What gun surprised you the most?

[kimberkid]

A month or so ago I had the itch for a new/ or new to me target type 22 ... was leaning to a S&W 41 and found one at a local show ... also on the same table I noticed an old Hi-Standard Trophy that looked horrible. The dealer said it had come from Puerto Rico. It had probably been laying on a piece of cloth or something that had wicked the oil off of one side, allowing the salt air to do the damage ... I took an instant liking to the gun and he cut me a great deal for both!

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I took it out and shot it yesterday and it was amazingly accurate; it seems I shoot better with it than any other 22 pistol I own, including the S&W 41 and even my long time favorite Buckmark Signature ... go figure

Here's the family ...

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[J-Bar]

You can be proud of your family.

I'm curious about ammo preferences...have you found that each has its own preference for a brand of ammo that it shoots best with, or have you found one brand that all of them like?

 

[kimberkid]

The Ruger and Buckmark, in general both shoot pretty well with PMC Sidewinders so I bought a couple cases of that several years ago before the big ammo price hike; that's what I shot in the S&W and the Hi-Standard ... while its better than the Remington Golden bullet from Wally World and I know Sidewinders aren't the best but its kind of my benchmark ammo.

I haven't sat down to shoot serious groups yet so if anyone has an ammo their gun prefers ... please chime in!

 

[Fatdaddy]

I had a ND in my bedroom a few years ago...so I'd say my AR.
Surprised the heck out of me!

 

[denton]

Taurus five-shot snubbie 41 Mag. It does 2" groups at 25 yards. I am more than a little amazed and pleased.

 

[Liberty1776]

The Hammerli Trailside I bought for my wife - freaky accurate!

 

[TennJed]

Honestly it was a Makarov. I know these guns have a good reputation, but after buying one for $199, I am shocked at what a great value it is

 

[Furncliff]

Brno#1 .22LR Bought it on Auction Arms for about $300 a couple of years ago. Made in Czechoslovakia in the 1940's. it is one accurate little rifle. I've shot a personal best at 50 yards, it continues to surprise me.

 

[guyfromohio]

Smith Bodyguard .380. I had very low expectations for it as it was very inexpensive and looked kind of cheap. I figured it was a 2 yard Max belly gun. Not at all! Great 7 yard groups and absolutely zero failures in the first 300 rounds. It's my wife's gun, but I feel pretty good about her carrying it.

 

[Inebriated]

Sig P250

Didn't expect much from it, but it really is a very good gun if you're used to DAO guns.

 

[statelineblues]

Rock Island Armory 1911A1 Compact - most accuate .45 I own...

 

[MachIVshooter]

Charter Arms Bulldog Pug .44. Amazingly accurate for a (relatively) inexpensive snub.

Phoenix Arms HP-22. Very pleasant shooter, extremely accurate. Only downer is they seem to wear fairly quickly. But what can one expect for $100, I guess?

Howa M-1500 Varminter .223. Paid $369 for it at wally world, it was probably the most accurate factory gun I've ever owned, half MOA and better with a variety of ammo. I sold it to fund a Ruger KM77VT .220 Swift, which is still darned accurate (.7 MOA @ 200 yards). Should have kept it, but .223 was coming up short on the far-out praire rats. I sold it to a good friend, though, and he's enjoying the heck out of it, so it's not all bad.

 

[ApacheCoTodd]

Glock 30 - the gun I found that I hated to love.

 

[303tom]

My little .22 magnum Revolver Derringer from Charter Arms...........

 

[Remllez]

Without a doubt my Dan Wesson model 15...shoots even practice ammo into tiny little groups as far as I care to shoot it.

 

[guyfromohio]

I wrote about my most positive surprise. How about the flip-side? My Browning Hi-Power circa 2003 was my biggest surprise/disappointment. Beautiful, fills the hand, points naturally, costs a pretty penny..... fails to lock open, stove pipes, horrible trigger (mushy, gritty). I was very surprised, indeed.

 

[towboat_er]

The CZ-82. For the money they cost, an awesome shooter.
If ya ain't tried one, you should.

 

[Moose458]

My big surprise came when I shot my VZ-58 for the first time. I have most of the "black rifles", but the VZ is by far the most fun to shoot.

 

[19-3Ben]

S&W 642. Everybody rants and raves about them. I got one and didn't like it at all. I'm just not a snubby kinda guy, despite being a revolver fan. I was really surprised.

 

[El Mariachi]

Every time we do a range trip I get pleasantly surprised.....and yesterday was no exception. Met up with a few of our sailing friends at Angeles Shooting Range and my wife & I quickly discovered that they're more g-nutz than we are. In no particular order, here are a few of their toys that we got to shoot for the first time yesterday-----loved them all;

Colt Navy black powder revolver (big ugly round ball shooter-of-fun).

Walther P-1.

Older Buckmark .22 pistol (wife likes it as much as her Ruger MKIII. Can you say Mother's Day present?).

Original boxed/complete Parker 12 gauge SxS, circa 1909. Wow. Just wow.

Uberti lever with the brass(?) receiver & gorgeous furniture in .38. Me likey.

Old Marlin 45/70. Me likey a helluva lot).

A polished stainless Vaquero in .357. For some reason I can shoot this better than my Blackhawk in the same caliber. Felt perfectly balanced in my hand.

But the highlight of the day definitely was when my friend graciously allowed me to run rounds #11 thru #15 down the barrel of his Grandfather's 1930's perfect condition Woodsmaster 81, chambered in .300 Savage. An absolutely gorgeous piece of Americana. His grandad bought this new & had shot only ten rounds thru this rifle before putting it away. His own father had never even shot it, nor had my friend----until yesterday that is. I was awed. Free handing I pinged the metal plate a hundred yards out 4 times out of five. I've been wanting one of these since the first time I saw one------and now I just want one even more......

All in all, 'twas a very exciting & surprising day.

 

[ROW]

The 7 MM mag, Wow what a kick, a lot more than a 30-06.

 

[bannockburn]

My biggest surprise was a MAB PA-15 that I had years ago. Built like the proverbial tank for police/military use, this gun with fixed sights, a stock trigger, and with any 9mm. ammo, could easily keep up in the accuracy department with a Colt Gold Cup that I also owned. I also had a Star Model B that was great at putting some very nice groups together as well.

 

[rem22long40x]

Rock Island Armory 1911A1 38 super 1/2 moa at 25 yd. & my Rem. 40x 22Long Rifle same hole most of the time at 50 yd. & my two star BM9 9mm. about the size of a comander ,a littel smaller framed but shot as good as mt R.I. 38 super.

 

[S.W.G.]

<flinches> The IntraTec TEC-9.

You hear a lot of bad stuff about this series on forums and such, but if you use factory magazines and round-nose FMJ (like the manual says) it will fire every time you pull the trigger.

It's not accurate or ergonomical, but that's besides the point.

 

[Bohemus]

Steir AUG - looks strange, but best ergonomy in "black rifle" i've ever met.