The WORST gun in your personal collection?

[Nick5182]

I wouldn't say I necessarily have a bad gun, but the one I care the least about is a Mosin-Nagant 91/30 dated 1942. The bore is pitted, it has light surface rust on roughly 60% of the barrel and receiver, and sometimes the bolt "locks up" when firing it and I have to give it a hard smack to break it loose. I only use it as a range gun and occasionally to ignite tannerite when I'm feeling like a challenge. I won't get rid of it because it's accurate as all heck and incredibly fun to shoot! Plus I've always been intrigued by old military firearms.

 

[happygeek]

That would have to be my Steyr m1895. It was an impulse buy (it only cost about $100).
Problems-
1. The ammo (8x56mmR) is expensive, hard to find, and difficult to reload.
2. The rifle is tiny and has a massive kick. It is even worse than a Mosin Nagant.
3. The rifle requires en-bloc clips in order to hold more than one round in the magazine and they are pain to find.
4. It uses a straight pull action and it gets stuck very easily.
5. Disassembly and reassembly of the bolt is easily the worst experience I have had trying to reassemble a firearm. It is far worse than a Ruger MkII.

Will I get rid of it? No. It is an oddity and it has historical value. I take it out a couple of times a year to shoot it. My shoulder hates me for it but there you go.

Haha, I got a M1895 Steyr for $150 with matching bayonet because it was a cheap WWII rifle that's so different (the aforementioned straight pull bolt & en bloc clip feeding). I had the thing of over a year before I saw 8x56R in stock on AIM Surplus. Picked up some clips for $10 a piece online from some obscure store, so I'll be able to finally try the thing out after I get back to the states. I only plan on shooting mine once or twice a year.

 

[Erik M]

A 50's-60's Sears .22 bolt action single shot. Has a trigger that has to be <1lb of pull, my great uncle was almost hit by an ND when my grandfather was squirrel hunting and touched off the trigger. It has a squib in the barrel that my dad never cleared, he took the bolt out and put a trigger lock on it and always said it was to dangerous to repair. I had saved up for a marlin model 60 so I didn't much care that I couldnt shoot the old bolt action as a kid.

 

[aarondhgraham]

That would be my Phoenix .22 pistol,,,

That would be my Phoenix HP-22 pistol,,,
I knew that it was a cheapie when I bought it,,,
I was a poor-but-honest college boy who needed a bedside gun.



The gun didn't get through one brick of ammo before it died,,,
I sent it back to the manufacturer and they returned it,,,
It still wouldn't fire so I sent it back again,,,
They returned it and said it was fine,,,
And they wouldn't accept it again.

Someday I'm going to fill the works with epoxy,,,
Then mount it in a shadow-box with the 45 of Saturday Night Special.

Aarond

.

 

[gdcpony]

Mine is a basic 10/22. It isn't a bad gun and my middle daughter has taken possession of it for herself. She says it reminds her to be safe which chokes me up a bit.However she out shoots Marines with it and loves it.

MacKenzie just won against those Marines and now they have brass clean up!

As far as why I hate it so much yet can't get rid of it, well... I open classes I give on suicide prevention for the Corps like this:

I once knew a Marine who fell asleep during one of these briefs. He was a cocky Sgt and when the Chaplain asked why he felt he could simply fall asleep he replied, "If someone wants to off themselves, I think you should just give them the gun and let them do it. It would save time and trouble"

A year later he was out of the Corps and looking to set up his civilian life. He was staying at his parents in the meantime while he looked for work and an apartment. One day a fight broke out among the family with everyone yelling and this Marine was walking out the door as his mom looked at him and asked him to stay as "George, you're the only one I feel I can talk to right now,"

His reply was cold and angry, "Frankly, right now I don't care. Find someone else."

Hours later he received a call that his mother was being life flighted to a hospital with a gunshot to the stomach. He raced to the hospital to spend the next four hours watching her bleed to death after shooting herself with a gun he had given her years earlier.

Before you think of not giving a sh!+ in my brief keep in mind that this is not some story about someone you don't know. My first name is George, and I still have that little .22.

Then I proceed with the brief. It works as both therapy for me. It also keeps the Marines attentive when I get to the fact that 5 minutes of my time could have saved my mother's life all those years ago. She would have seen my son, and knew I married the woman she always said I would.

 

[Edventures]

marlin 5510 10 ga bolt action .
It kicks you around and has a slow follow-up shot ,
and is heavy and ugly.
I keep it as a loaner ,for the boys who want to go goosing.
then let em shoot the x2 worlds of diference.

 

[tark]

My worst is a Japanese Arisaka type thirty eight 6.5mm. It is covered in rust and the bore is the worst piece of rusted barrel I have ever seen. It is literally worth nothing. Why do I keep it? It is a war trophy, brought back from Guadalcanal by a Marine named Alex Avilas, who I knew thirty five years ago in California. The crest is, of course, intact, and it is to me a priceless relic of history.

 

[Batty67]

I suppose my Marlin Camp 45. Uses 1911 mags (and I have a load of many types and round capacities) and I had Bill Springfield do a trigger job and remove the magazine safety. Shoots great and is plenty accurate. BUT, it shoots so darn filthy I cannot often bring myself to shoot it. I'm rather anal about cleaning guns and it takes me well over an hour to clean it thoroughly. Yes, a lot of that is me, but seriously, FILTHY gun to shoot.

Still, I'll probably keep it.

 

[MagnumWill]

I've long since sold it, but a Mosin Nagant M44 that I just didn't like. It was in good shape, was a 1944 Izzy but it's POI would change almost a foot laterally at 30 yards with the bayonet in/out, even though it was shorter than my 91/30's it still feels heavier... I just plain didn't like it. If it doesn't hit what you're pointing at, why have it? I traded it in + another gun for my 590A1 and haven't looked back. I'd have to say that was my worst-and only worst-gun I've owned.

 

[Mooseman]

Mine would be a Q.F.I. 22lr single action revolver. The sights are terrible and it has a bad habit of spent brass locking up the cylinder. You have to take the cylinder out and tap out the spent brass to fix this. I keep it because it looks cool with its 9" barrel and I figure I may someday figure out how to make it reliable and shoot where I aim it.

 

[Lo8080]

Mine was the Ruger LCR .38 spl. The gun is light in the pocket but didn't fit my hand well with the bootgrip. It was very painful to shoot and my accuracy suffered for it. I sold it and never looked back.

 

[Barry the Bear]

Winchester 1300 defender, would never reliably cycle high brass shells.

 

[UpperAtmosphere]

A little .32 revolver that I bought from someone who was supposed to be halfway knowledgeable about firearms. "It's a Smith and Wesson" she said.

Nope, after closer inspection it's a Euskaro, a Spanish clone, one that needs (at the very least) a new cylinder stop. Which I can't get hold of.

I didn't pay much for it, but I bought it based on trust, so it was a little irritating.

 

[Fleetman]

Mine is a Sig Mosquito....most unreliable pistol I've ever had.

 

[GBExpat]

Of my many firearms, the "least loved" are my 3 CZ-52 pistols.

I find them to be heavy & cumbersome with an uncomfortable grip.

I have kept them all of these years for their investment potential.

 

[AFDavis11]

Strangely, I've done pretty well with gun purchases. My least favorite gun is a somewhat unusual 2 3/4 inch Model 66, 357 magnum. It's a great gun, I just never get to shooting it before all the other great guns.

 

[KevininPa]

Smith & Wesson 637

Really tried to like that gun. Carried well in the pocket, which was the reason for its purchase. Too light. Had to think too much about how to shoot it to make it SD piece for me. Could only shoot it decently with an oversized grip.

Sad part is that I sold a Taurus 605 (all steel) that I could shoot well to help fund the Smith. In retrospect, the 605 wasn't THAT heavy in the pocket.

Anyway, traded the Smith for an Astra A70 pistol. Love that gun! But now I'm back to wondering what I want for a pocket gun.

 

[Hometeached1]

I would have to say my SKS because it is so much fun to shoot, I shoot way more ammo than I should.

 

[mugsie]

My black powder revolver. It's a PITA to load. Extremely accurate at 25 meters, but takes forever to load and charge. I give a lot of credit to all the men who used and reloaded this pistol, on horseback and in combat, but it's not for me. Why do I keep it then? Out of respect for all the men who used and reloaded this pistol, on horseback and in combat. Bless their souls.

 

[nathan]

THe C Z 52 pistol. It was a piece of junk. I sold it to someone after a year or so.


On the contrary the best one for me is the Russian sks. I got in 1995 for $145 and still have it to this day. Its as robust as it was made in 1950.

 

[CharlieDeltaJuliet]

My worst firearm is my Colt 1911. My father gave it to me years ago or it would have left. It has had 1000-1200 rounds put through it and gives FTE's and jams on many different factory hollow points.

 

[*Kemosabe*]

Saiga 20 gauge, magazine fed (supposedly) shotgun.

I knew nothing about them even though that info was available when I saw it at a gun show in ~2004. I paid $200 NIB (that in itself should have been a warning) and it came home with me.

I never was able to fire an entire magazine without some failure and the adjustable gas mechanism was a joke.

Bottom line... do your homework first!

 

[119er]

Walther P22. It was very picky about what it was fed but it got better. The front sight has popped off before, never dropped. I haven't shot it in a year at least due to ammo. I won't pay the prices when I can reload 9mm for about the same without the hassle.

 

[LeonCarr]

Every piece of junk gun I had left the safe a long time ago. I refuse to own a gun that I will not stake my life on.

To stay on task every 1911 I have owned was the worst gun in my personal collection. They all had an above average number of malfunctions even after being worked on by master gunsmiths.

Just my .02,
LeonCarr

 

[theotherwaldo]

My worst functioning gun is an R/G-38 in as-found condition. The barrel wobbles in the pot-metal frame and the front sight spins on its single screw.

I'll never fire it.