Back when I was writing the back-page for RIFLE magazine, in the September 2004 issue the column was titled "You Might Be A Rifle Loony...." Among the possible symptoms were:
You've seriously debated the differences between the .270 Winchester and .280 Remington--and ended up owning both.
If the only thing better than the latest, newest In-Rifle is a really old rifle.
You spend serious money buying rifles you once owned as a kid.
On a long airplane flight, you pass up the latest paperback best-seller, taking AFRICAN RIFLES AND CARTRIDGES instead.
When cleaning out your shaving kit for the same trip, you discover an ejector assembly for a 98 Mauser.
You reach in your pocket for change, and amid the dimes and quarters find the recovered bullet from a bull elk.
Somebody asks for a good 7x57 load, and you can recite every one you've ever used.
On a Cape buffalo hunt, you take a lever-action .50-110 loaded with black powder and cast bullets, even when you own a perfectly good Winchester Model 70 .375 H&H.
You don't recognize 80 percent of the entertainers listed as getting divorced in PEOPLE magazine, but within three minutes can locate that dog-eared copy of a gun magazine that includes a profile of your favorite hunting cartridge.
Your gun safe is like Heaven: There's always room for one more.
You've owned 27 different models of the Savage 99, but are always on the lookout for more.
You buy 1000 rounds of brass at a gun show and have to buy a rifle to use it.
Your local firearms emporium has your phone number on speed-dial.
The bullet selection in your reloading room exceeds the variety available at the local shooting emporium.
In your mind, a foot-pound never has anything to do with rhythm.
You told your spouse that your latest purchase was an "investment," and either or both of you believed it.
“Montana seems to me to be what a small boy would think Texas is like from hearing Texans.” John Steinbeck
