What is the least fun gun you have shot?

[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 ) 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