buffdog's favorite rifle is something rare and desirable that smellie won't give to him or sell him.
Not really. SMELLIE and I have all kinds of interesting toys, and we tend to "share" some of them at times. I am sure that if there was something that he that that I could not absolutely live without, he would let me have it. In fact, there have been a few rifles and things that he liked, and I either gave the item to him, or let him have it for just what I paid for it.
As far as "Favorite Guns" goes, when you get as old as we are, and have had the opportunity to buy, sell, shoot and collect the amount of firearms that have gone through our hands or that we had access to over the years, the "Favorite Gun" changes.
Back in the late 50's my favorite Gun was a 25 Pounder Gun-Howitzer, serial number 15###. The thing took another five guys to help me fire it, but it was a "Favorite." I grew up shooting the SMLE, Lee-Enfields and the Ross on the target ranges. I still have a Pre-WWI BSA Commercial SMLE No.1 Mk.III and a 1905 Ross Military Mark II** target rifle. I don't shoot them as much now as I used to, but because they are still with me, I think you might say they are "favorites."
Last week I was asked if I would like to go Duck Hunting. With all the shotguns available, I dug out an old Winchester Model 50 semi-automatic 12 guage (low four digit serial number built in the first month of production,) and used it to shoot a Manitoba eight duck limit. If I am walking the fields behind a Labrador Retriever, it would have been a nice little light 20 guage Sarasqueta double that I would have reached for. Alas, the 20 does not get as much use as it did because both the Lab and I are getting a lot older and long walks have evolved to shorter ones.
I still have a .308 Ruger International Carbine that I have shot many Deer, Elk and a few Moose with it in the Mountains. Although I am 600 miles from the Rockies, and the dark timber, the little Ruger is still in the gun locker, so I guess it is also a "favorite."
I have an inexpensive Stevens Model 200 in .223 calibre. It is insanely accurate out to 400 yard and it rivals a 700 Remington with a Shilen barrel on it that I made up many years ago. When we go after the Coyotes, of for a fun day shooting Gophers, it is a difficult choice as to which one to take.
And there are the ones that have gone by the wayside, because of various reasons. A complete cased Lewis Machine gun bought for $65 back in the early 1960s, an unfired 1928 Thompson for $135, and other firearms that the Government has decided are "bad" so the joy of firing them on the ranges has gone almost forever.
As an old target shooter, I love the FSR Swedish Mausers, and the "Historian" side of me also takes over with the Swedes. This is one rifle where it is possible, (along with the Swiss rifles), to actually trace the previous owner of it, and part of the history of a particular rifle out of many thousands. I have had many of them, shot some of them, and enjoyed them. I have also passed them along to other Gun Nutz who, I hope, are appreciating these quality rifles, so that is another "favorite."
So, if I had only a few firearms, it might be possible to pick one of them as a favorite. When there is a choice of over a hundred or more, then there really is not one that can be singled out as a "Favorite."
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