Would you lend out your rifle?

i just took a deer last week with a borrowed rifle, it was an old enfield. however the friend i borrowed it from has two guns that LE and a browning Abolt in .300 mag. the only reason he never gave me the browning is because he has not got anything with it yet, but once he drops a deer with it i will be more than able to take it......unfortunatly the way he hunts that might never happen lol
 
5440fight said:
If you feel funny about it, no. It will just bug you when he has it, and every scratch or dent will be suspect. Tell him the truth, that it's your baby, and you don't lend it out to anyone, nothing personal. You may have another that he's welcome to though...

If it doesn't bother you, hand it over, but be honest with yourself.
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I'm cut from the same cloth, lend everything...borrow nothing. BUT, I agree with this post. Shakespeare said it best in Hamlet (1602 I think): "neither a borrower, nor a lender be" I work tremendously hard to buy the best I can afford, but have to take a pass on some bigger ticket items like ATVs or nice boats. (lots of other stuff too) I've had friends break fishing rods, destroy the transducer on my boat, drop a gun damaging the scope...you name it. I'm generous to a point, but justify the "No" answer by reminding myself of what my grandfather used to say~there are favors that are just too big to ask.

When I do finally get the gun I've been pining for, it's gets lots of use...and lots of TLC too. If it ends-up with a ding, I'd better be the guy that put it there, any other reason would drive me up the wall. Good luck, I think your friend put you in a difficult situation.
 
Did once! He had fallen, and the barrel was plugged with snow. Lucky once . . . why extend luck.
Only if I were supplying over the shoulder supervision.
 
Just explain to him how you feel about it and offer him the use of it while you are there but I would never lend out any of my guns to anyone.
 
I've lent them and regretted it. I was feeling pretty confident about a Remington 700 BDL tupperware and stainless loaner for a while until I got it back the last time. The guy leaned it up against the side of an aluminum boat and drove around on rough water for two weeks, letting metal bang on metal and stock the whole time. It looked like he used it for unspooling barbwire and it was like he was incapable of seeing the damage when he brought it back. I had to sell it, I couldn't stand looking at it.

I wouldn't even think about asking to borrow a sled, quad, 4 by, or rifle. They are all expensive high performance toys that are easily damaged or ruined, and if you can't afford to buy it you can't afford to replace it.

Haveing said that, when we go shooting we swap rifles around casually. I've pulled a spare rifle out for a buddy when his own got sick, but that's helping a friend out in a pinch not someone trying to get something for nothing.
 
if you can't afford to buy it you can't afford to replace it.
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That basically sums it up for me right there; if Im loaning something out, its with the express understanding that if they break it, they replace it. That said, I'm alot more willing to loan out something of lower quality - ie I regularly loan a hunting buddy my M91/30, because if he can break it, he deserves a medal, but I wouldnt loan out my own minty milsurps.
 
Not unless the person who wants to borrow it regularly lends you similar valued items and can and will afford to replace it anytime. I don't lend my truck, but I had a boss once that wouldn't blink at handing over a million dollar machine to me. I let him borrow my truck anytime he felt like it.
 
I have plenty of friends who shoot and hunt.

I can think of only two that I would loan a rifle or shotgun to in a hunting situation. This is because I know they are as careful as I am about scratching / damaging a gun. I wouldn't lend one of my good guns to my own dad for hunting. He's a great guy but he's hard on the finish.

It's not so much that the others don't care, I think it's that they don't even understand the thought process when it comes to keeping things in nice shape.

Some people seem to think that guns are immune to rough handling, too much tv I guess.

I was sighting in a buddys rifle once at a gravel pit. Out of the corner of my eye, I notice that he's picked up my rifle to watch through the scope. He was actually starting to lay it across the rough steel rack that is on the back of my truck to steady it. I gave him some sharp words before wood touched metal. I couldn't believe he was actually about to do that. Some people seem to crave being the one to make the first scratch on a flawless rifle. Of course his rifle was all scratched and dented to hell. He said something like " I don't buy guns to look at them, I use my guns". Yeah, right, I think he fires about 5 rounds per year.

I realize that not everybody feels the same way, fine, but those who don't can't touch my guns. Those who do are welcome.

That being said, I now have a couple of less than perfect guns that I can loan out without stress if it becomes necessary. It very rarely comes up that I get asked to loan a rifle. I think people just know....

So, in your situation, if I wasn't familiar with how this guy takes care of his gear, I wouldn't take the chance. Did he have a gun there? What kind of shape was it in.
 
Yes but only to someone that can afford to replace it if they screw it up...

and I'd lend my XCR-L to any politician that wants to give it a try...

:D
 
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