Best and Worst Purchases

I bought an S&W M-59 for the magazine capacity. My first handgun-still have it-a Browning HP, I was an early convert to the Wondernine concept. Didn't like the aluminum frame, sold it. Bought an M-659 in 1985-still have it.
 
My best purchase, a friend of mine (now deceased) asked if I wanted to buy a Ruger Redhawk .44 for $100, I said yes, all of them that I could. He only had one.

My worst, A case of Spanish surplus 9mm Largo ammunition long ago. It was lame, you had to beat the primers to death to get some of it to fire, the primers were not struck lightly either, it was Berdan primed as well.
 
Worst:
Heritage rough rider. Inaccurate, poor materials, poor qc, poor customer service, and apparently will eat itself if using 22 mag. Close second to Rossi for a 38 sp. that was starting to rattle loose after 100 powder puff loads.


Best:
Everything I currently own I guess. They all have their place. If they are sub par they don't stay. Life is too short for for that.
 
I don't know about best and worst but my favorite is my 94 Winchester and my least favorite would be my AR15.
 
Fun post . . . made me think.

Best is easily my Sig P238, and the runner up is Beretta fs92. Both fine guns. Run flawlessly and shoot anything I put in them.

Worst is Beretta Nano and runner up is Walter PPK380. Both guns had parts fall off first time I shot them and they were super finicky about ammo.

New category - gun I'm sorry I sold may have to get another - and the winner is Taurus Judge the Public Defender version. Lotta people don't like them but that little gun was a hoot to shoot and made a great HD gun. Bird shot in the first chamber followed up with heavier shot and ending with a slug.

Live well, be safe
Prof Young
 
Best; 1941 made Springfield M1 Garand- Need I say more

Glock 43- Maybe the best single stack 9mm ever made

AR-15 Built with Premium parts and FNH barrel from PSA

Taurus M85 Ultralite- Great pocket 38spl+p revolver

Glock 21- Police trade in. SS Guide Rod. 3.5lb Connector. Night Sights

T/C Venture 30-06- Most accurate 30-06 Ive ever owned.

Worst; Mossberg 702 Plinkster- Reliable and accurate but poorly built
with poor parts. good reason its cheap.
 
Best: My best shooter is a Tikka T3 in .223.

Worst: Ruger MKIII. Ruger 10/22. Any future Rugers that may be given to me for free.
 
I have Remington, Winchester, Browning, S&W, Kahr, Colt, NAA and several Ruger firearms. These include shotguns, center-fire rifles, rim-fire handguns and rifles, and center-fire handguns. Some are very old with little or no blue left. NONE - I MEAN NONE -are poor firearms. Of course I like some better than others. The only firearm I've ever had any trouble with is my Ruger Mk II and it was MY FAULT (disassembly for cleaning.)
 
What do you say about a firearm that keeps showing up on the best list for some and the worst list for others? It shows that guns are a very personal thing.
 
The worst piece of crap gun I ever bought was a Diamondback DB9. Couldn't get through a magazine without malfunction. Terrible customer service. It was even worse when they fixed it and returned it to me. They then refused to do anything more because it was " fixed" as far as they were concerned.
 
Well it was pretty

Well the worst was the prettiest. I bought a used Sako rifle at a gun show, it was a 243 and had very pretty wood and appeared like New in every way. The price was right and I was very pleased until I took it to the range. The thing wouldn't do better than four to six inch groups at a hundred yards, I tried every thing I knew with different loads factory loads, hand loads, different weight bullets different torque on the action skrews but but it shot patterns not groups. Everyone I knew that had a sako bragged about the accuracy but not this one. I couldn't see or find anything wrong with it. After about a year I used it for trading stock to buy something different
B.B..
 
Worst - Davis .22 derringer, can't hit squat, ball bearing for barrel detent went missing.
Best - rifle - Rem 700 BDL 7mm mag back in 1980
Best - handgun - S&W 66-2 accurate as all get out
Best - shotgun - Beretta A400
 
BEST: Volkmann Precision Combat Carry, built to my specs by Luke Volkmann: I see no reason to have more carry 45s after this one, it's the size and weight I like (Commander, steel), shoots dead-on w/decent ammo, and is far more refined than a non-custom. If Ed Brown, Wilson, Volkmann, Cabot, Nighthawk, and other high-end are "worth it" is a personal decision.

WORST: Ruger Mini 14 Ranch Rifle, stainless, almost forgot about this one. Bought and sold in Reno over a summer long ago. Not worth a whole lot coming or going, these are pointless beyond c. 200m. Had some fun times out in the Nevada desert with it, but...why?

NEUTRAL: S&W PC 45acp 325 Thunder Ranch revolver: haven't figured out if I like it or not, years later, so is a go-to, SHTF safe-guarding sort of thing mostly. Half tempted to sell and put money down on a second Volkmann CC or Cabot Commander, but that too is a "why." Cabot and a few others are Ferrari-like fanaticism to detail and prestige...fine engineering can be its own reward in pride of ownership?
 
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I've had a few "bests" but #1 is a S&W M19, 2.5". Fellow had bought it new and was not happy. Someone talked him into a trigger job, but the guy still didn't like it - too much recoil for him. I got the gun, full box of ammo, and two speedloaders from him for a ridiculously low price. Very accurate and it's my favorite wheel gun.

My worst is/was a Brazilian made 22 rifle. This was in the days of copious ammo on the shelves. I tried 15 different loads and the best 25 yard 5 shot group was 1.5". Meanwhile, my Nylon 66 shot them all well, with the Worst group being .75" (many less than .5"). The gun has been a safe queen since then, only coming out to help a couple of new shooters get some trigger time.
 
My best purchase was probably my Marlin 1895 that I got new for $300. Worst purchase was a Rossi snub 357. Not sure of the model number but I know I overpaid by quite a bit.
 
WORST: Ruger Mini 14 Ranch Rifle, stainless, almost forgot about this one. Bought and sold in Reno over a summer long ago. Not worth a whole lot coming or going, these are pointless beyond c. 200m. Had some fun times out in the Nevada desert with it, but...why?
It would fall into the class of a Military .30 Carbine. Very useful for combat...not really intended to be a long range big game gun.
 
Great Thread

Best: Winchester 70 Extreme Stainless in 308 - Lightweight, accurate enough, impervious to weather. It's my best all around hunting rifle.

Worst: I once bought a Mosin Nagant. Why? Who knows. Stupid, stupid, stupid waste of money. Not much money... but still money.
 
Worst: Benelli MR1... only because the seller screwed me over. Did not disclose full condition and then shipped the rifle in too small of box. UPS broke it, but refused to honor the insurance because he boxed it obviously wrong. Paid with money order, so I was stuck. Seller refused to do anything to make things right. He never offered to take it back, just said make a claim with ups, but he wasn't going to refund me the money... just try to get ups to pay me for it. If they would not, too bad. He never contacted ups, so i had too. Ups refused the claim and i sent a bill for repairs to the seller. He blocked my number and email. Told me he was a LEO and would have me arrested for fraud. Accused me and my FFL of being hustlers trying to shake him down. Yeah it got bad! GB would only refund 500 of the 900+ paid, so it was not worth doing. I could fix it for 400. So I kept it, but by the time the dust settled... one of the 2 parts I needed were discontinued by Benelli. Oh Joy! Fortunately, we think the unavailable part is only cosmetic. So the other part is on its way. I pray this thing is worth saving!

The best.... I don't really have a best... I researched all my purchases and have gotten good guns! Beretta 96, Px4, CX4, walther p22, lcp, sig 2022.
 
I've owned many firearms so this is a hard choice. I'd say my best and worst were Luger/P.08s.
Of course they aren't my best guns but they deviated farthest from my pre-purchase expectations.

The worst was a Stoeger Luger .22 I bought in 1971 that was a real jammomatic, even after two trips back to Stoeger. Technically a genuine "Luger" but pure garbage. I solved the problem by getting a Ruger Mark I.

My "best" is a mutt P.08 I bought dirt cheap in 1975 when I was a starving student. I knew it was a mess when I bought it but really wanted a Luger. And as I researched it I found out it was an ugly FrankenLuger built from parts from 15 pistols spanning two world wars. DWM frame and toggle; Mauser receiver and barrel. Mismatched numbers all over, it would be hard to get more of a mix-master even if you tried!

BUT the darn thing worked and was accurate. And I still have it. After many thousands of rounds only one part broke, which didn't stop reliable function. After a few hundred rounds that day, I only discovered the problem when field stripping. The big rear toggle pin broke in half but the design of the P.08 kept it in place. It was an easy $5 fix but I got another mixed part number! :p

Over the years I got a 1913 DWM receiver/barrel and an S/42 toggle so can make it into a true prewar DWM or look like a 1938 S/42 Mauser (the frame still is DWM). Either way, with new Mec-Gar magazines it is quite reliable - it impresses everyone who shoots it. Normally it lives in the safe as a full DWM.
 
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Worst:

Easily, the Diamondback DB9. Unreliable with every magazine and different ammunition. I go to their discussion group, and find people have to modify the magazine to make it run. On top of it all, the frame cracked after 530 some odd rounds. I didn't even use plus P ammo. Sold that POS as soon as they replaced the gun for me.

Best:

The best purchase was from my best friend. He sold me his S&W Performance Center Hunter 44 Magnum with an Aimpoint H1, the Dillon 450, powder, bullets, and primer.

Ruger Mark II Target Competition with a Volquartsen trigger and Ultradot Match Dot. Built like a tank. Parts are inexpensive. Super accurate. Reliable.




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