New guy here. Been lurking a long time and like this thread - especially that I can read many of my own thought patterns into what others have done or are doing.
Forever I'd only ever hunted with hand-me-down rifles: 30-06 pump action when I was a young buck through early 20's, then my dad's old 7mm when times were tough in my late 20's. Killed piles of deer & elk with those two rifles and they were definitely well worn and just awesome. Nothing particularly fancy either... cheap glass, corelokts etc.
Then I started earning a few dollars and decided it was high time I buy myself a proper rifle at the ripe old age of 37 for a goat hunt on Kodiak. Got myself a new Tikka and Vortex package in 7mm and punched a few tags. The combo was easy to shoot well, easy to carry and gave me no troubles. Then gave it to a good client when he retired as he planned to build the exact rifle setup I had. While it did everything I wanted, it was plain jane boring.
Enter my super duper high fancy Christensen Arms Ridgeline 308. Tiny, light, carbon fiber, titanium, accurate, real nice! Bought Feb of this year and I proceeded to put roughly 500 rounds down the pipe over the spring/summer. Took it to Alaska for a sheep/moose hunt and had the time of my life. But kept liking my party members' old 30-06's for the same reason the OP alluded to; the guns and their respective owners had earned all the dings and shooting them accurately was as natural as throwing rocks in water for my 2 year old son. I have my late fathers Ruger 30-06 in the safe and the old 7mm he gave me being rebuilt into a 257wby. One thing I learned with the CA is that a rifle can be too light and that a carbon fiber stock will chip when a wood or laminate stock might just get a small dent. I also discovered I really like short actions. And I like a gun that has been there done that and has the matching character and successes that always make great stories.
Recently, I bought myself a brand spanking new Browning xbolt medallion (blued/wood) in 300 wsm. The plan is to spend a small fortune shooting the hell out of it on all kinds of hunts until I die. Love the weight, feel and balance. I don't think you can buy a properly worn gun off the rack, but you can indeed buy one and live a great life with it, and that's what I intend to do.
