Thread: Question: What’s the worst (hunting) rifle you've ever owned/used & why?

Used to also have a 44mag Ruger, but it had a tendency to load itself, by catching of the loading lever on the side in the thick stuff while going in to pigs.

Any yank gun I've been forced to by that begins with M

Browning X-Bolt 7mm RM (S/S).

Purchased it while working at Bass Pro in Calgary, AB, Canada in 2010. Spent months deliberating over what one rifle i was going to take back to NZ. Purchased the X-Bolt at a very good price, put a nice VX-3 on it and a few boxes of ammo and set it up to chase Whitetail for the season. Shot okay at the range (assumed it was the cheap ammo I was using) and restricted my max range to a couple of hundred yards to ensure a clean kill. Shot a couple of deer and a red fox in winter with it, so happy enough.

Then it got it back to NZ, started loading for it, tried 4 different projectiles and 3 different powders and could not get it to shoot. Groups averaged 2-3". Got it re-bedded (Factory bedding was shite), lightened trigger, double/tripled checked scope and rings, took it to two different gunsmiths and still no luck. Some talk from them brought up the possibility that the chamber may not be concentric to the bore.

Decided to save up and replace the barrel with a True Flight and 12months later when I sent it to Gunworks to be done, Robbie calls me up and says my barrel is wonky and that the walls of the action and stock are so thin he doesn't believe that re-barrelling it will fix the twisting/flexing of the action/stock every firing. My bubble completely burst then, couldn't send it to Camerons as I purchased it in Canada, and no way am I sending it back there.

So I traded it in with Robbie and got them to order me another Tikka T3, in 7mmRM, flute the bolt, put a brake on, slap my Leupy on it as well as a B&C stock and fark me...another Tikka that shoots minute of SFA with anything and a real pleasure to shoot. Lesson learnt.

Interesting post. Personally I have never thought much of american production line output, its maybe better but not much than chinese stuff IMHO. This seems to be true for US made guns as well. Yanks do make very good custom guns but we have that capability here in Barnard and Trueflight anyway if not world leaders. I do find it intersting then that HOWA seem low cost yet not well thought of, but Remington 700s more expensive, even twice the price or more. I had a look at a brand new one on Saturday accuracy wasnt that great, build quality did not impress me but the owner seems soooo happy. Then said he intended to replace the stock as if he puts a bipod on the accuracy goes to pot (it got worse?) and then get it accurised....strange, that has to be $600+ of bits and work...you can get a tikka T3 varmint for that sort of money, even a Sako A7...

btw what do ppl think of the Sako A7? tempted at $1599...

Originally Posted by Gapped axe

8mm mauser. Bullets would just go clean thru the deer and not breakup. Put 5 shots in a spiker once ,and it stumbled off . Went home and grabed my 303 and the dog and finaly put it down. Any of those first shots should of dropped it . When I butchered the carcase ,you could eat virtualy up to the edge of the hole. Paterson Gunsmiths ,reakoned it was because the ammo which was labeled sporting, was still loaded to Geniva Conventions or something or other. So consequencly wasn't really designed for our Deer population. Lost 3 deer to this gun. Heavy bugger as well. Had a scoped Jungle Carbine for awhile and loved it, especialy in the thick stuff, where you could lock the bolt on an empty chamber and not have it catching on every bit of lawyer, Supple Jack or fern stalk. For the last 15yrs a 6.5 x 55 has been my go to fire arm, and I luv it, don't mind the weight for the accuracy it gives.

A lot of so called sporting ammo available years ago was x military with a hole drilled in the piont and it just didnt work , it isnt the rifle it is the ammo choice

dp...deleted

Just a plain old T3, the whole idea of them drives me nuts.

@wildman the sako a7?

Originally Posted by steven

@wildman the sako a7?

Na mate never touched one of those. Could be good though. I dont think I would pay the old price for them but at that price they look like a bargin...

Anschutz .22 lr with the cheaper pin /slide bolt. Very accurate but jammed all the time because the locking latch didnt hold. Decided to totally remachine it and replace worn parts after I saw my brother in law chasing rabbits with a jammed rifle trying to club them with the stock. Then I sold it. I own an match action anschutz at present made in the 50s and its excellent
And those Brno semi autos I think 511 what a shit machine, owned one for about a month.put me off autos for life

My first center fire - blued Tikka T3. Total piece of shit. Would turn red at the thought of moisture.

Also my old Saiga .223, the one with the trigger rear. Absolute abortion of a trigger, couldn't sight the irons in. In comparison my trigger forward Saiga 7.62x39 will go with me to the grave. Awesome machine.

And my M305. Actually had two. First one was unfireable straight from the box. Second one blew up. Yea I've owned some shit guns.

Originally Posted by Beavis

And my M305. Actually had two. First one was unfireable straight from the box. Second one blew up. Yea I've owned some shit guns.

On-target has .308 ARs in stock.

Remington 7400 308. A dog to carry a dog to shoot. Most recently a Rossi single shot 308. Piece of crap that wouldn't hit a barn door at 50m. Thankfully I never lost money on either of them!!