Essential guns for a collection?

Jrink

Jrink

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I am just curious as to how your collections and with what your collections were built. I am not building my collection as fast as I would like, but I am hoping I have a lot of years to do so.

My first gun was an ancient .22 rabbit gun, handed down from my dad, as he was given it from his grandma when he was just a boy. I didn't really have any interest in guns or hunting until just a few years ago. I finally purchased a Savage Weather Warrior in .243 as I thought it would be a good crossover gun for coyotes and varmints to whitetail. Followed by a T/C Impact .50 for muzzleloading season.

Now I feel like maybe soon it will be time to add another to my collection. While I do have a short "wishlist" (a 94 Winnie in 30-30 to match my old man's 94-22), I am kinda wondering what to get next. I would like get something with a wood stock. I am thinking maybe a new Winchester M70 Featherweight, but a little unsure of calibre.

Keeping in mind, that as a collection is beginning and small, each gun kinda has to be a crossover piece, until my arsenal is large enough to have game/use specific piece.

Soo? What say you? What would be your recommendations? What about stocks? Calibre? Make/model? Shotguns? If you could do it all over again, how would your collections grow and in what order?
 
sooner or later you will want a .30 cal of some sort as canada is bear country and you will have to/want to deal with one. 300 winmag covers a lot of boxes on a check list. great muzzle energy,great long range ballistics , ammo everywhere.acceptable recoil ,min. cal. for some elk outfitters,ect. long list and it pretty much checks em all.
 
I like more unusual pieces. Try looking at some single shot rifles. Sharps, rolling blocks, falling blocks and trapdoors. These are a hoot to shoot but some cal are reload only. As for cal to look at in any action I highly recommend 22 hornet,222,223,243,7x57,30-30, 45 colt (rifle) 45-70 and any old large BP cal. All that being said, some want just hunting guns so most cal work in the med & up. cal. 30-06 is ok but to vanilla for me :) good luck & enjoy this life long trip.
 
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Find yourself a decent s'perienced 308win, 6.5x55, 7x57 and maybe
even a 270win.
Don't disappoint yourself with some new plasticee stuff.
An old mauser 98 or Husky or Husqvarna (sp I know).
They usually shoot pretty darn good and if you happen to
fall into one that has been blessed, whooooot........:p
 
I am in the same boat. Just starting out with only a couple in the safe so far.

I just added a Winnie 94 30-30 to my collection as well. Damned glad to have it. Looking at some of the SxS shotties on TradeEx for my next addition.
 
First you need to think about a theme, my main theme is old / odd Commercial Mauser (rifles mostly but I have a shotgun or 2), next is damascus and it's variants, within this collection I also try to get different action types, top, under & side opening lever etc. Just because I like firearms I have various other guns that I don't consider a part of a collection and usually I only have one of. FWIW --- John303.
 
My view is from a keen shooter, reloader and hunter. A foundation 'collection' is as follows IMO:

1) .22lr rifle of at least moderate quality that can be used as a plinker, small game rifle and for casual cometiton eg silhouette
2) A decent quality centrefire hunting rifle that can handle most hunting situtaions one would encounter. To me this means a scoped bolt gun somewhere between 6.5x55 and a .300Mag.
3) A 12ga shotgun in a flavour that suits you - pump, auto or double. It should be steel proofed and multichoked.
4) At least one hand gun in .22lr, 9x19 or .38/.357

From there it's all about niches....or at least perceived niches ;)
 
Right on! Awesome to see all the opinions and advice. The .270 seems to be something that nearly everyone has and few complain about. However I do hear mumblings about the 6.5x55 Swede. For someone who hasn't gotten into reloading, knowing that ammunition is a little more scarce for the Swede, are there any attributes that make it any more desirable than the ol' .270?

For what it's worth, the ancient old .22 I mentioned at the top appears to be an old unbranded Cooey. ;)
 
i don't think you can define "gun nut"- what about us southpaws?- neither cooey or lee- enfield made one, yet we're as big a nuts as any of you- i've got some 22 rifles/shotguns /pistols on hand, and probably more coming- now you tell me that ain't a gun nut- and reloading for the works
 
As others will say, there isn't anything in North America that a .270 won't kill. You can load it down to for varmint and up for big game, and you can find ammo anywhere if you don't handload. But with a .243 already, maybe you want something in .30 as mentioned so that there is less overlap.

Everyone's 'collection' is different depending on what they like, want or need. Don't put too much weight in others recommendations or choices. Decide what you want to do with it and look at appropriate calibers. Or, maybe time to look for a shotgun too?
 
I know you want a Win 94 in .30-30, but check out the Marlin as well. I like both; I have a 24" barreled Marlin, scoped, and a 94 carbine with a peep sight. Either or...or one of each.
Your Win 70 idea is great; I really like the new 70 Fwt in .308 Win.
A Savage 99 in .300 Savage will be on your want list some day, as well. I personally like the EG model best; others love the F model.
I think some day the Ruger 77 tang-safety models may be even more collectible than they are now; grab one in .250 Savage or .257 Roberts and you'll have a good rifle.
Consider the Browning B-78 or 1885 falling-block. Any cartridge really, but a .30-06 or a .45-70 would be nice. If you can find someone who will part with their 1885 Traditional Hunter in .30-30 or .38-55, GRAB IT!
 
t-star said:
i don't think you can define "gun nut"- what about us southpaws?- neither cooey or lee- enfield made one, yet we're as big a nuts as any of you- i've got some 22 rifles/shotguns /pistols on hand, and probably more coming- now you tell me that ain't a gun nut- and reloading for the works
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I meant it in fun, my friend. Chill!
 
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