Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Rifles I'm sick of the addiction

Hi, my name is Chris and I'm a addicted to rifles......

Start with a 22lr and 416 Taylor then pick 10 in between....that should do it...

When I was a kid we played "army", "cops & robbers" and "cowboys & indians". OOooppps I mean cowboys and native americans. Probably be sent to some sort of special psychiatric management class for that now. Anyway we used sticks from the local woods for our "guns". Most kids kept one for our war games. I had 5 or 6 in a corner in the basement. One was a machine gun, a bazooka, etc. Never had a chance, sick from the beginning. However the practical side took over for a long time. It's really only been the last 15 yrs or so that the disease really took over. However, I'm in treatment now and looking to reduce a little having no one to pass them on to when I go. Funny how none of us grew up to be terrorists or murderers despite having "shot and killed" each other many times over, and nobody called the police, or school officials, or their lawyers over our play. Guess we knew the difference between pretend and reality, and right and wrong.
But that's a whole other thread.

Agree, if one is focused on firearms. For me, I'd rather spend the money, time and effort on hunts. Seems like everytime I get some 'gun money' saved I end up spending it on a hunt.

Get rid of redundant chamberings. 223, 260, 7 Mag for me. 30-06, 280, 308 pointless in my mix.

Although I do have a trusty 270, just because.

Careful, somebody with 2 rifles might take this to mean he needs 10 more.

No you're not.



P

No, I have one all around rifle chambered for .300H&H. I'm done wasting money on buying rifles.

"I can stop any time I want to"......

I went from 20 something rifles about 8 years ago to where I am today. I kept 2 of my favorites and sold all the rest. I've added one since then.

I've got 3 rifles that will out shoot my old eyes and I can hunt anything I want with them. I've kept a .204 Ruger a 6.5 Creedmoor and a 300WM. All have crystal clear glass and are very, very accurate. Now I spend my hunting budget actually hunting. Elk

Now shotguns........ I may still have a problem.

Just removed 5 rifles from my safes and they are gone forever.

I guess the ATF would call it 6 firearms as one was a naked AR lower. Ruger Hawkeyes in .308 Win and .30-06, Ruger 10/22, Winchester 94 .30-30, a Rock River LAR-15 in 5.56 and an Aero AR lower.

Fortunately, none of them were mine. Instead they belonged to Daughter #1 and her hubby and were being stored until they could get a safe of their own in their newly built home.

The newly created empty space presents interesting possibilities. I'm in Houston this week with nothing to do this weekend except browse the gun stores...

For got to mention, my 'addiction' could be something much worse instead. Like golf or skiing or chasing women or smoking cigarettes or being an alcoholic, a drug addict or any number of other things.

With maybe one or two exceptions for customs all of my firearms ware worth at least what I paid for them. Most were acquired used. Unlike women's shoes or fashion styles or wall decorations they get old but didn't get thrown out n the trash or given to Goodwill after a relatively short period of time. My oldest firearm is a shotgun that Grandma said Grandpa had when they got married in 1921. Another rifle from my other granddad dates back to 1931 and I have a pistol of his that was made in 1940.

I've sold a very few firearms over the years - one back in the late 1960's because i needed money. a coupe because they wouldn't shoot and the rest to fund the acquisition of a different firearm more suited to my needs.

Admittedly, I have more firearms than I can shoot regularly but do not consider this to be a problem. They are there in the safe waiting and all get used occasionally. Some day most of them will go to my daughters or their kids.

I always stop by Tomball Pawn if I'm driving that way. Haven't been there and not seen something interesting I'd never seen before.

Collectors buys low and sells high, but has some interesting inventory.

10Ring.com has pretty good inventory of powder, if you've had trouble finding anything in particular, as does Lohman Arms. Kim left 10Ring and now works at High Standard, but the guys are still there. All good people.

Nice spread, seems we think alike. For schits and giggles though, if you were to narrow down to 2, where wouldja go and does handloading play into your decision?

To cure the addiction, take up fishing. A good fly rod can cost as much as a middle of the line rifle so you'll be able to happily empty your wallet just as well. You don't need to go to a range. You can practice casting in the back yard or even a city park. Visualize yourself in the city park with chest waders, a vest, and a hinky hat.

I'd keep the 300 and the 6.5. I loaded for years but both of these shoot factory ammo extremely well. They both group very well out to 400 and for my old eyes that's all I need given my normal hunting locations.

Funny thing is, that a gun addiction is probably more expensive than all those things with the exception of WOMEN.

Okay, well if you are really looking for a solution, here is something that worked really well for a shooting buddy of mine.

He too was addicted to buying rifles. (And rest assured, it is actually an addiction as fully as if you were dealing with drugs, alcohol, or anything else.)

It got to the point where his wife put her foot down in the most serious fashion, actually threatening divorce. Sick and tired of hunting rifles in the safes, on the walls, under the beds, etc. etc.

I suggested this solution to him, and it worked out great.

There is a simple rule: You can never buy a new rifle, unless you sell two others, and the new rifle has to be a high quality piece, not some piece of gunshow junk that grabbed your interest or caught your eye or that you thought might be neat to "fool around with."

I also made him realize that every time he bought some new wizbang gun, and shot it at the range twice, and then got bored with it and sold it, he was losing about $200. That comes to about $100 per range trip, just to scratch some perceived itch. It is also the same as renting the rifle for about $100 per actual hour of shooting.

At first he didn't like these rules, but then he gradually realized that he got more enjoyment out of owning a fewer number of really nice pieces instead of having lots of so-so junk or mid-grade rifles around the house. It also let him continue to go to gunshows, read magazines and search online for rifles, but only high quality ones that were worth it to him to let 2 others go.

In a period of 8 years, he's gotten down to just 5 high quality rifles which he loves. He also made a point of buying one really nice, high quality, used deer rifle, which he uses for ALL of his big game hunting. (An FN Supreme Mauser in .30-06).

So there you have it. You would still be addicted, but you would have channeled your obsession to a fewer number of higher quality pieces, that you can be proud of, and your wife will be very happy with the solution.

For me personally, after I hit age 50, I just outgrew the whole thing, and got myself down to 3 rifles. It has never hindered me in any hunting I do. (And I am sure you can guess the calibers: .22 lr, .223 and .308).

Hope this helps.

Mannyrock

I thinned the herd a bit some time back. It was painful, also cathartic to some degree. I think I'm happier, maybe...

I don't have a problem dammit!