biggest surprise in a gun

[44mag1]

From all the responses to the biggest disapointment in a gun I was wondering what your biggest surprise was in a gun. Mine has to be my remington model 7 ss 7mm-08 It has a pencil thin barrel and is untouched meaning not floated or bedded and it shoots nice tiny groups at 200 yards every time I shoot it. It does real well with cast too. My other one has to be my model 600 mohawk 222. Just a joy to shoot and is more accurate then me

[2ndAmendmentNut]

My biggest surprise (so far) was when I took my Ruger Gp100 4” matte stainless out back to shot for the first time. I had one box of Remington 38s and a box of Independence 357s. Shooting single-action at 25yards six shots from both boxes grouped an honest 1” at POA. Then when I moved up to 15yards and shot double-action both loads grouped just over 1.5”. I was very happy with the gun and myself. Now I just wish I could do that every day.

[BOOM BOOM]

HI,
Boy with all the complaints about Rugers on the wheelguns forum it is good to here someone praise a Ruger. I have owned a Blackhawk 357 & a Superblackhawk 44 & loved both. They were bought in to early 1970's.
I now have 2 Redhawks a 357 & a 44 & like both.

[hoosierlogger]

I got an old beat up, pitted, rusty Arminius .22LR 8 shot revolver with a 6" barrel and a brass screw with the head cut off and filed down for a front sight. It is the ugliest most neglected gun I have ever owned. I got it on a deal with 2 other guns for $125. I had very low expectations for this gun. At the range they have a 8" square steel hanging plate at 50 yards, I can hit it off hand 6 out of 8 times. Needless to say I was entirely floored at the accuracy of this gun, as was the owner of the range.

[runfiverun]

i bought an old arisaka that some one glued a bunch of shiney junk on/in the stock, that has been relined to 257 roberts. the bolt lugs stick, even with very light loads [35 grs 4895 and the 86 gr remington 25-20 bullet] puts them out at 2400 fps,at 100 yds with open sights it will shoot under an inch,i went and mounted a scope as soon as i shot it to see what it will do .it went under 3/4 inch with a 2x7 scope. if i could put my head on the stock to see through the scope it would do better.the brass comes out looking like a weatherby reject,so i just neck size for it and use an ackley die to full length when needed.
god it's ugly.good truck gun though.

[lead-1]

I bought an old Savage 340E in .223 for the reason that it was cheap and so was the ammo. I decided to refinish it first since it was really dirty inside, barrel and action. Took every last piece apart to refinish, stock turned out pretty good and I decided to refinish the metal. It was light on the blueing but not rusty or pitted, I took it to my dad's lathe to polish it with scotchbrite pads before the reblue. Well this thing was bent, think jump rope for midgets, I went ahead and refinished it and when I took it out to try and shoot it the darn thing held a 1 1/2 to 1 /34 inch group at 100 yards. I thought that was great, I mean bench rest great if you would have seen the bow in that barrel, LOL. I kept it for a couple of years and used it for trading stock on my first real varmint rifle.

Sorry this was so long but it adds to the suprise.

[chevyiron420]

i bought a M95 steyr in 8x50R in the mid 80's for 14.00 at an auction. i didnt even know what it was at first and nobody else did ether localy. the barrel was so plugged up with black fouling i couldnt get a 30 cal cleaning rod tru it. after alot of work the barrel cleaned up to be very usable and with my load it shoots a 250 grain round nose at about 2050 fps. i love that old gun and have shot it more than any other i have including my modern rifles. i can hold about 2.5 inches at 100 with it andits my go to gun for short range open sight work.

[legend]

i was standing in a gunshop,thumbing through an american rifleman in 1980,i saw an add for the xp-100 in the new 7br.i asked the shop owner for his phone,called and orderd one on the spot from remington(i had an ffl at the time) and a week later it showed up.i had owned a xp-100 in 221fireball,so,i knew it would have potential.
brass was not available so i made my own from remington ubr 308 brass,i never looked back..

this is the most consistantly accurate firearm i have ever owned!!!


dozens of 5 shot groups at 100 yds produceing one ragged hole attest to its lazer accurate bbl.
deer and antelope dont play here after it speaks...

now everyone and his brother have them or similar guns,this however was and still is a tack driver;best money i ever spent bar none.

no you cant buy it.

[Lloyd Smale]

probably my 22 hornet Ruger. Lots of people will tell you that a hornet isnt that accurate and especially in a ruger but mine is a tack driver with the right load.

[Bret4207]

The only brand new in the box gun I remember ever buying is my Ruger 22/45 bull barrel. I'd had access to my FIL's High Standard Supermatic for years and that gun made me look like a real sharpshooter. Well the HS went home and I was without a nice 22 target gun. I spotted the Ruger in the case and the second I held it I knew it was coming home. It just had that feel.

Now being a Ruger I had no real hopes of anything even approaching that fine HS as far as accuracy went. Whoops! First 10 rounds chewed the center out of a 3" Targ-Dot at 50 feet! Backed out to 25 yards and commenced hitting everything I aimed at! I honestly can't tell the difference ion group size between the HS and Ruger. The HS does have a far better trigger.

Now when I'm having a "bad day" with a handgun I can take 10 shots with the Ruger and get back in the groove, or see I need to quit for the day.

[felix]

Exactly, Bret! No need to waste ammo. If you can't hit, it's time to go home. ... felix

[Trey45]

Last year I ordered a Ruger Redhawk 4" 45 Colt from a gunshop. I paid for the whole thing up front, even though the stores policy was only putting up 25%. Shortly after ordering, a buddy of mine gives me his copy of the latest Gun Test magazine, in which they had evaluated the new 4" 45 Colt from Ruger, they gave it a solid "D", claiming timing issues, lock up issues, and if i remember correctly, accuracy issues. Needless to say I was more than a little dissapointed and apprehensive about my order. It came in finally and i picked it up, I took my cleaning and oiling gear with me, and some of my most accurate reloads I had worked up for my Blackhawk 45 convertible. Cleaned the Redhawk and oiled it, did a complete pre firing inspection, then go to the gunshops range to try her out. With the "bad press" in Gun Test Magazine, my expectations were low, boy was I wrong! My 1st 6 shot SA group fired at 15 yards showed one ragged hole of apprx 1.25"! My double action handgun skills were lacking then, not as much now, but still not up to par. I tried another 6 shot group at 15 yards, this time DA, not one ragged hole, but still respectable for my abilities. I let a another buddy of mine shoot it at another range, this guy is probably one of the best shots I've seen. He runs a target down to 25 yards, loads up the Redhawk with my reloads, and proceeds to shoot a 1.500" group double action! Gun Test rated an entire run of pistols based on ONE they received, which apparently wasn't a good one. Mine has been flawless since i bought it. I love my Redhawk!

[NVcurmudgeon]

My biggest surprise was an early, nicely made, as issued 7.7 Arisaka in NRA excellent condition. A friend GAVE it to me about ten years ago, complete with Hornady dies and BAYONET. The first 100 yd. group was three Midway bulk 165 gr. Remington SPCLs in 1/2", with the arms length aperture rear sight. Not all groups were that good, but it was definitely a shooter. Alas, about a month later my friend thought better of it and asked for the Arisaka back, guess somebody told him what it was worth! That's OK, the same friend also traded me my genuine, one of 4,900, NRA Sporter Springfield for a small debt he owed me, plus a gunsmith trashed Ruger No. 1. Heh, heh, he'll NEVER get that one back.

[Bret4207]

Last year I ordered a Ruger Redhawk 4" 45 Colt from a gunshop. I paid for the whole thing up front, even though the stores policy was only putting up 25%. Shortly after ordering, a buddy of mine gives me his copy of the latest Gun Test magazine, in which they had evaluated the new 4" 45 Colt from Ruger, they gave it a solid "D", claiming timing issues, lock up issues, and if i remember correctly, accuracy issues. Needless to say I was more than a little dissapointed and apprehensive about my order. It came in finally and i picked it up, I took my cleaning and oiling gear with me, and some of my most accurate reloads I had worked up for my Blackhawk 45 convertible. Cleaned the Redhawk and oiled it, did a complete pre firing inspection, then go to the gunshops range to try her out. With the "bad press" in Gun Test Magazine, my expectations were low, boy was I wrong! My 1st 6 shot SA group fired at 15 yards showed one ragged hole of apprx 1.25"! My double action handgun skills were lacking then, not as much now, but still not up to par. I tried another 6 shot group at 15 yards, this time DA, not one ragged hole, but still respectable for my abilities. I let a another buddy of mine shoot it at another range, this guy is probably one of the best shots I've seen. He runs a target down to 25 yards, loads up the Redhawk with my reloads, and proceeds to shoot a 1.500" group double action! Gun Test rated an entire run of pistols based on ONE they received, which apparently wasn't a good one. Mine has been flawless since i bought it. I love my Redhawk!

I'm not surprised Trey, Gun Tests has panned several guns I've had good luck with. They've also given glowing reports on a couple of guns I felt were real dogs.

[Dframe]

Biggest surprise would be a Colt 1991 A1 compact model. More accurate than any other pistol I own, AND out of a 3 1/2 inch barrel

[leadman]

The most recent surprise was a Ruger SBH Hunter, 41 mag., stainless. Bought it from a gunshop new, they gave me a box of PMC ammo with it. Took it to the range, no scope yet. Put up a target at 25yds., put 6 in less than an inch dead center, never touched the sights. Moved the target to 100yds, put the remainder of the box in 3 inches.
I traded a black powder revolver for an 1891 Arg. Mauser in about 1981. Already bubba'd somewhat. Found some pricey Norma ammo, shot 1 to 2" at 100yds, open sights. Now on it's second barrel. Will shot less than 2" at 200yds. with my j-bullets loads.

[jim4065]

Navy Arms .45 Country Boy Mule Ear that I bought when they were being discontinued for $70 plus shipping. It came with a 2.5# crisp trigger and could shoot Maxi-Balls like nobody's business. With light powder charges it could shoot round balls pretty good - but Lord! Those Maxi's in front of 70 to 100 grains of 3F would go into 1 to 1.5" at 50 yards all day (with iron sights).

[.357]

Ruger Service Six dirty as all hell dug it out of a pawn shop for 180$ two days after i turned 21. I can shoot a 6 shot group that measures 1.000 at thirty feet. three year ago my house was broken into and i lost my CZ, and my kimber. However the thief missed my ruger. Three days later some crack head tried to get in at 3am. That four inch stainless gun really glowed in the moon light. It's my lucky gun

[AZ-Stew]

Back in the 90s when I was teaching Hunter Ed for the AZ Game and Fish Dept., the Bighorn Sheep Society decided to have a convention here in Phoenix. We have a bonus point system here to help folks get rare big game tags. The Desert Bighorn is the rarest of the Grand Slam, so is desired by big $$ hunters from around the world. One of the ways to increase your bonus point count for the tag draw is to take the hunter ed class. G&F asked the instructor pool for volunteers. One of the incentives was that the firearms that would be used for the range session would be available for purchase by the instructors. The firearms were Remington SS Synthetic with the detachable magazines. These rifles were the first 20 of them out of the factory. They were in 7mm Rem Mag, were fitted with Leupold Vari-X III, 3.5-10 scopes, Uncle Mike's slings and Federal supplied the Premium ammo with Nosler Partitions. Mine will shoot one-hole groups with handloads and no other modifications. Subsequently, I picked up a 30-06 and a .375 H&H, both in SS Synthetic, but without the detachable magazine. Neither of these has had any work done to it, but both will shoot one-hole groups with handloads. Three in a row is a pretty good indication that Remington is doing something right.

Regards,

Stew

[wildwilly]

Bought a Remington 700 Mountain rifle in 7x57 Mauser (going out of business sale) about fifteen yrs. ago. I rebedded the action, adjusted the trigger pull, and mounted one of my precious Leupold M8-3x scopes. With my handloads using IMR-4064 this sweetheart puts all J-words from 160-120gr. in under 1 MOA (3 shot groups). And prints 1.5 MOA with wheelwt. lead (SAECO #073).

[Marvin S]

Guns that have been a surprise to me in the past have been the Star PD 45ACP along with the Star, Fire Star in 45ACP. The Remington 788's have to fit in there. The old pre war Savage 6A 22LR. Would have to agree with Legend on the XP100. Cant forget the Mod 52-2 S&W.

[dolang1]

My brother bought a Hi-point 9 and a carbine. I made fun of him because they were so cheap and ugly. Then I shot his and talked to my friend at the gun store. The gun store owner said that he had sold about a thousand of them and they all went bang. I use mine for testing bullets in the garage in 9 and 45. Later Don

[MT Gianni]

NEF Handi-Rifle in 7.62x39. I bought it for the switch barrel option and because of the cartridge. It shoots cast better than I can hold.

[RU shooter]

One of my earlier purchases was a Rem. 700 varmit in 222 ,older model with a real wood stock and heavy barrel , just box stock condition and bought it used. It was the most accurate rifle I ever shot groups in the high teens were the norm with a serria 50 gr FB HP. Like a young fool I traded it off for a 22-250 as faster was better you know ! Wrong!!! I'd give up a kidney to have that one rifle back.

[Heavy lead]

Well, I've been blessed to have many, many accurate rifles and handguns throughout the years, but the biggest "best" surprise was/still is a Ruger Mark II target 22-250, love the trigger, stock fit and everything, but everything I've read about Ruger rifles and some experience with them told me not to buy it, but it was brand new in the box and priced so ridiculously low I bought it. The first handload I worked up (a proven one in another rifle) was a dog, so I was worried, I pulled out the old H380 I hadn't used in years worked a load up and settled on 39.5 grains with a Fed 210M and a Nosler 55 grain ballistic tip and it'll shoot one hole groups (5 shot) at 200 yards. Very happy with that Ruger.