Ever just stop and laugh?

thepitchedlink said:
Fun to read this post Ardent....I must be thinking along the same lines as you. i just sent a 280AI to the smith to be rebarrelled......to 30-06!!!
But I have to admitt, i still like tinkering and buying/selling guns, if nothing more then it keeps me "involved" in what I really like, and that's hunting. But we can't hunt all the time, can't hunt at work (much:D)...but I can read, swap, buy, trade and study guns and shooting all year 'round, and for me that's the next best thing to actually being out there and "doing it".

How's the little one?
Click to expand...

The little guy's great! And yours? Well done, I'm fearful I too may end up with... just a .30-06 for my general North American gun. It'll have to be a nice .30-06 though. :D I preach the lack of difference in cals, though still in the last month have picked up a .300 Win Mag (yesterday), a .30-06 pre-64 M70 (a week ago), and a .270 nearly fits in that time frame too. I shoot all of them, but only one makes it out hunting really (.375). In the end I find any of them do the same thing, kill game, and it's not my incurable interest in experimenting with a gazillion cartridges (just ordered a new wildcat reamer last week too) that's my 'problem' but my vocal and spirited put downs of cartridges I didn't like. I just noticed it didn't matter what's used, just how we hunt with them, sounds like you're thinking the same things. :) Heck, North America's greatest trophy ram, the Chadwick Ram from BC, was taken with a decidedly unsheeplike gun, a .404 Jeffery and I'm sure over iron sights!

Hope all's well bud! If you ever have the misfortune to be in Northern Alberta again...
 
Haha, my little one is doing great as well....ya no reason to keep adding to the pile, but my last few weeks have added the '06 being built, a 303 and 358. However this time I'm thinking more about the gun itself and less about the chambering. Wouldn't surprise me to be in N Alb in the summer, I''ll let you know if I am...gonna have a stylin' jungle carbine riding under the seat this year...I figured that was the Canadian way. I sold a few there a few weeks ago and my new hunting rifle for this fall is sitting in a box at home waiting for me...i'm sure you'll approve, 375H&H
Pitched
 
bcsteve said:
I think it's Mike Venturino who has his own version of this saying: "Beware of the man with only one gun, he probably doesn't have enough interest in firearms to shoot it accurately" or something like that.:p
Click to expand...

i would have to agree.
the man with one or the usual three firearms usually doesn't know squat about what he is shooting.
he has no interest and probably has three different boxes of Wal-mart ammunition with two cartridges missing out of each.
when the registration came into effect, i had people dropping guns off at my home. again, the usual three gun combo, some sort of thirty caliber (30-06, 308, 303, 30-30 bolt or lever and cheap, a 22 and a 12 gauge, also cheap.) full of dust, rust and in dire need of cleaning.
i was happy to have them though, and gave them to people who would use them.
 
snoopycda said:
i would have to agree.
the man with one or the usual three firearms usually doesn't know squat about what he is shooting.
he has no interest and probably has three different boxes of Wal-mart ammunition with two cartridges missing out of each.
when the registration came into effect, i had people dropping guns off at my home. again, the usual three gun combo, some sort of thirty caliber (30-06, 308, 303, 30-30 bolt or lever and cheap, a 22 and a 12 gauge, also cheap.) full of dust, rust and in dire need of cleaning.
i was happy to have them though, and gave them to people who would use them.
Click to expand...

Gross oversimplification, I'm hoping to become essentially a three gun guy, and hunt far more than most who criticize that route... How few or how many guns you own means squat, all that matters is how you use them. It's like saying somebody that owns 4 cars is a better driver than those with 2. Completely unrelated.
 
There was an old saying.
"Beware of the one gun man"

I guess the was feeling was, that if you only had one gun and did everything with that gun.
You would get more proficient than a shooter who divided his practice time between two or more guns.:yingyang:

In the not so distant past, the norm was. A long arm and perhaps a sidearm of the same caliber.
If your kit did not depend on your own back for transportation, a shotgun and perhaps a small game/camp-gun, might make up the battery.
Market hunters had different needs and solutions.

In the 1950's, my first battery consisted of:
Cooey Ranger 75 .22
Cooey single 12G.
LE/Parker Hale .303Br.

If I had to grab three off my wall right now.
Brno #5 .22
870 Wingmaster TB grade 12 G. +3 barrels, some with adjustable chokes/rifling
Brno ZKK601 .308

And if I am allowed a sidearm on this adventure, I will carry my shortened by Armco, Ruger SRH .454 Casull revolver.


2 cents.
 
Ardent, great advice.

I won't follow it though... I like guns too much. :D

I am trying to thin out the heard though... My goal is to end up with less than 10. :p

(I only have 2 hunting rifles though... 1 sporter no. 4 mk 1 that was given to me and a Win M70 Supergrade. Guess which one I use. ;)
 
well written and some very good advice .I too have come to realise this and since ive narowed my calibres down to the 223 remington for my black guns 7.62X39 for red rifles prrecision rifles include .308 winchester 6mm remimgton and 300 win mag these last three calibres fullfill all my big game hunting needs as well shotguns are all 12 guage all my pistols are 40 smith and wesson and of course we cant forget the .22rimfire for cheap plinking and fun
 
The Lee 150 grain F.P. GC cast bullet has taught me that with that bullet most 30 caliber guns are equal. The 7.62x93 will shoot it accurately at 1750 fps, as will my 30-30, 300 Savage, and 30/06. It seems that with the alloy I use the speed limit on the bullet is between 1850 and 2200 fps but 1750 or so seems to be where this bullet lives and gives the best accuracy.
 
Ardent said:
Gross oversimplification, I'm hoping to become essentially a three gun guy, and hunt far more than most who criticize that route... How few or how many guns you own means squat, all that matters is how you use them. It's like saying somebody that owns 4 cars is a better driver than those with 2. Completely unrelated.
Click to expand...

i would be willing to bet that having more than one car makes you capable of driving better just by understanding that different machines behave differently.
that being said, if you are taking you collection down to three guns, you are either being efficient and rare, or have lost your interest and desire.
i admit sometimes i get bored with the 31 units i own and i almost always hunt with the chosen one.
i will turn my attention to another expensive hobby of mine....muscle cars.
 
Came to the same conclusion. I sold all my "toy" guns and casting gear... bells and whistles and the lot. I kept a churchill .303 that was given to me by an older guy i work with as my main hunting gun, a short barreled pump 12 gauge with open sights for deer on the island where i can only use a shotgun, and a .22 for fun. Also my reloading sutup because i still like the idea of being able to produce my own ammo.

I also found i grew tired of guns that were too nice to take into the field. My 3 remaining guns are all very much knock around guns. I own them to carry them around in the woods where they will get dings and scratches, and im Ok with that. It feels very liberating!

That said, im looking for an old beat up martini hahaha...
 
It all boils down to what's most important to you, the hunting, or the guns. I've been pulling away from a massive gun collection to hunt the world. One dangerous game hunt in a far flung corner of the heart of the dark continent is enough to make one reconsider their priorities. As I'm not made of money, I can choose to slither on my stomach over lion tracks in red dirt after Cape Buffalo in Zimbabwe, chase game in Botswana, Bison at home etc, or have a collection of gorgeous guns I do little but hunt a head or two of game with in November- and only one of them gets to go.

Since I can't shoot game with multiple rifles at once yet, I find owning just a few pieces of what to me amounts to perfection far more advantageous and desirable than a room full of funky stuff (been there). Also, I like building a relationship with my guns, and building memories with them. In forty years I know I'll look back and grin about getting up in the face of dangerous game in Africa and not knowing what's going to happen. I likely won't remember each of my Pre-64 Model 70's that safe cruise the majority of their years.

BUT, that's just me. If the guns are the main attraction for others, or they find a balance, every bit as respectable as the path I'm after. The path I like was simply reinforced by my realization that literally all the standard hunting cartridges are identical in what they do, and if hunting was my game, there was no point in owning multiples. I still have a humble collection of fine guns, but I'm starting to get closer to using all of them frequently.
 
Ardent said:
It all boils down to what's most important to you, the hunting, or the guns. I've been pulling away from a massive gun collection to hunt the world. One dangerous game hunt in a far flung corner of the heart of the dark continent is enough to make one reconsider their priorities. As I'm not made of money, I can choose to slither on my stomach over lion tracks in red dirt after Cape Buffalo in Zimbabwe, chase game in Botswana, Bison at home etc, or have a collection of gorgeous guns I do little but hunt a head or two of game with in November- and only one of them gets to go.

Since I can't shoot game with multiple rifles at once yet, I find owning just a few pieces of what to me amounts to perfection far more advantageous and desirable than a room full of funky stuff (been there). Also, I like building a relationship with my guns, and building memories with them. In forty years I know I'll look back and grin about getting up in the face of dangerous game in Africa and not knowing what's going to happen. I likely won't remember each of my Pre-64 Model 70's that safe cruise the majority of their years.

BUT, that's just me. If the guns are the main attraction for others, or they find a balance, every bit as respectable as the path I'm after. The path I like was simply reinforced by my realization that literally all the standard hunting cartridges are identical in what they do, and if hunting was my game, there was no point in owning multiples. I still have a humble collection of fine guns, but I'm starting to get closer to using all of them frequently.
Click to expand...

i agree with you.
it is pretty nice however to offer a selection to a friend who wants to come but has no rifle.
or have a decent backup when there is a problem with your favorite, this is why i own a 375 h&h but i hunt with a 7 mag.
these days when i run into a deal i will buy just to flip it.
 
For hunting there are only two I use.
Long departed father's Schultz in 308 Norma Mag and my been around for a bit
Ruger 77 in 308 win.
Both great rifles and one backs the other up in go away hunts.
Have a bunch more but are for sole pleasure to play with.
My 13 plus pound mauser 98 in 6.5x55 makes me feel good at the range.
Tack driver it is.
Some old levers as well, just for the sake of owning some memories and a piece of history.
Need to thin the herd out a bit as well.
Good post Ardent, thanks.
Looky.
 
This thread is right on the money. The next rifle I buy is probably going to be a 30-06. It will do all I need without any drama or added cost.
 
Seems I have a Fudd gene or two. I came to the same conclusion a long time ago. Own several 22s, a 223, 308,30-06, 45/70, and a 12ga. Not much in North America that aint food with these. Still I just bought a 35Rem and would like to have another 250 Savage, maybe a lever 45/70 now.... Guess I got the addict gene too... If it makes you smile or calls to you then go with it. You only live once. The world would be a boring place if we all owned only 3 guns. A 22, 308, and a 12ga pretty much cover "need" but thats now what its about.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom