Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Rifles what drives your collection?

Wild hair.

I turned in my looney card. Well, didn't really have the card, they turned down my application. Been on a minimalist kick and guns were one of the first things to get sorted. 80% return on 20% effort kinda thing.

+1

Also, I like a project, picking up a rough old Bubba'd Mauser and making something nice...

What drives me is usually a specific need. For instance, I was hunting on a private ranch. The owner required guns be 100% unloaded in our vehicles. So I bought a Winchester model 88 in 308 Winchester. Because it has a clip that I keep one in each my pockets.

Another reason is a great deal. I saw a Remington 700 ADL, but it was covered in rust. At that time a new one cost $486. This one was selling for $150. I bought it because I was going to have it re-barreled to a caliber that I wanted. I took it to a gunsmith to have it checked out. As it turned out it wasn't rust, it was nicotine! The gun had never been fired. So I had him cleaned it up, Glass bed the action, free float the barrel and jewel the bolt. So I ended up with a brand-new 270 Winchester For one third the price of a new one.

Money and Schizophrenia.. I will look at one rifle/shotgun or handgun for weeks then walk out with something different.. But still happy and never buyers remorse... Sold one that hurt..

Projects hanging fire and hanging out the butt comprise a percentage of my collection. I can't turn down an orphan single shot project (currently a .25-20 German kiplauf that shoots sweetly but needs TLC; a Stevens 414 Armory .22RF; small Martini custom; and a Ballard .22RF that is begging for a new stock and furniture) Then there's the Krag sporter that keeps getting shoved aside, and the half-stock Ohio rifle .32 muzzleloader, plus another Savage 1899 takedown...

While my collection is comprised of a lot of varied guns, with no real rhyme or reason other than "oh man, I always wanted one of those", the real thrust I guess is with guns that I was/am able to resurrect from oblivion. They don't usually appear in any order. The only things I avoid are anything with the word "magnum" in their title, or more powerful than an '06- I simply have zero use for stuff like that and I doubt I ever will at this point.

Ones I wanted as a kid but couldn't afford.

Hunting; mostly Model 70's and lately Kimbers.

Collecting; Mauser 98's and lever guns.

Mausers - I have .243, 6.5x55, 7x61 S&H, .308 Norma and .35 Whelen.

Levers; Marlin 39 Mountie, Savage 1899 [1917] .250-3000 TD, Model 88 .308Win, 1885 Browning .45-70 and an SS Rossi 92 in .357.

Several things...like Dancing Bear, I own a Win 88 in a 308 because I always wanted one as a teenager and could not afford one. I have a Hawkeye in 264 Win Mag because that caliber always intrigued me as a child. I have a Win 100 in 284 Win because I always thought the it was a cool caliber, and still do. I have a tang safety Ruger 77 in 257 Roberts because I like the tang safeties AND the Roberts. I have an old 77 Flat Bolt in 243 I got simply because it was a flat bolt, it wouldn't have mattered what caliber it was in.

Most of the rest of my rifles were either inherited or I bought simply because I wanted to hunt with it. Right now, I would buy something in an oddball caliber or an old tang safety Ruger in a number of different calibers. Yesterday, I found a Rem 760 in a 6mm Rem. I would have probably gotten it because of the caliber, but it was in a newer model 760. If it had been the old style stock I would most likely have gotten it depending on condition. So...it all depends on what strikes my fancy at the time.

Laffin.....what collection?

My latest purchase a Kimber 84M in 257 Roberts. AAA French Walmut.

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Practicality.

Quality at a bargain price seems to drive my collecting. I have never been able to feel good about a gun purchase, even if I had been looking for it for a long time, unless I got a bargain on it. There are so many quality made rifles, pistols and shotguns on the market that I never could see buying cheaply made guns even at a low price.

Sometimes I didn't know I needed one till I saw it.

Original poster again...


I have come to grips with my shotguns that I treat them like golf clubs and you can have a full bag of them with specific purpose.

Struggling with that on the handguns and deer rifles. For some reason I can be happy with one predator gun, but have 7 deer rifles.

I'll admit a lot of this came with inheriting several guns from my dad and a recent shift to lever guns.

Surprised no one has mentioned family sentimental guns. A few "wanted one as a kid", but not many "same as dads".

Not sure I have a "collection"...lol. A couple of things have moved me thru the years. I grew up in a family deer camp and as the elders passed I got interested in aquiring their firearms. These were all working, practical for them pieces and in a couple cases hand me downs. Owning a few of them provide special memories that I can refresh by taking them shooting and hunting or even just handling and cleaning.

The other thing is things odd and obsolete. Lots of good rounds have come and went, never to catch on. For the last 10 yrs I have been on a .350 & 6.5 Remington Mag kick. Pretty sure a person could hunt North America over many times and never need any thing else....but they will stay obsolete.

The other are all the Mauser cartridges....worked my way thru them years ago and a few remain....I probably took more game with a 7X57 than any other single cartridge.

Luckily Pistols and Shotguns have remained tools....lol.

Good Thread!

Sentimental ones can be a pain of sorts. My brother and I agreed that if one of us goes, the other should do as he pleases with no regard to sentiment.

They're just phuqqing guns...

When I was young and almost always broke, it was practicality and a good deal. Thought I had things covered with a Remington bolt 22, a H&R 22 revolver, a Savage 110 in 308, a Ruger Blackhawk 357, and a Navy Arms 45-70 that I traded for some tools I didn't need any more.

A little older, but still on a pretty strict budget I began to collect MilSurp guns. Carcanos, Nagants, Yugo mausers, K31s, French MAS, SKSs, and others were bought for $15 to $150. As my interests changed I've sold most of those.

Thompson Contenders are a little too easy to collect without even trying. I'm down to two frames, three carbine barrels, and five or six pistol barrels.

What floats my boat the last 15 years or so has been lever action rifles. Started out when a friend said she wanted to sell her grandfather's "old shotgun", and would I be interested? It turned out to be a Winchester Model 1895 in 30 Gov't 06. I made her a fair offer and the madness started. Next was a Marlin 336 30-30 which I had always wanted. Before long I also had Marlins in 35 Rem, 444 Marlin, 44 Mag, a 39 A, and Levermatics in 22, 22 Mag, 256 Win Mag, and 30 Carbine. Along the way I also decided that Savage 99s were cool and have four of them in the safe too.

My wife, while understanding my love of guns, has instituted a policy that when I bring something new home, something else must be sold. I mostly adhere to this recent rule. My strategy now is to "upgrade". A ratty Winchester 94 is sold to help finance a pristine Savage 99 takedown. Somehow a Mossberg 22 was turned into another 99 in 22-250.

Mike

I'm lucky, my wife doesn't care,any overtime I make I spend on what I want. I do give her half, that helps her frame of mind. I want a 6.5 Creed upper for my Rock River 308. The 308 will shoot 3/4 groups. That be an outstanding pig gun in 6.5!!

Origional poster again....

I'm adding a twist.

Are there guns you buy or keep because they were private sales and don't "have papers" behind them?

I like quality guns of all kinds. I don't much care for the guns most buy for cheap "truck" guns. I don't much care for most Savages,Mossbergs,Marlins,or Rugers. There are a few quality exceptions but I'm talking about the current bargain offerings of those brands.I don't really care for the cheapest model of anything.