Memorable guns you've shot

[Bob Wright]

I recently stated on another thread that I have shot every firearm I could get my hands on. Here are some of the most memorable:

1. Thompson Contender, .45-70. These cartridges were loaded with 500 gr. cast bullets at about 1300 f.ps. The bullets lubed with Teflon tape. Recoil pulled the forearm screw escutcheon through the wood and sent the forearm flying back over my shoulder.

2. Thompson Contender, .35 Remington. Misfire/hangfire. After failing to fire I brught the pistol to about 45* and it fired, whipping back and the front sight cutting a gash in my cheek.

3. Unknown maker, .45 Colt double pistol. Think long barreled Remington double deringer.) Very sharp recoil with a heavy .45 Colt handload. Shooting had was sore for a couple of days after.

4. Bolt action, tubular magazine rifle, think it was a Lebel. A three shot, bolt action magazine fed MILITARY rifle!

5. Remington Model 1849 .31 caliber Pocket Model, cap-and-ball revolver. First cap-and-ball revolver I ever shot. It belonged to a sergeant in my company when I was in the Army. Five shot, three actually fired on my first firing. One the cap fired but the powder di not ignite. Another round spewed sparks and smoke but did not fire the ball.

6. Luger .30 Luger calber. A WW II souvenier belonging to a friend of mine. The upturned bolt assembly when cycling was too distracting to me.

7. FreedomArms .454 Cassul. Surprisingly milder than I had anticipated. Stout recoil, but far less than I had anticipated.

8. .50 Action Express. Recoil milder that expected. But concussion was very noticible! The muzzle blast made my pants leg cuff flap at the blast1 The mechanical flaptrap was distracting as the pistol cycled.

9. Winchester Model 70, .458 Winchester Magnum. Impressive muzzle blast. Again, recoil less than anticipated.

10. Browning A-5 12 ga. auto loader. Fine exampleof gun making, but slow cycling of the long recoil action especially distracting ad I shot left handed, and the blt was visible to me.

11. Browning BAR M1918A2. This in Army days. Shot from prone with bipod. Range was maybe 3,000 yards across a valley. Appeared to keep qall hits in a Jeep sized vehicle. As I recall I fired three roujnds before the first kicked up dust on the far hill.

12. US M3 "Grease Gun" .45 ACP. Rate f fire was disappointing, just a "pop-pop-pop" type of fire.

13. US M-2 Carbine, on full auto. Pleasing rate of fire! Glad US was furnishing the ammunition!

14. Thompson Contender .30-40 Krag. Real p;easant to shoot. The pistol was scoped and I was not used to scoped pistols. It felt too unnatural with the line of sight far above the bore. But a sizzling, flat shooting combination, recoil pleasant.

15. Thompson Contender .338 Woodswalker. Belonged to J.D. Jones. Shot clean through a 1/4" steel plate without knocking it down. Punched a neat hols in the steel.

16. Ruger Redhawk, .44 Magnum. Another of J. D. jones' pistols. Custom muzzle brake, 320 gr. cast bullet. Impressive revolver, only fire a cylinder full or cartridges.

17. S&W Model 29, 4" barrel, nickel plated. Belonged to my friend Bobby Keen. Used in the capture of James Earl Ray. I declined his offer to sell the gun to me. Smoothest DA action I've ever shot.

18. 105 mm SP howitizer M7. (The Priest) My time in the Tennessee National Guard. Live firing at Ft Stewart, Ga. I pulled the lanyard to fire the gun. Mucho smoke!

19. Savage .410/.22 L.R. Belonged to my uncle up in middle Tennessee. First gun I ever took hunting.

That's all that come to mind right now. Many of these belonged to someone else who offered to let me shoot a few rounds through their guns. I never turned down n offer such as that!

Bob Wright

 

[sfhogman]

BFR 45-70 revolver. Stout recoil.
Sort of the handgun equivalent of a Boss Hoss motorcycle...

 

[woodsy]

Back in the '70's a guy brought an original-issue 1911 .45 cal. to the indoor range. It had spent a significant amount of time at a 'smith's. When it ejected the cases would "gently" travel no more than 2" from the slide and land softly. One could have the cases simply drop into one's non-shooting hand. Everyone was VERY impressed. I even remember the owner's face, but not his name.

 

[cowboycopus]

In the late 60s in Vietnam I fired a Thompson submachine gun. A full 50 round drum of 45 acp. In bursts of three to five rounds.
I'll never forget that.

 

[Dan in MI]

1st centerfire rifle ever. .338 H&H.

Multiple Contender big boys. 45-70, 50-70 that gun broke JD’s TSOB mount, .50 Alaskan

Took a friend out with his new Desert Eagle .50AE. He couldn’t hit anything with it. I saw he was flinching big time. He called me names when I pointed it out. I set him up on an unknown to him empty chamber. When he flinched so bad he’s lucky he didn’t shoot his toes he just said this gun sucks you shoot it. I burned up 150 rounds. Then he got mad because I shot it.

 

[Danjet500]

Remington 8 gauge kiln gun, 3 ounce slugs. Shot up to 4000 rounds a session. Its why my ears ring to this day.

 

[Hvymax]

 

[gunzo]

Contender in 444 Marlin. The forearm screws sheared often.

Both 378 & 460 Weatherby magnums.

In my 40's had never fired a full auto weapon but in one day got to fire a Grease Gun, Tommy Gun & M60

Dads bring back 9mm Luger

A suppressed, full auto HK MP5

338 Lapua

Jon Krugers crown grade Krieghoff sporting clays shotgun

 

[Hvymax]

 

[turd]

My dad's early '50s Marlin 39A. Sweet gun, killed numerous gophers with it. Lots of every day guns most here have seen and/or shot, but, one year while handgun hunting deer in south central Iowa, one of the guests was from NC and had brought his scoped .454 FA revolver. We took a break and he shot my S&W .41 mag w/scope and 8 3/8" barrel, said he liked it then handed me his .454. Wow, first and last time for that. I got a nice buck, he did not score that year. Was WAY more than necessary for deer hunting.

 

[WanderLust]

Not in the same way as those monsters of recoil, but I remember firing a NAA .22 Long Rifle revolver. Grip was so small that I could only hold it with a thumb and one finger, and my trigger finger was no help. When I shot it, it just flipped up and out of my hand, onto the ground. No more for something that small. The Magnum was a much better gun to grip though.
Remember firing those little 410/.45 single shots made locally, in Copper Hill Tn. I fired a .45 shell first, thinking it would be decently noticeable because the gun was so cheaply made ( I paid $49 new for it!) but it was fairly mild. I relaxed after that and put in a .410 shell. Big mistake! Should not have relaxed so much! Sold that toy soon after.

 

[Kevin]

Every time I go to the East Coast Meet in NC at Contender’s place there is a memorable gun to shoot. The Ruger Hawkeye for example. Or Ron and his pistols with silencers.

I used to live in Illinois, and my gun range was out in the country. One time an Illinois State Highway Patrolman was there. He was some sort of marksman with a pretty tricked out Remington 700. It was his weapon for his job. Anyway. He let me shoot it. Those couple shots got me hooked on those high tech accurate rifles and pistols. Guns like Hammerli Or Anschutz.

Those guns with the light triggers and competition style bench rest stocks are just pure joy to shoot.

 

[DBnoise]

My Great great grandfather's 45 - 70 Springfield 1873 trapdoor. His government issued rifle

 

[MaxMan]

K-31 Swiss
M98 Swedish Mauser (Obendorf not CG)
Held a 8 gauge SXS rabbit ear shotgun. . I was about 12 it belonged to my great uncle.

 

[Ride1949]

Twin 50's from a fast moving PBR. Repeatedly. It's even more memorable when someone's shooting back.

 

[NC FNS]

I’ll never catch up to Bob or most of the rest of you guys! But at the indoor range I frequent, a few years back there was a grandfather and 15 year old grandson who had rented a few guns to shoot. I set up in the lane next to them, and the grandfather insisted that I try the zebra DE 50AE. Seems like neither one of them wanted to shoot it anymore!
I enjoyed it, wasn’t any worst then shooting hot loads in a 7” .44 Redhawk. I think they were hoping I’d flinch too.

 

[Don Lovel]

1887 Winchester 10ga, recoil monster for a 12yr old boy
FN Mauser in 300 Mashburn, wicked recoil and barrel jump, really loud
BFR single action 5 1/2" barrel 500 S&W, handful but really not much worse than my 45 Colt handloads in my Bisley
375 JDJ in 14" Contender, really fun until we ran out of ammo and melons to blow up
FN57 chambered 50rnd tray feed AR upper way too much fun for ammo cost

 

[gunzo]

Twin 50's from a fast moving PBR. Repeatedly. It's even more memorable when someone's shooting back.

View attachment 49677

King of the thread,,, Ride1949, you are the man.! I wasn't there, but a good friend & long time hunting & shooting buddy served 3 tours on PBR's. Heard lots of stories & seen the 35mm slides of the experience.

Must have been one hell of a ride. Fist bump to you!!

 

[Busterswoodshop]

I have shot lots of guns.
The two that stand out the most , were in the Army.
I was a gunner on the M42 Duster. Of every gun I have ever seen or fired , this was by far the funnest. Especially at night.
Every round was a tracer and filled with TNT.
I actually had a double feed in one of these and blew the left barrel up.
After we cleared the gun . We kept on with the right barrel.
It was a hell of an experience.

The next would be the M109 Howitzer.
I was a gunner on one of these also.
Life was good back then.

 

[Jeepnik]

Twin 50's from a fast moving PBR. Repeatedly. It's even more memorable when someone's shooting back.

View attachment 49677

You sir should have your balls bronzed.

 

[KIR]

While in the AF, we got to shoot a B.A.R. It was like...Thump...Thump...Thump.

 

[J. Yuma]

Twin 50's from a fast moving PBR. Repeatedly. It's even more memorable when someone's shooting back.

View attachment 49677

There was an older kid, he would show up whenever we played sandlot football, He was a starting guard on the varsity, he would join the games and rough us little punks up. Since we played touch football all year long we saw him a lot, until we didn't.
I was hanging out a few years later (by now a bigger punk) in our favorite drive in when here he comes strolling across the parking lot. I called out to him, not having seen him in a while.
He had short hair (not fashionable at the time, about 1970-71) and was skinnier than I ever saw him. I asked where tf had he been.
"'Nam," he replied.
I asked where, what, how; the usual questions when showing deference to an alum, and now a war vet.
He replied that he had been a gunner, twin 50's, on a gunboat. Since I was a WW2 airplane nut, I knew what twin 50's were.
He told me how the boat would be floating along narrow passageway, with brush touching both sides. He said how if they drew fire, they had to get radio permission to return fire. He described crouching down inside the gun mount, and just firing those big machine guns into the brush. Didn't know if he'd hit anything, didn't care.
He looked old, maybe 'cause he was so skinny, went from 230 down to 190.
Maybe for another reason.
We chatted for a bit, he didn't ask about the team, seemed like he had other things to consider, then he strolled away.
Never saw him again, but never heard anything either. I'm guessing he left town, maybe moved to someplace warm?
Anyway, that picture reminded me of him.

 

[bearskinner]

I’ve shot lots of heavy recoiling revolvers, rifles, pistols, and unless there very accurate or for a specific hunt, I’m not that impressed with just seeing how much pain I can endure. You can visit a divorce lawyer for pain.
I like firearms with History. I am the caretaker of an Original 1876 Winchester Centennisl Rifle, in 45-75 caliber. It’s a 3 digit serial number, obviously from the first year production run. It was ordered for a young cowboy, who contracted to ride the Oregon trail for 3 years, in the late 70’s (1870’s) for security and wrangling horses and cattle. No answers if the Winchester was used to defend against Local criminals or indigenous people. It transferred to the cowboys son, then grandson, and in the 1930’s my great uncle acquired it from the grandson. Passed to my uncle, then to me. So this original firearm has only been in 2 family’s in the last almost 150 years. Every year, at a shoot with many wonderful friends, I bring it out, with a few boxes of light “trailboss” loads to shoot.
Here’s a pic of two wonderful gentlemen, who like me usually never handle “rifles” as we are devout handgunners.

The History of this old survivor ( not us old shooters, the Winchester) is what’s cool.

 

[flyer898]

The most interesting gun I ever shot is one a buddy and I made. This was so long in the past that the statute of limitations ran decades ago.
We bought a couple of 6' muzzle sections of U.S. Navy 3" 50 caliber guns salvaged from Liberty ships when they were scrapped after WWII.
Somehow Dangerous Dave, The Old Western Scrounger (AKA Dave Cumberland) cornered the market on these and we bought the last two.
We had the local machine shop install a trunnion ring on one and machine it for a screw-thread breech block. We also had a short section of barrel we used as a mold to cast pre-rifled lead projectiles weighing 8 lbs. I used a lathe to turn a point and drill out the center.
After some experimenting we settled on a load of 8 oz. of IMR 5010 powder. Ignition was by fuse and a priming charge of 50 grains of FFFFG black powder and 50 grains of Bullseye.
The results were spectacular and so was the recoil; we ruined every carriage we made. I used the barrel as a peep sight and estimated the holdover. After some practice I could hit a 18" circle at 300 yards.
I will save my other interesting guns and shooting for another post. This cannon will always top them all.

 

[Ride1949]

You sir should have your balls bronzed.

That constant clacking when you walk drives you crazy.

 

[J. Yuma]

Right next to the Charles Atlas ads, I can see it now, a back page ad in the latest copy of Boy's Life: Make your own cannon using army surplus! Kids, why fool with slingshots or BB guns when you can build your own cannon?!!
I'm lovin' it!!

 

[Gopher]

Two come to mind.
One was a Norinco M-14 that a friend had been through and replaced what he could with G. I. parts. That thing was sweet and I have lusted over one since.
The second was a Barrett 50 cal. I got to run a few rounds through it at an old tractor set up a 100-yard or so downrange. That was a Viagra moment. :cool:

 

[JiminMaine]

1. An original Auto-Mag 44 with a7.5 barrel and also with a 357 10" barrel.

2. A friend's Remington 600 350 Rem. Mag. only shot it once.

3. TCR 87 with a 45-70 barrel with a hot 300 gr. HP bullet. The barrel had the same outside diameter as the 22 Hornet so there wasn't a lot of metal when it was bored to 458. It only weighed about 5 1/2 pounds.

4. M1 Garand when I was 9 years old from the prone position. To this day I still don't like the Garand.

5. This one I didn't shoot, but was tempted. My Dad was a gunsmith and when I was about 10 one of his customers brought in the strangest shotgun I had even seen. It was a 12 Ga. double barrel that about halfway down the two barrels merged into just one. It had a bulge on the left side of the barrel just past the merge like the right barrel had been fired and the shot didn't want to make the bend. My Dad asked me if I wanted to shoot it and I just looked at him like he was nuts and shook my head. I have never even heard of another one like it.

 

[Paul B]

Back when I was at the ripe old age of 17 and I knew it all I convinced a guy to let me shoot his double rifle He didn't tell me it was a .600 Nitro express. When I touched that thing off I had to literally hop like fast backward to keep from falling on my butt, BTW, I shot both barrels. I never did that again although the opportunity did arise. After that I was no longer afraid of recoil as I'd shot the "king". I've shot a lot of hard kicking rifles including the Ruger #1 in .416 Rigby whixh i uncomfortable in the Ruger. The rifle is too light and the area at the rear of the butt should be wider. The .404 Jeffery is not quite so bad but still uncomfortable.
Probably the most memorable rifle though s my Great grandfather's old 1911 Winchester M94 carbine. I was allowed to shoot it one time when I was about nine years old. I'll just say it gave me s very health nose bleed. Yje second time I shot it was on my first deer hunt. I still haven't figured out what I did right but I did take my first ever deer with it. I still have that rifle. I even take it out and shoot it once in a while.
Paul B.

 

[Badger Matt]

40mm Bofors cannons as an aerial gunner on AC-130a's in my early enlisted days. Technically, we gunners just kept them fed and the pilot fired them.

Double rifles 450 No.2, 470 NE, and 577 NE. I fired the 577 twice and declined offers to fire her again. 458 Win Mag is my go-to for dangerous game as she'll do the job without pain on my end.

I own one of Skeeter's guns, a TC Contender handgun in 357 Herrett.