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Virginian Dragoon .44 Magnum: gorgeous fit and finish, big and meaty to handle the .44 Magnum, but pearced every primer of every cartridge ever fired in it and gave signs of high pressures and hard extraction, even with factory .44 Special loads. The stoutest magnum loads didn't look any worse than did the mild rounds which was wierd. No obvious problems as far as headspace, tight chamber throats, or barrel. Every screw loosened on each cylinder-full fired. It was maddening. My S&W Model 29, purchased in 1980 cured the problem.
Ruger Red Label 12 ga. Utterly lifeless shotgun. Had all the personality of swinging an oak 2X4. Tried to like it for some 10 years but it was a disappointment. Give me my ol' Winchester Model 12 Skeet Grade any day. Certainly not in the class of the Winchester 101, or Browning Citori or Superposed. Ruger products and I have never gotten along and they leave me cold, which I realize is different than most opinions in the shooting world. Don't buy into the "built like a tank" cliche at all. Don't really care for anything they've made 'cept maybe one of those cute little Bearcats. I have a single early 70's M77 V in .220 Swift that's a shooter but not too keen on several features about it and I've had and seen other M77's that just wouldn't shoot to suit.
Marlin Model 1894 CL .32-20. When this one came out I was so excited to be able to purchase a modern made .32-20 and my first Marlin product that I immediately ordered one. Thought it could take some heat off my 1896 vintage Winchester Model 1892 .32-20 saddle-ring carbine. Nope, was a piece of junk from the word go. Barrel blank had a large pit in it that had been rifled right over. Failed to extract 3 out of 5 cases. Trigger took two men and a boy to pull. Even scoped it'd shoot groups twice as large as the old Winchester with its open sights at 100 yards from the bench. To Marlin's credit they did offer to take it in under warranty. I was just so disheartened over it that I allowed it to stand in the corner of the gun closet for 15 years until I sold it to a lever rifle silhouette shooter who rebarreled it to .357 Magnum and reworked the action.
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