Can you own too many vanilla hunting rifles?

Dogleg said:
I'd love to trim out some of the plain vanillas, just as soon as I figure out what they are.
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Obviously said "tongue in cheek," but...

Vanilla not with regard to the rifles characteristics, rather with regard to its purpose, as compared to the others in the safe... as in; "I'm going deer hunting where shots will be under 100 yards, which of these 40 similar "vanilla" rifles should I choose"... been there, done that...

Having downsized, I still have plenty of duplication, as everyone with more than a ".223/.300 WM/.375 H&H" does... but I still enjoy guns chambered in various cartridges and shooting them and loading for them... so I won't get too caught up in "selling off..."
 
Still downsizing, trying to get to four maybe five hunting rifles, keeping 6.5x55 [Wife's], 270 win, 300 wm, 338 wm[open sights].presently have two 270s and two 338s selling one of each, also have a 9mm, 22 bolt[Wife's], 10-22, 20 gauge and a 12 gauge two barrel set. Very vanilla I think.
 
With me it's more like "which of these half a dozen .300s should I sell?" Should I sell the 300 Win built on a westherby Mark V that my son shot his first moose with, I got a few musk ox, took to Argentina and popped red stag, and stood past my nuts in the Zambezi River trying simultaneously ignore the leaches on my legs, watch for crocodiles and play whack a mole with a herd of hippos, or should I sell the Corlane built Sako 300 Rum that I brained a 100 inch water buffalo with, backed up my son on his first Buffalo with, shot one of the best scrub Bulls of all time, scorched the barrel on a population cull then brought home to plaster a grizzly with Ardent? Tough call. Maybe I could sell the MRC rifle that I used as a walking stick hunting mountain goat, hung in the rain for 2 weeks, and have since changed everything but the serial number on? Or maybe the 700 ( the one the kids nicknamed Deathwind during a hokey name contest) that has been
many things but currently is solid 0-1000 cordless drill that can be carried about like anything else.


If I ever figure out what vanilla is, then I can start on the not so vanilla that also all do more or less the same thing. It isnt easy because the vanillas keep morphing into not so vanilla. Not impossible, but proving to be harder than I thought.:)
 
medvedqc said:
vanilla, mint, chocolate pick the one you like .....

sorry can someone explain me that expression with vanilla?
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In Canadian english the word "Vanilla" can mean "common, every day run of the mill, nothing special" as a reference to vanilla ice cream compared to all the other flavours.
 
Dogleg said:
With me it's more like "which of these half a dozen .300s should I sell?" Should I sell the 300 Win built on a westherby Mark V that my son shot his first moose with, I got a few musk ox, took to Argentina and popped red stag, and stood past my nuts in the Zambezi River trying simultaneously ignore the leaches on my legs, watch for crocodiles and play whack a mole with a herd of hippos, or should I sell the Corlane built Sako 300 Rum that I brained a 100 inch water buffalo with, backed up my son on his first Buffalo with, shot one of the best scrub Bulls of all time, scorched the barrel on a population cull then brought home to plaster a grizzly with Ardent? Tough call. Maybe I could sell the MRC rifle that I used as a walking stick hunting mountain goat, hung in the rain for 2 weeks, and have since changed everything but the serial number on? Or maybe the 700 ( the one the kids nicknamed Deathwind during a hokey name contest) that has been
many things but currently is solid 0-1000 cordless drill that can be carried about like anything else.


If I ever figure out what vanilla is, then I can start on the not so vanilla that also all do more or less the same thing. It isnt easy because the vanillas keep morphing into not so vanilla. Not impossible, but proving to be harder than I thought.:)
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All of the experiences and memories attached definitely make the choice to sell more difficult if not impossible... but then, I would say that none of the ones you mentioned above are "vanilla"... if they were mine and never saw the field again I would, on a cold winters night, take them out, in front of a crackling fire, and clean them and hold them and allow the memories to wash over me yet again. Definitely not vanilla...
 
Dogleg..... None of those rifles you described are what I would consider "vanilla"..... Vanilla (to me), is that rifle you bought for a hunt..... Likely did or did not fill the freezer a time for two on hunts that were not particularly "special" and then was tossed in the safe to languish...... These were the types that I sold off......

Like I said, I still have the Cooey dad got me started with..... I also have an 870 express that was my first gun purchased with my own coin from bagging groceries and working on a farm.......

The Cooey is a Cooey....... You can't kill them, and it sits by the door at camp for varmint type creatures of opportunity ..... The 870 now has a Boyd's stock and is set up as my turkey gun..... Although I am contemplating getting another original barrel (it has a tru glo on it now), getting it cerakoted to hide the wear and passing it down as soon as son 1 can handle a 12 gauge...... Would be a three barrel combo for local turkey, deer, waterfowl and god knows what else like it was for me.....

Bottom line, I would say that if the pride of ownership and / or the memories are still there, keep it...... Dad always said "it's not costing me anything"...... And you are right, guns are doing better than my investments these days.......
 
Claybuster said:
If a gun doesn't have a specific role then it's not sticking around. Everything in the safe has to earn its keep one way or the other.

But there are people for whom possessing many is a joy unto itself. It might not make sense to us to have guns you aren't using but for some people just having them is sufficient.
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That's a fair description of me. :) I have a boatload of guns. The majority are part of my milsurp "collection", but I have another pile that I just enjoy having. If I had to cut down, I would not be a happy camper. I'm not above giving a gun to someone who will appreciate it, though. I would never apologize for having a lot of guns, and I am in awe of people who sell off guns and settle with a few. I do appreciate good quality guns, but can't honestly say that I have any high class sporting stuff. I love hunting, but I can't get out all that often. I hunt whitetail with a 1950's Model 94 in .32 Special. Suits me! :)

If every gun in my pile had a specific use, I would have to hire people to use them! :p

This is a great thread. I like to hear what others do with their guns, and how they deal with the "too many" situation. Thanks to all for posting.
 
I've about given up on thinning them out, even if logic says its the thing to do. It might be easier to just figure out how to take them all with me when I go. I know "they" say you can't take it with you, but perhaps not enough research has been done in this area?
 
Thanks for all the posts CGN'ers! This thread has been very interesting and inspiring. I too would like to whittle the collection down a little, but after reading this thread, then looking over everything in the safe I can only find two rifles that I can part with, a barely used 10/22 and a NIB M85 7.62x39, and I don't really want to sell the M85 either as it has quite nice wood for a cheap gun! Also a NIB Norc 1911, but a friend said he'd take it so I've been holding on to it for him.

I've got a few milsurps as well, nothing super rare, just to have. I suppose I don't need two SKS's.
 
I went away from high end firearms, with too pretty to use finish. Why not just get a picture of a firearm if it is to pretty/valuable to take out of the safe? Many of mine are not out of the box vanilla; in setup, caliber, or use. I am just not afraid to scratch them......still try not to scratch them....but if it happens it just does.
 
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