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I've shot many different guns over the short time I've lived. All kinds of lever guns, semi-autos, full-autos, custom bolt guns, custom 1911, but the gun I shot today was completely different. I had the pleasure of shooting a German Luger pistol. I love the history of guns, both the good and the bad, and it was a unique firearm to shoot. What are some of the most interesting guns you've ever shot, and why do you think that gun will stand out in your mind?
For me it was the very first real rifle I shot. At the time I was a kid with a pump-up pellet gun. A neighbor took a few of the local kids out and let us shoot his 58 caliber Springfield muzzle loader. It was a genuine civil war vintage flint lock which had been converted sometime in the distant past to percussion cap ignition. He gave us light loads to shoot, but I remember that it made a terrific noise (no hearing protection) and a LOT of smoke. It must have been impressive 'cause I can remember the event in detail more than 60 years later.
MP40 Sub machine gun, original full auto. Not a replica
1864 Sharps Black Powder Buffalo Rifle. The "Quigley" Model, but chambered for 45-70. Lobbing those 500grs lead bricks like a shoulder fired mortar system with iron sights out to 900yds was just a fantastic experience! Watching it through a spotting scope made the 308 look like a laser beam!
A Stevens Favorite .32 rimfire shotgun. It was one I picked up at a local gun store. It looked lonely sitting there among all the modern sporting rifles, bolt actions, lever and slide actions and had a tag on it that said " obsolete curio/relic, ammo unavailable". Well I took that as a challenge. At first I wasn't sure exactly what I had picked up except that it was old and cool with nice lines. The stamp on the barrel says .32 shot and it took a little bit to realize it was truly a shotgun. It has a smooth bore and a front bead only as is typical of a shotgun and after breaking it down , cleaning and inspecting it I decided to try and make some ammo for it. The search for a parent case was difficult and I didn't find much info at all online except that it probably was an early black powder gun and the actual bore diameter was really close to .308. I checked with every obsolete and antique ammo manufacturer I could find with no luck.This thing was truly obsolete. I finally located some cartridge cases made of hand turned brass billet at Dixie Gun Works that were intended for firing a .32 rimfire ball and used a starter pistol crimp in an offset pocket as the primer. At this point I was determined to shoot it so I went ahead and ordered 6 cases. I had to get a little creative to turn them into shotshells so I used a chamfered 30-06 case to cut some little foam disks from an egg carton to use as wadding. I bought a box of 12Ga trap loads with #12 shot in them and cut them open to obtain some shot and worked with both drinking straws and hand rolled typing paper to encapsulate the shot. After looking around online for quite a few weeks I ran across some specs for an original .32 long rimfire rifle load with a 90gr bullet and used the info to try and replicate the shells. If I remember right final load wound up being 11gr of FFG black powder with 60gr of #12 shot.
here's a pic of a couple of the experimental shells. http://i176.photobucket.com/albums/w...ps874ad42a.jpg
Here's one with modern shells for comparison first case is a .32 H&R mag which unfortunately didn't work other modern shells are .410
http://i176.photobucket.com/albums/w...ps13a2831a.jpg
Here's a pic showing the offset primer pocket which had to be indexed for firing, one is a drinking straw and the other is typing paper.
http://i176.photobucket.com/albums/w...psd37b2b1e.jpg
and here's the little shotgun that caught my attention.
http://i176.photobucket.com/albums/w...ps43e0440e.jpg
I was able to successfully fire it and it was fantastic. A mild report, a big cloud of smoke, and a neat little pattern at about 15-20 yards onto an old rusty 55 gallon drum were my rewards. It kind of just sits in the safe nowdays, but she puts a huge smile on my face every time I look at her.
I was pretty lucky in this department... I was an Army Brat my entire juvenile life, so I got to do some pretty bad-ass stuff, but my most memorable was getting a few shots off on a 105mm main gun of an M60 Patton tank at Fort Knox.
I'm not trying to undermine your experience, but the "Quigley" model was an 1874 sporting rifle with a 34" barrel chambered in 45-120. The "buffalo" rifles, as they were referred to, were all 50 caliber. I did have the chance to shoot one years ago. A fellow at the range had one in 50-120. It shot a paper patched 500 gr cast bullet. It was a beast to say the least!Quote:
Originally Posted by LoneWolf
No problem Fred. To be honest I couldn't remember the exact year and I knew the one I fired was in 45-70 not the 45-120. But it has the 34" barrel. I knew I was in the ball park for the year, but still very cool rifle! A lot of fun to shoot too!Quote:
Originally Posted by sharpshooter
..for me, the most interesting weapon I fired was the Browning M2 Automatic Machine Gun. I was the gunner during most of of deployments when we used GMVs.. we had armor piercing incendiary rounds...remarkable is a understatement, the absolute destructive power it wielded..i remember on more than one occasion, it would split boulders that the Taliban would use as cover..
..a couple of unique situations allowed for us to stop the truck and a teammate would set up our spotting scope next to the truck and walk me into the target/s on a ridge line about 1700 meters away..! The terrain in Afghanistan leaded itself to the easy to spot of the splash of impact of the rounds in the dirt/rocks and then walk in to target..
For me, it was theM1928A1 Thompson full auto or one of its variants chambered in .45 ACP with a 100 round drum, manufactured by none other than Savage Arms. We showed up at the range in a 1950 Pontiac, pinstripe suits and era-correct hats, and did a photo shoot and full auto demo. It was a blast, literally.
No doubt. U.S.M.C. issue BAR at Camp Lejeune North Carolina in 1964. Quite a weapon!
gen 3 Glock 17.
crazy right?
I've shot some crazy shit. don't recall what half of it was.
I agree with the op. The P.08 mauser is a cool gun to shoot. But I think the Calico 9mm with 100rnd mag is pretty interesting. Wish I never sold it but I digress.
German Panzerfaust 3 is the coolest "weapon" I ever fired.
Coolest Gun I ever fired is a big toss up not sure I could choose one top three is probably
M-24
MK-19
S&W .460
with the HK G36 right behind those three.
AK-47 Semi auto.
Interesting to get the feel of a so much talked about gun and find out how it really handles.
Trigger sucks, the ergonomics are all wrong (though I think the M-4/16 are as well) but you get that feeling that its rugged, uber reliable and why it works for those that use it (as bad as most of them are)
Taking it down the simplicity of it all is amazing.
M61A2...at night.
Otherwise a Desert Eagle 50.
PGW Coyote
Steyr HS-50
M1 Garand
Where to start.
22 luger
Mac 11
Uzi
Ma duece
M249
M240
M203
Desert eagle
Martini Henry
577 Snyder
M1 garand
Broomhandle Mauser
Bought my dad an unfired daisy VL22 with about 500 rounds but we haven't shot it as much as I pleaded. Anyone remember those
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460 Weatherby. An older fellow (at the time - early 70"s) brought it into the shop and asked if we could sight it in for him. Said he was going to the Yukon for Brown Bear and wanted stopping power. At well over 7,000 ft.lb. muzzle energy, the power was there. Can't recall how he made out on the hunt though. We sighted it in using 500gr ammo. Don't think I could shoot that beast today, as my 300WM is a real shoulder bruiser.
A Boyes anti tank rifle rebarrelled to 50 Browning.
A Blaser R8 in .458 Lott; it was enough to convince me that I didn't need to go to Africa.
Several Military weapons while deployed, but one first came to mind while in Sarajevo....U.S. Tommy gun....Noice
Having served in the US Army Ordnance Corps I got to play with (and shoot) a lot of interesting weapons.
What I found most interesting was in my civilian days, a Mateba Semi-Auto Revolver. Yup, a self cocking revolver. Was in 44 Mag and surprisingly enough the recoil was well managed, both by the sliding mechanism but the upside down relationship of the barrel to standard revolvers. The barrel is located so the round at the bottom of the cylinder is the one fired.
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikiped...evolver6in.jpg
Over 60 years shooting I have shot many different types of guns. One of the most interesting was a 450 Marlin pistol barrel on a TC pistol frame. With recoil only a little short of a 458 Win. it sure does get your attention .
The heck with that my dad has a 375jdj that's enough for meQuote:
Originally Posted by bythebook
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Well my most interesting wasn't an old buffalo gun or anything like that. My Dad passed away in July of '09, and he didn't have much. But of what he did have was an old Savage/Stevens Model 27 B 22 short, long, long rifle that had belonged to his dad, my Grandpa. My son was my dads only Grandson who was named after my Grandpa, that's why he got the gun. So it was interesting to me because after I fired that gun it had been fired by all four generations. My son is going to keep that one no matte what. (His words) I'm glad my son got the rifle, my Grandpa was my hero in my early years, he passed when I was 13 YO.
Can I throw in several that sit on equal footing as a hoot of an experience.
Ma Duece M2 50 mounted on a HumVee
Mark19 40mm AGL
Accuracy International .50cal AMR
25mm Bushmaster in an LAV
30mm DEFA from Mirage III aircraft, and last but not least
84mm Carl Gustaff recoilless.
Easy one to answer. But have to do my top three. 1. MK-19 40mm automatic grenade launcher. 2. Direct fire M198 155mm howitzer. 3. TOW anti-tank.
Nothing say have a nice day like a few cans of MK-19 to the tree line you and your Taliban buddy's are hiding out in. Other than an A-10.
Browning BAR-I only got to fire a couple bursts but you had to pull that thing back to your shoulder after 3-4 rounds.
The 450 Brushmaster looks very interesting.