Well with 230+ posts in this thread I decided to tally them up by manufacturer. I ignored posts that were not specific to a particular firearm, or specifically stated that the gun was old or worn out, or used recoil as a reason. I think recoil sensitivity varies from person to person. I also used only one per thread unless there were specific references to an obvious factory default. I suppose some might have different criteria.
So here are the "winners". The sample size was a total of 125, large enough to be statistically significant, IMO.
First place was a tie at 23 between Remington and Ruger.
Second was Savage at 15.
Third was Norinco at 12.
Next was a tie between Zastava, Marlin, and Chiappa at 5
Next were Kimber and Tikka at 4.
The remainder had three or less.
Of the milsurps there were 3 Mosins and 2 SKS, a couple of Lee Enfields.
Interesting is that a significant number of the Rugers were Mini-14's. Without these Ruger would look much better.
Also interesting is that 3 or 4 of the Marlins were "Remlins".
Most of the Remingtons cited were of recent manufacture. Perhaps that has something to do with their bankruptcy filing.
Of the big names Weatherby, Browning and Winchester came out a little better.
I didn't add my own worst, which was a Chiappa M1-9. If I added mine Chiappa would have pulled into 4th place.
Disclaimer: I like pre 1990 Remington 700's and most Ruger 77's, but my favourite rifles are Model 70's. Probably if this was compiled in the early post '64 era there would be some representation of them here.
