Gear failures

[Corb89]

With hunting season just around the corner, I thought it would be interesting to bring up some our gun/gear failures that happened in the field.
one that comes to my mind was on a goat hunt, where after a 16km hike into alpine, i discovered my full propane canister would not release gas to my stove, still don't know why.(and yes the can WAS full!). a good lesson for me. always test everything before you go.

[Cyrus]

3 shots out of my ground blind at a 4pt whitetail. gun sighted in week before after getting a new zeiss mounted at wholesale sports. found out after getting it put into a vice at powder keg that the bases were loose...whatta piss off

[digger dogger]

I broke my waist belt buckle on my backpack, two hours into a 8 day fly in.
Managed, quite well with para-cord.
I now have a extra, tucked in my pack.

[sako79]

My vortex viper binos and my rifle scope fail on my hunt of a lifetime for monster whitetails. From this day on I will never buy Vortex again. Other than that most of my gear of Never Let Me Down

[Buck]

spot connect fell apart in my pack not sure how? back cover pulled out of the main body.Still usable in emergency though.

[brian]

I forgot to clean my rifle after a rainy hunt and the next week the chamber wouldn't close on a round. A very thin film of rust was enough to create the headspace issue. An hour and a half drive out to my hunting area was wasted all for needing to steel wool the chamber.

Once I went on a week long trip to the Okanogan and only found out on the first mornings hunt that I had accidentally loaded my rounds too long to fit the magazine. I had to use my rifle as a single shot the entire hunt. Learned my lesson, always double check magazine fit on all hand loads.

My gear failures have almost all been user error in one way or another, the gear itself has not let me down yet... (except for SPOT, but that is an issue for another thread).

[decker9]

I blew a sole off my boot one time (steel toed work boots) about 10 hours from the boat, ontop of a goat mountain. There was about a inch of the rear sole still attached. I had one of those sardine can survival kits witch had a 12" piece of duct tape, 1.5 wraps around the toe of my boot, that sucker got me back to the boat. Two thumbs up for duct tape!!

Two major fails that my partner had on our sheep hunt tho, with his tikka,

We were packing his caribou back to the lake, after half day of packing, he realized his clip had fell apart and lost all his rounds in his gun (plastic tabs broke off). Good thing we had no bear trouble.

The next season (fly in sheep hunt) we were hiking and his bolt came open (hooked on a branch prolly), so he closed his bolt and put the safety on (not loaded) to keep his bolt from opening. Later that day, he went to cycle the bolt, and it was seized solid, rusted solid. No way no how could we get the bolt open. After we got home and got it in a vice with a mallet, took the bolt apart to find the internals were rusted solid, a bad fail that gets looked past. If you own a tikka, and hunt in bad weather, I suggest taking your bolt apart, clean and lube it regularly.

[BgBlkDg]

I have had a few gear issues over the years, not many with my rifles as I am anal about testing, maintenance and I use rifle models that have decades of harsh use worldwide with favourable reports by all users. I like Pre-64 Mod. 70s for this as well as FN Mausers and the older Brnos, when modded.

As factory rifles go, I have had fewer issues with Pre-64s and FN Mausers than any of the roughly 150 guns I have owned for the past 52 years.

I would not own many of the currently popular PF sporting models as they are not as reliable and rugged and there are some factors in rifle selection more crucial than a "crisp" trigger and sub-moa groups. That said, the 43 P-64 and 2 Classic 70s I have now owned have never given me an issue, even when soaking wet and covered in mud.

Each to his own, use what you like, but, some rifles ARE more reliable than most others.

[Useyourfeet]

I've had rain gear quit on me, high end and middle of the road waterproof breathable stuff (never again). Just had a very highly regarded pack come unstitched at the waist belt after a few months of light use. Overall with the exception of rain gear I've found if you do your research you can end up with some very good gear that will last a long time. Any company that is sponsoring people I tend to find has sacrificed quality for marketing to sell.

I have had no problems with seek outside, mystery ranch, MSR and enlightened equipment.

[BCBRAD]

Not too many gear failures but here a few,
2x7 Leupold scope decided to loose zero, missed a decent mule deer, cross bolt on a Leupold ringmount broke, likely due to being over torqued,
and CCI-250 primer failed to ignite, first one was at a bear but subsequent caps failed at the range, around 3%, CCI aknowledged the problem but no replacement primers so tossed the remainder primers out of the cartonof 1000, this was decades ago,
the ringmount issue was last fall.

Some other failures but not while actually using the equipment in the field.

[decker9]

I have had a few gear issues over the years, not many with my rifles as I am anal about testing, maintenance and I use rifle models that have decades of harsh use worldwide with favourable reports by all users. I like Pre-64 Mod. 70s for this as well as FN Mausers and the older Brnos, when modded.

As factory rifles go, I have had fewer issues with Pre-64s and FN Mausers than any of the roughly 150 guns I have owned for the past 52 years.

I would not own many of the currently popular PF sporting models as they are not as reliable and rugged and there are some factors in rifle selection more crucial than a "crisp" trigger and sub-moa groups. That said, the 43 P-64 and 2 Classic 70s I have now owned have never given me an issue, even when soaking wet and covered in mud.

Each to his own, use what you like, but, some rifles ARE more reliable than most others.

My partner (my dad) thinks a lot like you, he hunts with a custom model 54 usually, but since the tikka issue, he's now packing his pre 64 on our sheep hunts.

[Fella]

Nothing major, discovered my front scope ring was loose after killing a bear, not surprising though because they were the crappy savage rings that came with a rifle package. Got rid of the rings, scope and rifle and feel much more confident in my gear.

[JAGRMEISTER]

Sounds like you have too many muskets to give any of them a real workout? I have 1 that has worked for 40+, rebarrellled once, cost per lb. of protein is waaaaaay low!

[Bernie O]

Always take two rifles that have been sighted and tested, never had to use the second one although it has been lent to others that are not so fastidious in their maintenance. Other than that if your body does not let you down everything else is secondary.

[MRP]

I've had rain gear quit on me, high end and middle of the road waterproof breathable stuff (never again). Just had a very highly regarded pack come unstitched at the waist belt after a few months of light use. Overall with the exception of rain gear I've found if you do your research you can end up with some very good gear that will last a long time. Any company that is sponsoring people I tend to find has sacrificed quality for marketing to sell.

I have had no problems with seek outside, mystery ranch, MSR and enlightened equipment.

I've tried lots of breathable stuff. None of it works in a poring rain that goes on all day. Good old poncho is the most breathable and versatile; ground sheet, windbreake, ground blind..... Used a 5' camo umbrella too, about 1lb 14" when folded up. Good for the times I get caught not expecting it to rain and a pop up blind at times.

[Stone Sheep Steve]

Wilderness Wanderer. Failed most times that I used it. Mostly the hip belt blew apart.

[Fisher-Dude]

I've had one cartridge misfire in 40 years of big game hunting. Only one.

Unfortunately, it was while I had the crosshairs on a broadside mule deer that 3 of us judged to be at least a 190 class buck.

At least I'll go to my grave with the vision of that magnificent creature clearly imprinted on my mind.

[fuzzybiscuit]

I was hunting in a West coast monsoon one day when I spotted a monster Blactail out the driver's side of the truck. Wouldn't you know it, what a crappy time to have the power window quit working with it only cracked three inches at the top. Not enough room to get the gun out so I had to let it walk. I still see that deer when I close my eyes to go to bed every night.

From there on out it has only been manual windows for this guy.

[allan]

I was hunting in a West coast monsoon one day when I spotted a monster Blactail out the driver's side of the truck. Wouldn't you know it, what a crappy time to have the power window quit working with it only cracked three inches at the top. Not enough room to get the gun out so I had to let it walk. I still see that deer when I close my eyes to go to bed every night.

From there on out it has only been manual windows for this guy.
Um so your saying you were unable to shoot from the vehicle cause the window wouldn't open enough....
You might want to refresh yourself with the hunting regs ;)

[Fisher-Dude]

I was hunting in a West coast monsoon one day when I spotted a monster Blactail out the driver's side of the truck. Wouldn't you know it, what a crappy time to have the power window quit working with it only cracked three inches at the top. Not enough room to get the gun out so I had to let it walk. I still see that deer when I close my eyes to go to bed every night.

From there on out it has only been manual windows for this guy.



https://i.imgflip.com/17jtl4.jpg

[wos]

Vortex rifle scope. Fail.

[sakofinnlight]

My 1 year old big Agnes insulated core sleeping pad was great for me last year on a sheep
hunt and other overnight hunts. Used it 2 nights ago on a scouting trip and it went flat within 30 minutes but could not hear the air coming out...... Just filled up the bathtub and submerged the pad. It has hundreds of microscopic holes that become visible in the water. Taken good care of it and stored properly! Time to get a new pad I guess and not big Agnes this time! What a uncomfortable night!

[wos]

Also those flip up plastic lens covers alway break. Who makes good lens covers? I can't find any.

[Nimrod]

Not really a gear failure, more a failure in judgment.
In the early days my buddy and I dropped some good coin on these Italian mountaineering boots for an august Sheep hunt.
Used them for a couple weeks before the hunt.( key point , not with packs or weight ) We packed in 18k off the highway and by day 3 we both found them cripplingly painful.
So much so we ended up hunting the last day and hiking out the whole way under load with a sheep in Teva sandals.
We never used those damn things again.

[landphil]

Also those flip up plastic lens covers alway break. Who makes good lens covers? I can't find any.

Leupold Alimina flip-ups - of course, you pay dearly for them.

[landphil]

Had my binocular neck strap break on a week long hunting trip a few years ago, made due with a nylon belt and some paracord, until one of our group was heading home early, and he lent me his binocular harness for the remaining days. What a blessing that was - I haven't used a neck strap since.

Broke my Fieldline pack in a fall a couple years ago - actually, is was one of the buddy-lock pouches on the modular belt - and I really like that pouch, which is no longer available. I ended up buying some other cheap pouch to cut the buddy-lock from, and stitched it to my original pouch. Smacked my scope on a log that fall too, then blew the fan belt in my truck on the way home - you know, one of them days. Good thing I keep a spare belt behind the back seat.

[BromBones]

Wilderness Wanderer. Failed most times that I used it. Mostly the hip belt blew apart.

I think everyone who owned one had the waistbelt blow off at some point :)

Had a Weatherby Vanguard give me an issue while shooting at a goat. Was lined up for a shot and pulled the trigger with the safety on. Tilted the gun to the side slightly, clicked the safety off and BOOM! Gun went off and sent the bullet across the canyon. :) Replaced the trigger and sold it.

Also had a Primus stove that when I ignited it, the fuel didn't atomize and sent a 3 ft flame of raw fuel up, burning my face. Gave it a boot as I jumped back half blinded and managed to launch the fireball of a stove and my cooking pot down a bank and into a fast creek - never saw them again.

[Bugle M In]

My Rifle Scabbard broke on my mountain bike while riding, which was mounted muzzle down from my handle bars to my
front forks.
Rifle slide right thru the bottom of the scabbard, with the rifle finally coming to rest with the barrel jamming into the dirt.
Not good for the Crown of the Rifle....and...
You probably could have heard me shout the "F Bomb" for about 20 miles down the valley!

[Bison Fats]

Decided to replace a spotting scope as I left for a sheep hunt. It was my sons birthday I was picking him up from PG and it seemed to be a good idea so I left the older scope at home. Just past Fort Nelson thought I'd tell him about the scope I got for him and our sheep hunt. Eventually we pulled over to the side of the road just past Pink Mtn. and set it up.

Couldn't see through the scope! It had obviously been damaged in some way. There was loose glass / lens material rolling around in the scope body. We fiddled with it for 1/2 hr and finally gave up. Still a great trip but learnt a valuable lesson!

[fuzzybiscuit]

http://huntingbc.ca/forum/images/shades_of_green/misc/quote_icon.png Originally Posted by fuzzybiscuit http://huntingbc.ca/forum/images/shades_of_green/buttons/viewpost-right.png (http://www.huntingbc.ca/forum/showthread.php?p=1799504#post1799504)
I was hunting in a West coast monsoon one day when I spotted a monster Blactail out the driver's side of the truck. Wouldn't you know it, what a crappy time to have the power window quit working with it only cracked three inches at the top. Not enough room to get the gun out so I had to let it walk. I still see that deer when I close my eyes to go to bed every night.

From there on out it has only been manual windows for this guy.


https://i.imgflip.com/17jtl4.jpg


http://i1365.photobucket.com/albums/r747/arthurjlarsen/image.jpg1_zpsuhiqjxji.jpg (http://s1365.photobucket.com/user/arthurjlarsen/media/image.jpg1_zpsuhiqjxji.jpg.html)

[digger dogger]

^^^
Hahahahaha
Thats pretty funny FB
Well done:-)

[todbartell]

Danner gore tex boots, wet underbrush = goosh goosh

[caddisguy]

Pretty sure everyone has heard about my untimely misfires on close range bears. 2 in 3 years, one I suspect another, the other definitely rifle.

[kevan]

Each to his own, use what you like, but, some rifles ARE more reliable than most others.

Very good advice to be heeded.
Also I have noticed many hunters that are considerably more careless than others with their own equipment and are quick to complain when it fails.
Sometimes the best of rifles can fail when abused or neglected.

[Gateholio]

I've seen lots of ammo failures at the range. Dud primers, sideways mounted primers, buckled case mouths with the bullet crushed in, shotgun ammo with the brass deformed so it won't chamber...list goes on. Last case of Remington .223 ammo had 6 out of 1000 rounds with sideways or backwards primers!

[wideopenthrottle]

i had two failures with my old sporterized 303..one was my fault having the bolt head not tightened properly and the other was on the rear scope mount screw coming loose..it has been returned to open sights (peeps) and i make extra sure i put the bolt together properly when i take it apart to clean it periodically

[Squirrelnuts]

https://s32.postimg.org/52aezxtyd/remington.jpg

[Squamch]

Had a squib last year, with federal "premium" ammo. Went pop, but the massive blacktail went down. Walked up to him and he jumped to his feet, without a mark on him and raced off. 2 hours following his tracks, never found a bit of blood, hair, or anything. He crossed the road about 6' from my partner who said he looked to be a mint condition deer. Best I can figure is the bullet was already tumbling and gave him a thump, but didn't poke a hole in him.

[fireguy]

I have probably had many gear failures over the years that I have long ago forgotten about.

Three that I haven't,

was talked into a Simmons scope on a rifle I bought when I was 15, worked fine for a couple years then completely fogged up on a moose trip up north, couldn't even see through it. Back up rifle came in handy.

Flipped a a canoe on a moose trip, one older bushnell scope failed miserably, Leupold on mine still works and I shot a moose that day after dredging my rifle off the bottom of the river.

Shot ot a buck and boned it out in my Sitka pack. Shoulder strap completely came apart with a couple hundred yards to go. Sitka replaced the pack but I now use it as a day pack and have an eberlystock for packing deer out. It hasn't let me down.

[goatdancer]

Went hunting goats in the McBride area. We drove around looking for a place to camp and the battery on my truck calved. Went back into town to get a new battery and sat down in the tire shop to wait for the fix. A local guy walks in and asks us what we were hunting and we said goats. So he asks " You guys going to the Dore "? We said " Yeh ". We had no idea where it was so a quick look in our mapbook got us the directions. Turned out to be a fortuitous breakdown. Goat now lives on the wall in my critter room.

[Fisher-Dude]

Last case of Remington .223 ammo had 6 out of 1000 rounds with sideways or backwards primers!


Factory ammo is for the weak!

(Been waiting 10 years to say that to you!)

[Gateholio]

Factory ammo is for the weak!

(Been waiting 10 years to say that to you!)

Well yeah I agree of course. Almost all my personal ammo is still handloaded of course, but guests go through a few thousand rounds a week at the range so that mostly gets store bought ammo. Also wouldn't want the liability if something went wrong with one of my handloads.

[panhead]

My pardner' was hunting many moons ago and noticed a set of moose antlers sticking up out of the not so tall grass, so wandered over to take a look. Turned out to be a bull moose sleeping. He lifted his trusted .303 jungle carbine and put one into his head. This awoke the moose and he got up and hi-tailed it outta there. My bud could not chamber another round as his now not so trusted gun had jammed. Never saw that moose again ...

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If I had a dollar for every women in my life that found me unattractive......they would probably find me attractive now .

[Ohwildwon]

http://i284.photobucket.com/albums/ll37/mikemcclement/cheap%20ammo_zpsf3qyoeu3.jpg (http://s284.photobucket.com/user/mikemcclement/media/cheap%20ammo_zpsf3qyoeu3.jpg.html)

[sthdslayer]

Nothing will put a damper on your hunt quicker than wheel bearings on your trailer going

[SR80]

Im surprised no one has spoken up about a leaky kuiu tent yet.

[J_06]

I busted through a shit ticket once on the mountain, yeah that was a bad day.

[J_06]

I was hunting in a West coast monsoon one day when I spotted a monster Blactail out the driver's side of the truck. Wouldn't you know it, what a crappy time to have the power window quit working with it only cracked three inches at the top. Not enough room to get the gun out so I had to let it walk. I still see that deer when I close my eyes to go to bed every night.

From there on out it has only been manual windows for this guy. Lol I thought this was a crack at fisher dude, isn't he the resident road hunter?

[J_06]

Had a squib last year, with federal "premium" ammo. Went pop, but the massive blacktail went down. Walked up to him and he jumped to his feet, without a mark on him and raced off. 2 hours following his tracks, never found a bit of blood, hair, or anything. He crossed the road about 6' from my partner who said he looked to be a mint condition deer. Best I can figure is the bullet was already tumbling and gave him a thump, but didn't poke a hole in him.
That isn't really a squib if it left the barrel. Describe "pop" as in primer pop or the round actually went of ? Even a tumbling full speed round will penetrate, on what axis is anyone guess.

[gwes2003]

I was hunting in a West coast monsoon one day when I spotted a monster Blactail out the driver's side of the truck. Wouldn't you know it, what a crappy time to have the power window quit working with it only cracked three inches at the top. Not enough room to get the gun out so I had to let it walk. I still see that deer when I close my eyes to go to bed every night.

From there on out it has only been manual windows for this guy.

\if you're hunting from the front seat of your truck you deserve bad luck when your out driving (you call it hunting). Seriously, you couldnt get out of your vehicle?!?!?

[landphil]

\if you're hunting from the front seat of your truck you deserve bad luck when your out driving (you call it hunting). Seriously, you couldnt get out of your vehicle?!?!?

Disabled people with permits to hunt from a vehicle deserve bad luck? And no, some can't. At least not easily, or without assistance.

Though in this case I'm pretty sure Fuzzynuts is being the sarcastic bastage that he usually is, and it's good for a laugh should you choose the lighter side of life, or an ignore should you choose to be proper and serious.

[The Hermit]

Kuiu pack fail x2. Trophy Ridge sight - broke all the fiber optic threads first day of hunt... errrrrr.

[ishootbambi]

Well I fell once and bent a scope and cracked a stock. Not really a failure of equipment.

Closest I've had to equipment failure was a farking horse. Every morning it was a treasure hunt to find the stupid beasts, and the extra work of gearing them up every morning and tending them and wet blankets etc, I'd already decided I'd had about enough of horseback hunting. It was about day 5 of this trip (I'd hunted lots on horses before this and my disdain was cumulative) when I was getting cold sitting on ole Mr Ed, so I decided to get off and walk the last half mile to the top of the mountain. Me and my steed were leading with 3 guys on their rides in tow.

Just about the crest of the mountain I spy elk ahead! As I'm about to turn around my horse goes freaking apeshyte. That sumbitch put on a bucking display that woulda made Wild Strawberry (famous Calgary Stampede insane bucking horse) look like a carousel pony! I turned back to see a big 6 point elk rounding up the girls to head out. I'm chasing this god forsaken beast trying to get my rifle while hollering at the others to shoot the bull rolling out over the top. Everyone was frozen watching old stoopid flailing away.

Well the the elk were gone, and finally dumb dumb got tired and stopped in a swampy bog huffing and puffing. Into the skeg I go to find my saddle under the horse. I led the thing into dry ground to hear the guy that was behind say he saw my saddle hanging sideways but figured we were close enough to the top (where we were going to be on lookout over the valley) that I could straighten things up there. I was afraid to unzip the gun case. The kink in it already told the tale. Let me tell you this....if I had a functioning rifle that effin horse might not have made it outta the mountains. I was plenty mad enough to cut my losses and leave the nag there for the Grizzlies. I had a few words for the dummy that saw it and said nothing too!

i got rid of the hay burning, waste of money, pain in the arse as soon as I got home. I've been atop a horse since, but it is never my first choice.

[416]

Kuiu pack fail x2. Trophy Ridge sight - broke all the fiber optic threads first day of hunt... errrrrr.


You poke your sights or ???? Have the same set up and curious. That would suck........once tried to shoot my compound rig instinctively...........never did find that arrow.

[bearheart]

Nothing will put a damper on your hunt quicker than wheel bearings on your trailer going
Been there done that:cry:

[Bear Brawler]

Im surprised no one has spoken up about a leaky kuiu tent yet.
Yeah I had this problem, my own fault though. I had my tent for months, set it up at home once and thought it was really thin and didn't think it was waterproofed but hey, what do I know. Took it on my sheep hunt last year, as soon as it started raining I was like WTF? Water just came through the fabric. Had I not been able to to cover it with a sill tarp Idv'e been forced off the mountain. It was a long 10 days but I managed. They replaced it with a new tent which I sold and replaced with the new 4 season tent, already looked and made sure it's fine haha. And I've lost multiple Butler Creek plastic flip up caps.

[Gateholio]

The cure to losing Butler Creek flip up scope caps is electric tape :)

[Duidery]

I had a clip full of 30-06 Nosler Accubonds misfire. I had 5 shells in the gun and pulled the trigger 7 times on a nice bull moose. Zero fires! The firing pin was leaving pricks on the primer but the bullets wouldn't fire. After the moose screwed off and I was back at the truck, I put a different shell, but from the same box, in the gun and it fired first pull.

I don't know if this was the cause but I used those 5 shells on a week long sheep with really wet weather. Admittedly, I didn't do the best job of drying out my gun and shells each night after hiking our butts off all day.

[Squamch]

That isn't really a squib if it left the barrel. Describe "pop" as in primer pop or the round actually went of ? Even a tumbling full speed round will penetrate, on what axis is anyone guess.

It was a very quiet shot from a 30-06. My partner and I both thought it sounded funny, really quiet, but didn't initially think anything was awry. No bullet left in the barrel. It was a sub-100 yard shot. I was 10' of so from the deer when it jumped up, on the same side I'd shot at. I had a good clear look, and there was no visible mark on him, no blood, hair, or fat where he was lying. He ran through the slash, and jumped onto and across the road my partner was standing on, also with the side I shot at facing him, and he didn't see any marks. It was a 6-8' drop into the road off the bank he jumped off, and there was no blood where he landed on the road either.

[Gateholio]

It's my opinion that CAREFULLY assembled handloads are always going to beat factory ammo for reliability. Like most handloaders, I've been guilty of carelessness a couple of times. Usually when making large quantities of ammo or rushing things for one reason or another. However if you sit down and carefully construct 50 rounds of hunting ammo, ensuring proper priming, verifying powder charge and testign function in your rifle prior to setting out, your handloads will be more reliable than factory ammo.

This is not to say that you are taking big risks with factory ammo, but I see a couple thousand rounds loaded and fired per week and yes, factory ammo can have problems too.

FWIW the highest failures are 22LR ammo, and unless you want to embark on a process that would drive you insane un a few hours, rimfire ammo is not something that can be reloaded.

Shockingly, I've had more issues with American made centerfire ammo than Mexican, Chinese or Ukrainian.

[The Hermit]

You poke your sights or ???? Have the same set up and curious. That would suck........once tried to shoot my compound rig instinctively...........never did find that arrow.

Yes crawling through a bear tunnel. On return upgraded sight to one with enclosed/protected fibres with zero problems since.

[Blockcaver]

I had the same mentioned failure of the the Big Agnes inflatable pad. It worked for a few days, then would go flat as soon as you fell asleep. It had the same sieve of holes in the lower area in the bath tub test. Ironically I bought a one person Big Agnes tent.....and a stiff sidewind above timberline would blow it flat as well. It got donated to a new home with full disclosure of its shortcomings. As for me, I am done with Big Agnes.

[Squamch]

Got one from this weekend...

under armour brow tine boots. Both failed, nearly simultaneously, on the outsides of both feet, seams started to pull apart, and my feet got SOAKED. Going to go to wholesale and return them this weekend. They're under a year old, and were great boots up until that, but I put a lot of miles on them this summer, and I guess they just weren't up to it!

[argyle1]

I have had a few gear issues over the years, not many with my rifles as I am anal about testing, maintenance and I use rifle models that have decades of harsh use worldwide with favourable reports by all users. I like Pre-64 Mod. 70s for this as well as FN Mausers and the older Brnos, when modded.

As factory rifles go, I have had fewer issues with Pre-64s and FN Mausers than any of the roughly 150 guns I have owned for the past 52 years.

I would not own many of the currently popular PF sporting models as they are not as reliable and rugged and there are some factors in rifle selection more crucial than a "crisp" trigger and sub-moa groups. That said, the 43 P-64 and 2 Classic 70s I have now owned have never given me an issue, even when soaking wet and covered in mud.

Each to his own, use what you like, but, some rifles ARE more reliable than most others.
I agree 100%.....I still pack a pre 64, even for sheep and goats, but I did get a ramline stock for it.....and of course it's nice that the spirit of Jack still stops by the campfires of old model 70 shooters to have a sip and chew the fat

[Shooter Jr.]

Vortex viper PST fogged up. My girlfriend would have had a very reasonable chance at her first deer, a 60 yard blacktail buck had she been able to to see the damn thing.
Just about left the scope in the bush I was so mad. Never again will I own Vortex crap on my hunting set up.

[CJ Douglas]

Screw came loose on my caliper release and it opened up. Good ol' punch to the face mid draw Lol.

[ajr5406]

Crappy boots that cause blisters, and inappropriate socks...

[Stone Sheep Steve]

Exped Downmat 7 UL. Second failure for me. First one was at home(replaced free of charge) but this one went on our recent trip. Livable but annoying. A couple baffles let loose.
Hopefully they'll pick up the tab again.