Do you have a surprise gun?

[Turftech1]

Hi all,

I was wondering if any of you have a gun that you have been really surprised with? Maybe you got it because of a low price, or it was given to you. You weren't really excited, but you really ended up liking it a lot.

or

A gun you were totally stoked to get, and ended up being disappointed?

What surprised you, and was it a good, or a bad surprise?

I'll go.
My CZ-82.

I bought it during "ammogeddon" when you couldn't find 9x19 anywhere. A local gun store had a CZ-82 for $219, and cases upon cases of 9x18 ammo. I bought it, because I wanted something I could shoot, and wasn't sure if/when I'd ever find 9x19 again.

I flippin love that little pistol. I take others shooting, and am amazed at how many of them shoot better with the CZ-82 than with pistols that cost more than twice as much.

 

[Barry the Bear]

Mossberg Maverick 88, it ain't as smooth as my 590 or an 870 wing master but it goes bang when I pull the trigger and has been utterly reliable with all brands of ammo. Traded an old charter arms .38 for it the guy gave me 160 in cash, the shotgun, two barrels a nice hunting one with ghost ring sights and a standard 18.5 inch defense barrel, and about 57 rounds of cheap 00 buck.

 

[gspn]

I ended up with a short barreled S&W 625 .45 ACP revolver after an auction once. I bought it solely to resell it, as I had no idea what I'd do with a .45 ACP revolver. It used moon clips...and I'd never even held one.

As it turns out...it's one of my favorite pistols. It shoots great, handles great, and I don't have to chase my brass all over the range.

It has become my sons favorite pistol of the bunch too.

Go figure. I ended up learning something, and really liking the gun a lot.

 

[ontarget]

Zastava M88-A1 in 9mm. Bought it only because Cabelas had it in the showcase with the wrong price on it. They had to sell it to me for the marked price which was a sale price from the previous week. Anyway, it turns out the dang thing shoots great and seems to like any ammo. This is my carry gun while fishing the river late at night.

 

[PJSprog]

My "surprise" gun is my RIA 1911 Tactical .45. I bought it from a now-former coworker because he had it in his safe, hadn't shot it since he bought it, and wanted to "upgrade" to a Range Officer. I had been talking about kind of wanting a 1911, so he sold it to me for $400, with Pachmayr Legend grips and three magazines. I wasn't expecting much from a 1911 in that price range, based almost entirely on hearsay and internet lore. Turns out, that thing eats everything I've fed it, and hasn't experienced a failure yet. I really enjoy shooting that gun.

 

[PapaG]

A Viet Nam style Bushmaster AR. Most accurate out-of-the-box rifle I have owned. First session with a 3-9X on a handle mount, with the first load out of the manual ( 25 Varget, 55 grain Sierra soft Point) gave me, in order, at 100 yards, 1 3/4, 1 1/4, 5/8, 3/4, 3/4 inch for five shots. A year later with a better scope gave four five shot groups all 1" or better.
I have a Savage 11 in 223 that is yet to break an inch. I have a Contender carbine that nudges an inch with that load.

 

[HKGuns]

Mine is the RIA Government. Paid $325 for it and it just shoots. One of the best value 1911's on the market.

My RIA was also from a coworker who won it in a competition and had no use for a 1911 that wasn't an STI race gun. It was like new and unfired.

 

[gbran]

Just bought an S&W 627 PC, 8 round N Frame snubbie.......... because I just had to have it. I wanted it, I didn't need it. Everybody told me it was not practical and too big for CCW. I had to admit I believed them but bought anyway.

Now I'm super happy I did. I can conceal it in a very comfortable $100 pancake holster with a loose shirt. The Performance Center trigger alone was worth it.

 

[Vonderek]

Romanian TTC. First time shooting 7.62 tokarev. It's a small flat gun and I was expecting a lot of mayhem but it is a surprisingly soft-shooting gun. Besides the impressive fireball and sonic excitement it is a rather sedate shooting combo. And despite a not so great trigger it is very accurate.

 

[kozak6]

Kahr MK9.

When Kahr says match grade Lothar Walther barrel, they mean it. A DA pocket pistol with such a short sight radius really shouldn't be that accurate. Not that I mind .

 

[Newcatwalt]

The Kel-Tec P-32 I just purchased a few days ago.

 

[steveracer]

I bought my first 3rd-gen Smith and Wesson pistol (a 4506) from a friend for peanuts. Wanted to hate it immediately.
Been loving it since the first time I fired it. Maybe 15,000 rounds ago.

 

[montanaoffroader]

Taurus 738 TCP in .380, bought it to replace my KelTec PF9. I really wanted to like the PF9 and invested a lot of time and effort into it, but never could warm up to it.

The TCP was great right out of the box. Cleaned and lubed it then took it to the range, loved it immediately. Unfortunately, my daughter saw it and it was gone so fast it made my head spin, so I had to pick up another one for myself. :banghead:

Haven't had a single malfunction of any kind with either of the TCP's, and they are quite comfortable to shoot for such a small pistol.

 

[Phaedrus/69]

My Bersa BP9CC was a pleasant surprise. It ran like a sewing machine for me and was pleasant to shoot. Pretty nice gun for the price. My Kimber was the other kind of surprise. I had sipped the Kool-Aid thinking they were a top shelf gun but I was greatly disappointed.

 

[bannockburn]

My surprise gun would have to be a Browning BDA .45 (think early SIG P220). Not only was it easy to shoot in terms of recoil and overall handling it was also capable of amazing accuracy, all with a set of fixed sights (think Colt Series 70 Gold Cup).

 

[Al Thompson]

M64 S&W, 2 inch barrel, round butt. Impulse purchase, figured it would shoot like a big J frame, didn't realize it shot like a small K frame. That's my best "Holy Cow, this thing shoots great" gun purchase.

 

[guyfromohio]

Ruger P345. I had zero expectations with that horrid trigger. Well, that horrid trigger put lead right on target and was 100% reliable. Wish I didn't sell it.

 

[Devonai]

I wasn't expecting much from my IJ-70 Makarov, but one trip to the range was enough. That day I had several friends with me who rarely shoot pistols and they all did well with it too.

 

[txblackout]

savage 10 fcp w/mcmillan stock. Traded it for a kahr cm9 +6 mags + $400

First time I shot it I was shooting holes in holes. Never had done that before. I love the gun so much Im afraid to shoot it.

 

[ku4hx]

Israeli police trade-in FEG High Power. Best $200 gun money I ever spent.

 

[cyanatic]

New to this website, glad to be here.

My surprise gun was a Mosin Nagant M44. I became interested in milsurps in 2004-05. Bought the Mosin and a Swiss K-31. I expected the K-31 to be the rifle I liked better. Beautifully crafted, loved the straight pull bolt. The Mosin was rude, crude, loud, and had a heck of a kick (as anyone who has fired one knows). But for whatever reason, at 100-130 yards with iron sights, I seemed to be much more accurate with the Mosin and developed a real fondness for it (shot it with the bayonet extended). Long story, but we moved from San Diego in 2008 to the Chicago area and I ended up selling my milsurps and giving some of the ammo to buddies and the rest to the San Diego Police Department. I still regret getting rid of the M44.

 

[Bo]

I'm a huge Springfield fan. Almost everything I buy is from Springfield. So when I bought a SA XDS in 45 ACP, I expected the same performance I get with the rest of my XD's.
Boy, was I mistaken. I have tried everything possible but, I can't hit diddley-squat with it. I know it's me because I shot it from a tri-pod and it shoots fine. Free hand, I'm off every time.
Got a buddy who likes it, thinking of selling it to him and buying a SA RO in 9mm., 5" of course.

 

[C0untZer0]

I am surprised I can shoot the Kahr CM9 as accurately as I can.

My real surprise is not a gun but a knife. I found out from the Non-Firearm forum right here at THR that Home Depot was running a sale on Coast knives. I picked up a Coast LX330 for under 10 bucks at Home Depot. Its a very fast and easy opener and the knife just grew on me. I carry it every day now.

 

[Sav .250]

Winchester 100................What a hog!

 

[walnut1704]

Mine is a Taurus PT638. This is a locked-breech, poly frame, 15 shot .380. Shoots WWB really well and LRN reloads even better. It's large for a .380, but seems to be just the right size being more compact than similar capacity 9mm's and very pleasant to shoot. Granted it's somewhat of a minimal cartridge, but you've got 15 of them! It frequently comes out when an inexperienced shooter wants me to give them an introduction to pistol shoting. Targets are at 10 yards.