Guns You Love But Didn't Work Out

Legionnaire said:

Lever actions. Off the top of my head, I have owned two Marlin 336s in .30-30, one of them a straight stocked Texan; two 1894s in .44 magnum; and three 1894s in .357 magnum. I have slicked them up, installed Happy Triggers, played with tang sights and scout mounts. I've tried microgroove and ballard rifling. I like the way they look.

I just don't enjoy shooting them.

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Have you tried a '99 Savage? They are a whole different breed of lever gun. IMHO they blow away the Winchesters and Marlins....

Pump guns. Owned half a dozen, but never kept one more than 6 months.

NIGHTLORD40K said:

Have you tried a '99 Savage? They are a whole different breed of lever gun. IMHO they blow away the Winchesters and Marlins....
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Haven’t tried the Savage. I’m tempted to try a Henry Long Ranger.

See? The temptation is still there!

I found a beautiful stainless Colt Detective Special on the early 2000's. I wanted so badly for it to be my EDC, but It had numerous problems with timing and other issues.

While deciding what to do to fix it I bought a new S&W 340 PD which became my everyday carry, so I ended up trading the Colt away

Any 380 I have ever bought. Glock 42, Taurus TCP, Keltec P3AT, AMT Backup, Bersa Thunder. All of them either had problems or weren't as good as something else I could get. The first 4 would have been great for pocket/ankle carry. That gun you carry when you can't or don't want to carry anything bigger. Well the Glock was...a Glock. The TCP and P3AT were jam monsters. The AMT was very ammo picky, pinched my hand, and threw brass at my face. The Bersa Thunder was a much bigger gun so it would not serve the purpose. I ended up dumping all the 380s and ammo I had on hand to get a slim single stack 9mm to swear off the cartridge completely. The irony is my wife is interested in carrying again and misses her Bersa.

Mosin Nagant. I bought a full size 1942 with the idea to turn it into a sporterized hunting rifle. Maybe put a scout scope on it. And use the poor man Russian version of 30-06 to fell some deer and hog in the area. I enjoyed working on that rifle. The ejector had burrs on it so it would not reliably cycle. It was fun learning and fixing that so it would fire like a bolt action instead of a single shot. The trigger was HEAVY. Talking over 15 pounds heavy, and wildly inconsistent. Thanks to videos online and a dremmel, I got it down to a smooth and reliable 5 pounds. I even enjoyed cleaning out the cosmoline, to a degree. But I already have a better hunting rifle with better ammo. And I wanted room in my safe for an AR build which I finished. So off went the Mosin. Upside is I sold the rifle for more money than I bought it for.

Stag arms left handed 9mm AR platform. Wanted it, saved for it, got it.

Jammed, jammed, jammed. Sent it for warranty, they said the gas block was defective and sent it back. Before I recieved it I mentioned to the dumba$$ on the phone that the 9mm platform doesn't have a gas tube. He said yes, your right, it was a barrel issue.

Got it back. Zero change. Called, emailed, called, emailed, called, emailed until I said F it and shipped it on my own dime. While planning that I had found a few other emails for stag people.

I emailed them copies of every email and time stamped phone calls along with posts I made on multiple forums. I also printed all of that correspondence and put it with the gun.

Management finally called and said the lower was defective and they would replace it and pay for the transfer paperwork on the new serial number.

Got the gun back. Shot good now but I sold it as I just couldn't own it once more second. Took a beating on that one, quit counting the money and moved on. Got a cz sc scorpion which the wife and I enjoy without issues.

CZ75B.

I know I may be just about the only person in the world that doesn't care for this pistol.

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There are at least 3 of us. I tried to like them, but didn't. Same with my brother. I've come to the conclusion that they are one of those over hyped internet guns. I don't know anyone in the real world that actually likes one enough to use it. But they are the internet darlings.

I really wanted to like an HK-45 I picked up several years ago. I liked the option of having a DA/SA trigger, or cocked and locked like a 1911. It didn't last long. Just didn't work out.

I like my 870 shotgun. Tried a pump rifle briefly. No Thanks.

WestKentucky said:

Delta Elite. Really the only one. The unsupported chamber on a thousand dollar gun is just unthinkable. If the barrel was different I would have been beyond enamored, but I considered that to be an unsafe design flaw, and colt had no intentions of changing it at all, so away it went.

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I have to agree. Blued DEs are a source of slides for custom build if you want s80. But otherwise, no. Go Fusion or Dan Wesson.

The S&W 640-1. It's well made and has plenty of power but I never got into the ergonomics. I went back to autos.

WestKentucky said:

Delta Elite. Really the only one. The unsupported chamber on a thousand dollar gun is just unthinkable. If the barrel was different I would have been beyond enamored, but I considered that to be an unsafe design flaw, and colt had no intentions of changing it at all, so away it went.

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Same experience here! NOT impressed-even had troubles with moderate loads bulging badly.

critter said:

Same experience here! NOT impressed-even had troubles with moderate loads bulging badly.

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I don't understand how they even worked with the original factory ammo.

Reading all these responses reminds me of a few more that came and went.

The one I remember the most was the almost brand new FEG PA-63 in 9x18 I had for a little while. Handled great, sexy, the two tone chrome and black finish, got it for $100 at the time from J&G Sales, made me think of James Bond and the like. Then the issues, began to realize why it was so new looking. Heavy, gritty trigger pull, the webbing of my hand kept getting bit by the frame, quite the recoil, and the slide was almost making contact with my hand. As much as I wanted to keep it, I took a loss and half traded for a Marlin 336. I figured if it was in 32 or 380 it wouldn't have been half bad. Oh well...

Had a CZ 82 for a bit, great gun I have to say. Handled great, trigger pull was fantastic. The not so good things was the magazines wouldn't always lock in, even with loading it with less then the full capacity, sometimes kicked empty brass in my face. So, off to the next gunshow it went.

I had a stainless PPK/s that didn’t fit my hand very well, then started doubling. LOVE the look, hated the gun.

Browning A-bolt medallion in .338 Win Mag. That was a BEAUTIFUL rifle! But it kicked like an angry mule so when it was sold to pay the rent I didn’t miss it.

A sporterized 1917 Winchester .30-06. It looked nice, but was heavy and clunky so it went bye bye with no qualms.

Stay safe!

A Beretta .25. The magazine button is halfway down the grip, and I keep accidentally releasing the mag in my pocket. I can't trust it for carry, but it is a neat little gun.

Colt Commander I got back in the 80s when I did armed security. Went through a dozen magazines before finding two that worked without jamming and three gunsmith visits. Ended up using my original CA Undercover I started with.

Colt CAR-15, late 70s make(?). Got it super cheap and found out why. Previous owner loaded hot .223 handloads for a bolt and they did something to the gas block. Late 80s again, I wasn't up on how to work on them and too impatient to bother. Traded straight across for a blued Mini and was happy enough.

1KPerDay said:

But you loved those pistols?

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I did the .17 hmr because I was all about that flat shooting round and I hoped the pistol would perform as well. The G32 was a impulse buy.
The M9 clone was supposed to fill the nitch my service pistol did. I liked my Beretta a lot!

My HKUSP45C. When I was first getting my CPL, I decided to purchase the perfect carry gun. It came down to two for me, the other being the Sig P220C, and both were touted as two of the best. Found them both at Gander mountain, so I could pick them up see how they pointed for me. Sights cleared immediately on the HK, not so much the Sig. Later, even my instructor, when he saw the HK, said "You won't find a better carry gun." Seemed it was the one to have and I was stoked. After I got my permit, I carried the HK for nearly a year, but never really warmed up to it. OK accuracy, but nothing special, fairly harsh recoil for a .45, and frankly, I thought it rather ugly for a gun 300 bucks more than a Glock. I did like the way it felt in my hand, but that was about it. The 1911 that replaced it simply blew it away in every respect. Should have known that, since I already knew I was a pretty much a 1911 guy. Just figured I should have a double-action for carry. Now I know better, as the 1911 has served me perfectly for over 16 years. HK's been unfired since.

A few years ago my father purchased an Auto-Ordinance 1927 A1, AKA "Tommy Gun". Great aesthetics, but we couldn't get it to shoot through a magazine without some kind of ftf or fte. In fact IIRC, the extractor came flying out of the rifle during one of our trips. It hasn't been to the range in a good while.

Years ago, I got rid of a perfectly functional Beretta 92FS that was in great condition to get a CZ75 PCR. The CZ fits my hand and I can reach everything without shifting my grip. The Beretta is huge in the grip and I couldn't reach anything on that gun without shifting my grip a large amount.

I really, really liked that Beretta, but for me, the CZ is a handgun while the Beretta is a hands gun.

FNP-45. Mag springs were all defective and the gun wouldn't feed. Also the tip of my trigger finger would hit the mag release upon firing. When it did work though it was a pleasure to shoot if I kept my finger where it was supposed to be.

Charter Arms AR-7 .22 semi-auto take down rifle. You all know the story with these....

Really liked the concept, but the actuality, meh. Two trips back to the factory couldn't cure it from jamming every two shots or so. New mags, different ammo, no change.

Down the road it went. Marlin Papoose in stainless bought much later was everything it should have been, and more.

Speedo66 said:

Charter Arms AR-7 .22 semi-auto take down rifle. You all know the story with these....

Really liked the concept, but the actuality, meh. Two trips back to the factory couldn't cure it from jamming every two shots or so. New mags, different ammo, no change.

Down the road it went. Marlin Papoose in stainless bought much later was everything it should have been, and more.

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Haha, best jam-clearing training aid ever!

Speedo66 said:

Charter Arms AR-7 .22 semi-auto take down rifle. You all know the story with these....

Really liked the concept, but the actuality, meh. Two trips back to the factory couldn't cure it from jamming every two shots or so. New mags, different ammo, no change.

Down the road it went. Marlin Papoose in stainless bought much later was everything it should have been, and more.

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My brother in law has an early version of this, and its a jam-o-matic. It doesn't get taken out to the range very much...

Thompson Contender in .357 Herrett. That gun defines “hand cannon”. Even with double ear protection it was brutal, and recoil was worse

R51; loved the idea, loved the look of the gun, hated the takedown, the reassembly, and the unreliability. CZ82; just an overhyped steel gun that shot badly; the CZ75 wasn't much better; lots of recoil.