what makes a rifle "feel" cheap?

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K

Kaylee

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you know what I'm talking about... you work the bolt on an old Mauser, for instance, and feel machined steel surfaces sliding over each other (likely with a buttery coat of cosmoline) and it feels.... precise somehow.

Pick up a newer commercial rifle, and working the bolt feels "tinnier" somehow..

Now I'm NOT saying that the new ones are better or worse than the ol' milsurps, and don't even mean to get into that discussion. What I want to know specifically is -- what MAKES that feeling? Is it a psychological reaction? Is it a difference in the machining? The lubrication? The fact that the ol' milsurps likely have been worn in for a couple decades? what?

-K
 
I handled a Model 70 Winchester that sat on the used shelf at the local gun store. Very pretty rifle, in .270 I believe, nice wood stock, attractive bluing. When I cycled the action, the bolt glides open, as if it were on ball bearings, in contrast to my Remington and Savage, where it kinda unceremonously falls open. I dunno about milsurps, but the Winchester just kinda made me wonder.

Q
 
when it rattles when its picked up.when it just feels like a piece of cardboard when you wrap the sling around your wrist...you know..like its gonna break.
 
Snick-Crack-kchoock-Out with one smok'in 8mm shell....CRUNCK..snick..In with fresh 8mm Cartrige... Mauser=Authoritative.... Nuff said.:D
 
A synthetic stock.

Just so no one out there wets themselves telling me the functionality of a synthetic stock. I want you to know I have a few rifles that have synthetic stocks and I don't really have a problem with them other than it makes the rifle feel cheap.

But I digress we were talking about bolts.
 
Paint flaking off in areas such as gripping area and comb (maybe it's my abrasive manly 1700 shadow), crooked muzzlebrake, rattling parts. Like my M1A.
 
That cheap orange balsa / teak wood furniture they put on some chinese SKS's and eastern block AK types.

I have a feeling its the same wood they use for their packing crates.
 
I agree with you about the bolt actions. I have an old Swedish 96 Mauser. It has the smoothest bolt of any of my guns. CZ-527 in .223 is good and keeps getting better. I went with it over the Remington and Ruger models in .223 for that reason among others. I just liked the way the action felt. The set trigger was a bonus. I also agree about *plastic* stocks. I really like wood better, but again the CZ has an HS Precision stock, and if feels really nice. It is lightweight, but it doesn't feel cheap. Something about nice walnut though. I collect old Mossberg .22's for that reason. I think they are undervalued, they are accurate and many have very nice actions and wood. I just picked up another Model 44US the other day. Heavy barrel, nice walnut stock. It was missing the mag, but it was only $140. Beats the heck out of a 10/22 for the same price.
 
Personally, while i really like AR pattern rifles that SPROING sound and the way you can feel the spring rebounding through the stock after the shot feel pretty cheap to me. they are great rifles though.
 
Just the precise checkering on the cocking piece of a 96 Mauser would put most master built guns today to shame. :(
 
Aside from just the appearance of the outside, a lot of the "cheap" feel is from surface roughness of the rails in the receiver and of the bolt. Another is the clearance around the bolt; whether or not it is clearanced to slide straight or whether it wobbles about a bit too much as you cycle it. "Hardwood" stocks just don't look right, contributing to that "Cheap!" perception.

I see a lot of rifles where I feel like, "Sheesh! For that much money, why didn't they go on and finish the danged thing?"

Art
 
My personal beef is with polyurethane finishes. Makes a stock feel like cheap plastic and looks ugly to boot.

Well duh, it is plastic isn't it?

John
 
When a bolt glides foreward like it's locked into ball bearing rails, that's the feeling of quality. When there is play up and down, side to side and the movement is rough, that feels cheap. The same goes for the trigger.

You can forget about lightness and cheap wood, but action and trigger feel you can't forget about.
 
ruger's "boat paddle"stocks :barf:

weatherby's mark V:)

well used remmy 700ADL .243
(lika grease thru a goose):D

clown
 
I've got a 10/22 synthetic stock lying around, and wow it sure looks and feels like a POS. i've got a bushmaster with play between the upper and lower (bought both seperately), and that kinda makes it feel cheap. If I want to feel quality, all I have to do it pick up my Armalite AR10. Super solid fit between upper and lower. Kinda like it was all one piece.
 
Remington 710, the most cheap feeling gun EVER!

P1_h_prod_rem_710.jpg


Pick one up and you'll see what I mean...
 
:p Golgo-13 - ROTFLMAO :p

"pressed" in "checkering" - grabbing holes instead of being grabbed by nice even diamonds. Just feels wrong when you take hold of a wood rifle stock with the pressed in "checkering".
 
I agree with JohnBT.

I handled a guy's brand new Beretta "Pheasants Forever", $2300 shotgun and the stock and forearm looked and felt like plastic. Where's that RICH looking/feeling wood I grew up on? Sheesh, even my first Montgomery Wards 12 gauge pump ($95) had nice wood grain and it actually felt and looked like wood is supposed too!
 
Ahhhh.

Ever feel the bolt gliding back and forth on a .30-40 Krag?

Mmmmmm. Like Buttah.

Rick
 
"Ever feel the bolt gliding back and forth on a .30-40 Krag?"

Yup. Now that was one awsome rifle. I wish they still made guns like that. I love the way the magazine works on the krag too, it's nifty...
 
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