Worst rifle you ever bought?

My worst was a 9.3 Zastava too. Not as bad as mikeys but the chamber was cut incorrectly and it would not fire. Fed rounds fine. I traded it to a guy who used to post here and was able to Jerry rig it into a 9.3x62 “improved” with some work I can’t remember the nature of
 
Apparently the stainless is nickel plating. I’ve heard that nickel plating may actually be more weather resistant but I can’t speak to if that’s true
 
Well damn now I kind of want to roll the dice again

I’m 2/3 on “ good” zastavas. The safety and trigger make them tempting, but it seems like the drill and tap might be as much of a gamble as better finished bjubba FN from intersurplus

Always the Mauser rabbit hole, I can’t seem to escape it. :runaway:
 
conor_90 said:
Well damn now I kind of want to roll the dice again

I’m 2/3 on “ good” zastavas. The safety and trigger make them tempting, but it seems like the drill and tap might be as much of a gamble as better finished bjubba FN from intersurplus

Always the Mauser rabbit hole, I can’t seem to escape it. :runaway:
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Conor_90,
You probably had bad luck with your Zastava. I never had any issue chambering cases. A gunsmith pillar bedded mine, smoothed the trigger and the bolt. It shoots sub moa with Prvi 286, Hornady 286, Accubond 250 and CE Raptor 210.
 
CZ527 in 17Hornet. 3rd world built with a N American price. The awfulest workmanship you can imagine - except the woodwork was gorgeous. The best it would shoot was 1.5-2” @100yds. Until you put the bullet out onto the lands and then it immediately dropped to .25”. Except then you had to single shot feed it, and that was no small feat, you had to hold the thing perfectly vertical and carefully drop a round straight down, and if you didn’t get it just right it would hang up in there. It would put a gouge into every piece of brass. Every single metal edge was jagged and sharp, the bolt felt like it was riding on gravel, not sand, gravel. Trigger was good after I adjusted it properly. The set trigger had about half inch of after-travel so no advantage there. Happiest moment was when I sold it. And people rave about these things everywhere you look - go figger….
 
conor_90 said:
Well damn now I kind of want to roll the dice again

I’m 2/3 on “ good” zastavas. The safety and trigger make them tempting, but it seems like the drill and tap might be as much of a gamble as better finished bjubba FN from intersurplus

Always the Mauser rabbit hole, I can’t seem to escape it. :runaway:
Click to expand...

Regarding the drill and tap... I ran out of windage when I was sighting mine in. I picked up a set of Weaver Grand-slam windage adjustable rings, and they worked perfectly!!
314QX56aYxL._AC_SL1000_.jpg
 
Ruger Gunsite Scout. It wasn’t a bad rifle technically. It’s just not worth $2000. First my stock cracked just from firing, warranty did cover it, but it was gone for nearly 3 months because of it. I always had loading and extracting issues, no magazine was better, no ammo was better. I ended up trading it away because I couldn’t be bothered putting money into a losing investment. They’re certainly overhyped.

Another shocker but my Sako M39. I remember distinctly half an hour after shooting it for the first time thinking how stupid I was for paying nearly $2000 for a Mosin Nagant that was no better in accuracy (or really in quality) than a select grade hex 9130 I had already.

Also a Savage 110T in 300wm I bought off my buddy. Clunky, heavy, light strikes, feeding issues. I guess you get what you pay for but I paid less for my Model 10FP back in the day and found it a really decent rifle.
 
On these Zastavas. It's a damn shame they've gone downhill like this.
I have an Interarms 243 from 25 years ago that is truly incredible workmanship.
It seems alot of the European brands are really starting to slip.
CZ with that 600 barrel fiasco and dropping that amazing 527 and 550. I have a 550 in 30-06 that is freaking amazing quality.
Geez I have a safe full of European rifles form 30 years that are truly works of art.
It's just sad really
 
It was a Savage Axis stainless steel in 270. Was a package deal with a cheap scope.
Ya the rifle wasnt much money "they were on sale"

It shot 3 , 6 9 and 12 o'clock
The barrel had horrible "chattering" bore was wasted.
dealer took it back with no issue.
 
conor_90 said:
Well damn now I kind of want to roll the dice again

I’m 2/3 on “ good” zastavas. The safety and trigger make them tempting, but it seems like the drill and tap might be as much of a gamble as better finished bjubba FN from intersurplus

Always the Mauser rabbit hole, I can’t seem to escape it. :runaway:
Click to expand...

They are definitely stainless. I had a 6.5x55 in stainless with blued iron sights. Very handy little rifle. Had no issues with function or reliability. It actually shot better than a CZ550 FS I had in 6.5x55. Lots if windage adjustable rings out there to remedy the base hole issue. Weaver, Leopold, Burris, millet, etc. Fortunately they take standard FN mauser bases.

The trigger on my rifle was surprisingly good. Clean 2.5lbs, no creep or overtravel.

It seems like every manufacturer is capable of making good and bad firearms. I had an early T3 that was a big dissapintment. The plastic bolt shroud cracked and chipped, the aluminum recoil lug got damaged/warped over time, it's possible it was misaligned during install at the factory or recoil broke it loose. Primers strikes were on the light side 1/10 rounds wouldn't fire on the first strike.
 
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There are so many good rifles out there: reliable, accurate and handy. It amazes me how many people can find so many lemons.
 
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