Exceeded Expectations?

I'd have to say my Ruger 10/22 circa 1970 would be my all time favorite plinker. Another that comes to mind is my Bersa Firestorm .380 that is dead on accurate and a hoot to shoot.

 

Love that M15!

 

As far as "exceeding expectations," Id have to go with my first AR15.

I was very late coming to the AR party. Having been raised on blued steel, walnut, and the .30-06, not to mention M16 horror stories from the Vietnam War, I thought they were wimpy, unreliable, and disposable plastic toy guns.

All wrong, of course. Lol.

 

Mine "exceeded expectations" gun would have to be the Savage Model 12BVSS in .243 Win. when the owner of a local gun store made me a deal on that was almost too good to be true. ($410 OTD after he installed a Trigger Basics trigger in it.) Took it home, loaded up some Hornady V-Max's over a charge of IMR4064 and shot 1/4" 5-round groups at 100 yards first time out. That particular rifle shot so well, so easy it was boring..... So a few years later, I sold it like a damned fool.

 

25 years ago or so I bought a 1950s vintage H&R 800 Lynx-very accurate.

 

I bought a Savage MkII Youth model for the grandkids to shoot, and put a Walmart Simmons 4x on it. Short stock and short barrel - darn thing shoots as well as guns that cost 3x as much!

 

Handgun wise, the biggest positive surprise was probably the Browning International Medalist. I'd shot Rugers and AMT Lightning and a Browning Buck Mark for decades. In more recent years had added a 1911 with .22 LR conversion, Smith K-22, and CZ Kadet Kits on various CZs. After buying my first International Medalist I rarely ever shoot any other .22 LR, expecially the Ruger/AMT or Buck Mark.

Rifle wise, it was probably the BRNO Model 4 target rifle. I just love shooting it.

Shotgun was the Browning Auto-5 AFTER I shortened the barrel and added screw-in chokes. I use that gun for almost all my shotgunning now.

 

I'm going to go with two.

I got a Single Six cheap, it was FILTHY, and it wasn't a K-Frame S&W .22, so I only bought it because it was cheap. It is clean now, but won't win any beauty contests. After thousands of rounds down range, I love it, and honestly, unless a real deal falls in my lap I have no interest in a double action .22. It fits and points naturally, mechanically is reliable as a hammer, will stack up the holes on a target, and is the perfect instrument for teaching someone new to handguns.

I recently got a RIA .45 because I didn't have a 1911. It is accurate and reliable. 100%. That's exactly what I wanted out of a 1911, and it FAR exceeds the performance I got with a Colt Commander in 9mm. Wanted to love the Colt, and in the end, never even liked it. If it had been the equal of the RIA, I'd still have it, but it never was in my hands. Really was prepared to be disappointed with the RIA, and 1911's in general, but, it has my endorsement. It eats what it's fed, and hits what I point it at, and it costs less that what I thought it was worth, even in this insane market.

 

Butchered m95 carbine still in 8x50. It was given to me and it does a fine imitation of a battle field relic that was found THEN sporterized. On a whim I cobbled together some ammo gave it a half hearted try. I didn't bench it, just fired it from a sitting position. To my surprise it printed a couple of five shot groups at fifty yards I could cover with a playing card. Now it sits in the same condition many years later and I've just gotten around to ordering a rear sight rail I'll be able mount a scout scope or red dot. Then after some tlc it will make a fine truck gun.

 

I was really surprised by the Mauser M18. I have a Bergara B-14 in 6.5 Creedmoor set up for reaching across the pasture when the deer hit the fields, but the 6-18X Vortex is a little too much for up close and personal in the brush. I thought that it would be nice to have something with less magnification and started to search. The M18 had good reviews and Eurooptics had them priced right. I almost ordered the 6.5PRC but decided against it since my Bergara is good out to 500 yards. Might as well stay with what I like, the Creedmoor.

The gun came out of the box with an excellent 2 1/2 lb. trigger. The bolt is smooth and the stock doesn't feel like tupperwear. I'm not fond of plastic magazines but the Mauser mag has a little more beef. Not flimsy at all. I mounted a 3-9X Leupold VXII in Leupold rings and bases and hit the range. The 130gr Sierra TGK needed testing so that was the bullet of choice. They shot MOA with a load of R-17 and knocked whitetails down with no problem. They were pretty explosive up close but worked well out at 250 yards. I had to thin does on a big farm and actually got to shoot a whole box of the TGK's. The M18 never missed. I like it better every time I squeeze the trigger.