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

So glad i bought a Winchester

i was using my dads parker hale .243 when i first started out hunting it was an awesome rifle and accurate as hell, so when i decided to buy my first rifle i thought id buy a parker hale also, i ended up getting a .270 off a local fella which i ended up regretting as it was the most un accurate piece of crap i have ever fired. I tried everything to try get it to group, different bulltes, scopes, re floating the barrel and the best i could do was 3 inches at 100 yards. i did manage to get 2 red spikers and a sambar hind in the time i had it. now i use a sako forester L579 in .243 and never looked back.

On the Sako cold bore flyer thing.
In my blued 85 I cant pick the first cold clean out of a sub moa group @ 100, common sense says it should be low at range due to being slower with no fouling.
I usually just take out the carbon then oil but occasionally strip all carbon and copper then it will throw the first couple of barnes but if amax is the first down the tube its a tidy group.

Weird, but i know another hunter with a 75 Finlite and it too throws the cold bore shot by more than 4".

Kj

Originally Posted by Beavis

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

I have a wood/blue T3 that causes it to rain every time I take it out , It has never rusted, then again I use Eezox to coat it and all my other firearms.The stock will need oiling but the metal work is just fine
Same with my Sako Quad varmint in 17HMR , no rust problems , it took a while to find out a load it liked -Winchester 20gr hp and it shoots 5 shots at 100m into a small fingernail group

Remington 700 s/s in 7mm-08 rust on bolt even after cleaning and a shit stock screwed up beding

All the rifle lemons I've had have been Remingtons. I have seen quite a few recent production ones that are crap. They used to be a bit hit or miss re quality of assembly, but now days more miss than hit. That said I still own one........

Wow, the one thing im getting from this thread is that Remmingtons don't have a good reputation!
Does anyone find the Howa a bit on the heavy side or am i just a whimp?
I have a Tikka T3 S/S .270, love it but i always wanted one from day-dot so i'm happy to live with its flaws (Plastic mag, dense recoil pad)
I thought about buying other guns before i got it (Remmington, Howa) but knew that i would always want a T3 so stumped up the extra $ and bought it.
Shoots under and inch with Hornady custom soft points from factory... i was stocked but my shoulder wasn't lol!!!

Spend some coin on a limbsaver pad for it. Makes a huge differnce. $75 I think

Originally Posted by RichieRich

Wow, the one thing im getting from this thread is that Remmingtons don't have a good reputation!
Does anyone find the Howa a bit on the heavy side or am i just a whimp?
I have a Tikka T3 S/S .270, love it but i always wanted one from day-dot so i'm happy to live with its flaws (Plastic mag, dense recoil pad)
I thought about buying other guns before i got it (Remmington, Howa) but knew that i would always want a T3 so stumped up the extra $ and bought it.
Shoots under and inch with Hornady custom soft points from factory... i was stocked but my shoulder wasn't lol!!!

Anything compared to a T3 weighs a ton. I carried my mates 6.5 Swede T3 while he was carting his first ever deer. Compared to my 75 Finnlight, the T3 was like a toy.
T3s are a bit cheaper than Remmington 700 SPS s/s rifles these days, so you did the right thing and got something far better out of the box.

PS, I've had both a T3 and a Remmie 700.

Howa is heavier but not that bad, i carry my 2 up and down the tangihuas no problem, it is something you are aware of when you buy it and is not a surprise you find.
a few of the posts here i feel are rifles being used for purposes they weren't built for, so are more a case of incorrect use rather than bad rifle.

Originally Posted by RichieRich

Wow, the one thing im getting from this thread is that Remmingtons don't have a good reputation!

There a couple of 700 SPS's in my family, both are capable of around half inch groups bog standard with the right ammo - one of them can do it with some factory ammo, the other needs handloads I think. But people only talk about the bad ones on here.

Originally Posted by dogmatix

Anything compared to a T3 weighs a ton. I carried my mates 6.5 Swede T3 while he was carting his first ever deer. Compared to my 75 Finnlight, the T3 was like a toy.

Sako quote the short action 75 Finnlite at the same weight as the T3 lite, and they're aren't that much lighter than most at 6.25lb compared with 7lb for a 700SPS, Ruger M77 etc - the same amount heavier than say a Savage Lightweight Hunter at 5.5lb. I wonder if Tikka have just managed to cleverly design it to feel lighter than it really is.

Originally Posted by Tussock

Worst from factory was my Savage Low Profile varminter. A massive rifle with a 1:14" twist. Meaning the little pills fared so badly in the wind, all that big heavy accurate construction was for nothing. Just decoration. With a 1:7" twist it would have been one of the best.

When did they make those with a 1:14? They used to be 1:12 for the 204 and 22-250 and 1:9 for the 223, and now they have options at 1:9 for 22-250 and 1:7 for 223 as well.

They are a massive heavy beast though I agree, not made for firing off-hand!

It does seem strange that most rifle makers only seem to do the 22-250 in 1:12, you'd think the extra grunt over a 223 would be best used with the heavier bullets. The new Savage 1:9 option is the only faster factory twist I can think of, I guess with the extra speed it will stabilise the same bullets as a 1:7 or 1:8 223?