Have you ever gotten an inaccurate rifle?

Yep, the one and only 10/22 I bought.

I bought this rifle back in the early 1980's,,,
Brand new from a dealer in Northern California.

At fifty yards it made a group of about 6 inches,,,
The store didn't believe me so I let an employee shoot it one weekend.

He had the same results I did.

So the store sent it back to Ruger,,,
Ruger sent me a new rifle without any explanation.

But after owning the 2nd gun for awhile,,,
I decided that the 10/22 had no appeal to me at all.

I sold it and bought an older scoped bolt-action single-shot,,,
All I remember is that it was a Marlin,,,
And was extremely precise.

Aarond

.
 
Yep.

Most recently, a 5.56x45mm-barreled upper receiver from PSA.
Out of the box, I was lucky to shoot 8 MoA or so. I worked on it for about a year, to shrink the groups to just a hair under 5" at 100 yards.


It was recently sacrificed for the greater good.
 
Savage 11/111 Hog Hunter .308. It didn't matter what kind of ammo I used, i couldn't get that gun to shoot under a 3" group at 100yds. I had my gun smith look at it to make sure that I wasn't missing something... and I wasn't. It just was not accurate. ended up selling it and buying a Browning X-Bolt in .308. That rifle is a tack driver. This is a 3 shot group at 100 yds.
 
None to date!!

I don't recall any, with that said I don't recall buying a used firearm either, even my 1911 (Colt and Springfield pistols have been accurate too).. Pleased with all!! William
 
It's never happened to me, although I've had rifles that required work to get shooting good. I'm usually pretty picky, so I try not to buy stuff where I anticipate trouble.

I've had a lot more surprisingly good results, like a Browning 1886 in .45-70 that I loaded up with factory Hornady 325gr ammo and proceed to shoot a 1 MOA group with the semi-buckhorn irons. I was not expecting that, and it was hard to repeat because the trigger was about 7 lbs :eek:
 
Ok, beat me up after wards Ha Ha. I have never got an Un accurate rifle as I only buy Savages. I have 10 now and all are Sub MOA right out of the box. This includes 2 Axis in 223 and 243. Replaced the stocks on those just because of looks not performance.
 
Had a Remington pump 22 rifle bought from a "gun dealer" that was new in box, around 1976. Couple of us took it out to a range and shot a couple of boxes trying to get it sighted in (iron sights from factory.) By the time we started hitting near the bulls eye, the front sight--dove tail--was nearly out of the groove. It went away.

Bought a Remington 750 chambered in 270 Winchester. Would get it sighted, put in the case and take it home, never take it out of the case, go back a couple of days later and it would shoot 8 inches from where it was shooting last time. I always let it cool for several minutes between shots. It went away too.
 
I've been shooting for 30 years off and on. I've owned 9 or 10 rifles. And I've shot at least 5-6 others. Not one of those rifles were accurate. The targets all look more like patterns than groups. The only thing in common with all these rifles was me. Oh, never mind. I think maybe I just stink.
 
Only had it happen once to me about 10 years ago or so. Bought a win mod 70 super shadow in 270wsm. Could never get better than 2 moa and that was with bedding and free floating and trying every brand and weight of ammo i could find because i didnt reload back then.
 
NEF Handi in 500 S&W. Not sure yet if it's the gun. The setup, or me!
Bushnell Trophy XLT Circle-X Reticle Shotgun Scope, 1.75-4x in Leupold Rifleman Detachable See-Thru High Rings. Shooting at 100 yds has put two in an 8" bull on a Caldwell Orangepeal target, then blow the leg off my target stand!:eek:
Put it back in the safe for further work later. Think I'll take it back to irons, check it at 50 yards, and go from there.
 
Hunter, in my experience with shooters I have learned they can be some very set in their ways kind of people. I suspect the Ruger tech had it set in his mind that the stock wasn't an issue and that no "regular joe gunsmith" was going to convince him otherwise. I enjoy quietly walking about shops and listening to some of the conversations that take place. What I hear from the "experts" behind the counter can be downright alarming sometimes. Good luck changing their minds though.

My thoughts are the same about the Ruger tech, I too enjoy listening to some of the conversations in gun shops from the "experts".
Sometimes I think I should record them, then write a book about the things being said.

Best Regards
Bob Hunter
 
BumbleBug said:
The catch all to this question is the definition of "inaccurate". Thinking back, I don't remember ever having gotten a rifle that with a little tinkering wouldn't at least shoot 2" to 3" at 100yds. Some would say that is plenty good enough for hunting. I'll say most of my experience has been with bolt guns.

From a bolt action scoped hunting rifle I'd never accept 2-3" groups at 100. 2" would be about the largest I'd accept from a bolt action hunting rifle with an aperture rear sight and standard front bead. 3" would be acceptable to me with my M94 and the buckhorn sight. If I can't "tinker" with a scoped bolt action hunting rifle and get it to consistently shoot better than 1.5" at 100 yards I won't keep it.

Plus I've had way too many that went down the road for not shooting well to keep track. Some the rifle was the problem other times it was me. One that I remember was a combination of too much of a good thing and it was a 17.5" Encore barrel in .280 GNR. As a pistol or a carbine the brake on the barrel caused too much of an issue for me to ever shoot it well. It gave me a flinch that took a long time to get over.

nomad636 said:
Savage 11/111 Hog Hunter .308. It didn't matter what kind of ammo I used, i couldn't get that gun to shoot under a 3" group at 100yds. I had my gun smith look at it to make sure that I wasn't missing something... and I wasn't. It just was not accurate. ended up selling it and buying a Browning X-Bolt in .308. That rifle is a tack driver. This is a 3 shot group at 100 yds.

Happy to see that someone else has had issues with Savage as well! I get tired of all the fanboys that proclaim that all Savages shoot 1/2 MOA or better with everything they've tried. I've had a few Savage, Remington, and Winchester rifles with more than a few Mauser's both commercial and sporter and I've never once found a Savage vastly superior to any of them.
 
I bought a used 99 Savage in .300 Savage. It shot really bad with factory ammo and they usually do not so I threw it in a closet. A while later I pulled the barrel to put a 22-250 barrel on. When I looked down the chamber end I could see a visible "Step" in the bore about a third of the way down that you could not pick up from the muzzle end. Maybe the steel had a hard spot or the tool chipped out, I don't know.

Ruger: I bought my ex a new model 77 ultralite in .257 Roberts. We could not get the magazine topped off. I pulled it apart and there was a large ceramic vibrating stone jammed between the follower and spring. Had I not worked in machining, I would not have known what the heck it was.
 
Taylorce1- I was not a Savage fan boy till I got my first one and that was maybe 7 years ago. I had Remmy's Winchesters and Browning. Got a cheasy savage 223 in a Edge model. I could not believe how great it shot for a pile of junk. I liked the 223 so I went and got another in a FVSS heavy barrel. We shoot primers out of 9MM cases at 100 yards now. What kind of MOA you want to call that. From there I went to same, FVSS in a 308, SUB MOA first time out. This was fun for me as accuracy is all I am after ( I don't hunt anymore). The only one I got that hit the iffy scene was a 22-250 Int Trophy Hunter. Never did much load work up on it, because everyone said 38GN H380 and shoot. I hung that pile of junk up and hardly ever shot it. Maybe 2 inch groups best. Then last year I decided to give it a shot again, drop 34.7 gns RL-15 with a 53 Serria. That sucker makes one hole now too. I still don't care for the caliber, but it shoots sub MOA always now, ON to the 243 in the Axis, Sub MOA right out of the box with 87 gn Hornady. Then on to F-Class- Savage 6MMBR, same thing. I was not a Savage Fan Boy, I became one after shooting them. I will be the last one to say they don't make bad ones like every other company does, but so far in 10 Savages, I have not got one. My Boss won a Rem Tac 308 last year, with some work we did get that to sub MOA also, so in the words of one of the Mods here from a long time ago- Every gun can shoot sub MOA with the right load and work.
 
Years ago I traded a Remington 788, 7mm08 for a very pretty Savage 99C in the same chambering. At the time only 1 factory load was available for the 7mm08 and while the little 788 shot it really well the Savage did not. This would end up being the first rifle cartridge that I would handload (IMR 4895 and a Nosler 140 gr solid base). The results were much better and started me down the road to loading most of my own rifle ammo since then.
I also have an old M77 Ruger in 6mm that until being glass bedded some years ago was a problem shooter, even with handloads. It will now shoot a 3/4" five shot group at a 100yds, a big improvement than before the bedding.
 
4runnerman, my experience with Savage mirrors yours.

I was at one time what I guess one would call a Remington fanboy but Savage changed all that after I was discouraged with some of the new junk Remington was producing.

However what I really am is an accuracy fanboy no matter what the manufactures name is. That being said when it comes to looking at a new bolt action rifle I always look at Savage first and so far I've never had to look any farther.

Best Regards
Bob Hunter
 
Only bad one I ever had was also one of the prettiest. Ruger 77/22 in .22 WMR. Stock was absolutely beautiful. Sadly at 50 yards it looked like a shotgun pattern of buckshot. Swapped scopes tried every .22 mag ammo.around some were even worse. It sold very well at a gun show on strength of the wood stock alone to a guy who was a ruger collector.
 
I've gotten a few.
a M95 mannlicher of mine has a nasty habit of keyholing causing bullets to fly every which way. I have had 2 AKs neither of which could hold better than 6MOA and will now, for the second time, never own an AK ever again;) and I have an AR15 that used to be accurate but now I can't figure out why it's groups have opened up and is likely to be replaced if I can't find the culprit.
 
Yes. My first rifle actually. Was a Remington 03A3 Sporter. Looked nice but I think the barrel was just worn out. Bullets would keyhole at 25 yards and at 100 it couldn't consistently even stay on paper. I eventually sold it cheap but wish I'd have kept it and had it rebarreled.
 
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