Did you ever buy a rifle not expecting much, but it became a keeper?

The Kurgan

The Kurgan

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I have to say, not many rifles have surprised me. Many (not all) of those I knew would be keepers, became keepers (note: price does not always determine quality!!). Almost all others that I took a gamble on ended-up being as expected or suspected, or reviewed by others: pure junk (majority), unimpressive, or simply not my style.

Three exceptions:

Brno Effect single shot in 308. With irons and my aging eyes, it was hitting consistently UNDER 2 inches at 75 meters (can't wait to see what it can do with a scope). Just wow. It's also impressively built, super lightweight and exceptionally balanced. I'd buy another in a heartbeat if they were still made. What a shame they were dropped after 2014--clearly demand doesn't always equate to quality and function.

Howa 1500. With a good stock, hard to beat. In the field, my 6.5x55 was flawless.

Tikka T3 in various non-magnum calibres (favorites are 30-06 and 6.5x55). No need to go further. It's a 'plastic fantastic' that works as a rifle should. Getting over the widespread use of polymer was hard for me, and it's certainly not special, but in the field, they all work well.

Honourable mention to several non-refurbished Russian SKS's--but I wasn't too surprised to be honest. Great rifles for so many purposes.

The list of junk is far too long and painful to share.
 
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SKS. I shot my cousins and didn't think much of it. But after buying mine and owning it for a year i realized it was probably my favourite rifle to shoot. I've shot ar's, vz-58's, tavors, and a few other semi auto rifles but now I think the sks tops them all. I'm not exactly sure why. I think it has something to do with how well it preforms in contrast to my low expectations for it, and maybe the iron sights too.

Picking up a Mosin soon, hopefully it has a similar effect.
 
sks as well, had zero interest in them until purchased one, with a smoothed up trigger it was a fun gun. On the flip side every PCC ive ever owned, cz scorpion evo included, boooring
 
Tavor7, bought it to secure a NR SA rifle, it has become my favorite 308 OF ALL MY LIFE. This rifle is more than awesome. Period. JP.
 
Not a rifle, but the 20ga h&r tamer i bought became my most used gun and probably the only budget gun I like keeping g around.
Nothing else has been a pleasant surprise, I bought more junk then I expected.
 
ruger PCC 9 - base model

i have lots of other "fun" guns but this one just feels right.
I had plans to do all kinds of upgrades but i think the only thing ill do is put a nice red dot on it and im still on the fence with that

I have a feeling that this will quickly become my outdoors - EDC

-accurate even with just irons
-syntactic stock so not worried about scratches
-very slick end easy take down, its less than 22 inches and will fit in my ATV bench vs the rhino grips up front
-Light weight compared to a pump shotgun
-9mm is a great multi purpose caliber (sure it has limitations but doenst everything?)
-Holds 10 in a mag legally. can carry an extra mag easy enough
-takes GLOCK mags!!

i can see why these are selling out everywhere. glad i got one when i did
 
Savage 99, for a while I thought they were an ugly duck but I changed my mind on them after checking out a few nice examples that a friend had. There is just something very good about the feel of them. The are sleek, nimble, and point like a nice shotgun.

I first got a nice 99EG in 300 Sav but didn't like the 24" barrel in the woods, eventually sold it. I ended up buying a really beat up (think electrical tape holding stock cracks together) 99F in .308 for a good deal. I just love carrying it through the woods and it just fits a niche in my hunting terrain, not scoped, quick action, and good for the woods, but pointy bullets for longer range up on the hardwood ridges.
It seems to fit well between a traditional lever action for deep woods and a scoped bolt rifle for more open areas. Great to have choices. I plan to fix er up in the stock and maybe get a low power scope for it.
 
Savage Mark II BTVS + Vortex rimfire scope.
I was bored and bought it because I liked how it looks.
It appeared to be the most accurate rifle in my collection. I'm a terrible shooter but it shoots 0.5Moa at 50m even in my hands.
I was able to place 3 bullets in the same hole from 25m at the indoor range.
Suprise.
 
I recently bought a Sako 85 here on the forum for a great deal with the intent of using it to build a 35 Whelen. Turned out to be an amazing shooter, dropping shelf ammo into the same hole at 200 metres. Could not bring myself to pull the barrel and use it for my 35.
 
Ruger 77/22. Bedded it with brass filings for filler and through the bedding compound it looked like gold.
Traded it at a Surrey GS and some time later it showed up at the LGS. Had to be one of a kind with the bedding.
Eventually sold it again without doing a full test of premium rimfire ammo so will never know.
It was a near perfect fit and very nice to handle . . . but will never know what its capabilities were/are!
 
Mossberg plinkster i got one for 150$ wanted to try out a semi 22.
Shoots 1" groups at 50m with bulk. Not bad. But then after probably 5000 rounds i realized i havent cleaned it once and ive had maybe 5 ftf and no jams or stove pipes. I bring it every time i go to the range and lots of times while hiking with the kids.

Also a win 94. I had no interest in one at all. And definitely not in 3030. (I like odd stuff you cant buy ammo for) Guy had 2 at work and would sell them for smoking deal. So i bought both ( under 200 each) well let me tell you after carrying it to my car i already knew it was a keeper. That thing carries so nice i love it. I never would have guessed. Although now looking at them after holding one i can see its obvious it would carry well.
 
Found a Savage 93r17 with a heavy barrel once on sale so I bought it on a whim. Hands down it's the most accurate rimfire I have ever shot. And that's with just a cabelas brand rimfire scope so I think the total cost was like $370 for a hell of a shooter.
 
Not quite the same because the low expectation came after purchase but..... Marlin levers. Bought a SBL expecting a lot because of the way it looked. Massively disappointed with how the action functioned. Gritty, jammed occasionally etc. Loved the balance etc enough to learn how to fix all its deficits. It's supremely smooth now and I love it.

Bought a 336y later expecting similar problems and was similarly disappointed in its initial function: wow it was bad. Works fantastically now and cycles even better. Perversely, I suspect I may love them more precisely because they sucked so badly initially and I was able to rectify the issues. Admittedly this is a bit perverse. They are surprising easy to work on and learn to fix, especially compared to a Browning. Of course the Browning wouldn't need the work so.....
 
The Kurgan said:
I have to say, not many rifles have surprised me. Many (not all) of those I knew would be keepers, became keepers (note: price does not always determine quality!!). Almost all others that I took a gamble on ended-up being as expected or suspected, or reviewed by others: pure junk (majority), unimpressive, or or simply not my style.

Three exceptions:

Brno Effect single shot in 308. With irons and my aging eyes, it was hitting consistently UNDER 2 inches at 75 meters (can't wait to see what it can do with a scope). Just wow. It's also impressively built, super lightweight and exceptionally balanced. I'd buy another in a heartbeat if they were still made. What a shame they were dropped after 2014.

Howa 1500. With a good stock, hard to beat. In the field, my 6.5x55 was flawless.

Tikka T3 in various non-magnum calibres (favorites are 30-06 and 6.5x55). No need to go further. It's a 'plastic fantastic' that works as a rifle should. Getting over the widespread use of polymer was hard for me, and it's certainly not special, but in the field, they all work well.

Honourable mention to several non-refurbished Russian SKS's--but I wasn't too surprised to be honest. Great rifles for so many purposes.

The list of junk is far too long and painful to share.
Click to expand...

What's a good stock for the Howa in your opinion?
 
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