Best and worst surprises

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makarovnik

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What is the best and worst surprises you've experienced with handguns? My worst surprise is a tie between a Thompson WWII .45 that constantly jammed and hit about 10" left and 12" low at 25' and a Taurus 85 that won't keep 'em on an 11 x 17" sheet at 25'. My best surprise was a Jennings T-380 that hit to POA at 35'+ and small groups (about 3-4") and had never jammed or broke in over 300 rounds. I still have the Jennings.
 
Worst: Practicing in preparation for a bullseye match the following weekend. Light load on round 1 followed by a failure to feed. I cleared the failure without checking the Barrel. KABOOM! Squib on round one was stuck in the barrel and the next round pushed it out and bulged the barrel. 1 week adn only 4 working days before a big match.

Best: Got the above gun fixed in time for the match. Zeroed it in on Saturday and went to bullseye match on Sunday. One slowfire target (.45 acp at 50 yards)... first shot a 9... called it right where it hit. Didn't scope the rest. Got a 99-3x. Just one X less than my personal best at that distance.
 
Best and Worst

In the late 1970s I bought a S&W 27-2 6" nickel. It was incredibly accurate.
It would key hole rounds at 25 yards double action with a two-handed hold.
That was the best. It was also the worst because it shot 15 inches low.
Then the internal strut (rod) that the hammer rotated on sheared off. The metal on the strut was porous and looked like pot metal. I sent it back to S&W under warranty. They repaired the gun by replacing the internal press fitted plate that had the strut on it, bent the barrel up (yes I could tell) and renickeled the gun. It never grouped the same. Not bad, it just wasn't the same. That was the worst.


I had a rash of bad Smiths at that time. A K38 with a bent frame, S&W replaced the frame. A 41 with a warped 7 3/8 barrel and a trigger that went out twice in 250 rounds. It grouped really well, but a foot to the left at 25 yards. S&W repaired under warranty by repairing the trigger and bending the barrel straight.

S&W was really good about the warranty, but those were the last S&Ws I ever bought.

I ended up selling all of these shortly after they were repaired.
 
1. Best: A Titanium Taurus 85 that put all loads, regardless of bullet weight, into the center of the target as fast as I could pull the trigger. Cost 50% less than the comparable S&W.

2. Worst: A NIB Taurus 94 that needed warranty work right out of the box, and had never had tight lock-up after it was returned.
 
The best surprise was several years ago. I noticed and ad in a local paper from a sporting goods store. Several used guns on consignment. Models and prices listed etc... "9 mm Hi-Power $300". At the time I knew nothing about HPs except they were a classic, and I wanted one. The place was about 50 miles away so I called them to see if it was still available. I asked him about condition before I drove out. He stated It was in good shape, real dirty but everything worked and the barrel had good rifling. Dirty was an understatement! This was the filthiest gun I had ever handled, but otherwise seemed to be in good shape. It didn't seem to have any markings on it except for the ser#. So we chatted a bit, I bought, and went home with a new toy. After a good cleaning, Tons of crud came off revealing several proof marks. The most notable was was the small eagle over the swastika above the trigger. It's not a particularly rare or valuable specimen, but it was an exciting discovery.

The worst surprise came right after I bought a surplus M1 Garand about 15 years ago. I was surprised to learn that the action spring is strong enough that the whole 9 pound rifle will hang on to your thumb as you leap out of a chair shouting vulgarities for the whole block to hear.
 
Bryco, first gun I bought. :(

I had serious issues with a Taurus 38 snubby but I can't fault the gun. After putting a couple hundred rounds through it I kept getting better but I never did do well with it. Went with autos and never had a problem with shooting.
Sold the Taurus later.

Other than the zinc gun, which my cat too care of, I've been happy with everything I've bought.
 
My best surprise was the day I bought a HI-POINT 9mm. I thought it would be junk, and everyone told me that I was tossing $135 down the drain. I took it home and put 200 rounds through it that night and it never jammed or miss fired once! Since then I have put 800 rounds through it and still no jam!

My worst is the day I bought a EAA Witness .45. I couldn't put 2 rounds through it without a jam. I have had the gun several times in the shop but the gun still is not right! (what a waste of $390)
 
The worst wasn't mine but belonged to some
one who thought it might need repairs.It was
a RG and when we removed it from a soggy
nylon holster 3-4 bugs ran out on the counter.
We told the guy we couldn't help but a can of
raid would be helpful.

The best would be any of the Smith and wesson
revolvers i own,if i had to pick one it would be
the 3" 65-3.
 
Worst is a Para-Ordnance has a tight barrel bushing - or the slide is a little too small in that area. Haven't figured out which. I end up wrestling it a bit. I consider myself luck that it was my worst gun experience.
Best? I've rarely found suprise deals. Since my personal taste (what looks and feels good) in guns happens to match those that functioned well and are accurate (sometimes very much so) I guess that is a surprise by itself.
 
Worst was when I bought a Ruger P89 9mm. I experienced light to no primer hits about 5 times in a 15rnd magazine. Put about 200rnds through the thing trying to figure out what the heck was up with it. Turns out the store's gunsmith had monkied around with the firing pin, drop safety, etc. So it's operation was sporadic at best. On the plus side Ruger fixed it all up for nothing more than shipping, which I got reimbursed from the store, along with a free holster and 3 15rnd mags for the "mix up".
 
Just checked out the insides and the fit & finish of a FEG PKJ-9HP. Beyond the terrible lettering, it looks pretty good. If is shoots as well, it should be on the best side of the list.
 
Best for me has been a Beretta 92 that I got a good deal on. Both my teeth and the locking block are still intact despite all the negative things I'd heard before going ahead with the purchase.

Worst was a SIG 229. Purchased it new. It failed to extract often and occasionally failed to lock back on an empty mag. Gave it 500 rounds, sold it with disclosure, and moved on.
 
The worst was realizing that the failure-to-fire I was experiencing with my 1943 Standard Products M1 Carbine was due to the fact that my bolt had just broken into three pieces.

The second worst surprise ended up being my best surprise. I purchased what I thought was a magnum-capable Remington 870 Express, only to get it home, remove the side-saddle, and discover it was actually a Wingmaster with a "V" serial number, not recommended for use with magnum shells. It turned out to be 100% reliable and the action is slicker than greased banana peels. I'll take that even if I have to stick with 2 3/4" shells.
 
"The worst surprise came right after I bought a surplus M1 Garand about 15 years ago. I was surprised to learn that the action spring is strong enough that the whole 9 pound rifle will hang on to your thumb as you leap out of a chair shouting vulgarities for the whole block to hear."

That is a good one!!!:D You got to watch those rat traps! I think there is a phrase for this, something like "M1 thumb" because it happens to a lot of shooters. I never happened to me but I was carefull and I knew ahead of time about this issue.

For me the best was a Star BM that I got for $129 + shipping and FFL from AIM. It is the most accurate 9mm I have ever shot and ties a $1500 semi-custom Colt 1911 as the most accurate semi-auto I have ever owned. For being a short bbl fixed sight service pistol, it shoots like a match gun.

Worst was probably my Kel-Tec P-32. For nearly $300 I wasn't expecting it to be as poorly made as it was. If I wanted a Jennings, I could have bought one for $50 and saved my self $250. Jams, return to factory, jams, return to factory, breaks, return to factory, jams, return to factory, break, got rid of it it for a huge loss. It would have been easier to just pull a couple of C-notes of my wallet and mail them to Kel-Tec and avoid the whole mess.
 
Best suprise is between : 1) A Kimber TLE with internal extractor that I picked up for $500 out the door, used, a couple months after they made their debut. Fully expecting to have to "modify" it to work, especially given the price, it was FLAWLESS, and has been, since that day. Or, 2) A LNIB Colt delta elite in a magnificent blue, for $450, and getting it at an even better deal, in my opinion, for $75 + Glock 26.

Worst suprise was a Colt Defender that would fail to eject about 1 out of 50 rounds no matter how much tension, springs, ammo, or even extractors were swapped for a new one.
 
I'll comment on a worst surprise.I once was shooting a model 629 .44mag with reloads I bought at a gunshow.The third shot went off but something did'nt feel right,it just did'nt seem to recoil the way it should.I cocked the hammer back to fire it single action,thinking maybe it was just me and that there seemed to be at least enough recoil but then decided I better check it out and decocked it.
Well there was in fact the bullet still lodged in the barrel,if I would have fired it there would have been a KA-BOOM!,which would have ruined the gun and may have injured me.
So let my story be a warning,never take a chance if your gut tells you something is'nt right........specially if you buy reloads from someone you dont know to well.
 
lol!...actually I just remembered a best or ugh...funny experience.
A friend and I had been shooting at a place in the middle of nowhere,a place that had range for up to 150yds with a backdrop ,it was a favorite place.
Anyway we were driving down the dirt road to leave,about a mile or so we saw a car blocking the road didnt see anybody around it,we thought ***?Then the car started bouncing a little,we said ok?Then we saw ugh,the backside of someone raise above through the windshield,then down again.OK,we are laughing now,but after 10 minutes waiting I honked the horn,the guy raises his hand to signal "just one more minute"...car bounces a little more...a quick cigarette later we finally got to the main road....lol!
 
Best: day I took out my H&R Sportsmen 999 revolver and realized that I had found the perfect .22 revolver for me.

Worst: Tied for the day that I took out my H&R Sportsmen 99 revolver and lost the rear sight, and for the day I took it out and the damn cylinder fell out when I broke it open.


Really worse: The day in the USMC when my buddy failed to check if he had a loaded mag in his M9, loaded a round unknowingly and then sent that round straight through me. I learned that the 9mm has good penetration, so it wasn't all bad, I guess.
 
Glad to know I am not the only one to bulge a 1911 barrel, my fault entirely. I was bowling pin shooting and in the excitement did not realize a shot was "softer than usual". The next shot had heavy recoil and I could not get the slide to go forward. I cleared the pistol and had my friends look at it. We noticed a pronounced change in the barrel. On the good side, a spare barrel and bushing was available and I was back on line shooting in 15 minutes and have learned to pay attention to the sights and the boom.

Peyton
 
Really worse: The day in the USMC when my buddy failed to check if he had a loaded mag in his M9, loaded a round unknowingly and then sent that round straight through me. I learned that the 9mm has good penetration, so it wasn't all bad, I guess.
Click to expand...

So far I would have to say you win the worst surprise category... My condolences on that feat :uhoh:

ETA: And you still refer to that guy as your buddy? :what: :D
 
Best surprise: FEG's PJK9HP Hi-power clone.

Worst: Hammer follow down on custom DA 1911. Good thing it was pointed downrange. Went to load it and BANG.
 
Best:Rossi mod. 461..$150 very accurate for a 2" gun
Worst:Dan Wesson mod. 15..had high hopes..got the multi barrel pack..this gun SUCKED
 
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