Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Rifles Do I need another big game rifle? If so, what?

Let me be the wet blanket in this discussion.

Look, don't get me wrong. I WANT a new rifle. Need? That's a whole other thing.

With what you have already, you've got plenty of room to add another to the stable. I'm very partial to 30-06. However, let me give you some advice from a guy who bought his first rifle 40 years ago. There comes a time when you begin to realize there are ongoing costs involved. Besides normal shooting related costs in time, ammo, etc. You've got to clean a rifle every once in awhile, whether you shoot it or not. It takes up space; eventually the back of your closet won't be enough, and you'll have to buy your first safe. Those safes take up room, so eventually, you've got to figure floor space.

Me? I finished off a whole room for firearms and reloading. Now they're spilling back into my bedroom. I had a buddy die last year. His widow got help and it took over a week just to retrieve all the firearms from under beds, in drawers, etc. and get them all stacked in one bedroom. The bedroom was full when I went to look.

I reload, so for each new chambering, I've got dies to go along with the rifle. Then there are the bullets and maybe a different powder. All that costs and needs storage space.

I'm not saying don't buy any more rifles. I'm just saying that at some point the hidden ancillary costs of time and money for a rifle start to add up. I'm to the point where they're just is not enough time in the run-up to deer season to get all of the deer rifles properly sighted in and I'm now having to pick which ones I want to shoot at the whitetails right about now in order to have everything ready by mid-November.

Then I have all the other projects to contend with. There are rifles that I'm working on for accuracy. There are rifles that I need for personal defense. There are rifles just for [bleep]. (Do they have a season on [bleep] in your state?)

Mind you, I don't regret any of this-- at least not yet. The last time I moved, I spent a month getting the new room built and a whole weekend moving the stuff over. The next move, probably the last I'll make, will be a mother.