Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Rifles Your Holy Grail?

I don't have one. They're just killing tools to me. I have ones that do all that needs doing and do it as well as anything could. I found out long ago that I don't enjoy having one that is too nice/valuable because I baby it too much and every little scratch or bump is painful for me. Consequently, hunting with such a gun isn't fun so it just ends up sitting in the safe. I sold the one custom rifle I built for myself and a fine over/under shotgun my ex wife bought me for Christmas for just that reason. Can't see having a gun I don't/can't enjoy using.

Yes it does have a fluted barrel and in 204 Ruger…

Nothing fancy but all are accurate and have taken elk. L to R: 300WM, 30-06, 338WM, all MKII Ruger rifles. The 30-06 is about as good as it gets for an all-around hunting rifle IMHO.

Shrap... Love those rifles. Gives me hope for the next couple of years. I believe that in that group of Sharps you have a cartridge conversion Sharps Carbine. They are not pretty and not svelte but I want one for still hunting moose with a 50/70. Not high priority, one will come my way. They aren't particularly rare but it sure would be a fun gun just for that function.

Yep, and still enjoy it. I didn’t realize that it was my “holy grail” until I moved to Wyoming and starting hanging out with some shooters, hunters, and a custom gunsmith! memtb

Looks like Shrapnel has it covered and very well.

I seen a 308 in a gun shop with the same stock sit for 3 years finally I decided to buy it but it was gone🙄

When I was in FT Hood, TX in the early 90s I bought a Ruger 77RS carbine in 358 WIN NIB. Used it for a couple of years in PENN and sold it. Now I see what they are bringing on GB........

I had one - 2nd from top - photo circa 1991:

Not counting the unobtainable bespoke English dream guns, I really want a classy 8x68s. I would love to find a late model Weatherby Europa, German or Japanese. The early ones pop up from time to time but they are usually well used and have the provisions for funky European mount scope. There was a gorgeous one up for auction a few years ago but at $3000 was out of my class.

Man they are beautiful! What's that Highland Stalker weight?

I would like to at lest temporarily own a nice double rifle. Part of owning it would be taking it to Africa to kill dangerous game. Whether or not I kept it after the trip is up in the air.

I think I want to be shrapnel when I grow up...

I have been thinking of this myself. A nice .470 double seems like something worthy of “grail” status.

Me too, amazing collection

Here are 3 more. They are all buffalo rifles shipped to Bozeman, Montana Territory in the late 1870's. Extremely rare, all 40-90 Bottleneck caliber. The top was shipped to J.G. Dow, a banker in Bozeman that handled Sharps rifles for Walter Cooper who had fallen out of favor with the Sharps rifle company for not staying current in his bill paying. It then ended up in the shop of AD McAusland in Miles City Montana Territory and had a barrel replacement there and stamped with the very rare McAusland stamp. The other 2 Sharps are both 40-90 Bottleneck as well and although I got them over 10 years apart in 2 separate locations, they both letter to Bozeman in the same shipment in 1877...

Are you able to reload for them? Very cool.

Yes, it isn’t easy, but I have dies and paper patch bullets to make them shoot…

That's awesome. If you're ever in the market for an adopted adult son/heir, definitely shoot me a PM 😇😂