I'll start and that was a H&R 300 Ultra rifle in 243 that I bought in the 80's and it was a great rifle. I took it to the range and it was a sub minute of angle rifle and I was stunned because my cost was $300. I then did some research and found out that H&R imported FN mauser actions and Sako actions to build these rifles. Needless to say I was hunting them down after that as they are a favorite rifle of mine.

I'm sure the same thing has happened to other members with pistols and rifles so lets hear your story.

H&R 300 Ultra rifle with Sako L579 action


A little history of these rifles for those interested.

Mine was a 1964 Marlin 336RC in 30-30 that I snagged at a local pawnshop for $150. The wood was so rough it almost appeared unfinished, and I immediately named the gun "Plain Jane". Then I shot it, and found out it was the ultimate sleeper rifle. Groups with any ammo you fed it were under 2", ammo it liked went into an inch, and on a few occasions it has bested some high-dollar bolt guns. Some 3-shot 100-yard groups have dipped below the half-inch mark.......after that the barrel heat makes it string shots vertically.

When one of my older brothers retired and took up hunting, I found him a really good deal on a S&W 1500 bolt action rifle (made by Howa). We topped it off with a Leupold Vari-X II 3-9x40 and took it to the range to sight it in. It's chambered in .270 Win and the darn thing is an absolute tack driver! It hasn't changed zero since he got it and has taken a B&C Caribou, a number of nice antelope including one that's the best of over 25 our group harvested off the property and several whitetail. If I ever find a comparable deal on another one, I'm keeping it for myself!

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"I also cook."

I'll agree about the Howa. Mine is the absolute last rifle I will sell.

My surprise was a 25-2 I took as a trade. Love that gun and my most accurate pistol. And to think, I took it as trading stock!

I couldn't agree with you more as I bought my son a S&W 1500 for his 18th birthday and it's a tack driver also and he's killed all kinds of critters with it.

Taurus PT 1911. Out of my 5 diffrerent 1911s the PT 1911 shoots every week. I know I have more than 10k rounds thru it.

Mine is a Longbranch No 4 Mk I* SMLE "sporterized" by the now-defunct Golden State Arms in Pasadena CA and sold as the "Santa Fe Model 1944"
Charger bridge and rear sight mount completely milled away, folding leaf rear sight and one-piece ramp front (no dovetail) on bbl, forestock truncated and "ebony" tip painted on, handguards gone, and recoil pad added to mil. buttstock. Bought it for $50 to trade for a "collectible" 94 Winchester that turned out to be a rusty post-64.
Well, I figgered I oughta at least shoot it before I threw it into the Puget Sound, so I bought some W-W Power Point and some Mk VIIZ Ball, and that rascal shot thru its 2-groove bbl. into about 2 1/2" at 100 yds with either ammo! Later found a Monte Carlo buttstock at a gun show for $5 that fit like it was made for me and when I throw it up, the sights fall right in front of my eyeball. Sold the mil. buttstock for $5, and added an early No. 1 MkIII cocking piece for $7.
So for my $57 investment, I guess I can still throw it into the Sound and not suffer much.

Larry

Well, being that I am the new guy on the block, I'll go with the obvious.

Having grown up in the semi-auto world and always purchased quality German made goods like Sig Sauer and HK, I was pleased. Then picked up a LNIB 66-1 that had <200 rounds down it. Wow was that baby fun to shoot! And even at the premium I paid, it was still cheaper than my semi's.

So, here's the first Smith I ever purchased. And now I have more Smith's than anything else.

Once had a little Ruger Mk. II that didn't really float my boat. I wandered into a pawn shop and saw a used not so badly abused Winchester M-1917 in the rack. Of course, hearing Oliver calling, I worked a trade... even up. Took the 17 out to a far and benchrest tested it off the hood of my friends pick-up truck. Shooting 180 gr. handloads (which was all I had available at that moment), it punched out nice little 1 inch five shot groups at 100 long paces. Cool. Inside of the barrel looked like a sewer pipe, i.e., dark and bad. But boy would it put .30 caliber 180 gr. bullets into nice tiny groups. Of course I no longer have the rifle. After all... trading is addictive. And I've been addicted for a long time.

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<><

I purchased one of gun owners favorite guns to bash, a Highpoint 9mm carbine, just because it got a good review on GunBlast.com. I was extremely surprised at the accuracy of this ugly gun. Everyone I let shoot it wanted to get one. I finally sold it to purchase a Smith (applaud here) revolver. The one who bought it also remarked at the accuracy and how his friends liked it. Surprise, for a cheap ugly gun, it served well and was fun to shoot.

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Endeavor to persevere. <><

aCZ75b and RRA lar8 elite oper. Both were very accurate out of the box. CZ was so accurate I bought a 9 mil version same result very accurate!

Model 945PC. An outstanding pistol in every way.

Hey all, Purchased a M3913 3rd gen and got the bug for those. Saw a M915 for sale on this forum for $300.00 shipped, posted an I'll take it. Took it to the range and man what an accurrate gun. I was totally amased, it was better than the 3913. Stay safe and healthy, Steve

A moderately used Marlin Mountie 22 lever action that my son aquired in a pawn shop deal. Its as accurate as any match type rifle either of us have ever owned. At one point, he was considering using it in the "sporter" class of his NRA .22 benchrest league.

Colt Double Eagle in 10mm and the S&W 645 ( my first S&W). My only regret it took so long to forget about what everyone was saying about these guns and trying them out my self!

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Jesus is Lord
John 3:16

Picked this little dandy up one time from a friend who needed cash. It was his dad's and he got it after his dad died. He didn't want to keep it because it had killed someone a long time ago.
Even though the grips are rough but numbered to the gun, and about half of the bluing is worn off the barrel and cylinder, the gun is tight. It doesn't appear to have been shot very much. I gave 200 bucks for it and it has been my every day carry gun for a long time. I can actually hit pretty good with it up to about 15 yards or so. I was surprised at how smooth the gun operates and looks the way it does.
Peace,
gordon

Attached Images

well worn 37.jpg (84.2 KB, 134 views)

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better have that checked

I had a Steyr SSG PII .308 rifle that was scary accurate. The dual set trigger was so sensitive I would lightly press the SIDE of it to fire.

As for handguns, I made it 63 years before I bought my first SIG:

It is now my favorite bottom feeder. Accurate in 3 (4th on the way) calibers.

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Bill - SWCA #2327

savage 1899 i bought from a friends dad. .300 savage. lever action, rotary mag. rear pop up peep sight. took alot of dear with that ole rifle. it was real..real accurate. not to mention .300 savage is a soft shooter. it was stolen from me in CA. house got robbed and they took the whole safe out of my closet. sure miss that thing. it was real beat up. finish was all but gone, and the wood looked like a wood pecker got to it. sure was accurate!

OK, flamesuit on, time to step into this one.

Biggest (pleasant) surprice for me has to be the CZ VZ82 pistol. This little thing shoots like a dream. Best DA trigger I have ever felt. Looks crummy with the painted finish and plastic grips, but, boy can it shoot. Someone called it the best $500 pistol that you can buy for $200. As its all steel, its a bit heavy, so my 3913 has supplanted it as a carry piece, however.

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-jwk-
US Army '72-'95

I probably should not have been surprised, but I had no idea how accurate the little .32 HE post war (pre-model 30) would be. I sold it to a forum member, which left me with a 1921 .32 HE. The older gun is not as accurate as the post war version, but still fun to shoot. I had a CZ 83 that would out shoot my Walthers in .380, which always surprised my friends with their Walthers.

I bought an old ugly Savage 110 30.06 with a Redfield scope on top of it for a couple hundred bucks. That was a tack driver! I reworked the stock, freefloated the barrel, and put a Timney trigger in it. I ended up giving it to a brother in law 'cause he didn't have a hunting rifle. The other is my Marlin guide gun. That one will shoot MOA with the right ammunition! It's a nice light handy rifle that can be used to kill anything on the planet.

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Even older, even crankier....

A couple of Taurus (eek!) products. A model 738 TCP 380 pocket auto. Darn thing is very easy to hit with, even point shooting. Shoots bullets from 88 to 102 grains to the same impact point. The other is a blued Taurus 917 7 shot .22 revolver with Weaver 2X28 scope. Even though it has a 7lb SA trigger, I can shoot 1 to 1.5 inch groups at 50 yards off sandbags. Better than my scoped S&W 17-8.

Not a handgun, but I have several Remington 541 S( back when they made then in the custom shop) I have many .22 bench guns and two 40 X's,one particular 541 S must have been built by a great employee. It shoots much better than me and can have groups( on a very, very calm day and I am paying attention) of .57-.59 at 100 yards, not bad for a .22 LR...... At 50 yards it makes me look like a world class bench shooter, it is scary accurate, I am def not though!

My 586 no dash, my first and only non P&R Smith. I got it way cheap at an auction site less than $350.00. It is more accurate than I ever will be and I really like the way it feels in my hand.

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Always Stay Strong!

Because I like K-22s so much, I bought this 22/32 shooter because it is the father (uncle, step dad, grandfather?) of the species. It shoots wonderfullu and with SV ammo is very accurate.

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Jim
Many K and N Frames

I've got two Taurus handguns that have been surprizingly good. My PT1911 has features you'd only find on higher priced guns, and shoots as well as any of them. Next would be my Taurus 9904SS. It's a .22lr 9 shot revolver. I'll admit the trigger is a bit heavy at first, but mine has smoothed out nicely after a lot of rounds. The 990 is probably the handgun that I shoot the most.

I know there's a lot of taurus hate here, but this one did well by me.

Taurus 441. A 5 shot 3' 44 Special:



Should have kept it. Sold it and got a S&W 21-4. I would gladly trade that 21 to get that Taurus back.

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-jwk-
US Army '72-'95

I bought an old Browning Buckmark .22 that has turned out to be as accurate as the high dollar target .22's, and it runs great on the WalMart Federal bulk pack ammo.

Kel-Tec P3aT - runs any ammo I put through it and has yet to mis-feed in over 600 rounds. Slide is starting rust - think I'll drop the bucks to get it cerakoted or something similar.

Gsg522.....pure fun..

Russian Makarov...fun little plinker and very accurate, in addition to being the simplest semi-auto that I own to field strip, clean and reassemble. It'll never be sold, I doubt I'd get much more than scrap-metal prices out of it, but it's worth many times what I paid for it to me.

4" model 10-5....with wadcutters that bad boy will tear one ragged hole all day long out to 15 yards.
its a rabbits worst nightmare

*add...not sure if the "5" designation makes this a pre '80 gun

Probably a dozen yrs back at the Bozeman gun show I bought a M-14-2 a 6" K-38 ,tagged as a REBLUE, for $210. It appeared fine mechanically...all I wanted was a gopher shooter/pickup gun. Turned out to be one of my most accurate revolvers overall. It of course likes 148 gr wadcutters, but also shoots my 5.2 gr of Unique, #358429 172 gr Keith SWC load into an inch or less at 25 yds.

My other one is a Wby Ultra Lt Wt bolt gun in .280 Rem. Traded into the gun, intended to mount a scope, sight it in and sell it right before hunting season.

UNTIL I found out it shot 1/2 moa or a bit less with 140-160 gr hunting loads. One calm day, off the bench I shot a pair of .9" groups at 200 yds.

Not bad for a FACTORY gun, weighing 1 oz under 7 pounds, loaded and ready to hunt!

FN in MT

There are 2 that really surprised me. The first was a Henry .22 lever action rifle from Walmart. The action is the smoothest of any lever gun I have owned and it is extreemly accurate. Impeccable workmanship, especially for a gun that cost less than $300.00 brand new. Henrys customer service is superb too. The second was the 36-1 3" that I traded for awhile back. It has a glass smooth action and is very accurate as well. It was the gun that made the Model 36 my favorite gun of all time.

Model 63 5'' It shoots MOS (minute of squirrel). It shoots as good as my 617 and a lot lighter to pack.

The S&W 945. Crazy accurate and a joy to hold and fire. Nicely finished.
paperboy98

The gun that started me collecting Smiths was a 5" Model 10-5 that was given to me a few years ago in practically new condition. Even as a novice, I was able to get great groups with that gun. It made me think I had natural talent, until I bought more guns and learned different!

Romanian WASR-10 AK-clone semi auto........I got it for like $300 about 8 years ago, as a cheap plinker. It turned out to be so accurate that I want to get one of those PSL scopes for it, and it has never jammed. I usually don't clean it, in the summer of 2004 I ran 1,000's of the dirty Barnaul steel case (back when that stuff was dirt cheap) through it without cleaning, over several range trips and it never hiccuped. I still never detail cleaned it, so it sits in my basement like sort of clean, and I grab it once in a while when I feel like shooting it at the range and I sometimes keep it loaded as a big critter defense gun, since the black bear can get somewhat aggressive around here.

Hungarian PA-63 in 9X18. Bought it from a friend who got a job traveling a lot and didn't want to leave it in his house while he was gone. Probably would have never bought one otherwise, but once I got to looking at how they were made and especially after how it performs at the range, I am really impressed with this little $140 pistol.

Savage 93FV .22 Magnum. I bought it on a whim because I wanted something different. Once it was sighted in I don't think I've ever missed anything I shot at. I have toyed with the idea of a laminate thumbhole stock for it, but I'm afraid to mess with perfection.

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I need ammo, not a ride.

Back about 98 I bought a Savage rifle in .223 Remington and beat the socks off everybody with it at my gunclub. I ended up winning the production class a couple years in a row with that rifle. Everybody else bought Savage heavy barrel rifles the next year.

I bought a 28-2 from a forum member several years ago that has been converted to 44 special. I cease to be amazed by the accuracy of this conversion. It is the most accurate revolver I have ever fired, bar none. It will never be for sale.

I'd have to say my Romanian AK47. I just heard they were junk, cheak and just a waste of money. I bought one and am still amazed at how much I enjoy shooting it. Good trigger, light recoil and very accurate. Just a really nice gun.

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Jack C

CZ-P01 I had read how T-O-T-A-L-L-Y- reliable AND ACCURATE they are. I bought one and 1000 rounds of WWB 9mm ammo. I started shooting it without cleaning it. The first 15 rounds were the most accurate group I ever shot. Over 3 weeks I went through all 1000 rounds of that dirty WWB ****. It NEVER missed a beat.
The CZ P-01 is the AK47 of handguns.

Great Question, Long gun would be my .44 Henry Big Boy. No recoil and can pound nails with it. In revolvers, it would be my 15-3. Really fun to shoot, fits like a dream and pretty too!! LOL

Model 14-3, 8 3/8" barrel. Shoots to point of aim with any ammo. I'ts a little rifle. Even makes me look like a marksman at the range.

My first S&W. a model 686 with 8 3/8 barrel. Man, wish I hadn't sold that one. Shot like a dream. 6 shots under 2in all day long from a rest. Have tried to buy it back several times with no luck. oh well, will wait until another one pops up. paid $325 originally. just bought a 4in model for $475. Oh well. Live and Learn.

1st........Rossi mdl. 720 .44spl. Preceeded the s&w 696. Figured it wouldn't hold up............it has for many years.

2nd.......GSG1911.22.........Cheap but runs perfectly.

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S&W Accumulator

I almost forgot about my 9MM Hi Point carbine.... cheap and fun... flawless operation as well. I bought it after reading review after review saying it was a cheap gun that nobody wants to admit to owning and never had a problem with.

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Jack C

I was looking for a good bolt action rifle in .22LR around 1992. I went into a pawn shop and spotted a Belgian made Browning T-Bolt from the 1960s. I was just getting into firearms back then and didn't really know what I was looking at. I really liked the straight pull design of the bolt, so I bought it. It was one of the later models, so it didn't have a rear peep sight, so I bought a Bushnell's scope to mount on it.

I took it to the range and after sighting in the scope, found it to be the most accurate .22 rifle I have ever fired. The trigger pull is smooth as silk.

I still shoot it on occasion and it is still my favorite .22 rifle.

My model 25-2 that I traded for with a fellow worker. He said he had a large gun at home that was too big for his wife to use and wanted a smaller one for use for home protection.
I told him I had a model 60 to trade and if he would bring it I would try to trade with him. He brings a model 25-2 in a presentation case in 99%. I couldn't wait to make that trade even up and it is still my favorite. The model 60-1 I traded his was a John Jovino 3 inch square butt.