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

Every day I dream of buying another rifle , another caliber . I eat and sleep rifles
I can only hunt whitetail deer where I live so I don't need anymore than I already have and don't need those. I have been taking the same rifle hunting for 25 years now even on the exotic hunts I go on the same rifle ( Dr Death ) Rem 700 7mmSTW . I had it built before it was a production rifle . I have killed so much with it I lost count , I have more than I need but I want more. Yes I'm sick ! Anyone else have this addiction? Lol

Lenz,

Welcome to the 'fire. I sorta know the feeling. I'm tired of making wildcats and spending money on them instead of hunting. I plan to hunt more an fiddle less.

7mmSTW

You could even Hunt deer in upstate NY with that one.

;-)

I hear ya though. Less is often more.

I bought six more this holiday season... I need an intervention!

Switch to handguns for awhile.



Travis

No cure in sight. The "fix" gets more expensive as the addiction grows.

I've switched to handguns several times.

Get back to me when you're buying rifles for your grandkids who are likely 10 years out.......

You are in the wrong place if you are looking for a support group.

Quality over quantity.

Quality and quantity.

Always room for one more.

Closets, rafters, corners etc.

I am confused over this quality/quantity thing.

Among the last few dozen rifles I've acquired there's been a very nice Sauer drilling in 6.5x57R/16x16 (with a .22 Magnum Rimfire insert for one shotgun barrel), a New Ultra Light Arms .257 Weatherby, a Jack O'Connor Model 70 Commemorative with above-average wood even for that model, and a Winchester 1886 in .33 WCF. But in between there have also been several "affordable" rifles, the models including the Ruger American, Savage Axis and Thompson/Center Venture.

I like all of them, though some more than others. Is this a sickness or merely what PC people call "inclusiveness"?

Hi my name is Tim and I'm a Mauser 98 junkie...After I get the 2 I'm working on now finished I'm done...this time...really...

Yup.

No.

It's what Psychologists and Psychiatrists call a primary, chronic disease of brain reward, motivation, memory and related circuitry. Dysfunction in these circuits leads to characteristic biological, psychological, social and spiritual manifestations. This is reflected in an individual pathologically pursuing reward and/or relief by substance use and other behaviors.

'Other behaviors' for this group is possessing, shooting, buying, selling, trading, modifying, loading, cussing and discussing guns.

We are addicted to guns.

Hi, I'm Deernut and I have a gun problem...

I truly wonder why we are this way! I know we are ....I'm just not sure why!

I told the wife last year that I'm done. I got more calibers now than I have time to reload for or, even shoot, since most all my rifles are used strictly for hunting. OK, now I am looking for another 45-70, this time in a lever action to devote entirely to hard cast bullets. Hmmm, this new ploy may work for a couple more new rifles. Yep, I'm sick…just not crying out for help just yet since I might find another good buy.

Someone needs to come up with a twelve step program.

I feel your pain. If I only had a Remington 700 and hunted it for the last 25 years, I'd be dreaming and lusting for another rifle too. I'm glad I don't have that problem... Try buying a better rifle next time...

I have it too. You will not find help in this forum. I have every hunting cartridge that I would ever need. But now, lightweights are appealing! Got my first Montana in 7mm08. And tomorrow, my Kimber Mountain Ascent in 30-06 will arrive! It's a good sickness, and welcome to the fire.

I have two grandchildren and one on the way . The oldest 3 and yes the have their first 22 and 243 . Give me some more grandchildren. Not to mention . I have a daughter 20 a son 18 a daughter 4 and a son 3 months old. Late ones ! Plenty of reasons to keep buying !

I don't have that problem. A few years ago I decided I had too damn many guns around and sold off a bunch. I was simply tired of having guns standing in every corner, slid under the couch, under the bed etc.. I cut down to where I have a few good, dependable, accurate performers that will handle any hunting I'll ever do and don't really care to have more.

My problem is that half the enjoyment is the research and pursuit of a certain gun (my wife calls it obsessive) and then after getting it I have to do it again!

Yea, I have a few guns that I spent considerably more time researching why I needed to own/build it than I spent shooting them. I enjoy the quest as much as I do actually shooting or owning them sometimes. Reading about, researching, comparing and daydreaming about rifles consumes a fair amount of my time. I just sent the parts off for a 6.5x47 build yesterday. This is the third "last build" that I have done.

I am trying to focus on spending more time on shooting and hunting with what I have. I recognize I have a problem. That is the first step, right?

JB, you do know that a lot of the blame for this sickness is your fault. You are the one who is always writing books about rifles and hunting which always seems to stir something in our thoughts and our subconscious. After all, you even named the ailment.

No, I'm selling off rifles and other crap I don't need.

keep making the kids and keep buying guns. awesome. i support you you in your strategy. ron

This is what I have settled into. Yes, I buy a lot and sell a few, but I am always looking to upgrade.

As someone once said, "only accurate rifles are interesting".

I have a passion for Pre '64 Model 70 Winchesters and have more than a few lightweights for mountain hunting, but I still keep an eye out for some Customs.

Yes, please feel free to call us "rifle loonies". It is very appropriate.

donsm70

The "campfire" should have a rifle rental service to try new stuff with an option to buy until the next "new" rifle itch sets in.

Doc

John

The word you are looking for is "diversity"

not really. Instead I think about the last hunt and the next hunt and hunts gone before and hunting with my daughters and sons-in-law and hunting with my grandchild, who I think turns 20 this month. (That's 20 months, not years.) And, of course, hoping for more grandkids to come...

Yes.

I can think of worse things to be addicted too so stop fighting your compulsion and embrace it like the rest of us! ...................Hb

Last year I bought a lightweight rifle, a lightweight shotgun and an uber-tactical 9mm pistol.

Diversity is key, that and reloading has become a bore so it's nice to just buy a case of shotgun shells or a few boxes of cheap pistol ammo.

Spotter upgrade for 2016 and that's it.

I am so tired of rifles.

Steelhead - "I am so tired of rifles." Have you tried slingshots yet? Homesteader

Its easy to see how 30-06's make a come back. All the fun of a new rig wears off as soon as its dialed in and there's no "problem" to solve.

Hence the hatred for Tikkas.

I'm more interested in standard schit these days to the point where a 260 might be a wildcat.

Hello JV team. Less is more.

In the midst of setting up a lowly PF 270 and plan to only run factory fodder until it doesn't perform and I need to handload.

Aint holding my breath either.....

Twelve more rifles?



I "need" a Browning SA22, a .243 to replace the one I gave away, an optics-ready Glock 10mm, and one of those Stoeger shorty O/Us with sights and rails. And maybe a lever action.

Then I'm done. Really.

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!

Here in Oz, the legislation has been my cure ... can only motivate so many calibers on an open license. Decide on a rifle battery that works for you and you will use them all with no safe queens. Eye opener for me was when I sold rifles I had never even made the effort to go and shoot..

22LR,22Mag,6.5x55,280AI,338WM,375Win,450-400 is my almost perfect 7 rifle battery (dont have them all yet).Within these 7 is over 15 configurations of finishes, features, calibers, brand etc that I wanted.

Would love to know what your 7 rifle battery from your stock pile would look like! list them for us!

This^^^

I don't see where you or anyone else who has responded to your thread has a problem......me included!!

Just start looking at Old S&W Revolvers! Once you pick up one nice Pinned and Recessed or Hand Ejector you will really be done for.

It's all fun and games until they shoot how you want.


Skullphuck Anonymous

Rifles aren't all that bad.. Trouble comes when you add shotguns, and handguns to the addiction!!

You know you're in trouble when handguns seem like a good idea because you won't have to spend more on optics and ammo in a new caliber.

Let's see first it was shotguns and about 30 cases of shotgun shells. Then came reloading for rifles which I bought 8 different calibers and over a 100 pounds of powder and no telling how many boxes of bullets. Then came the pistols and Dillon progressive press. Then I bought two smokeless muzzle loaders and a swing lock die to shoot them sabot less. Then I started buying Winchester pre 64 M70's then pre 64 M70 fwt's Then decided to get into suppressors and rifles with threaded barrels. I have only sold one shotgun and two rifles and am keeping all the rest. Am I sick nope my wife thinks I'm bored. Ricky