Whats the least pleasant gun you've shot?

[Army 1911]

The one I hated most was the M16. But that may have because I was in Vietnam. But I did keep shooting for some reason.

S&W 500 mag, I only shot it once which was one too many.

 

[Texasgordo]

Hated my ruger lc9 from the first pull of the trigger even after upgrades I still hate that gun and would be first on the list if I sold guns.

I just shot a LC9 a few weeks ago and it a handful. The first shot was a big surprise for the amount of snap that it had. It nearly felt like it would fly out of my hands.

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[Steven Walker]

Thompson Center Contender in 45/70

Wife bought the barrel for me and Winchester Ammo.

Fore end split and flew off on shot #5

 

[General Zod]

My KelTec PF9 isn't fun to shoot, but it's not horrible. There's just not much mass to cushion the recoil in that little gun. I tend to put 50 or so rounds through it before setting it aside for something more pleasant when I take it to the range. My buddy who tried it likened the recoil to catching a sledgehammer.

Now, as for truly unpleasant...my nephew's Ruger Blackhawk .44 Magnum. Man that thing kicked. No matter how rigid I held my wrists, I could not keep the barrel from instantly pointing straight up after each shot. After six rounds I was done, and my forearms ached for three days afterward.

 

[robertc1024]

I just shot a LC9 a few weeks ago and it a handful. The first shot was a big surprise for the amount of snap that it had. It nearly felt like it would fly out of my hands.

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Glad to help. I found the LCP's worse.

 

[Darkpriest667]

Glad to help. I found the LCP's worse.

All of the pocket 380s suck. I've never enjoyed shooting any of them, but that sub compact mak you had a few meets ago was ... brutal.

 

[easy rider]

Of course, there was this time that I was shooting this .44mag and someone put a hot round in with the regular rounds. My hand wasn't expecting that.

 

[robertc1024]

One of the first Hicksville meets I went to, Mitchcintx (sp?) Let me shoot his .44 mag. I was extremely new to handgun shooting. Surprised the heck out of me. Kinda chewed up my hand a bit.

 

[benenglish]

Thompson Center Contender in 45/70

QFT. How long did it take for your middle finger to heal?

 

[SQLGeek]

Of course, there was this time that I was shooting this .44mag and someone put a hot round in with the regular rounds. My hand wasn't expecting that.

That sounds like a Moonpie special.

 

[zackmars]

The one I hated most was the M16. But that may have because I was in Vietnam. But I did keep shooting for some reason.

S&W 500 mag, I only shot it once which was one too many.

Not an M16, but when people want me to shoot their AR's, i find it extremely difficult. Its an ar. Everyone has 100 of the things.

As for .500 mags, I'd much rather shoot one than those bond arms guns

 

[Shady]

Yes the bond arms is a 44Mag too. It was interesting shooting it at a paper target 20Ft away at a range so was just on a clip at the top. The target wadded up in a spectacular fashion from the concussion.

Its not something I use very often but will let friends try it if I am mad at them . I would still rather shoot that then the ruger lc9.

 

[TxStetson]

That sounds like a Moonpie special.

No Sir, I believe he’s pointing that finger at me. I couldn’t even get him to shoot them out of the Marlin after that.

 

[sucker76]

Now, as for truly unpleasant...my nephew's Ruger Blackhawk .44 Magnum. Man that thing kicked. No matter how rigid I held my wrists, I could not keep the barrel from instantly pointing straight up after each shot. After six rounds I was done, and my forearms ached for three days afterward.

It's funny how subjective this is. My super blackhawk in 44mag is probably my favorite pistol to shoot. Light loads are of course even better, but heavy loads dont bother me and is still fun to shoot.
Another bad gun for me to shoot was a friends Taurus 1911 clone. I couldn't reliably get it to fire more than 3 times in a row. It was garbage and the fun factor was 0.

 

[Moonpie]

One of the most unpleasant guns I’ve fired was a Thompson/Center Contender in .44mag.
The owner had installed a very lightweight barrel on it.
When that thing went off you had better be holding on to it well. It would bust back and up violently.
Three shots and the web of your hand would be bleeding.
Hey dude! Want to shoot the Contender?
Naaaaa, I’m good.

 

[Texasgordo]

One of the most unpleasant guns I’ve fired was a Thompson/Center Contender in .44mag.
The owner had installed a very lightweight barrel on it.
When that thing went off you had better be holding on to it well. It would bust back and up violently.
Three shots and the web of your hand would be bleeding.
Hey dude! Want to shoot the Contender?
Naaaaa, I’m good.

I didn't want to say anything but someone recorded you shooting that.

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[Moonpie]

I didn't want to say anything but someone recorded you shooting that. View attachment 173895

LOL!
That vid is just about how that obnoxious thing kicked.

 

[benenglish]

<Rant Mode On>

Thompson/Center Contender

Original T/C Contenders suck in every way.

• They're inaccurate.
  • Loose hinge pins result in vertical stringing even in good examples. Decades ago, there was a whole industry devoted to making new oversize pins to try to fix that problem.
  • The forend isn't floated; it screws into a metal wedge attached to the barrel.
  • The rear sight is sloppy, with the windage varying widely. The sight blade could move side-to-side inside the sight housing and the tolerances on those housings were so poor that the average sight could be visibly moved several MOA with the push of a finger. They didn't come anywhere close to staying put during recoil. The standard fix (illegal under IHMSA rules but common, nonetheless) was to grab the sides of the sight with pliers and pinch them together to tighten the tolerances. Many of those crappy sights were ruined that way.
• They're painful to shoot.
  • The rectangular cross-section of the original grips is ridiculously hard on the hands.
  • The early octagon barrels in .44 Mag were the most popular (along with the .22LR) and they weighed next to nothing, making recoil absolutely vicious.
  • The back of the trigger guard was designed to hammer the middle finger of the shooting hand.
• They're difficult to shoot for long periods.
  • The motion required to open them eventually cramps up the shooting hand, leading to a trembling hand exactly when you need it to be steady. T/C eventually came out with an "easy open" split-bolt design update as they were trying to fix the accuracy problems.
• They're delicate/unreliable.
  • The hammer spurs tend to break off. I've broken three.
  • The RF/CF rotatable hammer nose that strikes the firing pin tends to just fall out, always at the most inopportune times. It's happened to me more than once.
  • I've seen dozens of others fail in different ways. These aren't just temporary failures to function that can be cleared and you keep on shooting; these are real mechanical breakages during competition.
• They're a pain to get fixed.
  • I was lucky to be in Houston with a huge Contender retailer and service shop named Texas Contenders that was located off the south loop. Before EABCO and others existed, they were pretty much the go-to spot in the country for everything Contender. Even they eventually told me they wouldn't fix my gun again. It had just broken too many times.
  • There are some 'smiths who specialize in them and turn out good work but most local 'smiths won't even consider working on such a strange piece. Want it fixed or tuned? Be ready to ship it off.

Yes, I know the originals were improved and then replaced but I'll never shake off the opinion that a really nice custom Contender is just a testament to the ability of talented gunsmiths to turn a sow's ear and a lot of money into a lousy replica of a silk purse.

I hate Contenders. I just hate 'em.

</Rant Mode Off>

ETA: My apologies in advance to the T/C fans here. Please forgive me, gemihur, TreyG-20, et. al.

 

[Moonpie]

Gosh Ben. Don’t hold back. Tell us how you really feel.

 

[Reinz]

My one experience with a 44 mag Contender has caused me to forever stay clear of them.