What is the worst rifle you have ever owned?

[Steel Candy]

My worst ever rifle was a Rossi combo I bought around 2006 or so. .243 switch barrels for 20 gauge. Single shot break action. The 20 gauge was a great single shot shotgun. The .243 was horrid. First it would not close with a round in it. Sent back. "Repaired". Then it would close with a round chambered BUT the trigger would not move. Sent back. "Repaired". Then it closed with a round chambered and the trigger moved when pressed. No boom. Sent back with a letter saying just keep it.

 

[rookhawk]

Savage 220F slug rifles.

$700 and the trigger sucks, the screws constantly loosen, the point of aim shifts, casting marks on the bolt, junk aluminum mounts bend. Recoil is atrocious, plastic stock warps daily, safety is garbage, etc.

Nothing $2000 in work can’t fix for a slug-only state. Just incredible the low quality of production rifles.

 

[Ragman]

Many years ago, I had a huge passion for predator control, and enjoyed my time in the off season calling for Jackal and Caracal on the land of small stock farmers in the area.
I built myself a rig, which I thought would give me a bit more reach. It was in a .243 Win, fitted with a bull barrel. I hand loaded 69gr GS Customs , flying in the upper 3000's fps. I fitted the rifle with a Swarovski Z5 5-25x 50.
The end result was that I missed 5 consecutive shots at 5 different Jackal, which as anyone who has hunted with me knows, almost put me in the mental ward. I had never missed a Jackal before that rifle in my life.
The rifle, had everything of the best, from being glass bedded, top quality optics, bull barrel etc, but could not get it to print a tight group.
After contemplating burning the rifle and scope, I came to my senses, and took it apart and sold it piece by piece.
Still to this day, I don't know what the problem was.

My biggest fear last July was having to take a shot at a jackal and missing. Thank God the only one we saw was from the bakke as we were coming back from the bushpig blind and had no guns!!!

 

[MT_Fin]

Remington 700 CDL Boone & Crockett edition 300 win mag. Had feeding issues, the screw holes were drilled crooked, and the action was rough. Pretty disappointing for a $1200 gun. Beautiful rifle though.

 

[Longwalker]

The most consistently disappointing rifles I have owned have been Remington 700s. The list of defects is pretty long for a rifle model that is the "flagship" of Remingtons line. I have never bought one of the "cheap" versions, but only BDL, Classic, Mountain rifle, etc versions.
- Two with triggers so rough they couldn't be adjusted and had to be replaced, a bolt stop sticky so some times the bolt fell out, scope mount holes drilled off centre, poorly bedded stock, very different throat length in two 7mm08 rifles, warped stock, failure to feed factory ammo, iron sights cocked to the side several degrees off straight up and down, and bad fit and finish. I won't be buying any more Remingtons!

 

[TOBY458]

Weatherby MKV 375 H&H and 300 Win Mag. Neither rifle would shoot with any accuracy whatsoever. Both barrels would copper foul terribly. Stock design accentuates the recoil also. Literally 4"-5" groups at 100 yards from a bench rest.
Their Vanguard is a much better action in my opinion. I think it must be very hard to get the 9 locking lugs on the bolt to mate together with the grooves in the receiver properly.

 

[35bore]

Let's resurrection this sleeping thread, great topic from 10 years ago. I had 2, a marlin lever in 35 Remington, gunsmith after gunsmith could not figure this one out. It would not feed the rounds properly. The last gunsmith called marlin with the serial number, the lady asked " what caliber?" He told her and she informed him it was a 444 receiver. Assumptions are is that it left their factory in this monstrosity of a configuration. The second was a model 70, sorry not sorry guys, extraction issues, again to the gunsmith. The claw was not letting go of the spent casing. He did some polishing on the claw and got a bunch of crap out of the inside of the bolt. Worked fine after that though. Just taking a poke at the Model 70 is perfection guys, lol.

 

[HuntingGold]

The "worst" one in my safe is a Kimber chambered in .308. I bought it for my youngest daughter and while sighting it in, would get light strikes and the gun would not fire. I tried hand loads and two types of factory loads and continued to get light strikes 1 out of 3 shots. I called customer service and got some knucklehead that was clueless, seemingly about firearms. After putting the phone down and going to ask someone else, he came back with an answer akin to "have you cleaned the gun." Thanks Jack... Great answer.
I pulled the thing apart and cleaned the already clean gun and did some light fiddling around. It hasn't been shot much since but my daughter did use it to take a large mule deer. I was wound up and so worried that damned thing wouldn't go off. I was shocked when it did and the deer collapsed to the well placed shot.
I want to sell the thing and won't carry it at all. She has left hunting for the time being and I have some time to have a gunsmith work it over. Since it was a gift, we have decided to hold it and put a little work into it. Her sister's Remington Model 7 is twice the gun.

Slightly blurry photo but the best available at the moment. That's my youngest with her Kimber.

 

[meigsbucks]

A Nikki Golden Eagle 7000 in .300 Wby.
Pluses: Great looking. Very accurate.
Minuses: It had rear locking lugs and stretched cases terribly. I’d be lucky to get two firings out of a case. I had the headspace checked and it was fine. On one hunt, I was using once fired brass but upon taking the shot at an animal, the case separated.
Unfortunately, or fortunately depending how you look at It, it was stolen along with several other guns.

 

[Graham Hunter]

Remington CTi 105 12ga semi auto. After waiting 2 yrs past promised delivery the gun did not function reliably at all. Sent back to Remington and it came back as the CTi 105 II. Still terrible reliability. Then discontinued after 2 yrs. and Remington said it didn't warranty discontinued guns. Bye Bye Remington! Brother in law had the exact same experience.

 

[CoElkHunter]

Mosin Nagant M44 carbine. Handi little carbine with a poor stock design that would punish me with recoil every time I shot it. It’s gone now so the new owner can enjoy the recoil.

 

[machinistbutler]

The

Mosin Nagant M44 carbine. Handi little carbine with a poor stock design that would punish me with recoil every time I shot it. It’s gone now so the new owner can enjoy the recoil.

mosin M38 without the bayonet is rude too. The 7.62x54r cartridge is a pussycat in the loud svt 40 though!

 

[machinistbutler]

Mosin Nagant M44 carbine. Handi little carbine with a poor stock design that would punish me with recoil every time I shot it. It’s gone now so the new owner can enjoy the recoil.

The mosin M38 without the bayonet is rude too. The 7.62x54r cartridge is a pussycat in the loud svt 40 though! Loved the fireballs out of that short barrel though, on the m44 and M38.

 

[Firebird]

My troubles have been with shotguns. Had a browning gold semi 12 ga that jammed on the first shell every time. Sent it to the manufacturer and they sent it back with a form letter basically stating to oil it heavily. It still jammed and went down the road.
My love affair with beretta ended after the fourth different stock broke. Have never broken either of the other O/u’s I own. A 12 o/u, then two different 20 gauges, and recently a semi auto 12 all broken at the wrist. Sent it back with a thoughtful letter about all the time and money I’ve wasted on their shotguns only to end up using my old backup Winchester pump I affectionately call “ the mud gun.”
They sent me a letter that the stocks were all user error and newest repair on a $1200 gun was almost $800. Told them to just keep it and I was done with them. They shipped it back anyway-someone suggested a tomato stake. . .

 

[Don458]

My first rifle was a Stevens favorite s/s .22 when i was 14 yrs old. That rifle caused my present condition of buying guns on a monthly basis. It also lead to traving all over the country to get up in the middle of the night to go into usually freezing temperatures . But I will never stop, I don’t care im going hunting tomorrow again. -The first gun hooks you

 

[Roller]

In regards to price-to-value, the worse was a Weatherby Mk 5 Accumark in 300 win. Creepy factory trigger that you couldn't adjust out ..ie lawyered-up. Wouldn't group worth a damn except with high end factory ammo. Cheap and bendy magazine and floor plate assembly. The rest of complaints are just Weatherby oriented (unergonomic 2 position safety, Monte Carlo stock profile, and staged feel of the bolt when you work the action). I was unimpressed and frankly disappointed. It went down the road....

 

[sphillips]

Browning A Bolt in 300WM. Tried different factory and reloads. Even swapped scopes but it Would not group under 2.5” @ 100. Traded it in for a Styer pro hunter. Best upgrade for the $ I could have asked for.

 

[R.M.C.]

Savage edge 30.06 back before they changed the name to axis. Piece of scrap from the beginning. Shot ok groups nothing special but would rarely eject casings properly. And then the magazine would flop around side to side just enough that the bolt wouldn't pick up the next round about 25% of the time. I bought it for a cheap gun to leave in the truck for wild hogs but it wasn't gonna survive that. Took it back to gander mountain and the guy there took it in the back and messed with it for a while. Came back with the conclusion that you had to handle the bolt real rough and fast to get it to work right. I'd seen enough and sold it . A close second would be a hi point 9mm carbine but that's to be expected lol

 

[fourfive8]

There's been a few lemons. None very expensive though and I do feel for those who have spent serious, hard earned money and been burned or had one go south at a critical time.

I don't like to dwell too much on such sniveling but will list a few. One was a Browning BPS shotgun, bought new about 1983-4 or so. It fit extremely well so shot went where I looked. It started screwing up after 4-5 years of modest use. Parts started wearing out- soft or poor metallurgy I'm sure. Down the road with full disclosure- no tears shed. Never messed with another Browning labeled product. Had a Marliin 30-30 lever, about a 1976 issue, that started going flop-o-matic out off battery after each shot after a few years of modest use. Down the road, with full disclosure, good riddance. Was issued a new S&W semi-auto handgun in 40 S&W in about 1988. That thing was a jam-o-matic from the get go. Went back to S&W and they couldn't fix it! Thinking back on that POS handgun... it was probably the worst gun of any kind I'd ever been associated with. And the experience with that crap excuse for a handgun may have been a blessing in disguise. Of course S&W sent a new replacement. I refused to carry it for a couple of reason and it was issued to someone else. I did a private purchase of a Glock, as was allowed... zero regrets! I still have that Glock long after retirement. It is my primary self defense gun here at the house. I have 100% confidence that it will function if needed. It has never ever had a hiccup of any kind after many hundreds, possibly a few thousand rounds.

 

[steve white]

The 9.3X62 is an interesting cartridge, but I wouldn't buy one over a .375 H&H Mag. It is far easier to get ammo for the .375 H&H than the 9.3X62 here in PA. It is actually almost impossible to get ammo for the 9.3's. I could actually get .450-400 NE ammo here in PA but not 9.3 ammo. Last I checked the Cabelas in Hamburg PA carried .450-400 3 1/4 " NE ammo made by Hornady.

you can always load a 375 H&H DOWN if necessary