Guns that suprised you.

[chaim]

My biggest gun surprise was the Winchester 94 in 30-30. When I first started shooting I didn't think I'd be too into lever guns. I love history, but a lever gun wasn't old enough tech (Civil War and earlier) or new enough (WWI and WWII) to really interest me. Additionally, at the time I really wanted some modern military type rifles (mainly the AR 15). Well, it was early in my gun purchases and I had many holes in the "collection" and I didn't have a lot of money. I wanted a full-powered rifle (I did have an SKS), but at the store the Winchester 94 was about half the price of the bolt rifles and more than half the price of the Remington 7400 or BAR. With my limited funds that was attractive, and at around $250 I figured if I didn't like it much I didn't lose much. With that as the primary purchase justification needless to say I didn't expect much. It quickly became my favorite gun (including handguns) and the lever rifle remains so to this day. That 30-30 now competes with a Winchester 94 in .45LC for my favorite gun title. Oh, as for that bolt rifle I wanted, it came around 1 1/2 yrs later, the BAR or Rem 7400 haven't come yet, and the AR only came this past Dec (about 2 1/2 years later). The AR that I really wanted back then came on the same day as the Win 94 in .45LC and almost waited longer as I almost bought a Navy Arms Winchester 1865 or 1873 clone along with the Win 94 instead, and I may yet sell that AR to get one of the Navy Arms Winchester clones. Did I meantion that I love lever rifles now.

The next biggest surprises are: 1) how good my Charles Daly 1911 is (they don't have a great rep, and mines been quite good), 2) how much I love 1911s (I bought the 1911 to see if I'd like them, until I shot them they didn't do much for me), and 3) that I finally found a caliber I like more than .357mag (.41mag as shot out of my S&W 57).

 

[Tharg]

.... my history is short... so i have to say the things that suprise me =) hehe

My HK USP Compact .40. EVERY BLOODY AUTO i've fired before and after has jammed at least once.... this one ... never has. (and my friend is all too fond of telling me it will... it will... rofl - needless to say his "carry gun" is a colt single action he found in a river whilst fishing... along w/ two other guns that his brother claimed.....

My beloved Taurus Tracker.... never thought i'd love a wheelgun - i do that one =)

Great grandfathers Marlin in 22LR - if you miss w/ this thing - its YOU.

Great dissapointments... my first gun - a llama in 45auto. it never jammed - that i recall... but it would hit me in the head w/ spent brass.....

My dad's gave me his lever gun - i've wanted one for ages... its a marlin cowboy 1894 in 45LC... its constantly got problems ejecting spent brass... any help in this area would be helpful - cause i know its not a cheap gun and i REALLY like it... you don't know how hard it is to not sell it since i just don't KEEP stuff that don't work right =(

J/Tharg!

 

[rayra]

Surprised, but not in a good way.

About 16-17yrs ago a friend acquired a Thopson Contender, with 3 bbls. .22lr, .223 with scope, and .44mag.

One shooting trip to the desert, I was firing this piece from a dueling-type pose, bringing the weapon up and sighting on a hillside target. Not a quickdraw-type thing. While raising the weapon and cocking it, the wood grip shifted in my sweaty hand, and my thumb slipped off the hammer as the weapon pivoted in my hand. The hammer dropped. No half-cock stop or block. Weapon fired, putting a heavy .44mag HP slug into the ground not three inches from my toes.
I keep that shrapnel to this day as a reminder.


a few years later, that friend managed to shoot himself in the left thigh with the same piece, also with a .44mag HP.
The piece had an attachment on the hammer, an offset that allowed the hammer to be reached when the scoped-barrel was installed.
he'd left that piece on full-time, out of convenience / laziness.
While again screwing around in the desert, this friend, his former Army medic brother and a third person were hiking over a ridge when the Thompson owner drew from a cross-draw chest holster and took a bead on a target. For whatever reason, he didn't fire, and when seatign the weapon back into the holster he snagged that hammer attachment in the opening of his button-front flannel. When he pushed the piece home, the hammer again fell, blowing the round through the leather bottom of the holster and into his upper inner left thigh in three large fragments. His brother threw on a belt-tourniquet, the third ran like hell for the nearest ranger tower / station.
He made it to the hospital, was operated and wound up with a gnarly crow's-foot-looking scar on his thigh and Doctors telling him he'd never walk normally again. He proved them wrong with hard work.


Not really applicable to the topic, but passing it on as a Cautionary Tale.

 

[Cyberdyne systems]

the first time I ever shot a 12 gauge shotgun at age 9, I shot an orange out of a tree and the recoil gave me a "whiplash" I was shooting old high base shells that were extra powerful

 

[Range Ninja]

Norinco 1911. Bought it for $279 over ten years ago. I was amazed with slide to frame fit, it did not rattle and out shot my Colts! Then like a moron I sold it a couple of years later.:banghead:

 

[fallingblock]

the biggest surprise was....

A Star BM 9mm pistol.

I paid $175 for it and it was beautifully made and very easy to hit with.

Two Polish Tokarov (Sportowy) pistols in .22 L.R. @ $75 each

They used an aluminum chamber insert shaped like a 7.62X25 round and came with only seven inserts each.

I put a Norinco 9mm barrel in one and they both functioned flawlessly.

For rifles: a Ross MkIII @ $25.
Sold cheap because of its reputation, it turned out to be accurate and smooth in operation (minus the mud of the trenches).

Of course, I tied it to a tire to fire the first shot after assembling the bolt

Shotgun: An old Stevens 520 in 20ga. @ $35

It was beautifully made and so complex that assembling it was like putting a jigsaw puzzle together.

 

[geojap]

SIG 229 pistol in 40S&W and 357 Sig. I knew it should be a good pistol, but it is darned perfect. I'm amazed how perfect it is. It has a few thousand rounds thru it and isn't pretty anymore, but I'll probably never get rid of it because it is so well-made.

I also had a Taurus model 66 in 357 Mag that was darned near perfect too. Bought it for only $175.

 

[BerettaNut92]

Beretta 92, everyone says they're going to break, the locking block is going to shear its wings off, the slide is going to hit me through my glasses and penetrate into my brain, etc.

Hasn't happened, yet.

 

[BryanP]

FEG PJK-9HP Hi-power clone. Cost about $200, shockingly accurate and reliable for thousands of rounds.

I'm glad to hear this. I'm about to pick up a well-used example of this breed. I plan on it being a range toy mostly. The finish is a little grungy and I might try my hand at rebluing it myself. Or not.

 

[LynnMassGuy]

My Mossberg .22's. 340ka bolt action and 352kb semi-auto. I picked them up for $50 each and they are both super accurate and super fun. I love em'.

 

[Black Snowman]

Used Taurus 669 I bought off a friend who needed the money. I thought I paid too much for it but turns out it has some really pro trigger work done before he got it. Thing has a great SA and a pretty good DA trigger on it and shoots as accurate as you could please. Only issue I have with it is my cleaning patches keep getting hung up in the comp

If it weren't for that I'd shoot it a LOT more often.

 

[MoeMentum]

The SKS rifle, I always though they were commie junk, Now I own 3 of them, good shooters, and very dependable.