What is the least fun gun you have shot?

[btroj]

We have a fun gun thread- what gun that you have shot was the least fun, and why?

For a long time for me it was a Maelin 1804c. It wouldn't do better than 6 inches at 50 yards with anything. I shot it slow, fast, and in between. I tried 6 or more different bullets. The famed 358156 didn't do any better than the rest. Mag or special cases it was miserable.

Nothing worse than a gun that won't hit what it is pointed at. I have other Marlins, they all shot well, why wouldn't this one?

Spent over 8 months fighting it. Wondered why I ever bought it. Luckily I finally found the bullet it wanted and this all changed but that gun came real close to moving out of my house.

[Bohica793]

12ga 3" magnum with a bad shoulder.......

[jabo52521]

The 45/70 Bison pistol. Kicks like heck!!

[dondiego]

TC Contender with a 10 inch, tapered profile barrel in 30-30. Ouch!

[groovy mike]

375 H&H Win M70. My old one is a pleasure to shoot. I bought a second with a different stock and the exact same load recoiled so badly that I could not keep the rifle in my hands when I pulled the trigger. I tried three loads with the same result and sold it.

[RickinTN]

Ruger #1 45-70 with loads of 405 gr @ around 1,900 fps. from a bench.

Rick

[Trey45]

Any rifle with heavy recoil. I have a degenerative bone disease that is making shooting any rifle very difficult.

[Shiloh]

TC Contender in .45-70 with a 14" barrel. Even with the muzzle brake, 2 shots were as much as I wanted to attempt. Brutal.

Shiloh

[btroj]

Ruger #1 45-70 with loads of 405 gr @ around 1,900 fps. from a bench.

Rick

Those aren't even fun offhand. From a bench? No way.

[country gent]

A friend went to africa to hunt with a flintlock he built. That gun with the full power load was completely obnoxious. He used a 20mm vulcan barrel for it. Was like a 900 grn round ball. The bullet mold he had was close to 1200 grns. It was a recoil unlike anythig Ive shot before. While not fun it was interesting to say the least.

[RickinTN]

Those aren't even fun offhand. From a bench? No way.

I was lucky that day I guess. I had fired two of the 20 rounds I loaded just to be sure it hurt:-?. A couple of young and curious fellows came over and asked what I was shooting. I told them and asked if they would like to give it a try and of course they did. After about 10 rounds between them they started telling me they felt badly about shooting up all of my ammunition and of course I told them not to worry about that. In a few minutes I had 20 once fired cases to load with 12 grs. Unique with the same bullet.
Lucky that day I guess,
Rick

[Tdart]

Ruger no. 1 in 300 win mag. Recoil doesn't usually bother me (my bench work load for deer and pig is a 350 grn bullet at 2225 fps), but the recoil on that 300 bothered me. It didn't help that it wouldn't shoot well either. I have discovered that I don't like magnum velocities. Big chunk of lead at slow to moderate speeds is more comfortable toe me.

[Doc_Stihl]

TC Encore 26" Rifle barrel in 500 S&W with 700gr loads STOKED up.
No More. In the 15" pistol they're a hand full and you have to be careful, but in the rifle there's just not enough weight there to make it pleasurable.
After that would be a gibbs conversion 45-70. No cheek weld was possible while still seeing the sights so you have to "float" your head above it. Poor ergonomics.

[Guardian]

Mk19....if you had to carry it. It was a lot of fun as long as someone or something else was moving it. M2 was similar.

For personally owned firearms, that distinction is shared between a 7.5 lb Remington 700 in 300RUM and a Winchester Model 12 Featherweight in 12 gauge.

The 700 was purchased from Gander Mountain about 10 years ago. It was the first left handed bolt gun I'd ever seen, and I just had to have it. I wasn't familiar with the caliber, but it didn't matter........until I pulled the trigger the first time. It's a safe queen now.

I had to have a Model 12 in my collection. My dad and grandad swore by them (though in retrospect, I should have noted that neither was actually shooting one in the dove field). I got one for a good price, which should have been another clue. Half an hour in the dove field was all I could stand with that shotgun.

I have since learned that "featherweight" is an old Indian word for "kicks like mule" and that "Mountain Rifle" is a relatively new industry word for "kicks like mule". Both are beautiful guns, but neither is going to get much use.

[oldpapps]

A 7.7 Jap military rifle. It didn't kick that much but: the barrel had horrible lathe marks, the receiver looked like a chisel was used to make many of the cuts, the stock was 'hand carved', too short and very rough, the rear sight was a metal plate with a small hole in it that had been tack welded on. Must have been a very, very late war production piece.

The 'pucker factor' was high, very high.

Enjoy,

OSOK

[Hamish]

The hollow synthetic stock 870 with deer slugs is pretty bad, but all it took was one round of factory ammo in a 10" Contender .223. Too bad I didn't know about downloading it before I sold it,,,,

[Janoosh]

Franchi 48 AL with a three inch deer slug. Never again, not me, no sir, you can have my turn.
Arisaka Type 99.....Oh, come on, I love them ratty Japs.

[jimwill48]

.380acp ATM Backup...this little monster was the only gun to ever really hurt my hand when shooting

[brtelec]

I used to work at a gunshop/outdoor range many many years ago.When they mounted a scope we would put 3 rounds through each one at 100 yards. I fired 15 rounds through 5, 460 Weatherbys off the bench. I had a bruise that went from my sternum to my elbow.

[mt bwana]

a model 98 mauser with milatary stock rebarreled to 458 win. one shot was plenty might as well had a go with mike tyson

[tygar]

I used to work at a gunshop/outdoor range many many years ago.When they mounted a scope we would put 3 rounds through each one at 100 yards. I fired 15 rounds through 5, 460 Weatherbys off the bench. I had a bruise that went from my sternum to my elbow.

My first .460 was before they ported them & I just went to my bench & started to shoot. 6 rounds later I was seeing black with shiny stars flickering. The moral is....don't shoot a ball buster with it low on the table & you leaning into it. Have it hi enough to sit up straight & don't lean in, just have it snug to shoulder.

But, the all time worst was my first .470 double. It was a Douglas & it just did not fit right for me & about broke my shoulder, it really hurt.

For sheer snap from an overbore, the .378 Wby w/o break, no doubt. Even with the break it'll get your attention.

ps it took 2 wks before the stars went away

[opos]

In the 50's my Wife wanted a "deer rifle" to take along and go with me on a hunting trip...I built her an 03A3 in 30-06 Ackley improved..cut down Bishop stock...Thin and light Douglas barrel...had fish gills cut into the barrel for a brake to cut recoil...it went off like a howitzer...deafening roar and muzzle blast, and kicked anyway...she shot it once...handed it back and never went deer and elk hunting....no it was not planned to have that effect.

[scattershot]

Ruger LCR with .357 ammo. Recoil and blast was so bad I only shot three rounds before I had had enough.

[John Allen]

TC Contender in .45-70 with a 14" barrel. Even with the muzzle brake, 2 shots were as much as I wanted to attempt. Brutal.

Shiloh

Shiloh, you are not kidding. It is bad when you push the heavy bullets.

[Fishman]

Little Ruger bolt in 17hmr. Not very accurate, slow to reload, and the can wouldnt even move to let you know you hit it. A 10/22 = way more fun. The 17 hmr is not for plinking.

[Alan in Vermont]

One of the current lightweight alloy Smiths, 5 shot, 357 Mag. I've shot some hard kicking handguns, that was the only one (so far) to actually draw blood.

[Dale in Louisiana]

Easy!

The M-73/M-219 7.62 machine gun. This mechanical abortion was the coaxial (mounted on the left side of the main gun) machine gun of the M-60 series tanks. It was recoil-operated with gas assist. It was unreliable to the Nth degree. It managed to fail to feed, extract, chamber, cycle, you-name-it, almost every time it fired.

The only time I ever got one to fire more than fifty rounds without a stoppage was on a range at Fort Knox. We dipped the entire several hundred round belt of 7.62x51mm in a can of hydraulic fluid. The gun fired almost all that belt of ammo and then broke an extractor.

Incidentally, this *** replaced the M-37, the electrically-fired (had a solenoid to press the trigger) version of the M-1919 Browning MG in .30-06.

dale in Louisiana

[Bzcraig]

Ruger LCR shooting +p loads. It was a friends gun that I shot. The grip is so small and the gun so light I could not get more than one round on target at a time, had to re-grip for a second shot. You'd hardly know it was in your pocket but God forbid you had to use it.

[cbrick]

I've fired some big bore handgun stuff that simple common sense would say isn't going to be much fun (but of course it was :mrgreen:) but a 330 gr full house 444 in a 10" RPM XL . . . Even my hair hurt. I refused to have more than 2 shots worth of . . . . FUN!

Rick

[dragon813gt]

Remington 870 SPS w/ a 3.5" #4 turkey load. Not having a good cheek weld hurt like hell that day. I no longer use 3.5" shells. 3" is more than enough and I don't like shooting them as well.

I don't have much fun shooting my Mosin. Even w/ a rubber recoil pad I can only shoot one box before my shoulder has had enough.

[oscarflytyer]

Most every gun is fun in some way to me, but a couple memorable exceptions...

Mauser in 458 Win Mag - shot from bench rest. Hardest I have EVER been kicked in my life! I have a high cheek bone, and snugged it up over the stock. DANG that HURT! I actually reached in and grabbed my upper molars to see if they got knocked loose! That one was aweful from the bench.

Win 94 Trapper when I was about 12-13. I hated 30-30 levers upon sight for a long long time!

Most memorable in the WOW dept was a Smith 500 Magnum - first gun I nearly dropped when I shot it. Geez! And I have very good hand strength. That one would be no fun to own, imo.

Nowadays, with two rebuilt shoulders, heavy recoil is not the hoot it used to be. 375 H&H, 300 Win Mag (mine - sold it) 458, hvy shotgun loads, etc are none at all fun. I have scaled down to 30-30s, 35 Rem, 300 Savage, 44 SPC and 45 Colt (from 44 Mag) and 38 SPC - all for fun. And 3/4-7/8 oz skeet loads. Nothing that leaves my shoulders sore and aching for cpls days is fun now.

Edit - THE SCARIEST ever - M14A1 that threw the brass one way and the primers the other direction!!! When I realized this was happening, after the third round, guy said "Oh yeah, that's kinda normal, that is MG ammo..." I promptly got up and left. I didn't even want to be on the range with that idiot!

[oscarflytyer]

The only time I ever got one to fire more than fifty rounds without a stoppage was on a range at Fort Knox. We dipped the entire several hundred round belt of 7.62x51mm in a can of hydraulic fluid. The gun fired almost all that belt of ammo and then broke an extractor.
dale in Louisiana

Man, I LOVE good old GI ingenuity!!! I am kinda scratching my head as to how the pressures didn't skyrocket with the hydraulic fluid and blow the whole dang thing up! Assuming a pressure spike is what caused the extractor to go!

[Kent Fowler]

Saw an ad years back in Shotgun News. " For Sale: Ruger #3 in 45/70. This gun is very satisfying to shoot. One shot satisfied me." I laughed for a long time. I had a lightweight Mauser Mark X bolt action rifle in 458 Winchester Magnum I bought when I was young and stupid. That thing hurt.

[ShooterAZ]

TC Contender in .45-70 with a 14" barrel. Even with the muzzle brake, 2 shots were as much as I wanted to attempt. Brutal.

Shiloh

Same for me. I shot less than one box of ammo through it before I traded it off. VERY unpleasant!

[john hayslip]

I'm going back to the early 60's - before most recoil pads and ear plugs and ear muffs.
First - a neighbor's Model 70 featherweight with an aluminum butt plate in 270 what kicked the Y_K_W_ out of me -- as a result will not buy a 270 but shoot 30-06's without hesitation. That rifle started me reloading so we could download it and enjoy shooting it.
Second - A thirty caliber Luger (shell breaks the sound barrier) at an indoor range with out ear protection - three rounds quickly fired probably contributed mightily to my right ear being totally defunct.
Lately - I bought my first Contender in 223 with about an 8" barrel -noise and recoil caused me to unload it to a friend who gave me what I'd paid for it. I've since shot one in 7mm TCU and enjoyed it. Regret selling the first one and not just changing barrels.

[captaint]

You'll find this weird - it's my mod 1903 colt in .32ACP. What a little beauty. Always looked forward to shooting it. I did so a couple of weeks ago. The trigger was HORRIBLE. Couldn't hit the barn side of a broad with the thing. Slide didn't lock back, maybe it's not supposed to.
Anyway, no fun at all. Really disappointed. Mike

[fcvan]

For me it WAS a Marlin 9mm camp carbine.that darned thing threw brass into the next county. I put that in the safe for many years. Finally, I read on Cast Boolits about a guy who changed the recoil spring and put in a new recoil buffer. The original buffer apparently was nylon and prone to disintegration over time. I bought the new silicon buffer and several Wolff recoil springs of progressively heavier strength. When removing the old nylon buffer it crumbled so I'm very glad I didn't keep shooting it. The heavier springs cause the brass to go 8 to 10 feet rather than 30 yards. I'd forgotten how quiet the 9mm shoots from a 16" barrel. Now I really enjoy that little fun plinker.

[Wayne Smith]

We have a fun gun thread- what gun that you have shot was the least fun, and why?

For a long time for me it was a Maelin 1804c. It wouldn't do better than 6 inches at 50 yards with anything. I shot it slow, fast, and in between. I tried 6 or more different bullets. The famed 358156 didn't do any better than the rest. Mag or special cases it was miserable.

Nothing worse than a gun that won't hit what it is pointed at. I have other Marlins, they all shot well, why wouldn't this one?

Spent over 8 months fighting it. Wondered why I ever bought it. Luckily I finally found the bullet it wanted and this all changed but that gun came real close to moving out of my house.

You have an 1804c Maelin?? Wow - is it a muzzle loading Asperly? Or somewhat akin to Buckshot's famous Asperly?

Mine is my Winchester 95 in 405 Win. With that steel buttplate it will bruise you well, especially from a bench! Didn't notice it at all when I shot the boar, though!

[NoZombies]

I'll throw my hat in with the folks saying high recoiling stuff.

I've got a Ruger #1 in 45/70 and made the mistake of loading about 50 rds of top end "Ruger only" loads. I never made the mistake of trying the loads from the bench, but after shooting a dozen or so standing, I was perfectly happy to let other folks empty the rest of my brass for me. It took months to get the rest of the ammo unloaded, almost all of it 1 round per shooter.

[rattletrap1970]

.45 win mag with full loads in a LAR Grizzly. Felt like I got caned in the palm of my hand

[Scharfschuetze]

Rifle: The Barret M-82/M-107 .50 cal rifle. The recoil isn't bad due to an efficient muzzle brake, but that brake requires double ear protection and is probably part of the reason I have tinnitus. I wouldn't shoot one recreationally, but on the job, well ya got 'a do what ya got 'a do.

Pistol: 1911 (original GI), not the 1911A1. The short grip safety allows the hammer spur to cut the heck out of the web of my hand unless I wear a glove.

Shotgun: 870 Supermag with 3 1/2" shells. Sometimes when shooting geese I don't notice the recoil, but mostly I do. Of course the geese don't think much of it either!

[jimb16]

And another for the .45-70 contender. 6 rounds and my arm was numb for several hours. I think I'd let the grizzley get me before I'd fire that thing again!

[w5pv]

Model 600 Remington 308 bad recoil it would hurt you to shoot

[montana_charlie]

And another for the .45-70 contender. 6 rounds and my arm was numb for several hours. I think I'd let the grizzley get me before I'd fire that thing again!
Over on the Singleshot forum it's not uncommon to see discussions about Contenders in 45/70.
And, every now and then you'll see somebody looking for that barrel in the Want to Buy section.

I have never figured out why ANYBODY would want to shoot that cartridge in a handgun.

CM

[tygar]

My first .460 was before they ported them & I just went to my bench & started to shoot. 6 rounds later I was seeing black with shiny stars flickering. The moral is....don't shoot a ball buster with it low on the table & you leaning into it. Have it hi enough to sit up straight & don't lean in, just have it snug to shoulder.

But, the all time worst was my first .470 double. It was a Douglas & it just did not fit right for me & about broke my shoulder, it really hurt.

For sheer snap from an overbore, the .378 Wby w/o break, no doubt. Even with the break it'll get your attention.

ps it took 2 wks before the stars went away


I FORGOT: I once had my .458 double rifle, double on me! 2 .458s at the same time when your aren't expecting it really sucks. I couldn't shoot from that shoulder for about 3 months & it was the only time I partially dropped a gun.

[Jayhawkhuntclub]

My LCR with heavy 357 mag loads. This thing is amazingly accurate for a sub 2" barrel though. My best groups is sub 2.5" at 20 yards...freehand! Typical groups from a rest are around 3". But it hurts. I guess, it's still more fun to have a gun that shoots well and beats the pi$$ out of you than to have one that you can't hit with.

[azrednek]

A 35 Remington Contender with factory ammo. Once was enough.

[btroj]

Anyone else notice the tendency for light gun/heavy load to be pretty unfriendly to shoot?

I don't mind a 3" 12 ga int he field but to shoot on paper to see how it patterns? Not fun. Worse yet was the short stock I put on my wife's shotgun so my faith gutter could use it with a red dot for turkey. Firing a round with your fingers against your cheek and lips when you know it is gonna hurt isn't pleasant. At least I was smart enough to do the majority of the adjusting using 12 AG trap loads and not 3" 2 oz loads.

[Echo]

Hammerrli .22LR Free Pistol. The flamin' trigger was so light, and the grips fit so well, that I could hardly tell when it went off.

But then there was the Clark 38 - really sweet, but an un-forgiving Bee Eye itch - make a little mistake that would throw a 9 with a 45, and the Clark would throw a 7!

[BRobertson]

A friend's .378 Weatherby!!!

Bob

[jonp]

Ruger #1 45-70 with loads of 405 gr @ around 1,900 fps. from a bench.

Rick

Your a tougher man than I

[Love Life]

7 lb 300 winchester magnum.

[wch]

57mm recoilless rifle.

[Thundermaker]

Ruger 77 stainless with synthetic skeletal stock in '06. Recoil on those guns is horrible for any caliber.

[jonp]

Wow is this a toss-up...I had a Ruger SP101 snub that was no fun with full house 158gr ammo. I could shoot it fine but it was not pleasant.
I shot a double barrel 10g when I was in high school to prove what a stud I was. I let off both barrels at once and found out I was not.
Guy at Whitetail deer camp had a 378 Weatherby Mag he was letting people try. Why have one in deer camp I'm not sure but I was in junior high and trying to be manly so I tried it. Almost broke my shoulder and the scope bite pretty much gave me a concussion. Never tried one again and will never for any reason short of a lifetime safari but many are those Weatherby's beautiful guns.

[jonp]

I used to work at a gunshop/outdoor range many many years ago.When they mounted a scope we would put 3 rounds through each one at 100 yards. I fired 15 rounds through 5, 460 Weatherbys off the bench. I had a bruise that went from my sternum to my elbow.

:drinks: We are not worthy. You must have loved that job to do something like that.

[RogerDat]

Grandfathers 10 gauge single barrel "goose" gun. I was a big kid but not that big. I have uncles in heaven who are probably still chuckling over how that rocked my world.
Sporterized 303 Enfield, I thought cool it's light, easy to carry, still has the neat brass butt plate and I already have ammo. Bought it but did not enjoy that much charge out of a rifle that light directed at a metal butt plate pulled against my shoulder.

[dromia]

Anything black, tactical and without wood. The sheer ugliness of such guns suck out any pleasure one might get shooting them.

[farmerjim]

My Ruger 10-22. It would not shoot better than a 12 inch group at 25 feet. After keeping it for 10 years and trying all kinds of fixes I put a Green Mtn. Bull barrel on it. It now shoots a dime sized ragged hole at 50 yards. From the least fun to the most fun for $100. I may put a $300 trigger on it.

[375supermag]

The only gun I ever fired that I didn't like was a Glock 10mm that I rented at a public range in Ohio while on vacation.
I shot it well enough, but 50 rounds later the web of my right hand between the thumb and trigger finger was rubbed raw from the grip.

That was nearly 20 years ago now and I still have never found a need to own a Glock of my own.

I have shot a couple of lightweight .357Mag revolvers that were just plain unpleasant to shoot as well.

[snuffy]

My worst recoiling rifle is my 300 WSM in a 7# Browning A-bolt. In it's original configuration, that "so-called recoil pad" hurt like heck with the 180 grain factory loads. The first range session with the 20 rounds, left me with a bruised sore shoulder. I wasted no time getting a past magnum recoil shield to test some handloads. Further, I installed a kick-eeze pad on it, that helped immensely.

Another hard kicker is my H&R buffalo rifle in 45-70. It's steel curved buttplate bites into the shoulder, heavily loaded heavy boolits are no fun! I'd like a standard stock with a good pad, it would then be fun.

As for the 45-70 in a contender, I've fired three different guns, all with factory 300 grain shells. While it rares up and comes back over your shoulder, it's not all that bad! Yeah it hurts, but that bullet is really moving! Ya gets what ya paid fer!

Now comes the big Smith & Wussin. I was in the group buy for the MP grand canyon 700 HP. Loaded with those, my 500 is just plain painful! I EVEN fired it off the bench with the big HP boolit, 637 grains and a case damn near full of W-296. Wanted to see if it was fully stabilizing that big long boolit @ 100 yds. (yes it was hitting point forward.) Now-a-days, I'm loading and casting a Lyman 425 swc that is amazingly accurate. And only a bit more recoil than a full house load in a 44 mag.

88668

88669

Oh, that gun tore that scope apart and destroyed the rings. Believe it or not, a BSA red dot that replaced it, still hanging in there with some stouter steel rings.

[Outpost75]

Any gun which comes apart when fired. I've known several intimately.

The bigger the gun when this happens the worse the consequences.88672

[Aunegl]

Shooting full house loads out of a TC Encore 308 - 15" barrel. The recoil of the gun would cut my index finger. After a session at the range, I'd wipe up the blood on the side of the frame. Then I would shoot a TC Contender 44 magnum, which felt like a pop gun.

[MtGun44]

S&W 329 with full power 300 gr loads. Stopped doing that. Keith
250s are plenty. Too many of those in a row and the hand hurts
for a few days due to deep bruising. It is totally a tool - self defense
against large predators when backpacking. For those that don't know
the gun, this is a 26 oz .44 Mag revolver.

Amazingly, hot factory load in a S&W 342 are not quite as brutal, but
still completely unpleasant - high velocity smack in the hand. I can do
it, but it is unpleasant. This is a 10 oz .38 Spl +P revolver. I have
turned down the opportunity to shoot a 340 with .357 magnums, which
is the same gun with a slight frame stretch, about 11 ozs ... not enough
mass in the gun. Great to carry, though.

Bill

[detox]

I once shot a single shot pistol chambered in 308 Winchester with factory load. That was most unpleasant.

My Marlin 45/70 with hot heavy loads turned my shoulder purple...never again.

[paul h]

S&W 340 with 357 mag loads. I was stupid enough to fire the entire cylinder full of loads. I've fired some very powerful handguns, but the 340 was akin to just beating my shooting hand with a 16 oz ball pein hammer.

In long guns It's a tossup between a M95 8X57 and a Nagant carbine. Both of the rifles had short stocks, steel butt plates and short barrels. There is something un-nerving about having your shooting hand sock you in the nose during recoil. Neither of those rifles should have troubled me but the bad ergonomics had them generating recoil all out of proportion to their terminal performance. Needless to say I sold both of them.

[TCFAN]

The most unpleasant handgun I ever shot was my brand new colt 1911. That thing chewed up the web of my hand something awful.Leather glove didn't help. It just chewed them up to get to my hand.Not very good for accuracy.A beaver tail grip safety and a commander hammer made it all better. Now it is one of my favorite pistols. ................Terry

[Kraschenbirn]

I once owned a couple of ol' J.D. Jones' custom T/C barrels: a 7mm JDJ #2 and a .375 JDJ. Both were 14-inchers with SSK 'Arrestor' muzzle brakes and both were 'uncomfortable', to say the least. Using J.D.'s recommended loads, muzzle blast, directed up and sideways by the brake, was considerably more than merely 'impressive' and the straight-back recoil...also a product of the brake...could approach 'ugly' by the time you got to the rams on a 40-round IHMSA match. Unloaded the .375 barrel on another IHMSA shooter whose competition motto was "more powder, bigger bullets" but kept the 7mm and shot it for steel competition until carpal tunnel caught up with me.

Bill

[ktw]

Any centerfire autoloader that makes me hunt for spent brass.

-ktw

[jaysouth]

The worst 'gun' that I ever shot was an M-1 Garand with a rifle grenade. You cannot imagine the recoil. Going from a 150 grain ball round to a two pound grenade produces recoil like getting hit by a sledge hammer. If you rested the butt on the ground and fired a rifle grenade or frag grenade from an adapter, it would break the stock at the pistol grip.

A couple of years later in Germany, we were at this training area for the summer. On the training schedule was live fire with rifle grenades from an M-14.

I volunteered for KP. The 1st Sgt said that the only time in his 27 years that any body actually volunteered for KP.

[Digital Dan]

Those aren't even fun offhand. From a bench? No way.

Curious that. I've shot a Marlin 1895 CB in .45-70 off bags with 510 gr paper patched lead at 1800 fps. It was a ***** cat. It was also incredibly accurate.

[Bret4207]

Call me a wimp, but the worst gun I ever fired was Rem 700 in 308. I think the stock was either aftermarket or ho'made, that much I remember. Steel butt plate too. Guy used to have me "sight it in" for him every fall. 180's I think. He never shot the gun himself that any one knew of. After the first 3 shots the first year I wadded up my coat between me and the gun. Next year I brought a bag of shot. The guy was the friend of my best pals dad. That's the ONLY reason I sighted it for him. He never offered to pay or anything, even drove right by me once when I was broke down 20 miles from nowhere. Funny thing is we were both in the Order of the Arrow together and he was allegedly a great guy. Not so much I think....

Anyways, I'd shot 458's, 375's, 358 Normas, etc but that stinking 308 just made my insides churn after 3-5 shots. I figure it had to be the stock. I hated that rifle.

[FergusonTO35]

My 1975 Marlin 1895 with its original curved buttplate was painful with any loads I put through it. The sharp points of the heel and toe always found my bony shoulder no matter what. I switched to a Guide Gun stock and forend and added a nice squishy recoil pad. Lots more fun now!

[Boyscout]

44 Remington Magum Blackhawk with Pachymar grips; it tore my hand up to the point of bleeding. I rented one at an indoor range years ago. I don't think single action revolvers are meant to have non-slip grips. I do just fine with stock grips on a Blackhawk now.

[Elkins45]

One of the current lightweight alloy Smiths, 5 shot, 357 Mag. I've shot some hard kicking handguns, that was the only one (so far) to actually draw blood.

I'm going to second that. I would rather shoot an entire box of 44 mag out of my Mountain Gun than five 38 +p out of my scandium J frame.

[alg3205]

TC Contender in 45 Winchester Magnum. Broke an Aimpoint off the gun and about broke my wrist, I began to understand the term Hand Cannon with that device. However, as often is the case someone wanted more than I did.

[jsheyn]

The absolute worst gun was a Springfield XDS 45 ACP. The trigger pinches the finger between the trigger guard and then trigger.

[paul h]

I suppose if I expand to rifles my 500 Jeffery would qualify. It's the only rifle I've fired where I've yet to work up from my starting load. Somehow a 600 gr cast bullet over 100 gr of RL-15 for 2200 fps seemed like enough power and I had to pick up the sand bags after each shot as it seemed to move me backwards at least a foot after each shot. I'm sure when I properly stock it, it'll be a pussycat. :roll:

I had the barrel cut with a long throat and can load 50 bmg projectiles. When a buddy asked to shoot the rifle I gave him the 690 gr ap load. He didn't ask to shoot it twice :holysheep

[shredder]

My Lee Enfield No1 MkIII had the short stock and I am 6 foot 1. That rifle punched me in the face every time I touched it off. Miserable thing! Brass butt plate and poor fit made my thumb crash hard into my nose at each shot. I began to develop a major flinch!! I bought a ram line stock set and that cured it completely. Now I have a great old cast boolit rifle.

[1Shirt]

99 Sav in 358 Win. Narrow metal butt plate, and three rounds of factory brought tears to your eyes and black and blue to the shoulder. Wish I had it back!
1Shirt!

[azrednek]

It wasn't me but I did read in a book about a WW2 US GI capturing a Japanese Knee Mortar. As you probably guessed he launched it off his knee and got an early ticket home.

[lawdog941]

I would vote for the S&W 500 with heavy loads. I have small hands and it felt like a sledgehammer hitting me. Got rid of it, happily.

[MT Gianni]

I am OK with recoil for a few rounds but my old Rossi "Puma" in 44 mag made me head straight for the catalog and a recoil pad. I had a P-89 Ruger in 9mm that the best day was the day I sold it the second best was the day I bought it. The trigger pull felt like 10 lbs in DA and was over 5 lbs in SA. The best loads grouped 6" @ 25 yards and that was with jacketed. I own a lot of Rugers but that was my least fun gun my far. It was my only autoloader at the time and I had hopes but finally they left me too. I sold it and a scoped 44 Super Blackhawk for the $$ to buy a used Redhawk, Win 94 30-30 and a S&W 22A.

[waco]

Marlin 1895 .45-70 with RCBS 405 which weigh out GC and lubed at 415 @ 1850FPS
Not a lot of fun.

[geargnasher]

Hard recoil and ill-fitting guns are miserable to shoot. But what's even more miserable to me is a gun that doesn't shoot straight or accurately.

My wife's Model 36 is a pretty little nickel-plated jobbie, tame on the recoil, and has a nice action. It was made during the era when S&W was cranking them out about one every six minutes, and with .355" cylinder throats and the frame twisted so badly from where the barrel was cranked on there it shot nine inches to the right at ten feet, had to correct almost two blade widths (on a snubbie!!) to hit center. Useless. A couple of come-to-Jesus sessions with a 10" bench vise, some strategically placed hardwood blocks, and a 3' cheater pipe fixed that, then a chucking reamer fixed the cylinder so it didn't turn into a lead-lined smoothbore every three shots. Nice pistol, now.

I worked all summer one year to get my Ruger New Vaquero to try to print to the sights, came close with 340-grain boolits and light charges of 2400, but I finally gave up and hit the front blade with a bench grinder. MUCH better and now prints just over the blade with normal loads and boolit weights.

One gun I don't intend to own: A Glock. Fine weapons, they are. Excellent design and execution, well thought-out, highly functional. But as a guy who grew up shooting 1911s and K-frame Smiths, I can't get past the fact that when I grab a Glock and poke it out in front of me, I'm seeing most of the top of the slide. If you started with one, fantastic. Otherwise it really jacks up one's muscle memory with other handguns.

One I got rid of was a very nice, engraved Nikko 12-gauge O/U. Try as I might to make it fit, it would not. Adjustable comb, six-way butt plate, spent a lot of money on that buttstock and never could get all the way under my eye and my scores showed it. I finally admitted defeat and sent it down the road after many miserable hours and dollars wasted on it. Dadgum thing probably resulted in souring me on sporting clays.

I recently got to put some rounds downrange through a friend's competition double-stack .45, at MY range and my own reactive targets no less, and was amazed at the shots I could make and how I could tell what I did wrong immediately when I missed. Great fun. I know those targets well and how much I struggle to hit them consistently with my own 1911s. Interesting to get that revelation of "Well I'll be danged, I'm not such a lousy shot after all!" Guns I can shoot well are FUN, even if they might make me a little sore sometimes. Guns I can't shoot well, or that don't shoot where they're pointed, are miserable.

I'm going to send a rifle I love to hate to Goodsteel next year to get fixed. It's a push-feed Model 70 Featherweight in .270 Winchester that in less than 400 rounds of its life has destroyed three scopes and nearly every shoulder that's fired it. It kicks worse than anything I've ever shot from a bench, far worse than any other .270 and I've shot many other people's rifles just to see. It has that sort of recoil that crushes muscle tissue and leaves a deep soreness that lasts for many weeks. If I hadn't shot my first deer with it it would have been sent down the river for cheap long ago. It's getting a longer, sporter-weight barrel on it chambered in 30-'06, a Pachmayer Magnum Decelerator, and about 3/4 pound of lead in the butt. On top of all that it won't group less than 6" at a hundred anymore.

Gear

[jonk]

Guns that aren't fun to shoot.

I'm sorry, I don't quite understand the concept. Could you elaborate?

[TheGrimReaper]

Marlin guide gun in 450Marlin

[Hanzy4200]

S&W 6906. Obviously not "unpleasant" to fire, but I couldn't hit squat with it. It proved many frustrating range visits for a brand new handgun shooter. Picked up a Springfield XD9 and started hitting what I wanted. The S&W went into a Zastava AK trade. Good riddance.

[Newtire]

.38-55 Winchester "Legendary Frontiersman" with curved steel buttplate. Put the buttplate anywhere and it still hurt.

[Bulldogger]

S&W airweight .357 mag carry pistol. I bought it, took the safety class for my CHP, then the next day fired two cylinders of full-house CORBON magnum HP defense rounds through it and promptly walked to the front of the range/store and put it on consignment. Had a bruised, purple hand for four days. replaced it with a chunky, klunky ARMSCOR model 200 .38 snubbie and love it. She got no grace, but she do the job.

The FEG PA63 I once owned is a close second, silly little 9x18 caliber pistol but in my hand it tore me up and bruised me. Just didn't fit. Sold it for a profit and don't regret it.

Bulldogger

[Tatume]

The worst was a 458 Win Mag Ruger No. 1 firing 720 grain bullets at 1700 fps. I still have 25 of those bullets if anybody cares to abuse himself.

[btreanor]

Browning pump action shotgun in 10 gauge. Spent a day in a duck blind and shot about 2 or 3 boxes of shells. Never again!

[Tatume]

The worst was a 458 Win Mag Ruger No. 1 firing 720 grain bullets at 1700 fps. I still have 25 of those bullets if anybody cares to abuse himself.

P.s., my friend's 50 BMG single shot rifle with mil-surp FMJ ammo was not nearly so uncomfortable.

[JonB_in_Glencoe]

I've had a few guns that had heavily felt recoil, that I didn't like to shoot, the one I remmeber most was a Rem model 700 featherweight in 338 WM.

BUT, and I may get some heat about this, my least favorite shooter was a Ruger Single Six. All that work loading and unloading 22LR for just 6 little pops. Don't get me wrong, I like the single actions in big bore pistols, but the little 22 could have just as well been a cap gun. Yeah, it also wasn't accurate in my hands either, but a friend could hit bulleyes with it ???

[Green Frog]

Another vote for the Ruger #3 lightweight carbine in 45-70. The one we had was fired 3 times, once by my father and twice by me (I'm a slow learner... it couldn't really recoil that much!!) It was traded off with 17 rounds left in the first box of ammo. There is a reason that they sold slowly in small numbers! :shock:

I'll give (dis)honorable mention to my Remington 870 shotgun with 30" full choke barrel and a too-short "tactical" plastic stock. My cheek smarts every time I think about that one! :???:

Froggie

[bangerjim]

S&W SD9VE. Will not cycle my cast boolit loads......no matter what I try. Carts will not go completely in the chamber.

Will shoot FMJ factory loads perfectly but totally inaccurate. at 25 feet, it lays down a pattern larger than a basketball! Never seen/had a handgun that was that inaccurate.

This gun sucks. I guess it will stop someone at close range with factory loads.

banger

[MacFan]

I built an Ingram/Mac10 45acp semi-auto pistol from scratch... all the bending dies, sheet metal and internals. It's a miserable gun to shoot. It'll eat any ammo I feed it but it's big and heavy. I think I sprained my wrist the first time the 24 ounce bolt slammed back.

[Eddie2002]

A 30-06 with a widefield scope on it when I was 18. My dad and I drove 14 hours straight to a friends hunting camp in upstate New Hampshire, spent most of the evening sitting around drinking scotch and then sighted in the rifles early the next morning. I was hung over and holding the rifle like a .22. When I pulled the trigger the rifle bucked up and clobbered me between the eyes with the scope which drew blood and sobered me up. Still have the mark from the scope to this day. I think it also started my love for the 30-06 caliber.

[Mumblypeg]

I had a #3 Ruger in 45-70 once, wish I had it back. It was nice with light loads. I did load some 350grainers to full potential once..... just once.... when I fired it the first time the forend came out of my hand from recoil. Not pleasant. But my ex-brother in law had a Ruger M-77 in .458 Win. I fired it with factory 500grs..... I think I shot it only once.... I really don't remember.... broke me from wanting to shoot a 460 Weatherby.....

[jonp]

I've had a few guns that had heavily felt recoil, that I didn't like to shoot, the one I remmeber most was a Rem model 700 featherweight in 338 WM.

BUT, and I may get some heat about this, my least favorite shooter was a Ruger Single Six. All that work loading and unloading 22LR for just 6 little pops. Don't get me wrong, I like the single actions in big bore pistols, but the little 22 could have just as well been a cap gun. Yeah, it also wasn't accurate in my hands either, but a friend could hit bulleyes with it ???
Thats funny about it not being accurate. I can headshot squirrels with mine. It's not a target pistol but pretty accurate with the right ammo

[w0fms]

Jonk: +1! ;)

[jwber]

Mossberg 500 12g with 3" Magnum Slugs - Made sighting in my scope just "fun"....

[L1A1Rocker]

Well that's an easy one. I don't have pictures of it, and it's the ONLY gun I've ever gotten rid of. In the late 80's I picked up (well, was given by my father as I was under 21 at the time) a Llama 45 ACP. Worst peace of **** on the planet - well, unless it was for the purpose of teaching failure drills. If that was it's purpose, it excelled.

[44 WCF]

My first Rocky Mtn Elk Foundation Banquet I won a Ruger 77 in 338 Win, the first Ruger synthetic skeletonized rear stock, Ruger inset Logo in Forend in it seems contrasting Green. Recoil pad was just a little wider than a single bit axe, and that is the sharp edge. Bought box of Federal General Purpose Rhino Stoppers, 250gr, First shot, sheared scope base screws. Wow, I thought, so after getting screws out, returned to the range. Two more shots,,,,tears,,,,real grape sized tears.....removed scope sold rifle and box with 17 remaining rounds. Was two more owners before a muzzle brake was put on that beast. I just love and respect Ruger firerarms, but that rifle was more than I could handle.


We have a fun gun thread- what gun that you have shot was the least fun, and why?

For a long time for me it was a Maelin 1804c. It wouldn't do better than 6 inches at 50 yards with anything. I shot it slow, fast, and in between. I tried 6 or more different bullets. The famed 358156 didn't do any better than the rest. Mag or special cases it was miserable.

Nothing worse than a gun that won't hit what it is pointed at. I have other Marlins, they all shot well, why wouldn't this one?

Spent over 8 months fighting it. Wondered why I ever bought it. Luckily I finally found the bullet it wanted and this all changed but that gun came real close to moving out of my house.

[chill45100]

For me it would be an 870 riot gun with an 18 inch barrel and magnum 00 buckshot. Fired 250 rounds of the stuff in 2 days at an instructors school. The speed loading drills nearly loosened my fillings! I still like 870 shotguns but not with those accursed 00 magnum loads!

[mikeym1a]

M-79 :)

[Bret4207]

I am OK with recoil for a few rounds but my old Rossi "Puma" in 44 mag made me head straight for the catalog and a recoil pad.

Yeah, I got one of those. Hot loads will really get your attention! Lots more fun with 44 Specials at 800 fps.

[popper]

1920 vintage Caruso 12 ga, 30" full choke, no recoil pad, weighs in @ 5#. Three heavy dove load shots and I gave it to the BIL and told him to hang it on the wall. But dang that thing points great. Men used to be real men.

[rintinglen]

Evil guns..

Along the way I've shot several that were all I could stand.
Handgun winners
# 1 10 inch 30-30 contender with factory wooden stocks. I shot my first and only pistol silhouette match with it. My palm swelled up til my right hand looked half again as large as the left. I could not hold a pencil with it and had to go to the doctor to get prescription strength anti-inflammatory meds.
# 2 A 3 inch S&W 44 mag with full-house buffalo-buster heavy boolit loads. I fired two shots, handed the gun back and now wouldn't take one if you gave it to me.

Shotgun
Clear winner was an old, light, single-shot 12 gauge with a stock designed by the Marquis de Sade. It hurt me so bad my dad didn't have to take me out behind the wood shed--all he had to do was make me shoot it.

Rifle
45-70 Marlin CB with 500 grain boolit "loaded for bear." It will kill just about anything, if you can get it to shoot it from the bench. I actually split the web between thumb and index finger and ended up with 3 stitches from that combination. I made the mistake of putting on a glove, which caused my finger to hit the trigger before I had the gun fully seated on my shoulder. The recoiling tang sight base caught me in the web of my hand and split it like a grape.

These days I'm older and heal slower so I no longer play with hard kicking guns.

[Bret4207]

HA! Just thought if this. Remember when the 10 ga came on real strong? Not when the Ithaca Mag 10 came out first, but the later 10 ga craze when they mandated steel? Guy I knew couldn't swing a Browing or whatever the high buck shot guns were, but he could swing one of those H+R Long Tom 10's. First time he shot it the forearm detached itself and the barrel came back and clobbered him in the face! So he duct taped the forearm on and went out duck hunting. Stood up on his knees in the skiff and pulled the trigger on a bird and went over backwards into the drink! The rest of the story continued on like that. He was nothing if not stubborn. I saw him after one adventure with the Long Tom and he had 2 black eyes!

[Wayne Smith]

The other one I remember is an original Trapdoor Springfield - 45-70. First one that I have ever used, belongs to the brother of my best friend. It was in a house he bought in northern Wisconsin. He asked me to check it out and see if it shot and to load ammo for it. It was tight and the bore was great. I bought a Lyman 457125 mold, bought brass and I had BP. The first time I shot it I went out and bought a PAST pad! I was shooting at a public range and a guy next to me was shooting a Barrett single shot 50BMG. He saw me shooting big blooms of smoke and asked me if he could trade shots. I said sure! The Barrett kicked like a 12ga. After two shots he asked for his back, he didn't want to shoot the Springfield any more!

[jonp]

HA! Just thought if this. Remember when the 10 ga came on real strong? Not when the Ithaca Mag 10 came out first, but the later 10 ga craze when they mandated steel? Guy I knew couldn't swing a Browing or whatever the high buck shot guns were, but he could swing one of those H+R Long Tom 10's. First time he shot it the forearm detached itself and the barrel came back and clobbered him in the face! So he duct taped the forearm on and went out duck hunting. Stood up on his knees in the skiff and pulled the trigger on a bird and went over backwards into the drink! The rest of the story continued on like that. He was nothing if not stubborn. I saw him after one adventure with the Long Tom and he had 2 black eyes!

I was actually standing in a lgs oogling a sharps when a couple of kids came in to buy a duck shotgun. Just had to have a browning 10g. The salesman tried to gently disuade the kid buying it but nothing is as boolitproof as an 18 yr old with an audience so the salesman gave up and sold it to him. After they walked out I told the guy behind the counter that id be back for that shotgun next week and he just smiled and shook his head. Went in the next week and sure enough it was in the used rack. No I didn't buy it either

[bruce drake]

S&W Sigma in 40S&W. Worst gawd awful trigger I've ever shot in a pistol in 30 years of shooting. Gave it back to the Father-In-Law...

[Grendl]

+1 on a Ruger #3 in 45-70 pure misery with heavy loads and I'm not recoil sensitive as a rule.

[flounderman]

The 3 1/2 inch 12 ga pump, with the 18 00 buckshot load. This is the equivlent of firing 2 regular 12 ga loads at once. I loaded the stock with shot and with a full magazine it added more weight but it would still hurt you. Anybody over 40 has no business shooting it. It will put your neck out of joint and bruise you. I watched a guy shoot two deer with it and his front foot left the ground every shot. Told me afterwards he wouldn't shoot it again if I gave it to him. I wasn't impressed with its performance. The 3 inch 00 seems to have more velocity and is a better killer. 18 00 have to weigh about 3 oz and I don't believe they had the velocity they needed to be as effective as a 3 inch.

[waksupi]

I had an old milsurp 8mm Lebel years ago, that really made the snot fly. I think they designed it like that, so the troops wouldn't waste ammo. I also had a .62 flinter I built years ago, with a slow twist, and weighing just short of 7 1/2#. It needed 170 gr. 2F to shoot well, and killed at both ends!

[Jazzcat]

I was at the range trying out my new 12 gauge Coach Gun shooting 2 1/2 inch standard loads. The guy next to me was shooting a riot gun with 3" 00 buck magnum. He let me try one in my gun. One was enough for me. I had a bruise for weeks. Still have the gun and shoot standard loads of #4 buck for home defense.

[Chilmonty]

A buddy of mine and I took his dads Winchester .458 to the range many years ago.
We each shot it "ONE TIME", Holy ****!!!

[gandydancer]

Hard to believe it my self. But it was a savage 99 F "feather weight in 308. factory rounds only. 150 grains maybe?? back in 66 I was 23 yrs old and it beat the snot out of me. a few times I was spitting blood don't know if i bit my self or rattled my teeth. sold it off real quit.

[lead thrower]

Browning BPS. 12 ga. I hated the trigger and the feel or it.

[Hickory]

A 460 Weatherby.
I got a life time supply with one shot.

[Dframe]

10 inch Contender in 45/70! BRUTAL! BRUTAL! BRUTAL!

[thehouseproduct]

Tiger no. 1 in 300 win mag. Recoil doesn't usually bother me (my bench work load for deer and pig is a 350 grn bullet at 2225 fps), but the recoil on that 300 bothered me. It didn't help that it wouldn't shoot well either. I have discovered that I don't like magnum velocities. Big chunk of lead at slow to moderate speeds is more comfortable toe me.
Ha ha. Exact same for me. I have a #1 in 300 win mag with a sporter weight barrel that I shot roughly 75 rounds during load development. I'm not sure I can even trust the results I was flinching so bad near the end.

[Bigslug]

Wildey .44 Auto Mag. The rear of the grip is shaped like a 2x4 with perfectly sharp 90 degree corners. Extremely painful!

[jeepyj]

When I was much younger a acquaintance was in a pit shooting as I was driving by so I stopped to chat. We'll he was helping a young lady learn to shoot... After a bit out comes what he called his dads single shot 10 gauge goose gun with a 28" barrel. First he shoots it with bird shot then he hands it to the young lady and she touches off the same thing. Next he asks if I wanted to give it a try & I said sure. We'll un-be-known to me he loads it with a 3.5" slug. I let that thing go and it knocked me on my a__ in a short hurry. I thought the guy was going to have a heart attack he was laughing so hard. I had to check to see if my shoulder was still connected.
Jeepyj

[TXGunNut]

I'm not usually recoil sensitive but my T/C in 35 Rem is a bit "difficult" after 3-4 rounds. Hard-kicking rifles don't bother me much but I don't make a habit of them, no need risking a detached retina. I've never fired a 14" 45-70 Contender so I still want one. No risk of buying one with a shot-out barrel!
To answer the question I had an H&K 94 with the factory scope mount. Once the novelty of hearing the bullet hit the target @ 50 yds wore off I tired of chasing brass and sold it for what I paid for it. The year was 1987, price was $500. The butt-kicking I gave myself over that hurt worse than any rifle, shotgun or pistol I've ever shot.

[blikseme300]

My BFR in 444M hurts but I won't part with it. The most I have shot with full loads in one session was 3 rounds. I have down loaded it and with 200gn boolits it is now a regular plinker. On my wish list is a 45-70.

[SGTM9]

An old Hopkins Allen 12ga. Double. IT has a bad sear on the front trigger. NEVER pull the rear trigger first! A recoil induced 2nd shot is not fun. I was 14 when I shot it my first time. It belonged to my Grandfather. Plan on handing it down to my Grandson.

[Gunslinger1911]

12" T/C 45-70 I think it's worse than the 500 mag. Prob has something to do with the grip angle.

Shot it once with the stock wood grips - BIG mistake !!!!

[243winxb]

375 H & H is not fun off the bench with 300gr J full power loads. Declined an offer to shoot 458 Win. Mag & 505 Gibbs.

[Teddy (punchie)]

1## 760 Rem camber 30-06 Over load 25-30% , had to call Remington to make sure gun was
still safe. As camber pressure was around 59,000 if I recall right. Action opened on shooting
and removed the empty case. Gun went frying out of my hands.

2## 12 Ga 525 gr lead slugs

3## 375 Imp. H&H

4## Any 300 Win. Mag that is shooting a 5 group at 100 yds. after shooting a few in years ago
I like to use them for bats using a tree for a ball, LOL.

5## 12ga 1-1/2 mags for trap shooting, took wrong boxes when left. Did shoot good at the sporting clays.

6## sighting in 13 rifles one Thanksgiving weekend for PA deer season, everyone waited too long and 3 got
new guns. I learned to say no. And to sight in on my chest and not my hunting shoulder.

[Digital Dan]

Have not yet been cowed by recoil though there were a few that I didn't enjoy a lot. Quickest path to selling a gun is finding that it doesn't shoot and can't be made to shoot with reliable precision that is acceptable for its purpose. Gone with the wind....

[badgeredd]

Model 600 Remington 308 bad recoil it would hurt you to shoot

As did mine before I installed a big recoil pad. The worst handgun was a Colt Police Positive that didn't fit my hand with a 45 ACP 1917 with a shortened barrel and skinny grip being a close second. The worst shotgun was a 20 Gauge Ithaca that was super light, Lightweight or some such nonsense. Odd thing to me is that in all of the cases I never would have thunk it!!!

I still have the Colt but have installed Pachmeyers (sp) on it that make a world of difference.

Edd

[pipehand]

Believe it or not, my particular least fun gun was an AR-15. One of the Bushmasters produced during the AWB that had a 14.5" barrel with the permanently affixed AK-74 muzzle break. Required double ear protection. The whole upper was traded off, and a 20" with a standard flash hider replaced it. Much more fun.

[Kylongrifle]

Ive shot/owned rifles up to .375H&H, shotguns up to 10ga and none of them was like shooting my little H&R topper BUCK model 162 with a 3" 12ga slug..The gun is only about 3' long it seems and weighs 5 pounds 3 ounces..Its like trying to hold a buffalo by the tail and outkicks any 3 1/2 gun by far! Im a large man and not at all scared of recoil but this little thing is something else..

[mac60]

My Brother in law has a 10 ga. single shot break open that ain't no fun at all to shoot. Years ago I had a Ruger lever action .44 mag. that was the most inaccurate gun I've ever shot. No matter what I shot through it (I didn't cast at that time) be it factory ammo or handload, no matter what bullet weight it just wouldn't shoot.

[daniel lawecki]

THe 460 Weatherby magnum standing 3 shots never ever again.

[DeanWinchester]

While not recoil related, the worst guns I've ever owned were all 1911's.
!!!gasp!!!

They feel like barge anchor, I've never been able to shoot anything better than a pie plate at 15 yards. I've had nothing but bad experiences with them. I had an Essex frame/GI slide that was a super jammomatic. A colt series 70 that could shoot around corners. A Colt series 80 that would drop the hammer when a magazine was inserted. Found that out INSIDE the house, thank god no one was hurt. And three others that were equally worthless.
I've shot some really nice ones belonging to others including a few Wilson's and a Les Baer. I don't see the love for the antiquated boat anchors.
I know some people have all kinds of good use out of them. I now there's some really good ones out there but my experience has been anything but.
I'm confused why it, and not the Hi Power (JMB's true crowning achievement) took off.

[PalmettoShooter]

I wasn't too surprised to see that a lot of the dislikes were due to extreme recoil. I could understand needing a powerhouse of a gun for taking certain types of game, but I just don't get the fun in it outside of that. I have a turkey gun I've owned forever. I shoot it all the time. The recoil still puts a surprised look on my face each time! Guess that's why I mostly shoot 22lr nowadays.

[MBTcustom]

While not recoil related, the worst guns I've ever owned were all 1911's.
!!!gasp!!!

They feel like barge anchor, I've never been able to shoot anything better than a pie plate at 15 yards. I've had nothing but bad experiences with them. I had an Essex frame/GI slide that was a super jammomatic. A colt series 70 that could shoot around corners. A Colt series 80 that would drop the hammer when a magazine was inserted. Found that out INSIDE the house, thank god no one was hurt. And three others that were equally worthless.
I've shot some really nice ones belonging to others including a few Wilson's and a Les Baer. I don't see the love for the antiquated boat anchors.
I know some people have all kinds of good use out of them. I now there's some really good ones out there but my experience has been anything but.
I'm confused why it, and not the Hi Power (JMB's true crowning achievement) took off.

If you ever try a good one you might have a better experience.
Try a nice cheap Rock Island Armory, or a Ruger SR1911, and call me in the morning. I won't own a Kimber, or a colt. I carry a RIA compact.

[grampa243]

newEngland firearms 12 rifled slug gun.. it was my first deer gun ouch.. (so glad we can use a center-fire rifle now :)

[Green Lizzard]

,378 weatherby, still have the scar. traded it off the same week i bought it

[MBTcustom]

Personally, I've never yet found a rifle with too much recoil for me to handle (although 416 RemMag is the stoutest I have shot)
I have had a few that were real dogs in the accuracy dept. but I know how to get around that. I just whisper sweet nothings and they follow the sultry sound of my voice.
I suppose the one that has really bummed me out the worst, was this 1917 Brazilian S&W that my uncle left to me when he passed on. The cylinder chambers were reamed too close together, and the throats were .459, so consequently, it shoots like dog.
I fixed the problem though by modifying a model 27 cylinder and boring it out to .0005 bigger than groove. Only problem is I just can't decide whether to make it a 45acp like the original or to go ahead and turn it into a 45colt.
Tough decision!

[dragon813gt]

6## sighting in 13 rifles one Thanksgiving weekend for PA deer season, everyone waited too long and 3 got new guns. I learned to say no. And to sight in on my chest and not my hunting shoulder.

I got a good laugh out of this. The shots were ringing out this morning. And I know how packed the ranges will be tomorrow and Saturday. I will never understand people that shoot three shots to sight in and expect to take a deer. Those three sight in shots are the only shots they fire all year.

[Bullshop Junior]

Ive got a 4lb NEF rifled slug gun i tried touching off a 3" full bore 750 grn slug in...it wasnt pleasant.

[Larry D.]

12ga pistol.
It was a registered specimen a gunsmith buddy had.
I never complained about the PA63 again.

[Bent Ramrod]

A friend's son showed up at our shooting site once with a .30-378. This was not a long range heavy bench gun; it was one of a handful of standard sporters allegedly built by Weatherby before even Roy had to concede that the "high-velocity, high-intensity" Magnum concept could be pushed to ridiculous extremes. Until mutant Killer Shrews actually grow to a weight of 50 lb or so, there will never be a use for a rifle of this caliber and weight.

I took one shot, which was enough for a lifetime. I flinched and missed whatever I was shooting at at 75 yards. I was utterly uninterested in trying again. This, I was assured, was a "light load" with a mere 100 grains of powder.

[DeanWinchester]

If you ever try a good one you might have a better experience.
Try a nice cheap Rock Island Armory, or a Ruger SR1911, and call me in the morning. I won't own a Kimber, or a colt. I carry a RIA compact.

I would hope for the godawful amount of money they charge for them, a Wilson Combat should be as good as it gets. It shot well enough I suppose. No failures, but I wouldn't trade my Glock for one.

[historicfirearms]

Most boring, Contender 22lr pistol.

Least fun with full power loads, ruger no. 3 in 45-70. Ouch!

[Jailer]

A certain 356 Winchester belonging to another member. 3 shots and I was done. Shoulder ached the rest of the day from that gun.

[T-Bird]

12 ga H+R single barrel with 3" turkey load

[Gunslinger1911]

Ha Ha reading through these is great ! Thought of another ...

18 yrs old, only been shooting a couple years. Trip to range with buddy, (great people frequented this range - everybody shot everybody's guns), guy pulls out a .96 cal musket, asks for volunteers, well duh !
Ready to pull trigger, hear a mumble thru ear muffs, just as I pull trigger I hear "better lean into it more" . Knocked me on my butt ! Asks if I wanna try again ? Uh, no, I'm good, thanks.

He proceeds to nail a gallon milk jug at 100 yds 4 out of 5 shots.

[btroj]

A heavily loaded TC Renegade in 54 cal bites me bad. The stock design and my cheek don't mix well. One or two rounds and I am sore as heck and not willing to fire any more.

Stock design, proper fit, and gun weight make a huge difference. A well fit heavy recoiler is better than a poorlyf it lower recoiler.

[Digital Dan]

Problem with the Renegade for full size fellas in LOP and drop at the comb. My .50 was the same until a 1" pad was installed. Turned into one of my favorite rifles after that. It wasn't the shoulder that got stomped, it was my cheek from rolling my head over to find a sight picture.

[GL49]

TC Contender in .45-70 with a 14" barrel. Even with the muzzle brake, 2 shots were as much as I wanted to attempt. Brutal.

Shiloh

I only made it as far as one shot with one of those. no more. never.

[Heavy lead]

A Smith and Wesson 357 (model) Scandium .41 magnum, flipping brutal.
It's gone
My Smith and Wesson 60 3" barrel with .357's, it should be a .38 and has been relegated to them only.
Any straight grip lever action .45-70, me and straight grip lever guns don't mix with anything more powerful than a revolver cartridge, especially in the woefully light Marlin Cowboy flavor, I'd rather shoot my Ruger 77 mkII magnum in .416 Rigby with full power loads.

[Mk42gunner]

A few come to mind. In more or less chronological order they are:

A CBC (I think) Brazilian made 12 ga single shot that weighed about 4½ lbs, with a stock that made a dogs hind leg look straight. A buddy and I had been out squirrel hunting with light loads and on the way back we saw a bunch of starlings. Leaning over a fencepost to ground sluice the flying rats with a 1½ oz short magnum was not fun. I gave $15 for it and sold it shortly after wards for $25, I made out for a couple of reasons on that sale.

A Stevens 16 ga that liked to misfire. You never really knew if it was going off or not.

A Winchester Model 670 in .300 Win Mag. Helping to sight it in for one of the rangemasters of one of the local PD's that used my range while thier's was getting rebuilt. 10 rounds were enough for me.

I had a Ruger No.1 in .45-70, and of course had to load up some Elmer Keith Memorial Loads. The box of Speer 405's I had were not up to having a full load of 3031 behind them, a tougher bullet probably would have been fine, but these turned inside out when they hit anything.

The most obnoxious gun I have shot is an H&R Turkey 12 ga 3½" turkey gun. Light, ill balanced with the recoil reducer in the stock, and the dang thing will not even extract a 3½" hull. I took the reducer out of the stock and use light field loads in it for squirrels.

I really didn't care for the 25mm chaingun (should have used a power supply instead of a battery on board ship) or the MK 19 (any gun that is issued with a jackscrew to get projectiles out of the barrel when, not if, a case blows out needs to be redesigned).

Robert

[Ghost101]

In my early teens, a friend of my dad was into black powered gun's an I was just getting into them myself. He handed me what I thought to be a old double barreled shot gun. Turn out to be a .500 Nitro Express. Once was enough.
Next would be a I think it was a North American 45/70 derringer. A whole lot of no fun.
Another derringer same make in .44mag.
A Ruger #3 in 45/70
A .22Lr Sig. auto. Doesn't function very well and the groups are even worse.

Ghost101

[1845greyhounds]

14" TC Contender with the old wood thumb rest grip. When I was 14, I shot one in 44mag with 300gr bullets and max loads of WW296. The recoil was incredible. The gun would twist almost sideways in my hand and flip up almost completely vertical. It hurt...

A 10mm Colt Delta (circa 1995) was a close second. The recoil was very sharp. Interestingly, my all time favorite gun is a ported 10mm Springfield Armory Omega (1911 like). The porting really tames the recoil.

All this talk about 45/70 Ruger No. 3's being unpleasant, has me rethinking my plans to convert a No. 1 into a smokeless 45 cal muzzleloader...

[oldgeezershooter]

I got a pretty good deal years ago on a Lew Horton model29 with a three inch barrel and round butt.Took it to the range and shot one of my SuperBlackhawk hunting loads with Blue Dot, the muzzle flash and recoil was obscene and the gentleman next to me says "What the hell was that?"
After that I only fired .44 specials and it still was too much. Made someone else a pretty good deal on it.
The other two weren't recoil related but hearing related, .357 Maximum and .30 carbine Ruger Blackhawks.

[snoopy]

Mossberg 590 w/3in slugs w/o recoil pad. With pad, very manageable, I still use 2 3/4. Also a win 94 in .375, belonged to a friend who loaned it to me for deer season, he called it "ole thumper" and I found out why.

[HighHook]

I thought it was 3" mag slug in a light rifle but, no no no

The 416 remmag takes the cake... never want to even touch that rifle again... Major ouch factor.

[chuckbuster]

.300 Weatherby Mark V with the factory light contour barrel. Just not enough weight in the gun to keep "recoil velocity" at tolerable level.

Of course it probably did not help that I was shooting a right hand rifle left handed. THat "Monte Carlo" cheekpiece was definitely not friendly from the "wrong" side.
Kevin

[Lloyd Smale]

the worse gun i ever shot was kelly brosts (previous owner of cast performance bullets) 458 lott contendor. that was a handgun to open your eyes. Second worse was my buddy als 44 mag bond derringer with 300 grain cast bullets pushed by 22 grains of 110. About like lighting a stick of dynamite in your hand.

[rbuck351]

I've shot a few that weren't much fun. A 416Rem with 400gr bullets at around 2500fps and a scope with not quite enough eye relief will get your attention and make you bleed. The 10ga single shot is bad, the 10ga double with 2oz loads and both tubes at once is not something most folks will do twice. A buddy had a 357 Derringer that was just plain nasty. I don't even want to try a 44mag derringer with bear loads. My 416Rem will be shooting 365gr cast at about 2250 and I'm thinking that should be enough fun for me. I also have a 454 Casull in the Rossi 92 which puts a 317gr cast out at 1950 from a gun right at 5lbs. This is pushing my fun meter to the limit. I have heard stories of the big Weatherbys and have no interest in shooting one of those or the big African doubles.

[Houndog]

That's an easy one for me! A gunsmith friend's 50BMG with a clamshell muzzle brake! It bruised my shoulder, hurt my Ears with both muffs and ear plugs AND cleaned off everything on two benches on either side of us! I've shot several 50's over the years , but this one is PURE EVIL as far as I'm concerned!

[dsmjon]

Folding stock Galil in FA. Trigger slap so bad, I had my fill after only 60 rounds.

[TXGunNut]

I got a good laugh out of this. The shots were ringing out this morning. And I know how packed the ranges will be tomorrow and Saturday. I will never understand people that shoot three shots to sight in and expect to take a deer. Those three sight in shots are the only shots they fire all year.

If the rifle's sighted in and the first shot goes where I want it I move on to the next rifle.

[Walter Laich]

Bond derringer with full load .45 Colt round (notice singular word).

Do enjoy it with very lightly loaded .38 Sp

[Bullshop Junior]

Bond derringer with full load .45 Colt round (notice singular word).

Do enjoy it with very lightly loaded .38 Sp

I remember my dad working with on of these, and he desided it was worthy of a full bore 454. He touched that off, and had a bruise under his thumb nail for six months. He actually did proceed to shoot it a few more times to get the heaviest load he could fire in the gun that the gun would handle. He figured it was worth it for having a bear gun he could keep in his pocket.

[btroj]

Jr, did he preceded it with "watch this"?

[jonp]

Jr, did he preceded it with "watch this"?

Everything worth watching is preceded with "hey everyone, watch this"

[btroj]

It Is often followed blood, profanity, and laughter. Nothing good comes from it in many cases.

[Kylongrifle]

Id like to add any number of the mini-14's and Ar's that Ive shot in various training camps over the years. Correctional depts.(even the federal bureau of prisons) arnt known to take care of training rifles..The mini 14's would group just about minute of boxcar at 50 yards..The AR's were really converted M16 milsurp rifles bounced around the govt. They often would rack off 3-4-6-10 round bursts when you had it on semi auto..

[MBTcustom]

Id like to add any number of the mini-14's and Ar's that Ive shot in various training camps over the years. Correctional depts.(even the federal bureau of prisons) arnt known to take care of training rifles..The mini 14's would group just about minute of boxcar at 50 yards..The AR's were really converted M16 milsurp rifles bounced around the govt. They often would rack off 3-4-6-10 round bursts when you had it on semi auto..

Gotta agree with you there. I only ever saw one Mini14 that was any sort of accurate. 4" @ 50 yards seems to be standard.

[btroj]

That explains the poor shooting on The A-team!

[joehaberxxx]

My Stoeger 12 ga. coach gun. Not so much the recoil, but the triggers are awful. The maker must have had a little too much rice wine the night before. I need to get them addressed but they are not on my priorities list

[BruceB]

Gotta agree with you there. I only ever saw one Mini14 that was any sort of accurate. 4" @ 50 yards seems to be standard.

Not any longer, it's not.

In 2010, NVCurmudgeon and I each bought a new Mini-14. His is a stainless Ranch Rifle, and mine is a Davidson's "Deluxe" version, the main difference being a Circassian walnut stock. These rifles have the later tapered barrel profile.

Both rifles now have Leupold scopes; NVC's is a 3-9X VX III, and mine a 1-4X Mark AR. I added an L1A1 flash suppressor to mine 'cuz I dislike the look of the Ruger FS.

My point: BOTH of these Mini-14s will group all day inside 1.5" at 100 yards, and I once saw NVC fire FIVE consecutive five-shot groups that were either INSIDE one inch for five rounds or just barely above that figure. Nice to see!

My own rifle has occasionally given me five-shot groups of one inch or less from 100, but realistically it's a reliable 1.5" grouper. That's a FAR cry from 4" at fifty yards! This Mini consistently out-shoots my near-new Armalite AR15.

All the above shooting (both Minis) was done with handloaded Hornady 55 V-Max bullets, with both of us arriving at that choice independent of the other.

(I have another Mark AR scope on the Armalite; it's the 3-9X version with a trajectory compensator. It's calibrated for "55 grains @ 3100 fps".... my 55 V-Max load chronos at 3097 average.... I reckon that's close enough? Anyhow, the system works well and I can reliably hit smallish targets out to 500 yards IF I know the actual range. Recommended! :))

[45 2.1]

Gotta agree with you there. I only ever saw one Mini14 that was any sort of accurate. 4" @ 50 yards seems to be standard.

All depends on the series..... the original Mini-14s were the 180 series with the shallow forend stock...... they shot very, very well. Feed them good ammo and they did MOA regularly. The 181 and following series, till about the time of the target jobs, were nothing to write home about (about 2.5 MOA if you were lucky and above).

And on this least fun gun business..... I have a friend that had a fancy special order Browning rifle that was engraved and a fancy wood stock...... all 8 pounds of it dripping wet so to speak. He handed me three factory 500 gr. solids.... I loaded them and pulled the first one off standing.... I then said it can't kick that much and loaded the second cartridge.... upon pulling that one off, I decided it could kick that much and removed the third shell and handed it and the rifle back to him. Not fun at all.............

[Brad Phillips]

M2, shooting was great, but having to hump the parts from one location to another was a pain. As was digging an extra large fox hole.

[Kylongrifle]

You also have to realize these mini 14's were training guns and have thousands of rounds put through them over the course of about 12 years by the time I got to them..They rattled like parts in a dishpan and the throat was gone to say the least..

[alrighty]

Well that's an easy one. I don't have pictures of it, and it's the ONLY gun I've ever gotten rid of. In the late 80's I picked up (well, was given by my father as I was under 21 at the time) a Llama 45 ACP. Worst peace of **** on the planet - well, unless it was for the purpose of teaching failure drills. If that was it's purpose, it excelled.
I agree about the Llama .45 , absolute junk.It was the first handgun I ever bought.I hesitate to call it a 1911 but I didn't buy another .45 for almost 20 years. I sold the Llama and bought a new Ruger that had just came out , the P-85 [smilie=b:.That was the second worst pistol I have ever owned.
As far as recoil I guess the worst would be the Mossberg 835 , 3 1/2" 12 gauge, it isn't too bad when firing at game but I hated pattering that gun with a passion.I had a Browning Safari salt wood in .375 H&H that would get your attention but the Mossberg was just brutal.

[johnson1942]

many years ago i bought a over priced pennsyvania precussion long rifle .45 cal kit. from dixie. put it together and it was beautiful. sighted it in after just a couple of rounds and then i couldnt hit anything. drove me nuts. take it out and it would print in a dime 2 or 3 rounds then they went every where. this gun taught me more about muzzleloading than i would have ever learned with a good gun. i read every old book i could, called people and become a bit of a expert on muzzle loading because of that lemon. now that you all are curious i bet most of you guessed why it was good for a couple of rounds then went in the toilet. yes, it was the barrel was bored off center by at leaste a 1/8 of a inch or more. when the barrel started to heat up it bent toward the lean thin side badly. one day a man from canada saw it and fell in love with it, it really looked nice. i told him about its problem and he still wanted to buy it. he was with alot of money and he was building a beautiful log cabin up north and wanted it to hang above the fireplace. he said it will never be shot again and would be a wall hanger. i got my money back out of that gun and moved on to build quite a few really good muzzleloaders all thanks to dixies overpriced lemon that they sold me. thank you dixie, however you havent got much of my business since then. i feel even better getting that off my chest.

[MBTcustom]

many years ago i bought a over priced pennsyvania precussion long rifle .45 cal kit. from dixie. put it together and it was beautiful. sighted it in after just a couple of rounds and then i couldnt hit anything. drove me nuts. take it out and it would print in a dime 2 or 3 rounds then they went every where. this gun taught me more about muzzleloading than i would have ever learned with a good gun. i read every old book i could, called people and become a bit of a expert on muzzle loading because of that lemon. now that you all are curious i bet most of you guessed why it was good for a couple of rounds then went in the toilet. yes, it was the barrel was bored off center by at leaste a 1/8 of a inch or more. when the barrel started to heat up it bent toward the lean thin side badly. one day a man from canada saw it and fell in love with it, it really looked nice. i told him about its problem and he still wanted to buy it. he was with alot of money and he was building a beautiful log cabin up north and wanted it to hang above the fireplace. he said it will never be shot again and would be a wall hanger. i got my money back out of that gun and moved on to build quite a few really good muzzleloaders all thanks to dixies overpriced lemon that they sold me. thank you dixie, however you havent got much of my business since then. i feel even better getting that off my chest.

That story warmed my heart!
That has happened to me so many times. I used to scrimp and save and finally have enough money to get into what should have been an "average" something-or-other, and always ended up with a lemon. I broke a 10-22 (wish I had known about Ruger's return policy), a Rossi pump .22, had a winchester M70 that shot 4" at 100, still have a 336 that shoots 4" at 100, the list goes on and on. If it weren't for these blessed gun makers putting out janky ****e, I never would have learned how to work on them! Ha!
Now I have some nice rifles that I built for myself that are far and away better than anything I can buy at the store, and I'm a gunsmith, so now I make everyone elses problem children mind too.

[johnson1942]

thanks for your coments, and i will share this also. when that dixie lemon stimulated me to read read read, i read the true story fo the battle of new orleans. the first shot fired was by a kentucky long rifleman named morgan. morg was ordered to take out a annoying british officer and it was 218 yards out. he stepped and at offhand he put a roundball through the young officers head. then the battle started. their were about 3400 dead and wounded of the brits. most were head shots at 90 yards. sorry you readers from england but that is history, and by the way my very best friend was born in london. after i read that i did every thing i could to find out what their guns were about and i even traveled to cody wy. and looked down many a muzzle loader barrel with a flash light to learn their bores. thank god i run into a guard their that let me do all that with him watching. i still have the .45 round ball i built with all that info and it has since got a deer at 175 yards with the ball perfectly placed and another at 125 yards with perfect accracy. all we have to do is relearn a lot what our forefathers figured out and apply it. one thing modern ive learned that cures alot of cranky guns is cryo teating the barrel, makes the harmonics smooth and the very same from shot to shot. also with modern guns it usually lets the bullet gain about 100 ft. per sec. post cryoing with the very same loads. i think back over the years how cryoing the barrel cured many a cranky barrel of my frienss at my suggestion. the one that sticks out in my mind was a very expensive weatherby .300 mag. it fired one good shot then it went every where. after cryoing it consistantly shot a very tight 300 yard group. most likely the barrel was made from a straightened bent bar stocks. cryoing took that memory of the original bend out of the steel. it become the owners favorite gun. thanks every one in bringing back good memories, johnson1942

[Bullshop Junior]

Jr, did he preceded it with "watch this"?

Not that I remember. I do remember his coming in with his hand covered in blood, and the words "not a good idea"

[btroj]

Those are the lessons we never, ever forget. Pain has a way of leaving a lasting memory.

[SawmillJack]

A 1970s vintage Charter Arms Target Bulldog in .357 magnum I really liked that gun with .38 specials but magnums would make a strong man cry. It literally felt like someone was striking the palm of your hand with a bat.

[geargnasher]

If it weren't for these blessed gun makers putting out janky ****e, I never would have learned how to work on them! Ha!
Now I have some nice rifles that I built for myself that are far and away better than anything I can buy at the store, and I'm a gunsmith, so now I make everyone elses problem children mind too.

Yes you do, and you'll be a busy man for some time to come. But bless the "janky ****e", it forced me to learn how to load good, custom ammunition.

BTW, I just remembered the absolute least fun, ever gun I ever shot. I still have it, too, probably because I put it away 20 years ago and haven't let it out of its bag since: Hi Standard .22 Magnum derringer. 37-pound trigger, have to pull it with the middle finger which means the index finger has to point down the side of the barrels. I have long fingers. Put that together. On top of that, the report and muzzle blast must be experienced to be believed, and it would just barely hit a 5-gallon bucket at ten feet.

Gear

[dale2242]

A Ruger #1 in 458 Win Mag with 500 gr solids....dale

[marvelshooter]

My nephews Ruger LCR38 with some +P loads. Just the thought of the same gun in .357 makes my hand hurt.

[jonp]

That story warmed my heart!
That has happened to me so many times. I used to scrimp and save and finally have enough money to get into what should have been an "average" something-or-other, and always ended up with a lemon. I broke a 10-22 (wish I had known about Ruger's return policy), a Rossi pump .22, had a winchester M70 that shot 4" at 100, still have a 336 that shoots 4" at 100, the list goes on and on. If it weren't for these blessed gun makers putting out janky ****e, I never would have learned how to work on them! Ha!
Now I have some nice rifles that I built for myself that are far and away better than anything I can buy at the store, and I'm a gunsmith, so now I make everyone elses problem children mind too.

4in at 100yrds is good enough for a whitetail swamp gun and wrks for me. If you want to pass it on let me know

[novalty]

Most recent one that I shot which was uncomfortable for my arthritis wrists was Thompson Center in 30-30. Before that the S&W Shield in 40 S&W.

[Dan Cash]

TC Contender with a 10 inch, tapered profile barrel in 30-30. Ouch!

I bet that is the one I used to own.:)

[snowtigger]

I have two, nay, three that are not fun. First, an encore pistol in 30/06, second an Interarms in 458 Win Mag; load that sucker with 405 gr Remingtons at full throttle and shoot it from the bench. Loaded twenty, shot twelve before deciding it was no fun. The only RIFLE I ever backed up from. Three; a Ruger Super Redhawk in 454 Casull. That one, I traded for. The guy said it had only been shot eleven times. He gave me a full box and nine rounds of Winchester 260 grn bullets, plus a new set of dies and eleven fired cases. For some reason those 260's slapped my hand like nothing I had ever shot. No fun until I started loading it down and worked back up. Heavier bullets at lower velocities are a lot more fun.
PS the Encore also came with a 22-250 barrel so all is not lost.

[dondiego]

All depends on the series..... the original Mini-14s were the 180 series with the shallow forend stock...... they shot very, very well. Feed them good ammo and they did MOA regularly. The 181 and following series, till about the time of the target jobs, were nothing to write home about (about 2.5 MOA if you were lucky and above).

And on this least fun gun business..... I have a friend that had a fancy special order Browning rifle that was engraved and a fancy wood stock...... all 8 pounds of it dripping wet so to speak. He handed me three factory 500 gr. solids.... I loaded them and pulled the first one off standing.... I then said it can't kick that much and loaded the second cartridge.... upon pulling that one off, I decided it could kick that much and removed the third shell and handed it and the rifle back to him. Not fun at all.............

455 2.1 - What caliber with that 500gn bullet?

Don

[shoot-n-lead]

Glock 17...can't hit jack with it.

[Socal147]

This is why I reload:
Bought a Marlin 1895 GS 45 70 - dealer said he hoped I liked recoil. With my loads and a 350 lead bullet, it hardly kicks. I would estimate to be equal to a 223 bolt action.
Bought a SW 500 magnum 6.5 inch barrel - dealer said he hoped I liked recoil. With my loads of 325 lead bullets it barely barks. I would estimate on the 357 range but in my defense I am working to less powerful loads.
I believe a lot of shooters dump otherwise wonderful calibers because they are shooting the factory hot JB's.
I have been asked why I bought such large calibers. My usual response is "why not". I can always download to your level but you will never be able to reach my awe inspiring level of penetration and pain.

[MBTcustom]

This is why I reload:
Bought a Marlin 1895 GS 45 70 - dealer said he hoped I liked recoil. With my loads and a 350 lead bullet, it hardly kicks. I would estimate to be equal to a 223 bolt action.
Bought a SW 500 magnum 6.5 inch barrel - dealer said he hoped I liked recoil. With my loads of 325 lead bullets it barely barks. I would estimate on the 357 range but in my defense I am working to less powerful loads.
I believe a lot of shooters dump otherwise wonderful calibers because they are shooting the factory hot JB's.
I have been asked why I bought such large calibers. My usual response is "why not". I can always download to your level but you will never be able to reach my awe inspiring level of penetration and pain.

I love it! HA!

[btroj]

This is why I reload:
Bought a Marlin 1895 GS 45 70 - dealer said he hoped I liked recoil. With my loads and a 350 lead bullet, it hardly kicks. I would estimate to be equal to a 223 bolt action.
Bought a SW 500 magnum 6.5 inch barrel - dealer said he hoped I liked recoil. With my loads of 325 lead bullets it barely barks. I would estimate on the 357 range but in my defense I am working to less powerful loads.
I believe a lot of shooters dump otherwise wonderful calibers because they are shooting the factory hot JB's.
I have been asked why I bought such large calibers. My usual response is "why not". I can always download to your level but you will never be able to reach my awe inspiring level of penetration and pain.

I love my Marlin 45-70 with a 415 gr cast at 1350. Very comfortable to shoot. Sadly, I have roundly criticized for shoot powder puff loads and being unmanly for not loading it to the gills for every shot.

I shoot for my own enjoyment, pain doesn't make it fun.

Just because you can doesn't mean you have to.

[johnson1942]

btroi, i love the way you think. let me guess, you raised alot of kids, or your in lawinforcement, possibly a teacher, and most likely a gradfather by now. should hang that one over the local schools door.

[btroj]

Only one kid, in college. I am actually a pharmacist. No grand kids.

I have been told I have a certain "philosophy" to my way of thinking.

[Dale in Louisiana]

M2, shooting was great, but having to hump the parts from one location to another was a pain. As was digging an extra large fox hole.


Mine was mounted in the commander's cupola of an M48A2C tank. I hated that stupid mount. The 90mm main gun at my ankle level was a hoot, though.

A flex-mounted .50 is fun to play with. The worst we tankers had to do was hump that heavy M2 from the arms room to the fender.

dale in Louisiana

[johnson1942]

did it ever save your life?

[Brad Phillips]

Mine was mounted in the commander's cupola of an M48A2C tank. I hated that stupid mount. The 90mm main gun at my ankle level was a hoot, though.

A flex-mounted .50 is fun to play with. The worst we tankers had to do was hump that heavy M2 from the arms room to the fender.

dale in Louisiana

As a grunt I warmed up a few meals on the *** end of a tank, M60's and M1A's mostly.

[destrux]

Probably either the Keltec P40 I had (14oz and .40S&W do not belong together), or the Kmart 20ga shotgun that would never eject a shell by itself even when it was new... every single one had to be pried out with a tool.

[Jaybird62]

Winchester 1300 pump-action 12 gauge turkey gun shooting Winchester No. 4 High-Velocity turkey loads. These were new loads at the time, and the engineers from Winchester were in a sweat for me to try them at Range Day at SHOT Show. First shot from the bench got my attention in a big way. They had a red-dot scope mounted on the gun and I missed a target at 40 yards on the second shot. Surprised, I jacked in the third round and touched it off. The scope base screws sheared off and the scope went flying 15 feet behind the firing line. When Winchester came out with the 3 1/2-inch loads the next year, it was a beast from a light-weight Mossberg 835.

[bandit7.5]

Mossberg 500 standard, a day in the dove field beat the tar out of me. Went back to my Ithaca featherlite, it just felt right. Sure do miss that old chucked.

[uscra112]

My SIL's M4 black rifle. Felt seriously awkward, had to crane my neck to see thru the scope, jammed 3-4 times until I figured out the magazines weren't seating properly, couldn't get the hold to settle down, so my groups were awful. I'm too old to enjoy modernity, I guess.

[magnetik]

I used to own a Magnum Research Lone Eagle pistol in 30.06 back in the day.. no slide, single shot, and all the recoil was directed to your hand.

[ZigZagMarquis]

Mosin-Nagant carbine that a shooting buddy of mine had for awhile. The thing was unpleasant to shoot and I've shot pleanty of 30-06, .308, 12ga to know recoil, but this thing was to the next level. We figured that the "lighter" carbine configuration combined with it was used originally by tuff folks wearling lots of heavy winter clothing is what made it so. Anyway, my buddy wound up selling it back to the gun store he bought it from along with the left over surplus ammo he bought with it for a little more than what he paid for it.

[Fisher]

What is the least fun gun I have shot?

Staple gun...but that wasn't to bad either!

[CHX77]

About 35 years ago a buddy showed up with a new rifle and wanted me to shoot it. Not being familiar with the rifle or the cartridge it was chambered for, I stood about a foot away from my garage wall and pulled the trigger on his Ruger #1 .375 H&H. My shoulder hurt for a few days after the recoil caught me by surprise and drove me back into the garage wall. Ouch.

[el roboto]

Any of the old strait stock shotguns with slugs.

[flint45]

I have a rossi 12 ga. overland double fiered both barrels at once with mag loads not fun.

[varmint243]

Least fun pain wise was an exposed hammer, sawed off, double barrel 12 gauge shotgun.
I let both barrels go because I thought it would be fine from the hip.
The exposed hammers cut my hand pretty good.
a friends gun, will never shoot it again

Least fun rifle
Mini 14 ranch
The pile of empties grouped better than the bullets did and went nearly as far.
Traded it for a new Leopold VX-III 6.5-20 TT and never regretted it

Least fun pistol
Ruger P85
fine service grade firearm, not good for range work
It will feed, chamber, and fire an empty primed case, I actually tried it.
I still have it because it's not worth enough to get rid of

Least fun revolver
Heavy loads in a short barreled Blackhawk
It was sort of fun the first shot, the other five were just painful
a friends gun, will probably shoot it again next year when we have "shootin' guns in the woods day" again

[klausg]

Mine was a Yugo 8 X 57 that I picked up for a song, all matching numbers & a bore that looks unfired. I bought a couple of boxes of older Privi ammo to make sure it went bang & headed to the range. I didn't have my chronograph set up, but I'm fairly certain that the ammo was loaded to 8mm Mag velocities, no pressure signs but I've never been beaten up that bad. The very cushy steel butt-plate and exceptionally low comb weren't helping any. I've since gotten hold of some brass & have reloaded some J-words (170 gr Speer) and recoil is about where you'd expect. I keep meaning to shoot some of that stuff over the chrony, but haven't been able to face the recoil again. :holysheep Now I need to buy an 8mm mould!!

[wistlepig1]

10 ga, H&R single shot, with Goose loads. That's a eye opener at first light.

Now I am older(lot) the Browning Gold 10 is a little better?:holysheep

[Johnch]

Worst and best is the same
Easy , my original 14" TC 45/70 Contender Barrel
No porting

Trap Door to mid Marlin loads are a joy to shoot and hunt with
Top end Marlin and Ruger loads are brutal to shoot regaurdless of the Boolit used

5 Mid range Ruger loads took 4 different people to shoot them
As that load just plain hurt to shoot and I mean it hurt the Hand BAD

I use a Marlin load ( lower end ) for deer hunting
That load is great shooting , sub 6" at 200 yds
But I never tryed it past 125 yds and that was a pass through shot

John

[390ish]

1. Sighting in/ working up a full-tilt load in a Ruger 77 RSM 458 Lott. Settled on a load of DP-74 that gave about 2320 fps with a 500 grain Hornady for hunting trip. I kept scabs on my face that summer.

2. COP derringer 357 with full house 158 loads. Great for taking the wind out of the sails of young bucks who say recoil is never an issue.

3. A very old Marlin, I don't know my Marlins- 1894 or 1895. Had a steel crescent butt plate. Long rifle, lever action in 45-70. Pain from that off a bench was inescapable.

[scb]

Sighting in an 8 gauge Paradox off the bench.

9036090359

[JWFilips]

For Me it was a 1917 Savage .32 acp auto loading pistol....sure looked cool when I bought it ( I'm a sucker for old .32 acp's) Not sure if it was the magazine ...possibly so. Just drove me crazy. When it went bang, it was right on at 15 yards! But sometimes it worked most times not! Sold it to a real collector! but I still miss it .... Yes, I'm a sucker for punishment. I guess it looked like a "Flash Gordon" weapon!!!!! Very cool but frustrated the heck out of me

[smokesahoy]

Ruger LCP in 380.

No fun whatsoever, but I guess that isn't its purpose in life.

[rexherring]

A .338/.378 Weatherby without the brake on it.

[mjwcaster]

Not sure if it was my least fun gun ever, but definitely the most recent.
Smith and Wesson Scandium airweight 44 magnum with factory grips.
I like rubber grips on larger revolvers, never liked wood grips.

A student had one in class a few weeks ago, I didn't pay much attention to it until I picked it up for some reason, couldn't believe how light it was.
Student was shooting 44 specials out of it (he had learned his lesson the hard way, and admits he was a slow learner, a few boxes of magnums the day he bought it).

He had a few magnum rounds with him and offered it to me to shoot.
He also pulled out a shooting glove to go with them.

Well I just had to shoot this thing, but I didn't need no stinking glove.
Well maybe the 18 year old me didn't, but the 40 year old me decided since it was there I would wear it.
I also only loaded up 2 rounds.

Two rounds was all I needed.

Gun serves a great purpose, but unless I plan on carrying one I don't plan on shooting it much.

Although the there is a sick portion of me that would like to add one to the collection one day, but with rubber grips. Still can't believe how light it was.

Matt

[texassako]

I don't know how I missed this one. It would probably be a cheap, light weight, single shot shotgun in 20 ga magnum I own. I had a left over box of shells that needed using up, but the bad ergonomics combined with the light weight made it a painful experience. A close second would be trying some full power loads in my light weight .30-40 AI Martini. It would have been first if it did not have a Pachmayr Decelerator.

[N4AUD]

I bought a Stevens 311r double barrel in 12 gauge once and the recoil was brutal. I got a thick rubber pad from Numrich and fit it to the stock and solved the problem. Several experienced shooters laughed when I told them about the recoil until they tried it, and then the laughter turned to grimaces!

[Bogone]

A 16 gauge lady's featherweight shotgun with an 1 1/4 ounces of shot. Single shot break open. I only shot it once.....

[Bullshop Junior]

A 16 gauge lady's featherweight shotgun with an 1 1/4 ounces of shot. Single shot break open. I only shot it once.....

Funny that its called a "ladys" gun lol.

[dragon813gt]

Funny that its called a "ladys" gun lol.

I thought between that and 16 gauge it would be an easy shooter ;)

I just remembered my step daughters Rossi matched pair w/ the 20 gauge barrel. Shooting it from the hip was a good way to almost break a few fingers.

[Bullshop Junior]

I thought between that and 16 gauge it would be an easy shooter ;)

I just remembered my step daughters Rossi matched pair w/ the 20 gauge barrel. Shooting it from the hip was a good way to almost break a few fingers.

Lol. Yea, i picked up a NEF singleshot 12ga a while back that had the stock cut into a pistol grip. I though shooting a 3" mag slug single handed was a good idea. After pulling pieces of the stock out of my hand I desided it wasnt.

[NuJudge]

A Remington Model 11 riot gun. The muzzle rise was very sharp, and the comb whacked my cheek very hard every shot. Very unpleasant. The recoil on my shoulder was not that bad.

[W.R.Buchanan]

Winchester M37 "Clinker Gun!" It was a single shot M37 with a barrel that is about 1/8" wall thickness. It weighed a little over 5 lbs.

WE shot 12 ga. Magnum 000 Buckshot from this gun into a massive coal fired furnace at the Mohave Steam Generation Plant in Laughlin NV to break clinkers off the walls.

Clinkers are gobs of molten coal ash which build up like Stalagmites or tites as the case may be, and cause problems in the furnace. They cause hot spots on the tube walls and eventually burn thru and create tube leaks which result in shutdowns.

The accepted method of dealing with these problems is to blast them off the walls with said shotgun.

Problem: you have to open a port hole on the positive pressure furnace which blows 1000 degree plus fire out all the while you are trying to take aim thru your dark goggles which are behind a welding helmet, while clothed in very heavy clothing so you don't get burned, in the middle of the Mojave Desert during the summer! It is like shooting into hell ,,, Literally !

For some reason this is a job everybody in maintenance wants, but nobody seems to want to do twice.

When you pull the trigger,,, that's when the fun really begins. This 5 lb. gun with Magnum 12 ga. Buck Shot literally knocks the Coon Dog Ship out of you every time you pull the trigger. This is when you realize why no one else was jumping up to shoot clinkers.

Usually the new guy gets to do it. [smilie=b:

I lasted exactly one shot.

Randy

[dudel]

It was a Contender 14" in .223. Fired off a few shots and was looking to give that barrel away after I pried the front sight from my forehead.

This was just as I started shooting. My prior experience had been with a Glock 17. Too big a step I guess.

Turns out, many years later, that I got another of those Contender barrels in .223. I like it a lot. I always take it to the range. However, due to the noise, it gets used when I'm the only one there. It comes out early when someone likes to brag on the noise and flash of the 357Sig. Short barrel .223 makes the sig seem quiet. One shot is all it usually takes.

[revor]

A TC Contender in 7MM TCU, it was so loud!!!! Gas ports angled back over your shoulders...Ouch... it worked but so not fun.

[felix]

A whole bunch of loads. Any load in any gun that causes me to loose the line of sight, or break concentration, after a round has been fired. It took me several years of shooting a light rifle shooting full tilt loads to be accustomed. Ruger 94/44, a lever gun, specifically. I've finally mastered the 32WS 20" 94 Winchester lever gun with full power loads, which ain't much considering some Weatherby guns I've sighted for wanna'be'hunters. ... felix

[kencha]

Not hard kicking, by a long shot, but definitely my least favorite to shoot...

My long, bony hand just does not fit a Webley Mk VI well, and that damned thing raps my knuckle every time it's fired.

Gonna have to whittle up a set of oversized grips for it one of these days.

[Swede44mag]

Remington 300 Win Mag held a bit too loose with 150gr Acubond bullets. I was shooting at a deer (missed the deer) cut a slice in my
nose and gave me a black eye during deer season 2 years ago.
I still have the rifle and bought a Winchester model 70 Coyote Light in 300wsm.
I now have floaters in my eyes makes it hard to aim good since they are worse in my left eye. I am right handed and left eye dominate.

[Shuz]

Without a doubt, for me, it was shooting a 10" TC contender in .44 mag with 21g of 2400 and a 429421.

[boatworks]

My no-fun entry is a WWII "battle field pick-up" Jap. 6.5 mm.It came with about a dozen rounds, I used them all to figure out the bullets would key hole at 50 feet or so.

[juzme]

Old Fox 12 ga. double. Hurt!
juzme

[JRLesan]

Flamethrower - don't recollect the numerical designation as that was 1968.

[ChuckJaxFL]

S&W M&P 340 w/ full power 357's.

Yeouch.

[rrob692326]

Back in 1983 this guy here in Hawaii built a 50 bmg single shot pistol on a 1911 frame. When you pulled the trigger you could not believe the recoil Flame shot out 6 feet on each side of the muzzle brake the concussion was unbelievable felt like your eyes were driven back in their sockets. ear muffs ended up in my face. Made my 45/70 with 500 grain bullets seem like a 38 special. My hand was tingling for an hour and it gave me a headache. They posted an article about it in american handgunner but no article could really do it justice. Then I shot it again the next day! You learn as you go.

[GLL]

This Model 29 loaded with Buffalo Bore tended to "sting" A LOT ! :)
http://www.fototime.com/371E08CC9F4984F/orig.jpg

It got traded off for this one ! Much happier ! :)
http://www.fototime.com/3E99BA1FED6CE7A/orig.jpg

Jerry

[MtGun44]

And how does SS and flutes make it more pleasant to shoot???

Bill

[GLL]

Bill:

The blue Model 29 is .44Magnum and the stainless Model 624 is .44Special. I know I could shoot downloaded rounds or .44Special in the 29 but I like the balance of the Model 24.

Jerry

[oldfart1956]

The worst...hmmm? Back in 2003 I hosted a little rondevouse here at home for the folks from Muzzleloader magazines Campfire Forum. One of the fellers, Quinn Conners (aka Juniata Jack) brought along his "pirate gun" so affectionately named for the skull&crossbones motife in 75 caliber. This is a rifled flintlock about 4 feet long and weighing roughly 6 pounds when loaded with 175gr. of Goex 2fg. and a patched .740 ball. That's not a typo by the way and is a safe if not sane load in this particular gun. I was gabbing as Quinn was loading so didn't take notice of the charge he was dumping in there. I noticed when I fired it. I had perhaps not held the gun as tight as I should have at the time of ignition but managed to get it handed back just as my knees touched the ground. I couldn't shoot the remainder of the rondevouse and suffered back pain for a week. Audie...the Oldfart...

[MBTcustom]

The worst...hmmm? Back in 2003 I hosted a little rondevouse here at home for the folks from Muzzleloader magazines Campfire Forum. One of the fellers, Quinn Conners (aka Juniata Jack) brought along his "pirate gun" so affectionately named for the skull&crossbones motife in 75 caliber. This is a rifled flintlock about 4 feet long and weighing roughly 6 pounds when loaded with 175gr. of Goex 2fg. and a patched .740 ball. That's not a typo by the way and is a safe if not sane load in this particular gun. I was gabbing as Quinn was loading so didn't take notice of the charge he was dumping in there. I noticed when I fired it. I had perhaps not held the gun as tight as I should have at the time of ignition but managed to get it handed back just as my knees touched the ground. I couldn't shoot the remainder of the rondevouse and suffered back pain for a week. Audie...the Oldfart...


Argh!

[jrmartin1964]

T/C Contender Super 14 in .375 Winchester, when fired with factory 250 grain Power Points.
WOW!