Which Firearm Has Been a Pleasant Surprise?

[PJSprog]

My RIA 1911 Tactical .45. I have always been a revolver guy, but bought this lightly used. It was my first center-fire semi, and has performed flawlessly over the two years I've had it. Considering the price ($400), it's been a real gem in my collection.

 

[guyfromohio]

Ruger P-345. I had zero expectations and the dry-fire trigger seemed horrible. But I absolutely could shoot with it. I never should have sold it.

 

[captmoto]

Norinco SKS. Your standard Chinese about 10-12 years old maybe? I bought it in a package thinking I could flip it. Turns out to be a real decent shooter. I heard all the naysayers about SKS but to me it is more sophisticated than I was expecting.

 

[Steve CT]

Mine has to be a Springfield Champion LW Commander I got at a very good price at Cabela's (yeah Cabela's and good price really don't go together). It turned out to be such a good shooter that I am doing a lot of DIY upgrades on it as a 1911 learning project. I'll end up putting more into it than the original purchase price, but it is a lot of fun for my son and I to work together on this project.

 

[rayatphonix]

Ruger No. 1. Simple, great to look at, and very accurate. It's become my favorite rifle.

 

[Willie Sutton]

Keltec Sub-2000. Been the most fun per buck in my collection. And that's a substantial collection.


Willie

.

 

[ohioshooter]

My Coonan .357 Mag. I thought it would have some major punch but due to the weight of the gun it's really nice and easy to shoot with not a lot of recoil.

 

[CZ223]

Hi-Point 995

It was so much fun to shoot I bought a brand new one in 40 S&W. As soon as I see one in 45 I will probably pick one up.

Rock Island 3 1/2" Tactical. Paid $325 and it eats everything. The only thing I changed was the grips and the color. I painted it OD green with Dura-coat.

Taurus PT 1911, Liked it so much I bought a second.

 

[carbuncle]

Taurus 85, the blued all-steel one. I got it in the late 90s and only ever shot Cor-Bon +P ammo through it: kicked like a mule but shot accurately and held up 100% reliably.

 

[Cee Zee]

Norinco SKS.

I love mine. It has been ridiculously reliable for 20+ years. Every problem can be traced to bad ammo or a modification I made (which went away when I went back to the original equipment). Considering what I paid for it and what I paid for a lot of the ammo that's gone through it a person couldn't ask for a more reliable rifle. And it's pretty accurate too especially since I got the trigger worked on by Kivaari. That rifle is as solid as a rock IMO.

 

[Zaydok Allen]

XDs. Thought the recoil would suck. It doesn't.

 

[DM~]

Henry lever 22 rimfire...

What a great little lever gun to take just about everyplace i go off road... I've made some amazing shots with it, and it's been totally reliable!

It just keeps on, keeping on!

DM

 

[Dframe]

Ruger plastic revolver. Absolutely hideous, but shoots VERY well.

 

[jmwyles]

I picked up a Coonan .357 magnum a couple of weeks back. I had read some reviews about the recoil but was pleasantly surprised at the very light recoil firing full power magnum rounds.

 

[TBH]

For me, it was the S&W Shield. I am a Sig fan, but this pistol is amazing! Small, thin, handles well, and very accurate! I installed a C.T. Laser and was impressed that much more.

 

[Inebriated]

Hi Point carbine, Benelli Nova, XDM, Taurus revolvers overall, SIG P250, and the most pleasant surprise of all, Glock 26... Thought I'd hate it til I tried it. Full time EDC now.

 

[Sam1911]

xDM 9mm

I won it at a match drawing. I wouldn't have picked it, but it really opened my eyes.

I now shoot it more often that all my other handguns combined. It runs, it's accurate, it's also my 11 year old daughter's favorite, hands down.

 

[Armored farmer]

I have always been a revolver man. Single actions mostly. Last fall I bought my first 1911 just to see if I liked it. Well......I love it. It is the most naturally pointing, easy shooting, perfect trigger placement, accurate, quick reloading, best handgun design I have ever held.
Of course most of you already knew that.
God bless John M. Browning.

 

[clance]

The firearm that was the most pleasant surprise was the Chiappa Rhino 200DS that has little to know muzzle flip.

 

[Cee Zee]

I now shoot it more often that all my other handguns combined. It runs, it's accurate,

My XDm .40 is a great gun but it is not that accurate compared to my other handguns. Well I have a couple that aren't nearly as accurate but they aren't really expected to be accurate. I carry my .40 all the time. It has great features and handles very well. But compared to my Sig, my S&W or even my Taurus it just isn't that accurate. It's accurate enough but those other guns are very accurate. I really wish the SA was because I really like it otherwise.

 

[Russian Hammer]

For me it would be two guns i currently own, a heritage arms rough rider .22 revolver which I picked up for about $110, I read several reviews about them having issues after 1k rounds and not being very accurate, well 10-15k rounds later I was very pleased with performance and accuracy. Another one is my hk91 clone that someone had built on a Hesse receiver, picked it up for $450, I was willing to take the risk knowing Hesse hadn't actually built it and it ended up being very reliable and will eat anything I feed it.

 

[Deus Machina]

My Taurus 85, too.
It's locked up a couple times through dry-firing (my fault) or through some harsh +P ammo (the worst of which were uncrimped, come to think of it) but after a new spring and limiting myself to regular pressure and the softest +P, it's been flawless.
I'd keep it loaded with standard-pressure 158gr LSWC HP if I could find it.

My Savage Mark 2.
No Accutrigger, so it's super stiff but doesn't move at all until it breaks. And being able to shoot dimes at 50 yards with a rifle-scope-rings setup that cost me under $200, I'm happy.

 

[SharpsDressedMan]

I went for about 20 years without a 9mm. After moving to bigger bored guns, I just didn't feel the need for any. As years went on, lots of cool designs emerged, and ammo got more expensive. I then opted to buy a few 9's for the intermediate fun that comes from something in between the .22LR and big bores, and there the fun started. However, I never thought much about the Beretta 92, as I had had one years ago, and at that time, it didn't strike my fancy. Then a friend of my brother's needed some money for school, and was selling a 92FS with extra barrel and slide, mags, etc. I thought, if I sell off the extraneous stuff, I can get the gun for about $350 (he had wanted $600 for all). I did, and then later added some nice grips, found on ebay, and had a trigger job done by "Actions by T" Teddy Jacobson. Well, although not as sleek as a Browning Hi Power or CZ75, and not as cool as a Walther P99 or PPS, it is the 9mm I find myself throwing in the bag more often when going to the range. It is just FUN, and accurate to boot. It has really surprised me in that it won me over. It is still bigger than most, and a little strange looking, but it DOES work like a well oiled machine, and even points better than you might imagine. I have fairly large hands, so it fits pretty well, too.

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[Teachu2]

Glock 26. There's no way that it should shoot so accurately, especially as fast as it can shoot. The 30 is also scary accurate, but not as fast....

 

[mp510]

My Remington 700 ADL Varmint.

I initially had high expectations for the rifle, though I was disenchanted (to say the least), after the first couple of range trips when it failed to even come close to my expectations. With 55 grain ball ammunition, it was grouping over 3 inches (and sometimes closer to 4) at 100 yards. I made the decision to make one last range trip with the rifle, to test some other ammunition- with my mind made up that if it did not shoot, it was going to be sold. Knowing that the twist was 1:12, I decided to try some lighter varmint ammo. That happened to be Winchester 45grain JHP. I fired 2 groups at one hundred yards with that ammo- the first put 5 shots into .75". The second, 4 shots into a smidge under one inch (I appropriated 10 rounds for confirming zero on the hundred yard range and used the last round to succssfully hit a target of opportunity on the berm). I took the rest of the box to our 200/300 yard range and fired 7 non-consecutive shots at a 50 yard smallbore target placed at 200 yards. The resulting target indicated a spread just less than 2.5 MOA. The other 13 rounds were used to hit clays on the 200 yard berm with repetition and to hit clays on the 300 yard berm about half the time. I also successfully engage a couple pieces of club steel with rounds as well- though that was no challenge compared to the clays.