Overachievers?

dopar66

New member
Does anyone else have any old, inexpensive, or hand-me-down guns that perform better than they are expected to?

I bought a Stevens 35 .22 back in the 80s at a flea market. To this day I can still touch bullet holes beyond 50', and recently called a "bottlecap shot" at 200'. (Scoped, of course, as my eyes aren't quite what they used to be.)

I still own the 20ga "Ted Williams" my Dad, Son, and I all killed our first deer with. Dad got it used in the 70s, from a pawn shop the best I recall. My son bagged his first deer, a 4-pointer, this past season. This gun groups #4 buckshot tight enough it puts as many pellets in the kill zone at 40 yards as my 12ga Mossy 835. I also consider it a WMD for squirrels. :D

I have around an '84 model Win Ranger 120, still groups buckshot better than any 12ga I've owned before or since. Sweet shooter to this day.

Does anyone else wish to share stories of guns that are overachievers?
 
Like I tell the ladies,,,

Just because they are old,,,
Doesn't mean they can't get the job done.

I have a Model 1892 8mm French Lebel revolver,,,
07-margeaux.JPG

She was manufactured in 1906.

Every year around my birthday,,,
I take all of my rarely fired guns out for a dance.

Last year I fired 12 rounds through Margeaux off of a pistol rest,,,
At 25 yards she put all of the rounds no more than 1" from the center of the bullseye.

She is a 106 year old SA/DA revolver,,,
That would still get the job done if asked to.

Aarond
 
I have an older Marlin/Glennfield 60 in .22lr that is better then my newer Ruger 10/22. It's a tube feed mag and all ways fires great group sizes at 75-100 yrds. I want to mount a scope on this one but hate to have it drilled and tap. Great gun.
 
My dad has an old JC Higgins pump (model 12 I think?) that I love. It runs well, fits me well, I used it for birds for a long time over my 870 because I was better with it. Doesn't even have a vented rib but target acquisition is still faster for me than most other shotguns.
 
The Rohm Gmbh, also known as RG, are supposed to be junk. I don't know how. It seems to be pretty accurate and never once had a problem. It's probably been fired a few thousand times with little to no cleaning by previous owners and still shoots great.
 
An old Savage Model D in 12 gauge. The only shotgun I own. My first time ever shooting 5 stand trap I got 18/25 birds. Only got better from there.
 
I bought an AR from a Marine who had put it together from "parts and pieces" a few years ago.

It shoots a darn sight better than I can.

I took it out some time back and did some iron sight shooting at 100 yards, . . . came very very close to as good as my buddy who was shooting his heavy barreled, . . . SCOPED, . . . AR.

May God bless,
Dwight
 
I bought an inexpensive "cheapo" gun on a whim.A Hi Point 9mm carbine at a gunshow a couple years ago. The price was right, And I was thinking about another plinker, besides my tired Marlin 60 that my dad bought me for my 15th Christmas. I bought 2 boxes of 124 gr. Swiss ammo on the way out (I can't recall the make, but it was a 3 letter acronym), took the thing home, gave it a quick scrub and lube job, and when to the fill pit with it. It was almost dead on, out of the box, at 40 yds with iron sights. a 4x scope came with it, but I didn't feel it neccesary for that gun. a click up on the ramp, and it was almost perfect. I put about 300 rounds through it, using mostly Remmy, blazer, and Tula ammo, without a hitch.(but the mag does seem to fit abit sloppy). I know Hi Point is fightin' words around here, but, to answer the question, that is one gun I was pleasantly suprised with.
 
I took a Savage 330 OU 12 ga with two sets of barrels in on a trade last year. I really didn't want it but I felt a little sorry for the guy and he really wanted a rifle I had, but didn't have enough cash.

I'm not a big shotgun guy, or snob, but I've got an Belgian Browning Auto 5, Winchester Model 12, Winchester Model 42, B.C. Miroku OU and a Browning Superposed Superlight 12ga (that Grandpa left me). Not to mention a 12 ga Encore Barrel, Winchester Model 37 and a Mossberg 500. :p So I didn't think too much of the Savage 330.

Now that I've had it for a while, learned more about it and shot it a couple of times, its actually pretty neat for what it is.
 
My No4 Mk1 sporter I built. I have $300 +/- in it and it shoots right with my brother's Remington BDL. I've also had many .22s that have shot better than they should.
 
I gotta get a picture up of this thing. My grandfather had a 19-- (pre 1920s) single shot .22 Carnival rifle, he made the stock and it's wired to the receiver and the whole nine yards. It looks like a real rattle trap but man can that thing drive tacks.
 
Browning model 1900 .32 auto.
Bought for $150 in college, "indefinitely borrowed" :( by a good friend who fell in love with it (really beautiful proof marks all over)

Rifling is almost completely worn away but she still groups respectably. Never fails to go boom.

What more could a fella ask of a 100+ year old pistol.
 
Mossberg Model 46 that looks like it fell off of a moving truck, but it shoots incredibly well.

Nothing unusual there. I have never had a Mossberg .22 that wasn't exceptionally accurate, and I've had a few. Some of the best .22s ever made IMO.
 
I shot it one time at a friends property and was getting .25" c-t-c groups. It was a freebie that a friend of a friend gave to me. her son "Butch" had moved away and never took his guns with him, so I got the Mossberg, a Winchester M-41 single shot .410, and a Stevens Buckhorn.
 
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