Does anyone else have a rifle that is just too nice to hunt with?

Just wondering if anyone else has a similar problem with a rifle that they just can't bring themselves to shoot or hunt with?
No, but I also dont go out and try to beat up my stuff on purpose like I see some do with their firearms and trucks each weekend.

If you want to keep that rifle unfired that is up to you, buy another one that has if you really need to know what its like.
 
I hunt with all my guns, HS Precision, McMillan or Walnut Stocks, doesn't matter.
Not sure, why many prefer not to hunt with Walnut in adverse conditions.
Every gun, is wiped down completely after each hunt or range day.
 
For much of my hunting mirror polished bluing and fine
walnut is just fine, and a bit of care will take care of unexpected rains, and a little
extra care at night is a small price to pay. Some are
On their second or third barrel, and
While they may not look exactly new they aren't that far off. If all hunting was like that, it would
Be easy to say that I bought it to use and it doesn't matter. He'll, I have said it, and
meant it.

Constrast that to other conditions, that to other people are normal. Would you take a 6000 dollar blued and walnut rifle and stick it in the ocean until the bubbles quit rising, pour the water out of the barrel and walk away? How about just the equivilant in a boat ride? Could you literally use it for a walking stick, then hang it in a tree in the rain for a couple of weeks because it is just as wet in the tent as outside? Would you watch your cartridges turn green in the mag, or
Your rifle turn red in front of your eyes without a care in the world? Some people can do that without flinching, but I'm
Not one of them. Not anymore. Not when there are rifles that are made for that sort
use.

I suppose that that means some of my rifles are too nice for
some of my uses. Deep down I suppose
thst some of my guns probably should belong to
Someone else. Then I remember so many nice days with a classy shooting iron, and think that maybe I'll just pick and
chose guns for days when I can.
 
I suppose that that means some of my rifles are too nice for some of my uses. Deep down I suppose
thst some of my guns probably should belong to
Someone else. Then I remember so many nice days with a classy shooting iron, and think that maybe I'll just pick and
chose guns for days when I can.

Why ya gotta be all grey like that...
 
I did but...after long contemplation, decided to sell my grandfathers M1917 unmolested Canadian lease lend 30-06. Approx 60-70 % Winchestor.
Was to good to see the light of day, had to clean it 3-4 times a year...corroding away in the safe. Given to me by my father to continue on caring for it, who I had lost just 5 years earlier.

This has a good ending, just months after I had made up my mind ( and through no advertising or actively looking for a buyer) one of our retiring Canadian military (also a collector) posted an add looking to pick one of these up. It is in his good hands now and wow what a beautiful collection he has.

Really :(
 

I can understand the jest behind selling it to a bonefied collector.
Might see daylight longer in the future.

I have some decent aged ker-pows and have regulated certain members to certain duties.
I'm a putz with these tools out in the bush.
Can't seem to bring one home wihtout some sort of injury.
My A-5 ole paw bawt me new in 1984 fur me birthday. Nawt mint any more.
So jest t'uther day I bawt one older by a few years in great shape tuh beat up.
Me old BLR is nice'n shiney and it too wears a oh'poop courtessy of moi.

I sure don't know oar understand oww so many awn'ear can take their shooters out
and come back unblemished.

Dizz nawt be normal......................................:sok2
 
To present counterpoint, I do think that some rifles are representations of the gun maker's art. It would be very nice if some of these rifles passed the next 200 to 500 years in pristine condition so people could appreciate them several generations from now.

I had a beautiful Husqvarna that was obviously an exceptional example of industrial art. I sold it to a collector because I thought that such a person would derive more joy than I from the thing, and that it would be well cared for. I had a very high grade Sako AV that I felt the same about. I very much enjoyed them while I owned them, and hopefully many others will get to appreciate them into the distant future.

Collectors are aficionados and custodians of history. Some rifles are optimally preserved, appreciated and passed on to others who would do the same. Other might take the same rifles out and use them - that's their prerogative. Taking them out and subjecting them to wear and possible damage means far less good examples in the long run. Many things spend centuries of exquisite care in private hands before they wind up as prized possessions in museums. And those things bring great joy to the people who own them even if not used as their contemporaries were.
 
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To present counterpoint, I do think that some rifles are representations of the gun maker's art. It would be very nice if some of these rifles passed the next 200 to 500 years in pristine condition so people could appreciate them several generations from now.

I had a beautiful Husqvarna that was obviously an exceptional example of industrial art. I sold it to a collector because I thought that such a person would derive more joy than I from the thing, and that it would be well cared for. I had a very high grade Sako AV that I felt the same about. I very much enjoyed them while I owned them, and hopefully many others will get to appreciate them into the distant future.

Collectors are aficionados and custodians of history. Some rifles are optimally preserved, appreciated and passed on to others who would do the same. Other might take the same rifles out and use them - that's their prerogative. Taking them out and subjecting them to wear and possible damage means far less good examples in the long run. Many things spend centuries of exquisite care in private hands before they wind up as prized possessions in museums. And those things bring great joy to the people who own them even if not used as their contemporaries were.



This does make sense....BUT.....I believe the artists creating such firearms would take pride in knowing that their creation is appreciated as well as doing what it was initially built to do.
If I'm spending the money to purchase a rifle, I prefer to use it. Being a museum piece in the future does nothing for me now. I'd probably be dead and gone before it ever rated as a museum worthy piece. Besides, some of the most popular museum pieces (of any kind) have been used.
Quite often its not the piece itself, its the history behind it that makes it collectable
 
I'm guilty.

I can't yet bring myself to take my MINT/BNIB Kimber stainless Classic Select's out hunting ...

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but .. no problem .. that is what the Montana is for.

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I have several rifles that are very beautiful [IMHO] I hunt them, just cannot leave them unused in the safe.
They are tools, albeit attractive. Dave.
 
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To present counterpoint, I do think that some rifles are representations of the gun maker's art. It would be very nice if some of these rifles passed the next 200 to 500 years in pristine condition so people could appreciate them several generations from now.

I had a beautiful Husqvarna that was obviously an exceptional example of industrial art. I sold it to a collector because I thought that such a person would derive more joy than I from the thing, and that it would be well cared for. I had a very high grade Sako AV that I felt the same about. I very much enjoyed them while I owned them, and hopefully many others will get to appreciate them into the distant future.

Collectors are aficionados and custodians of history. Some rifles are optimally preserved, appreciated and passed on to others who would do the same. Other might take the same rifles out and use them - that's their prerogative. Taking them out and subjecting them to wear and possible damage means far less good examples in the long run. Many things spend centuries of exquisite care in private hands before they wind up as prized possessions in museums. And those things bring great joy to the people who own them even if not used as their contemporaries were.

This does make sense to me.. and is why in the end I decided to sell it to who I did. It is in good care. The rifle still has a lot of sentimental value to me, I know its history and my family was part of it. I think it is in a much better place than I was providing for it and think it is being enjoyed a lot more.
 
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