Ever lost confidence in a rifle?

[longbow51]

I thought my beautiful Cooper Western Classic in 25.06 was losing its accuracy. Turned out I had a cataract in my right eye. Things develop so slowly you think your vision is still clear until you get to a certain point. So, not everything is the rifle.

 

[COElkChaser]

My Dad gave me his 30-06, which I've used since I was a boy. That rifle shoots clover leafs all day and I took several muleys and cows. Then I had an opportunity on my first bull, and when the time came for the rifle to go BOOM, it only went click. The firing pin never released. Hard to take the rifle out now knowing the reliability can't be trusted.

Still, I'll never get rid of it

 

[1100RemingtonMan]

Yes I had a Winchester Model 70 XTR in .270 Win. that jammed on me in Wyoming Antelope hunting it's the only gun I have ever sold. It was a sub MOA gun and the .270 Win make a excellent Mule Deer Whitetail and Antelope rifle as I hunted with it for several years but when it jammed I lost confidence in it.
What did I replace it with another Model 70 XTR in .264 Win Mag can this do anything a .270 Win do No but it has never jammed on me.

 

[utah400elk]

I did once. I was too young and immature to understand why was happening and sold the rifle.

I had a Winchester 7mm with a cheap scope. I had added a few upgrades but it was an amateurish attempt.

I had killed a few deer and elk with it but sold it after a cow elk hunt. I ended up shooting a cow and the bullet failed. I used a Nosler ballistic tip at about 100 yards. The bullet penetrated maybe four inches and I had to finish her off and was mad about the prolonged death. I misunderstood the failure and credited the caliber/rifle and not the bullet.

I now reload and have moved away from bigger recoil rifles. I currently have a 257 Weatherby, 300 WSM and a 7mm-08 (my sons) I never use the 300 WSM and will end up selling it. It will shoot sub MOA all day but not a fan of the recoil. I don’t think it’s needed. I have taken big bulls with my 257 but will end up with either another 7mm-08 for myself or a 280 AI custom.

I can’t bring myself back to 7mm even though I know now that it was not the calibers failure. It was youth and misguided understanding that resulted in the loss of confidence.

 

[HSi-ESi]

Only once did I lose my patience on a rifle. My Dad had bought a Howa 300 WM back in the 90's. It wasn't a great shooter, but 1.5" was common. I never really liked the rifle, but took it elk hunting once.

Found a herd of elk in the timber and snuck within 80 yards. Shot once and couldn't be positive. The elk were really confused as to where to go, as I was above them. I did have some cows under 10 yards, 5 minutes after the shot - but I was trying to sort out whether or not I hit the cow. I ended up spooking the herd just so I could look for blood, bullet impact, etc.

After a couple hours of searching, I was confident it was a clean miss.

Fast forward to the evening, and had a cow come out to feed. Snuck to 100 yards, had a dead perfect rest, broadside shot. I aimed behind the shoulder (double lung) and was 100 percent sure of where the crosshairs were when the trigger broke.

Walked up to the elk and I had hit her in the neck.

After I got the elk out, I stopped by a gun store and sold it.

It probably had a loose bolt, maybe it was the scope. But I was done with it. I did call my Dad before hand, so it was done with permission...

 

[VOLhunter]

I lost confidence in my old Remington 7400 in 30-06 years ago. There's a great thread on the guns you wish you never owned. I was a young shooter but learned some lessons on diagnosing the gun and myself as the shooter. I've used these lessons a lot as a long range rifle instructor/coach and military marksmanship instructor.

1. Starting over. Take a load that you're confident in if a reloader or quality factory load and stick with the same load throughout testing/training.
2. Get comfortable. Find a place to go prone and spend the time you need to be comfortable shooting.
3. Give large reactive targets. Begin at close distances. (50 yard max) This is not about precision, it's about seeing a hit.
4. Keep the sessions short. This goes for all sessions. Get several good hits in a row then walk away. Take a smoke break or whatever it is for you, but come off the gun. Maybe, maybe get a few more hits in then pack it up for the day.
5. Extending the range. Take the large reactive targets out further as long as you're getting consistent hits. 100, then 125, then 150.
6. Close for precision. Bring a standard target back in to 50 yards and work on precision drills. I like card games. I'll take a piece of cardboard and glue some playing cards on it. Then work on individual shapes (hearts, diamonds, clubs, spades) on a particular card.
7. Get a friend. Have someone watch your fundamentals and form or video yourself. Make a checklist if you need it that you can reference while prone. Body position, grip, sight picture, sight alignment, trigger control, breathing, follow-through.
8. Dry fire, dry fire, dry fire.
9. Shoot long. Go straight to longer than normal shots for precision, and be happy with decent results but if you took the time with fundamentals most shooters are surprised at how well they grouped.
10. Mid range precision. Immediately move to a midrange (whatever that is for you, hunting range or competition range) and work on precision. Don't worry about the occasional flyer, just get a high volume of quality hits.
11. Keep it fun. If you're not enjoying it at any time, pack up and go home. If you need a couple months off from shooting to forget the stress, then do it. Shoot some pistol or an AR to have fun shooting again.

If it's the gun and not the shooter, it will normally show itself in #6. If questionable, repeat steps 6 & 7 multiple times then have someone else shoot the gun. In the end you need to be happy with it so send it down the road if all else fails.

 

[Gary]

Never had a rifle I lost confidence in, however I have changed out a few scopes.........
When a rifle stops working as expected, the trigger puller needs to be recertified.