat top - Blackhawk. Neither are much fun and I fail to see the need that much handgun anymore. But I keep them for sentimental reasons. .357 Magnum is much better in a Ruger Blackhawk or a S&W 27, but is uncomfortable in a K frame.
When I was younger, the handguns were easier to shoot. I didn't have the heavy rifles until I was older.

My Browning A-Bolt .338 Win Mag was certainly a thumper. On both ends.

Same for my Guide Gun .45/70 with stout loads.

Stay safe.

.375 H&H Magnum rifle,,,
3 rounds from a bench.

Never Again!

Aarond

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.300 winmag M70 stainless classic. Straight up painful and not fun at all
I'd rather shoot 20 out of my .375 H&H than 5 from that .300winmag

H&H 475 Nitro Express Double. In my teens I was 160 soaking wet & I worked for a man in the summer on the boardwalk. He had hunted in Africa in the '50s & 60's. When preparing for one of his hunts in Alaska with other rifles, he took me to the range with him and let me try that one. Two rounds cured my interest!