Did you ever have a gun that you just couldn't hit the side of the barn? I had a FN 57 that are known for being very accurate but no matter how I adjusted the sight I couldn't hardly be on the paper let alone the eye. I sold it and never looked back with a second thought about it.
I guess it had something to do with how the gun fit my hand and the trigger reach. As expensive as the ammo is I just couldn't enjoy shooting it so poorly.

Have you ever had a gun you couldn't shoot worth a darn?

Yea, a 6" Taurus 357. Couldn't hit a gallon milk jug at 25' . The front sight was off canter from the factory. Sent it back 3 times and it still couldn't hit the barn (if I were locked inside.) I'll spare you all the rest of the details.

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Dave

I have a Taurus PT58SS (.380) and at 7 yards, I have about a 12" pattern (I'm about a 2-3" pattern with everything else at that distance)

No, people who use my guns say some of them are off, but they work fine for me because they were bought for me. I suspect that many of us like me are experienced hand gunners at heart and can make almost any handgun quickly work for us, long guns are more about fit and we have less time with them and do have to go further back into the basics to get them to work as well for us, and sometimes; they do not fit.

Had a Springfield Armory 1911 in the 1900s..about 1985..would NOT shoot all rounds on a paper plate at 25 yards.
Barsto fitted barrel , it shot little knots for groups.
Only stinker in a handgun I ever had. Had a Henry .22 that would not shoot ANY ammo into 4 inches at 25 yards....hadda go!

Turkish 1938 Mauser long rifle in 7.92x57. Headspace was great barrel looked straight, but it patterned like a shotgun. The secret was revealed when I dismantled the thing. The stock had a downward curve on the nose like a bow. Consequently the upper band was putting a massive amount of force at the muzzle end and the tang wasn't seated properly at the back. I can only guess if/how much recoil lug contact there was when I bought the gun. If you did up the action screws to seat the receiver without the barrel bands, the muzzle was about 1.5 inches clear of the wood. I have since read that this is not unusual with Turkish rifles.

I straightened the stock by soaking it in a hot bath then clamping it to the rails of a garage door I didn't use. One day (maybe) I'll see if it stayed straight and refinish with BLO. One thing for sure, the rear tang will still need bedding compound because of the poor fit.

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Release the Kraken

Sort of. A Spanish MAB GZ. It was a PPK look-alike in 22LR. Shot a foot low and left, even with the rear sight drifted so far right it overhung the slide by 1/3 of the width of the sight assembly. It grouped OK, just couldn't be regulated to POA.

Just about all of them

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Always Stay Strong!

I had a Tec-9 that was horrible in the accuracy department. I've seen other guns that wouldn't shoot worth a darn too. Maybe one of the worst I ever saw was a Beretta .25 made in the 50's.

I have a Taurus PT-145 that is crazy accurate though. 11 rounds in a 8" target from 25 yards in 10 seconds. I shot .45 casings at 20 yards and didn't miss a one. I did miss one at 25 yards by about half an inch. I only have one pistol that is more accurate but that's only true at longer distances. That would be my Sig P220.

An S&W M-49 that would barely stay on the target paper at 25 yards. I normally shot pretty well with J-frame snubs.

I shot well with other guns the same days I tried it and varied ammo brands. Just never got it to group well.

Round about 1993-4 I had a 4006 that was terribly inaccurate. I lost money when I sold it because I told everyone how awful it really was.

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On the Oak Savannah

Have a friend who bought a nice old Husqvarna at auction and the old gentlemen who auctioned it threw in a couple boxes of his 270 loads. My friend couldn't get it on paper at 50 yards. Worked a lot better though when he tried 30-06 rounds.

Jeff
SWCA #1457

I was thinking of buying a Browning Hi-power. At the range I go to they sell new and used guns. The Browning Hi-power was in great shape with the dovetailed rear sight and probably late 70's early 80's vintage. Hi powers are one of those guns everybody has one. So they allow you to rent the used guns for the day and I did. After 3 clips full I think I may have only hit the the entire target 3 times. Really bad!!! Don't know if it was me but dozens of my guns at the 15 yards I was shooting I can usually pull pretty nice touching groups. I loaded one more clip and first shot out was a squibb!! That was it, brought the whole barrel jammed gun back in- apologized for the hunk of lead still lodged in center of barrel. That gun had no love for me and I was certainly not going to buy it.

I usually don't aim at barns so I can't say for sure

Years ago I bought a new Llama .45 acp commander sized 1911 in SS. I like 1911's, and the price was too good to pass up, I thought.

Lots of issues with that gun, one being it would hardly hold a group on paper at 25 yards using a standard combat qualification target. It could maybe stay somewhere on paper with 7 shots, if I was lucky. It went down the road. I have owned inaccurate guns before, but that one was really bad. Llama went out of business shortly afterwards.

Once owned a very pretty and classy Ugartechea SxS 12 ga game gun. No matter what I did, I just could not hit with it, just didn't fit me. Last straw was the day my ex and I shot a round of skeet. I think I hit 5 or 6 with it. Grabbed my ex's Mossberg 12 ga pump, and shot a 23 If I remember right. That pretty SxS also went bye bye.

Larry

25 years ago I had s Ruger Super Blackhawk, stainless, and the barrel was at least 8", maybe more. Oh, 44 magnum by the way. I never could shoot that gun well. Kept it about 6 months, while trying different ammo and even swapping grips a couple of times. Finally figured it wasn't meant for me and got rid of it. Best shooting gun accuracy wise, was a Sig P228. Traded it off when I lost faith in the 9mm some 20 + years back, but I'm over the 9mm thing now, but not over trading away that pistol.

Most times that a handgun is in excellent mechanical condition and there are problems zero-ing in to the x ring, ammo has a lot to do with it.

But, even before that is each shooter's hand-eye coordination, depth of field and visual perception, then proper allowance for recoil, hold and shooting technique are premier considerations.

Before I'd start adjusting sights on a good target gun, I would Ransom Rest it to see if it is truly off, or it's me. ( I tend to pull a tad low and to the left but excellent groupings ).

I have a hand full that I can do absolutely no wrong with, then others that I have problem pulling a tight pattern no matter what ammo I use.

My eyes just cannot get 3 dot sights to a zero point where I can put them through the same hole, but they're all somewhere in a good area, just no tight pattern. Yet, with a wing and a blade, especially a set of Milletts I am on target with either hand. It's just my hand eye coordination and how my eye sees the 3 dots.

The Sig or walthers with the one rear semi-circular dot or triangle in the rear I'm good but my eyes just don't like the 3 dot sights ... period.

All my bullseye guns have a wing and a blade. White outline rear with red insert front is just fine for me.

On my S&W with black iron sights I used a white nail or red nail polish on the front sight with a white nail polish or paint outlining the horizon on the rear sight so I can better distinguish my X shot that would otherwise get lost with the black on black on black.

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ANTIQUESMITHS
LM1300 SWHF425

Don't diss the firearms. If you've ever bird hunted very much you will know why. Certain times of the year, the earth wobbles on it's axis, usually just the instant you pull the trigger. It's enough to even affect pointing a shotgun. You say "there is no way I missed that !@##$%%&^$ bird!! It's really a problem when you take the Preacher hunting. Lighten up, live well, and just let it go.

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Just a shooter

I had a Beretta BM-59 that had a wandering zero. Every time I took the dang thing out POI was inches away in random fashion from where it was the last time I shot it. Had ito a smith who was pretty good with Garands and M14s to no avail. Finally traded it off.

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Stay safe people!

It was even more awkward when I was the preacher and wanted to say that.

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Oh well, what the hell.

Heck Yes ! My daughter and son-in-law bought me a brand new SXS double barrel 20 gauge shotgun, Stoger Uplander Field model , beautiful wood, screw in chokes , brand spanking new to replace an ancient, very much used ( no blue , brown with a dented barrel), Savage 311 SXS , I paid $20.00 before I was even married (1971) . It was rode real hard and put away real wet, it wasn't pretty but hit where I pointed it .
After they gave me that new SXS for Christmas .....
I was in hog heaven and I was going to hunt everything with it , quail, rabbits, squirrels .....And you guessed it, I couldn't hit doodley squat with it. I was bound and determined to make that gun shoot, I bought a machine to throw clay targets , practiced , adjusted length of pull , longer , shorter, cast of stock , up and then down, added length to butt stock , shortened the stock and still couldn't hit with it like that old ugly beat to hell Savage 311. The Stoger is sitting in the closet, it's been about 6 years, maybe I take it to the range again....maybe not !
That was the most frustrating gun I have ever owned ! Maybe I should take it to the local parish Catholic Priest for an Exorcism...that gun just may be possessed by an evil spirit !
I just had an idea, one of those compact reflex dot sights mounted on the rib....maybe that might do the trick ....yeah that's the ticket !
Gary

Very briefly I owned a Kel-Tec P32 that was such a terrible fit for my hand that I found it impossible to hit with it. No matter what hold and trigger finger position I tried it would pull off target.

I was afraid if I found it necessary to stick it up an attacker's nose I'd miss. It went away, to someone with small hands.

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Oh well, what the hell.

Yep, heritage rough rider 22lr/22 mag convertible. Purchased from my father in law for $44.00 and he threw in about a box and a half of .22mag ammo.

I cant hit paper 10 feet away with that stupid gun. I wrote it off years ago and figure I just over paid for ammo.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

A Ruger stainless Security Six .357 revolver. I tried numerous times and couldn't hit the side of a barn when I was inside the barn. I should have buried it somewhere but I'm afraid I made it someone else's challenge.
Regards,
turnerriver

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turnerriver

While you may temporarily straighten the stock by soaking and clamping the wood will bend in the direction of the grain eventually.

The only way I have resolved this issue is to cut a dado through the center of the bowed area three eights to one half inch wide and as deep as you can.

Then glue another piece of wood into the dado being sure that the grain orientation is the opposite from the stock wood.

This should solve the problem. I have seen large wood pieces bow with enough force to bend not one but two steel I-beams. Hard to believe but wood will do what it wants too unless the dynamics are altered.

Bruce

Thanks for that. Wood and I don't play nice together. The arrangement is that wood grows in the forest and looks pretty as trees and I stand back and admire it.

I found a different fix for the stock issue; buy another one with no/less bend. Not sure if I'll ever get to fitting it or if I'l just sell the whole kit and caboodle as a complete item.

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Release the Kraken

Just one comes to mind - a Smith 639 that I bought new when I was stationed on Guam. I don't know what it was, but I don't think I could have hit the ground with that gun if I dropped it.

I traded it off and moved on. I have a no-dash Model 39 that shoots great, but that stainless gun and I just didn't hit it off.

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“What you got, ain’t new.”

.........an AMT .22 auto mag....couldn't hit the broadside of the barn.....and I was in the barn.................oddly I'd like to find another one

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witty signature goes here

My stepson bought a new 686 6", no matter what loads,who was shooting it on/off a rest, it shot way high and to the left.

The dealer to his credit, shot the gun himself, same results, exchanged the gun for a new replacement, sent S&W the original gun, no problems with the replacement gun.

I do not shoot the Springfield XD models well for some reason.

My son in law has one in 9mm and one in 40S&W.

Don't know what the problem is, just never had a good group with either sidearm.

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I am a sheep dog!
1601 (ret)

Three come to mind. The first experience was with a Browning Citori feather light or some such beast in 16 gauge. I fell in love with it the minute i laid eyes on it. Could not hit anything with the gun. Took it out the local pro. Not even close to fitting me.
The second was a Ruger Blackhawk in 45 Colt. Could never get the sight adjusted fare enough to the left. Closer inspection showed the barrel was screwed in out of square with the frame. Ruger took care of it.
The third was a Ruger Redhawk in 45 Colt. No matter what load I shot, it would not group shots. Best I ever got out of it off sand bags at 25 yards was 5". Never bothered sending that one back to the factory.
It does happen. The Citori was strictly a fit issue.The two Rugers were exceptions to every other Ruger I have owned. All the rest shot quite well.

Yeah.

Most of my semi-auto pistols, I can stand up and empty a full mag pretty fast, and at 7 yds I can cover the group up with my fist.

I have a Savage 1907 .32 acp, if I try to do that, half would not be on paper. No pulling to one side, no windage adjustment to make... it would be scattered left, right, up, down. It was so bad I SWORE something was wrong with the barrel.
And then I sat down, braced the gun as firmly into a sandbag as I could (trying to mimic shooting from a vice)... put 5 rds into 1 ragged hole the size a .45 acp makes.
So it's clearly not the gun, but I just can't figure out why I'm shooting like a blind man with the shakes with it.

Gee, I dunno. Never shot at a barn before.

I have an XDm that does quite well. I use it as my carry gun a lot of the time.

BTW I failed to mention the all time worst shooter I've ever seen - the Raven P-25. It's weird but I had one that was crazy accurate until I took it apart to clean it. Then it shot like every other Raven I ever shot - lousy. I'm talking pointing it straight down and not hitting the ground lousy.

Don't own one, don't want one, but every time any friend brought along a P-38 to shoot - I could barely hit the ground with one.

For me, one of the the most awkward pistols ever. Zero barrel weight, crummy trigger, tiny sights.
You can have all of'em allotted to me.

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Ret'd LEO
SWCA #2275

Yeah, a Beretta 380 from the 1930's. . .WWII gun. Got it when I was a kid for $30 because I couldn't afford anything better. Nice looking gun with a clean barrel. Bullets were apt to go anywhere. Had a 1902ish Luger in that smaller caliber. Barrel was shot, and so was the gun. Bullets would tumble out of that thing. . .key holing.

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Dr. B