What is the 1 rifle you regretted buying or wished you never had bought?

[Brian in Montana]

Every Savage.

I've had a couple of low end Savage Axis. They were cheap and cruddy in many ways, but I found them surprisingly accurate with a variety of factory ammo. My wife has killed a pile of deer with her .243.

 

[howl]

I've had a couple of low end Savage Axis. They were cheap and cruddy in many ways, but I found them surprisingly accurate with a variety of factory ammo. My wife has killed a pile of deer with her .243.

I've used them a lot myself. Savage makes a straight barrel. Rough, but straight. Its the rest of the thing that goes sideways. Browning makes a straight barrel, too.

 

[tzone]

Kimber Montana, $1,100 for a 1-1/2 “ rifle. Best day of my life was getting rid of that piece of crap.

Mine 6.5 cm Montana shoots 1.5” too. But for a light weight rifle at 200yds, that’s not bad.

the other 2 are less than that. A .243 and a .223rem.

 

[Aussie_hunter_JD]

I found them surprisingly accurate with a variety of factory ammo.

People often say this, but really these days almost all rifles have reasonable accuracy with at least some type of ammunition.

 

[Mudder]

The only one I ever bought I considered a waste of money was a Mini 14. Grouped like a shotgun. I wanted a truck gun and made a poor choice. I bought one of the early ones 181 series without the integral scope mounts. All of the aftermarket mounts I tested were junk. All in all a real disappointed.

 

[Hatchie Dawg]

Tikka T3X Superlight .270. Took three seasons to find a load it would shoot. By that time the romance was over.
HD

 

[AmericanLongrifle]

The one that I hated the most was a Ruger American, the machining on the bolts and actions is complete shit.

 

[Dr. Vette]

Winchester Model 70 Featherweight in 30/06. The first rifle I ever bought. Man did that lightweight thing kick! I thought I was just a wuss, but a cousin who is a real shooter finally got tired of watching me miss with it and shot it. After one shot he stood up and said, "I'll never touch that beast again." I sold it and bought a 7/08 before they were so cool. Been shooting that ever since.

My Dad has the same rifle and has the exact same thoughts.
He bought it because it was a pre-64 and thought it was cool. I think he'd sell it to anyone who asked.

 

[Scarey]

I really only ever had one rifle that came back to bite me. That being said, I never regretted having it, but it was not how I expected things to go.
Here is the story:
I was working the desk one night, years ago, while I was in the Border Patrol. A friend of mine and I were talking rifles. I said that I was done buying right-handed rifles. He said that he had a friend that had a left-handed Savage that he had traded for. I said that all I had was a Marlin (Westernfield) 30-30 to trade to him. He said that he thought his friend would go for it.

He brought his buddy (who spoke only Spanish) over to the house one evening. It was no issue, as I also speak Spanish, so it was all good and he did not have to translate. We did the trade on the old 7 mag, Savage 110. The rifle was an absolute tack driver and I shot it for many years and killed deer, elk and New Mexico Oryx with it.

Fast forward to 2011. I was trying to decide which rifle to take to Newfoundland on a moose hunt and decided that this rifle was going to make the trip. Just to avoid possible issues, I had a cop buddy run the serial number on the rifle, as I did not want to be caught in Canadian Customs with a stolen rifle. Sure as shit! That rifle was stolen in Phoenix, Arizona, about six months before I traded for it. What was even crazier, was that the insurance company wanted it back! I pulled off the custom stock (which is on another Savage) and put back the old wood stock (luckily I still had it). On top of that, I had replaced the firing pin, so I took the pin out, too. My buddy took it and sent it back to Az. I think that after shooting it for 30+ years, I got my $100 out of it (that is all I had in the original rifle). You can't make this shit up.

I used that as an excuse to buy a new Remington SPS, in 7 mag, which made the trip, killed a moose and now resides in a Bell and Carlson stock. It shoots Nosler Partition 160-grain seconds into 1/2 moa groups and has dumped a lot of game.

What a story, I can't believe after all those years the y would want the rifle back. Thank you for sharing that one.

 

[sbhooper]

What a story, I can't believe after all those years the y would want the rifle back. Thank you for sharing that one.

I was a bit of a shocker, for sure.

 

[CUElk]

I while back I spent about $760 on a Weatherby Vanguard Wilderness in .270. I got interested mainly because it had a 24" barrel. I was jealous of my wife's Rem700 that usually gets a little faster velocities than my T3X (700 has a 24" barrel, my Tikka's is 22.4"). That and the fact the Wilderness is relatively light weight.

The Wilderness has a lot of good reviews online, but I just found it really finicky and high maintenance. Accuracy was hard to come by. I did find a couple loads that were acceptable, but it seemed that just a little bit of fouling openned up my groups in a hurry, which was odd. I had to clean it about every 15 to 20 shots. Also it had a fluted barrel, which made it lighter, but it seemed to heat up very fast. I had to wait between shots to really get a good representation of a load's grouping.

Also, it came stock with a 2-stage trigger, which I certainly would have replaced had I kept it. I hate 2-stage triggers, but thought maybe I could get used to. Ultimately, I found myself trying to talk myself into liking that gun quite a bit, and eventually just went, pfffft. I sold it and accepted the fact that my .270 will be 80 or so FPS slower than my wife's. Haven't missed it a bit.

Interesting. I was considering purchasing that rifle in a 300 win mag. Mainly because I've always wanted a weatherby. Guess I'll do a little more research.

 

[utah400elk]

Well,

I have a completely custom Marlin 1894.44 Mag.

I put on a big loop lever, had it cerakoted, added a recoil pad, new trigger and a custom leather cheek pad. It is an awesome gun that is fun to shoot but...all said, I haveover 2k in that gun. I wish I had done something different.

I originally built it as a whitetail rifle For my son and I to use in FL. Now that we are in TX and hunting trying to move back west...I don’t see it getting used much.

 

[RevJim]

I've had several I've regretted buying/trading into. I'll try to remember some and why I got rid of them:
I will skip the "poverty years/youth desperation bad choices". Majority of these were used.

Ruger #1 .270W- terrible trigger, couldn't get it to shoot.
Mod 70 FWT PF, 7x57, would not shoot, had it rebarreled to 30-06. Redeemed itself
Savage 110 270W...bolt fell apart. Gave it away for parts.
Several Mod 94 carbines, 30-30 kicked like crazy/wouldn't shoot well
Several Interarms Mark Xs ( the plainer ones) floppy bolts, poor accuracy
Several Ruger 77 (tang safety) poor shooters
One New Ruger Hawkeye 77 .257 Roberts.....poor shooter and felt like a club
Remington 700 Classic 7x57 with "bubbafied" bolt.
Another Mod 70 FWT PF 7x57...poor shooter
I forget the maker right now, but it was an AK47 clone ( civilian) in .308Win. POC
Several Mini14s and a couple Mini30s...crappola.
Universal M1 Carbine...poc
You pays your money and you takes your chances, ha. Lots of fun though.

 

[RevJim]

The only rifle I actually regret ruining was a 1988 Mod 700 Classic in 35 Whelen ( I had it reamed to the Ackley Improved)
I bought it used in 1995, looking for a rifle to take to South Africa for Plains Game. I had wanted one since they came out, but this was the first one I saw up til that time, in any condition. I had been reading about Gary Sitton's use of the 35 Whelen Ackley and I sent the rifle off to Gary Stiles to rechamber. I had a local smith put a Decelerator Pad on and adjust the trigger lighter. I had a Leupold 1.5x5 on it, fire formed 100 new 35 W. Remington brass with the 220 Speer/amd a warm load of 4895 ( I had some on hand) I shot 20rds a week, followed by 100rds of 22 magnum rifle at a 6 inch bull 100yds. I used all hunting positions after zero. I then worked up a load (starting with standard Whelen data from the Barnes #1 Manual ( it was Black) with the Barnes 250X/2015br for right at 2600fps. I could go a lot faster but it shot bugholes at this speed. I zeroed it +1" @ 100.

I killed Blue wildebeest, Red hartebeest, zebra, gemsbuck and Kudu with it. I used my Afrikaner friends 300WM/180 XBT on Blesbuck, Impala, and his 375 H&H/270X on a Warthog. ( We were having fun!) Fast Forward....

My Afrikaner friend ( and PH/Outfitter I used, all a DIY hunt) felt he could get me a cull Buffalo Hunt later on. At the time, I was working with some Afrikaner Pastors Training Mission work and we would hunt three days at the end of two weeks there. He arranged to sell the meat and put toward the animal fees, which made my price ( out of my own pocket, not the Church!) far less than a guided elk hunt ( this was 1996.) So I came home, did some research and to "make do", save money you know, had this very fine Classic converted to Magnum and a 20" long Douglas chambered in .416 Taylor ( 458WM simply necked down) It had a "KDF" style muzzlebrake. OMG! It was the "loudest" rifle I have "ever" shot ( and I had shot a 416 Wby a guy had!) kicked all up in your face ( very light rifle) 400gr going 2350fps! Wow! I immediately sold that thing off for a Remington 700 BDL SS .375 H&H. The buffalo hunt fell through anyhow! I moved on, but gave that .375 to a young man ( who went with me in 2002) but went back in 1998 with, get this a 5 1/2 lb (before scope unloaded) 340Wby/210 XBT. It kicked the guts out of a 2.5x8 Leupold right before my trip, so I put a 3x9 Zeiss on it. It starting killing that scope upon arrival/checking zero. Before it went south I managed to kill a zebra and an Impala before I wounded a Blessbuck ( finished him with a 300WM/180xbt) and shot the foot off a big Namibian Gemsbuck ( My friend killed him, but I had to pay for him!) Upon returning home, I had it rebarreled to a bit heavier barrel and Mag Na Ported (the 340Wby also had come with a KDF style on it, super loud!) in 338WM and set it up with the Barnes 185XLC and another 2.5x8.

In 1999, I bought another 1988 Classic 35 Whelan, ( which had a tad thicker , more squarish wrist, why I don't know. First one was slim and more rounded, perfect!) had my local smith rechamber it to Ackley, put another 1.5x5 on it and worked up a load with the 200X to 2970fps. I took it with me my last trip, 2002 and shot a zebra (250yds) and a Black Wildebeest ( 347yds)
I felt that out to 350yds, it shot as flat as a 300WM and up closer, it killed like a 338WM, 340Wby and the 375H&H. Some will disagree with me, but that "very first Whelen" (Ackley) was one I keep trying to reproduce, ha. "Make do won't do"...trust me.

WARNING: I later had the specs of those loads I hunted with in the 35 WAI put in QuickLoads Program. According to it I was in the 72-74K pressure range! I always used new, formed brass for my loads, never used it again after a kill. But while they "had rounded primers and easy bolt lift", they were "hot"! I only have one good eye (my shooting eye at that) so I quit the wildcats. It seems "you can't look a chicken in the face and tell how fat it is" with Ackley's, ha.

 

[Doublegunner]

Mine 6.5 cm Montana shoots 1.5” too. But for a light weight rifle at 200yds, that’s not bad.

the other 2 are less than that. A .243 and a .223rem.

Maybe I got lucky, mine shoots 1/2 inch with hornady 120 gain gmx outfitter loads and about 3/4 inch with hornady 143 gr eldx precision Hunter loads. How many loads did you try? Seversl of the other loads i tried were nothing to write home about.

 

[AggieHunter]

I have been looking at the Browning X Bolt Hell's Canyon Speed for some time now.

Its a great rifle

 

[JohnCushman]

The only rifle I ever regretted was a Remington 710 in 30-06

 

[RaiderRich]

I've had a couple of low end Savage Axis. They were cheap and cruddy in many ways, but I found them surprisingly accurate with a variety of factory ammo. My wife has killed a pile of deer with her .243.

I own a couple of Axis IIs'. I like them a ton but if I had one complaint is the Axis rifles don't really come in true short actions. My 243 and 7m-08 Axis IIs' actually have long actions with the bolt being longer. I guess they did that to save money in manufacturing, one bolt and receiver fits all. It does not really bother me but if someone truly wants a short action rifle they will have to look at options other than the Axis series.

 

[RaiderRich]

The only rifle I ever regretted was a Remington 710 in 30-06

I have heard horror stories about both the 710 and 770. I am actually considering a 783 in 7mm RM. I hear the 783 took a bit of design from the Marlin XL7 which I have one and love. A friend of mine owns a 783 in 30-06 and likes it a ton. Hopefully Remington has it right in the economy brand, or else I may add to this thread a rifle I regret buying, if I in fact buy one.

 

[mtmuley]

Stay with the 721, 722 rifles, or the 700. The new offerings are not worth the time. Just my opinion. mtmuley