Most unpleasant firearm you ever shot?

[Red98422]

A buddy once convinced me to shoot his 400 corbon Amt backup pistol...I'm not certain Ive talked to that man in a decade.

Other than the recoil, the entire gun felt made of sharp edges, it was a pain machine as far as I recollect.

strangely I saw one go up for sale and genuinely kinda wanted it.

 

[Legion489]

1903 Mannlicher military carbine in 6.5 Man. Horrible stock! Smacked in the cheekbone every shot. After a mag full I quite. Mild cartridge my bubblegum!

Mosin Nagant rifle. Smacks my middle finger every shot. Great gun and fun when restocked or rear trigger "guard" added.

Winchester 101 O/U. Beat my cheekbone/jaw bloody after a round of trap. Guy who owned it shot it like a laser.

Kimber Custom (low end/cost Kimber, NOT a "custom" gun). Out of box had unpullable trigger pull, used two fingers/hands and barely able to get it to drop the hammer. Extractor was not cut for case rim. Crappy junk grips. Mag (typical of Kimber) was unusable trash. Rusted when not in an oil bath (literally. Not an exaggeration), Covered with casting flaws, etc. Test fired my bubblegum!

Wilson custom (as in custom handgun from Bill Wilson). Would not feed with any mag (at my range so a few dozen mags were tried), any ammo (ditto), etc. etc. Finally, the club pistolsmith (good buddy of Bill's) pulls the barrel and tried plunk test. Barrel was only half chambered!! Bill claimed "every pistol that leaves my shop is personally shot by me!" Forgive me if I doubt that.

Jennings J-22. FP and spring came out and hit me in the eye first round. Thank God I was wearing shooing glasses! Returned to Jennings, blew out the FP first shot again. Waiting for buy back/gang member to sell to.

Henry AR-7. Feed first round in mag OK, jammed with every round after that. With all mags, Henry, Charter Arms (which feed perfectly in all Charter guns tried in), after-market, etc. Returned to Henry. Someone used a rat-tailed file to ream out the rear of the chamber (NOT kidding) and now it shoots 2 rounds and jams. 100% improvement!

When my blood pressure allows I'll talk about the Ruger(s), S&W(s), the....

 

[aknate]

Titanium/Scandium .357 snubby.

Buddy was shooting 38's in it for a minute. He handed it to me with 357+p in it.
I was not happy. My thumb went numb......
Well we did it to every other person that showed up late for the shoot that day.
By the end we had over 15 victim's.

 

[Lilhigbee]

Sako Finnbear Magnum in .338 Winchester Magnum. Beautiful gun. Blueing like I've never seen, stock absolutely gorgeous. Smooth as silk in every respect. Beauty not often found in metal and wood. Set it on the sand bags, sat down next to it and snuggled up tight to that exquisite stock, finger on that oh-so-smooth trigger and a gentle squeeze... and the honeymoon was over.

Marlin Guide Gun .45-70. Got three boxes of Buffalo Bore ammo with it, you know, the 405 grain @2300fps stuff. One box with two rounds gone. Shot it for a while with regular loads and was doing fine. Decided to try the "good" stuff. Optimistically I put four rounds in the magazine. Fired the first one and it damn near kicked me off the bench. "I wasn't ready for it" sez I to myself as I lever in the second round. Touch off the second round and proceed to remove the last two and put them back in the box. Now I know why just two rounds were missing from the box when I got it.

FEG PA-63. Quite the attractive little gun. Definitely Walther-esque, but better, at least to my eye. Aluminum frame, lightweight, make a nice carry gun. Military issue so reliability shouldn't be a problem. 9X18, not the best caliber, but okay. Excellent grip, fits my hand perfectly. This is going to be fun!! One magazine through it, why does the web of my hand feel like it has been on the wrong end of a meat tenderizer?? Still a nice looking gun, in the safe.

 

[GWS]

Moisin Nagant rifle
That thing kicked way out of proportion to what it was shooting.
ETA Runner up was a .454 Casull revolver

 

[Certaindeaf]

Weatherby Mark V in .460 WBY.

It came in as a used firearm when I worked at Larry's in Oregon City. It had a box of ammo with it that was missing only one round. In hindsight, that single missing round should have been a huge red flag.

Another couple of employees and myself checked it out on a Sunday to "function test" it before putting it out for sale. We didn't want a dud going out the door.

Nate shot it first. One and done. Next guy same thing. Me being the manly type, I loaded all three rounds and fired them off. After the third round I had to sit down because the pain in my neck and shoulder was off the charts. I had to see a chiropractor the next day.

-E-

The original Weatherby catalog showed and told of a cute 90 lb princess (Monaco?) that used one all the time on safari.. pre muzzle brakes.

 

[BrandonQuixote]

S&W Governor.

 

[po18guy]

Sig P230 .380. Just plain old sharp recoil for such a marginal cartridge. Was a rep demo. No sale.

Next is a Competitor™ single shot pistol in 444 Marlin. Got to load that one down.

 

[gmerkt]

1. Old Winchester Model 70 in .300 Win Mag with hard plastic butt plate
2. M1895 Austrian carbines converted to 8x56R
3. Ruger LCP (Little Clown Pistol) .380, miserable son-of-a-biscuit
4. Hungarian FEG PA63 pistol in 9mm Mak

FEG PA-63. Quite the attractive little gun. Definitely Walther-esque, but better, at least to my eye. Aluminum frame, lightweight, make a nice carry gun. Military issue so reliability shouldn't be a problem. 9X18, not the best caliber, but okay. Excellent grip, fits my hand perfectly. This is going to be fun!! One magazine through it, why does the web of my hand feel like it has been on the wrong end of a meat tenderizer??

Mine didn't hang around long.

5. T/C Contender w/ .30-30 barrel firing .30-30 rifle loads.
6. Colt 1911 .45 Lightweight Commander. Had it for a short time, called it my "Anti-Aircraft Pistol."
7. Any of the three Ruger .327 Fed Mags I had. Whoof! Am I glad I got over that ailment.

 

[ABarrett]

Ruger No 1 in .458 Win Mag. A beautiful safari-grade machine with horrific blunt recoil (much worse than 50 bmg). .375 Holland & Holland is sortof a stiff punch in the shoulder (tolerable) - the .458, however is like being hit with a sledge hammer. After less than 20 rounds it knocked a crown out of one right molar.

Shooting 7/16 steel plates - the .458 would blank a jagged hole out like something on the titanic (and does the same to your shoulder).

 

[coop44]

Mauser HSC Super, close to a 14 pound double action trigger pull.

 

[P7M13]

The original Weatherby catalog showed and told of a cute 90 lb princess (Monaco?) that used one all the time on safari.. pre muzzle brakes.

If you believe the tabloids, she was prolly used to it.

Shooting 7/16 steel plates - the .458 would blank a jagged hole out like something on the titanic (and does the same to your shoulder).

Try the 416 Rigby

 

[nehalemguy]

The original Weatherby catalog showed and told of a cute 90 lb princess (Monaco?) that used one all the time on safari.. pre muzzle brakes.

Lol.....sure she did. . I read in the past that many professional hunters in Africa wouldn't let their clients use the .460 because so few could use it with any degree of accuracy or effectiveness.

Recoil energy for the .460 WBY is something like 100-110 foot lbs. .458 Win Mag I think is in the mid 60s for recoil energy. I've shot the .458 several times. It's a thumper for sure but nothing compared to the immediate and brutal recoil of the .460.

The only two cartridges that I can think of that are worse is the .577 and .600 Nitro Express.

-E-

 

[03A3Sporter]

Lol.....sure she did. . I read in the past that many professional hunters in Africa wouldn't let their clients use the .460 because so few could use it with any degree of accuracy or effectiveness.

Recoil energy for the .460 WBY is something like 100-110 foot lbs. .458 Win Mag I think is in the mid 60s for recoil energy. I've shot the .458 several times. It's a thumper for sure but nothing compared to the immediate and brutal recoil of the .460.

The only two cartridges that I can think of that are worse is the .577 and .600 Nitro Express.

-E-

I used to have a bit of a fetish for big magnum rifles , and owned the whole stable of Winchester Magnums along with a 8mm Remington Magnum and Remington 600 in 350 Remington Magnum. The model 600 in 350 gave me a nice flinch that I had not managed to acquire with the other rifles. In fact the recoil was so nasty in that little rifle that it managed to knock the front objective lens out of a couple of scopes.

Both the little 600 and the Model 700 in 8mm Magnum left my stable . For what the average guy manages to get hunt in North America there is nothing he can't pacify with a 300 Win Mag. As I have aged and do not like being beat up any more . I have adjusted my beliefs to realize that there honestly isn't anything on this continent that can't be taken with a 30-06. I do own a 45/70 but I no longer feel a need to load things to the max any longer.

Your mileage may vary .

 

[revjen45]

Ruger SA in .30 Carbine.
Muzzle blast through hearing protection was like being stabbed in both ears. Also, ammo that functioned in the carbine was too hot for the revolver.

 

[nehalemguy]

I used to have a bit of a fetish for big magnum rifles , and owned the whole stable of Winchester Magnums along with a 8mm Remington Magnum and Remington 600 in 350 Remington Magnum. The model 600 in 350 gave me a nice flinch that I had not managed to acquire with the other rifles. In fact the recoil was so nasty in that little rifle that it managed to knock the front objective lens out of a couple of scopes.

Both the little 600 and the Model 700 in 8mm Magnum left my stable . For what the average guy manages to get hunt in North America there is nothing he can't pacify with a 300 Win Mag. As I have aged and do not like being beat up any more . I have adjusted my beliefs to realize that there honestly isn't anything on this continent that can't be taken with a 30-06. I do own a 45/70 but I no longer feel a need to load things to the max any longer.

Your mileage may vary .

Oh yeah. 8mm Remington Mag. I shot one of those once in a 700 KS. Super sharp recoil impulse. Not pleasant to shoot at all.

Given the choice, I'd rather shoot a .458.

-E-

 

[Aero Denezol]

The Walther PPK in .380 I could not stand to shoot more than a couple of times before I sold it. I am told the .32 ACP version is much better.

 

[jackrv]

M1A. No matter how tight against my shoulder, it left a bruise after a days shooting.

I've fired the garand, 03A3 and other '06s and .308s and never had that happen.

 

[bbbass]

Hmmmm,

1. Win 94 30-30.... strait uncomfortable stock and grip. Slapped me in the chops.
2. Savage 99 in .308... slapped my in the chops
3. Taurus .380 pocket pistol... only two fingers on the grip and high muzzle flip. If ya don't hang on to it tight, it won't cycle.
4. 300 Weatherby with somebody elses handloads that i bought. The rifle dang near exploded and it seized the bolt. When I finally got it open, and got the shell out, I noticed the primer bulged out, a bit of carbon trailing out from primer, and a cratered bolt face... I returned the rifle to the horse-trader I bought it from and demanded my money back.

 

[Mike_M57]

I need to try a muzzle brake -- I have a CZ in 300 WSM and a bad elbow. Trying to work up a load for that thing took me out of action for 6 months several years ago -- could barely grip a cup of coffee. It's been a safe queen since -- sort of afraid to have that elbow trip happen again.

Did you get the clamp-on brake? Any regrets about it?

Yes, I got the clamp-on brake. No regrets whatsoever. Very much worth the money.

My .300 was painful to shoot. Every time I fired it I thought my shoulder was going to separate. I couldn't get through a 20-round box in one sitting.

With the brake and the heavier laminated-wood stock, I don't even lose sight of the target through the scope during recoil, even at full magnification (16x). I'd say that the recoil is now about the level of a 12-gauge shotgun.

It may look a bit funky, but I don't care! I can hit what I'm shooting at and I don't have to "Martin Riggs" my shoulder back into place after every shot!!!

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