Guns that have made you shake your head and ask why?

Jeff in TX

I think it was 1987 or 88???  I was president of our local NWTF chapter.  We were getting ready for one of our fundraising banquets.  I received a ton of frame prints, turkey related stuff and a half dozen guns for the auction.  One was a youth model single shot New England Arms 3.5" 12 ga.  Now this was called the youth model.  The 3.5" 12 ga was new.  Curiosity got to us as none of had ever fired one.  We got a box of #4 3.5" turkey loads.

We went out to my range, set up a target 40 yards and put the gun on the sand bags.  I pulled the trigger and the beast about separated my shoulder.  Dear lord who came up with that as a youth gun! Everyone shot it once, no one would shoot it a second time.  It was vicious to shoot!

We cleaned it up for the auction and put a disclaimer on it that it really wasn't a youth gun!

earlyagain

A group of us use to camp and shoot together. A lady new to the group brought a Brazilian made single shot 12ga. No one shot it more than once well she grinned like a politician.

10canyon53

earlyagain said:

Brazilian made single shot 12ga.

That sounds like what I hunted with in West Africa.  At the time I didn't pay attention to the brand and have recently wondered what it was.  I now believe it was a CBC model SB.  It was identical to this one:

Now it has me wanting to acquire one just for nostalgia sake......

Edit:  The more I look at it, I am now certain this is the make and model I hunted with in the West African jungle and brought down the fearsome Jack-O-Lope with.  Now I gotta find me one.....

zorba

I kinda collect guns like this:

NAA .22s - cute and well made. Can't hit the broadside of a barn from inside with it.

Hi-Point $100 bill "limited edition" - but it shoots good!

Altor .380 single shot - must be the world's STUPIDEST gun, but just had to have one.

Sorta borderline: Vintage Ordnance "Liberator" reproduction. Kinda dumb and useless, but it has its historical background.

Then there's that T-Rex rifle we've all seen on yootoob - definitely a "Why"?

Jayhawker

The Gyrojet...

zorba

Yea, that was a weird one for sure! Right up my alley, but way out of reach. That's OK!

10canyon53

Jayhawker said:

The Gyrojet...

I think that one was a solution in search of a problem.

earlyagain

10canyon53 said:

earlyagain said:

Brazilian made single shot 12ga.

That sounds like what I hunted with in West Africa.  At the time I didn't pay attention to the brand and have recently wondered what it was.  I now believe it was a CBC model SB.  It was identical to this one:

Now it has me wanting to acquire one just for nostalgia sake......

Edit:  The more I look at it, I am now certain this is the make and model I hunted with in the West African jungle and brought down the fearsome Jack-O-Lope with.  Now I gotta find me one.....

The one she had was a single shot. IIRC it was wonderfully made with remarkable fit and finsh. Small conciliation for punishment it delivered to the operator.

10canyon53

Yep, that sounds like it.  I really am going to start looking for one.

Gene L

Jayhawker said:

The Gyrojet...

My battalion commander had one in Viet Nam. It wasn't taken seriously, kinda kicking around HQ because there was no ammo for it, probably been used up long before but not in combat. I don't know why he brought it, possibly for tunnel work, which being in the Delta where the water table was measured in inches didn't exist.  It got my attention because it was weird. Later on, when we did move to where there were tunnels, I wondered about it for tunnel clearing. Very lightweight, as I remember, lots of holes in the barrel.  I never saw one fired until last year I saw one on a video.  Underpowered because the rounds were rockets that needed burn distance to reach any  useable velocity, and inaccurate,  at least the two rounds they fired on the video were.  Ammo they said is rare and expensive which is why they only fired two.  I've never seen a more useless gun.   My battalion commander, Asensio, was a real asshole.

zorba

10canyon53 said:

Jayhawker said:

The Gyrojet...

I think that one was a solution in search of a problem.

Or the answer to a question nobody was asking!

GunNut

Two come to mind.  My next door neighbor own one of those H&R single shots, in 10 ga.  Is shot a turkey load out of it...  Once...

One of my buddies bought a Remington 700 22-250 Etronix.  That was a **** what were you thinking conversation.

earlyagain

John Plaster's book about SOG commandos in VN had a reference of a gyroget being used for something. I can't remember what now. I gave that book away or I'd try and look it up.

Justsomedude

Zorba, I'm the same way. I like oddities just for the sake of it, but I like oddities that I can still shoot. Been searching for a cheap Tec9 for just that reason. Pieces of crap but they were all the hype in the 80's I think? (semi auto for clarity)

Bigslug

Phoenix Arms HP22 and HP25.  If you've never handled one, they are a MADDENING collection of mutually-inhibiting features.  Your usual semi-auto pistol manual of arms is out the window with these, and I always have to re-familiarize myself with the complete and total stupid every time on crosses my path.

Justsomedude

Bigslug said:

Phoenix Arms HP22 and HP25.  If you've never handled one, they are a MADDENING collection of mutually-inhibiting features.  Your usual semi-auto pistol manual of arms is out the window with these, and I always have to re-familiarize myself with the complete and total stupid every time on crosses my path.

I bought one for my son. First thing I did was remove the stupid magazine safeties that it has. Fun little gun though.

Uncle Fester

zorba said:

I kinda collect guns like this:

NAA .22s - cute and well made. Can't hit the broadside of a barn from inside with it.

Hi-Point $100 bill "limited edition" - but it shoots good!

Altor .380 single shot - must be the world's STUPIDEST gun, but just had to have one.

Sorta borderline: Vintage Ordnance "Liberator" reproduction. Kinda dumb and useless, but it has its historical background.

Then there's that T-Rex rifle we've all seen on yootoob - definitely a "Why"?

Do you have the credit card .22LR pistol?

Antonio

Few oddities have been imported here since for starters there's no market for "range toys".

Still I've handled a few that at least to me serve no usable purpose other than burn powder in an uncomfortable and non practical way.
First I can think of is the Desert Eagle; big, uncomfortable grips and heavy, can't be useful for other than hunting but still not the best choice for that job.

Then there are the small NAA .22LR & .22WMR revolvers. Too little grips, SA and very little barrels to at least for me hit anything, and not the best choice for a CCW.

Those single-shot shotguns described above have been imported here from Brazil and Turkey. Can't recall which one was the worst but one of the models had triggers that needed to be pulled with 2 fingers and the other had an horrendous stock shape/angle that forced you to shoulder it in such manner that properly aiming it was impossible.

10canyon53

Antonio said:

Still I've handled a few that at least to me serve no usable purpose other than burn powder in an uncomfortable and non practical way.
First I can think of is the Desert Eagle; big, uncomfortable grips and heavy, can't be useful for other than hunting but still not the best choice for that job.

I guess you missed the whole purpose of the Desert Eagle:  boosting testosterone levels. 

Jayhawker

GunNut said:

One of my buddies bought a Remington 700 22-250 Etronix.  That was a **** what were you thinking conversation.

Yep...nothing like missing the shot of a lifetime because the batteries in your rifle were dead....worse...your rifle "timed out"...

Jeff in TX

knitepoet said:

270 Wimpchester

(SOMEBODY had to say it)

That's the best Snake call I've ever heard!

Gene L

GunNut said:

Two come to mind.  My next door neighbor own one of those H&R single shots, in 10 ga.  Is shot a turkey load out of it...  Once...

One of my buddies bought a Remington 700 22-250 Etronix.  That was a **** what were you thinking conversation.

That was a Big Mistake idea for a rifle.  I remember when Remington realized their Big Mistake and dealers were selling them really cheaply.  I didn't know the story behind them at the time. didn't know what an Etronix rifle was, but the drastically reduced priced made me leery. I wonder if anyone has ammo for them any more.  IIRC, my LGS had a bunch, I found out in a conversation, so maybe he was able to unload it.  I've never seen or read a review of the Etronix, but wouldn't be surprised if magazine reviewers of the day raved about them.

shotgunshooter3

The Taurus Judge comes to mind. 

Great Outdoors

shotgunshooter3 said:

The Taurus Judge comes to mind. 

Everyone I know that owns one say they really like it, as a .410 revolver. I know some keep it loaded with the Federal buckshot loads- 5- 000 with each trigger pull would be a fair close range deterrent.

JKP

shotgunshooter3 said:

The Taurus Judge comes to mind. 

X2

zorba

Uncle Fester said:

zorba said:

I kinda collect guns like this:

NAA .22s - cute and well made. Can't hit the broadside of a barn from inside with it.

Hi-Point $100 bill "limited edition" - but it shoots good!

Altor .380 single shot - must be the world's STUPIDEST gun, but just had to have one.

Sorta borderline: Vintage Ordnance "Liberator" reproduction. Kinda dumb and useless, but it has its historical background.

Then there's that T-Rex rifle we've all seen on yootoob - definitely a "Why"?

Do you have the credit card .22LR pistol?

No - although its certainly stupid enough! Maybe I should pick one up.

N454casull

Mossberg 464 SPX Tactical Lever Action Rifle

When I saw this one at SHOT all I could do was laugh. 

Bigslug

Ruger LC9 CA version.  I know WHY they did it - this was at the height of Ruger bending over backwards to appease California's ever-increasing "safety" (COUGH!) requirements.  After about 2 years of that, Ruger threw up their hand and said "EFFIT! We're out!"

The gun has a magazine disconnect safety, a DAO trigger (effectively a safety in itself), a manual 1911-style safety, one of those big, red "shark fin" loaded chamber indicators, and an "ignition key" lock safety.  They basically went overboard to make something that's SUPPOSED to be dangerous, safe.

I usually look at guns that aren't my cup of tea from the viewpoint that it's a different design philosophy - - I may not AGREE with that philosophy, but I can wrap my brain around the various "whys"  behind the features those guns were endowed with.

With that mindset, I can inspect a something like a Sig Sauer P226 and simply say "Meh.  Whatever", but In the case of the first LC9-CA I went through, I was bordering on road rage by the time I got done.

JerryBobCo

My dad's first cousin had a single shot 12 gauge.  I have no idea what brand or model it was, but it was supposed to kick like a mule.

One thing I remember about it was that he had a very tight choke.  He would routinely knock doves out of the air that were out of range of any other shotgun, and then cry about it.

Antonio

10canyon53 said:

Antonio said:

Still I've handled a few that at least to me serve no usable purpose other than burn powder in an uncomfortable and non practical way.
First I can think of is the Desert Eagle; big, uncomfortable grips and heavy, can't be useful for other than hunting but still not the best choice for that job.

I guess you missed the whole purpose of the Desert Eagle:  boosting testosterone levels. 

Good point; would rather carry around a hot girlfriend to do that but the Desert Eagle works too. Maybe a good use I could think of would be hog hunting but nothing more.

The Taurus Judge is a good candidate for this topic too.

Friend of mine got a Ruger SA revolver in .30 Carbine.....talk about a nasty, noisy revolver to shoot! Makes everyone around the shooter to shudder in discomfort when that thing goes off, specially in an indoor range. Love the platform in any other caliber and like the round in the original weapon it was designed for but the combination is awful for me.

Guy I know also got one of those Phoenix Arms .22LR pistols. Useless piece of crap that eventually became at least a funny bullet spitter when the dreaded thing suddenly became full auto. He never repaired it and got a few extra mags that he loaded with Stingers (only those gave 100% reliability) and packed it as his hunting/fishing pistol. Firing rate was ridiculously fast!   

Once found a Marble Game Getter in poor condition; it was rusted, missing rear sight and the stock. Took it as a fun restoration project and although left it as a handgun only, managed to return it to nice condition but found it as a rather useless contraption (it was .22LR/44-40 shotshell) so ended up giving it to a friend of mine who reloaded for the shotshell and kept it as a fun range toy I don't miss at all (Although I have to admit it's quite accurate with the .22LR ammo)

waipapa13

The Browning "double-auto" rates up there, but a peculiar Beretta design was the oddest I've handled, a bolt action or semi-auto .22, depending on your mood, why? you say, because Italians, thats why.