Your idea of the most disappointing firearm..

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RonJ

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No, not pieces of junk or inexpensive ****, but guns that have the potential to be truly great. Not individual guns but a model run.

My nomination would be the Mini-14. If it could just hit a pie plate at 100 yards, 20 rounds semi rapid, I'd be happy. :mad:
 
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Mine would be the Kimber 1911s. 1911s are my favorite pistol platform, and Kimbers are absolutely beautiful guns, but made with poor quality control and even worse customer service. I have had three of them, and I don't ever want another. Oh, I would love a Raptor, but not unless and until they improve their quality, offer a lifetime warranty, and stand behind their guns with good service.
 
GKC said:
Mine would be the Kimber 1911s. 1911s are my favorite pistol platform, and Kimbers are absolutely beautiful guns, but made with poor quality control and even worse customer service. I have had three of them, and I don't ever want another. Oh, I would love a Raptor, but not unless and until they improve their quality, offer a lifetime warranty, and stand behind their guns with good service.
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I'm a little surprised by this. I've had 2 Kimber 1911s and have been pleased with both of them. They are not the high-end custom guns that Kimber would have you believe, but it seems they are about where they should be in the mid-price range for 1911s (if Brown or Wilson is worth $2-3K). I've had no personal experience with their customer service so I can't speak to that aspect.

Interesting question by the OP and I tried hard to think of a series that I was personally disappointed in. Overall the "bad" guns I've owned have been inexpensive junk, so they don't count. The one series I've wanted to like and that I think has potential, but that I haven't jumped on board with due to poor reviews is the S&W Nightguard revolvers. I like the concept of lightweight revolvers with big dot night sights, but haven't jumped on board for one yet.
 
A year or so ago I bought a Remington-branded combination over-under rifle shotgun in .223/12 ga., manufactured in Russia by Baikal. I though it might make an ideal knock-around/camp gun, but ... It had awkwardly placed iron sights that would embarrass a blacksmith, let alone a gunsmith, and was equipped with 3/8" dovetail grooves such as are used for mounting airgun optics. There was no way to mount a scope or quality red dot robust enough to stand up to stout 12 ga. loads and permit accurate aiming of the rifle barrel. It also came with a pathetic owners manual that left many unanswered questions. Rummaging around online, I eventually found the original factory owner's manual (in both Russian and English) including performance specs, which stated that the factory spec for the rifle barrel is roughly 4 MOA! If I'd been willing to tolerate 4MOA, I might as well have bought a Mini-14. I sold it before making any further investment of time, tinkering, or money.
 
S&W 4566, lucky if it would hit a 4X8 sheet of plywood at 25 yards...not just me, others shot it with the same results, traded it = some $$$,at a gun show for a 686 4"...best deal I ever made..
 
Kimber 22-HS rifle.

Went back to the factory three times, never shot right, finish on the stock split and cracked...almost wrapped it around a tree, but sold it instead. The first time it went back on my dime- they said they would reimburse me and never did. No wonder they quit making them (rimfire rifles).

Put a scope on a 9422 Legacy and never looked back.
 
It's a target-rich environment out there. When I was into muzzle loading I sold a reliable, accurate T-C Hawken to get a custom-made proper Hawken replica. It was one beautiful rifle, but we could not get it to fire reliably. I finally sold it at a loss in frustration. So now thirty years later I picked up another T-C Hawken to rehabilitate and will pick up where I left off. The old one wasn't authentic, but it served me well and I was foolish to turn loose of it.

I have learned to be VERY skeptical of popular claims of how wonderful certain guns are, versus other ones in disfavor. I do not get on with SIGs very well, and I finally gave a 220 to a friend who actually can shoot the damn thing well. Had a Ruger P97 that was supposed to be a great gun--other than the fact that the thing choked every other magazine. Even the factory gave up on it, took it back, destroyed it, and sent me a NIB one--which I promptly consigned and dumped. I owned Ruger stock for many years, but absolutely hate their P-series pistols.

It looks to me like we are repeating the experience of GM customers in the late 70's--there is a ton of stuff on the market that is fundamentally ****, and we are expected to believe the hype and pay top dollar for the privelege of owning it. I worked most of my career carrying a plebian Ruger Service or Security Six 4' .357, and as Buffalo Bill said of his old Remington percussion revolver, "It never failed me". My old agency adopted about four different "perfect" service weapons in ten years after I left it, only to find another "new and improved" weapon the morning after.

P.T. Barnum made his fortune on the premise that there was a sucker born every minute". Nowadays I suspect that said suckers are born every second.
 
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While I do not own one, I have shot three Seecamp's - two .32's and a .380. All three were incapable of shooting a full magazine without a jam.

Now I know there are many here that swear by them, but after shooting THREE different ones, you could not give me one for free! To me there is NO substitute for reliability, and IMHO the Seecapt just doesn't have it.

Chief38
 
Beretta Storm 9mm carbine. I owned one back when they first came out and while factory 10 round mags seated fine, it would not seat the high capacity mags at all. I bought the adaptor to seat the M92 style mags and they would just fall out and onto the ground. When I took it back to the shop there was actually a Beretta rep on hand that day and he told me that they knew of the problem and that what I needed to do was take out the spring where the mag catch was and rebend it. I asked him why I should be having to fix anything like that on an $800 gun. It was quickly sold off. A nice gun to shoot but defeated by a $3 part.
 
That's easy - the BG38 and BG380.

With the potential of unseating Ruger's LCP/LCR, S&W has fumbled it big time.

Horrible little guns, just horrible.
 
I have to vote for the Ruger Mini-14.

Great looking, handy package that just does not shoot worth a pint of spit. If a stock $250 10/22 can hold 3-4 inch groups rapid fire at 100 yards why can't a $700 plus Mini-14 hold groups under 6 inches?
 
The Jeff Cooper sponsored Bren 10. I never owned one, but it was announced years before it was released. When they finally got the bugs worked out of the design and put the gun on the market without the magazine because they had supplier problems. You did get a coupon for a free magazine or two when they became available. When the magazines finally became available, they didn't work very well. The company soon folded. I understand there are hundreds or thousands of Bren 10s out there without magazines.
 
HK VP-70Z. Very first of the polymer frame, high capacity pistols, with the most God-awful trigger ever put on a gun.
 
For me the most disappointing firearm with which I ever had experience was a Browning Challenger II .22 LR pistol. It simply would not fire a magazine of ammo without a failure to feed, regardless of the brand of ammo used. But, this has a happy ending. At that time I had been reading articles by Bob Melick lauding the S&W M-18 as the ideal .22 LR revolver for range and field use. I took that Challenger to the local ACE Hardware store and traded it to the owner. He ordered me a brand new S&W 18 even up. I had $180 in the Challenger. The year was 1984. I have no idea what was the actual price of the little Model 18. But it was a marvelously accurate revolver!
 
I would agree on the Beretta cx4 Storm. I got the .45 thinking "hi cap mags are just around the corner". Well you can get 16 round mags but for $100!? FAIL. At least I was able to bump the XD's mags from 13 rnds to 16. Pure love. Still enjoy shooting the cx4 but it could be so much more if given a lil more thought.
 
Well it ain't MY idea!
I got a T/C Hawkin kit for my birthday 25 or so years ago. A pretty rifle, to be sure. I haven't seen 2 shots anywhere near each other yet with it.

HOWEVER :)
We had a tree house out on the farm where we hunted.
It rained and my BIL and I met at the tree house for lunch one Primitive Weapons Season day.
My wife figured that's what we would do at lunch time so she brought a thermos of coffee and some sandwiches :)
During lunch we decided to cash in for the day. BIL aimed at a target we had set up about 100 yards away and emptied his rifle.
Miss Nancy asked if she could shoot mine.

So - She aims at the target and *pop* the primer went off. With the gun still on her shoulder (albeit loosely) she started to turn toward us :eek: and was saying "Gee, that wasn't bad" when the main charge finally light off.
Her glasses were on her head sideways and she had a look on her face that I can still see RIGHT NOW :)
 
The S&W Model 39/59 and all of their descendents. I've never owned one or even fired one, because the decocker/safety lever is completely unreachable with my thumb, without shifting the gun significantly in my hand. Nothing like the perfectly placed 1911 safety. Whoever thought the slide mounted lever on the 39/59 was a good idea (or on any gun, for that matter) must have an extra joint in their thumb, or ape-like digits.
 
Ruger Mini 14.

S&W Escort.

AMT Hard Baller.

The Ruger was a waste of good ammo. The other two wouldn't feed a magazine without at least one jam.
 
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