Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Rifles Seriously considering getting down to one centerfire.

Good Luck with that "retirement" thing! I wonder how I was able to keep up around the house and work..... Now I barely keep up and I am "retired"! memtb

I can't imagine selling them all.. but if I did it would be cut down to:
Ruger 10/22
Mossberg 500 12g
Remington 700 .30-06
30-40 Krag that came from my grandpa.

This would cover all of my needs. But it would be allot less fun.
-Jake

Hunting buddy emailed earlier today. He his only bolt gun is a 7mm RM and wants to do some shooting on Saturday. He can't shoot his 7mm RM much due to shoulder probs so he built some 7mm RM 120g or 140g loads to test. Hopefully we can find a load he can easily tolerate.

I won't have time to do any reloading as I'll be in Alberta all week (Calgary and Athabasca). Guess I'll just take what I have plenty of on hand - .243 Win, .280 Rem and .308. My buddy should be able to shoot my .243 all day. The .308 has a brake (just because I could) and it is pretty mild, too. Will probably take the .257 Roberts as well as it is zeroed for 75g V-MAX and needs to be rezeroed for 100g AccuBond before antelope season. That's another one he can shoot.

If I still had only my 7mm RM, as was the case for 20+ years, my buddy would be out of luck - a few shots with his 7 and time to go home as his shoulder won't take much more.

That about covers it, switch krag for any sentimental gun.


It wasn't mentioned I don't think, but keeping all your hand guns I assume.

Ya, I just ignored those as it was focusing on rifles primarily.
-Jake

Well I've made my final decision on what to sell/keep. The safe is going down to about half what was in it. When I'm finished my personal rifles will be down to:

Ruger 10/22 Carbine
Custom VZ-24 8x57
ER Shaw Mk VII(Stock & trigger upgraded) .300 Win Mag
Winchester M70 Featherweight .257 Roberts(SHOT show special run, SC rifle)

Figure that aught to do it...will still be finishing the 2 Mausers for my boys in .270 and I have a 1915 Danzing 98 action packed in good grease(just in case )

Should open up some room, clear out some stuff I don't use anymore, and help with the continued reduction in stuff I'm trying to achieve overall. Besides, I figured I'd wind up taking a bath on the .300 and hanging on to the Bob may prove useful...I have a daughter too(assuming I'm ever able to teach her to shoot without her mother holding it over my head in court like it's some kind of crime)...

You are set for just about anything, but I must say it's kinda sad to see folks going all practical on us.

I've thought about paring down my collection, mainly because there are several that I bought on a whim, and probably will never shoot again. Problem is, I'm pretty sentimental about a bunch of mine, and can't fathom parting with them. IF, and that's a pretty big IF, I ever got down to one centerfire, it would be a 223 in an AR. I could hunt deer and varmints with it, and more importantly, defend myself and my family. Let's hope it never comes to that,

It's pretty amazing how Creed Fever has caught on. Lotsa big stuff going by the wayside it seems...

I have two heroes I look up to on this site. Phil Shoemaker and John Barsness and neither one would go for cutting down the herd. It takes a lifetime for a man to acquire the guns necessary to be representative of a man who lived. My father just passed away about 1 month ago. You can learn alot about the man he was from his guns. He had a proviso that you never sell your guns but you can trade them up for better guns. I have lived with that view and feel that I am starting to get near where I need to be. 4 safes and I need another soon. I am not yet fifty but I feel that 200 guns that aren't stinkers is probably where I should be. I am not there yet.

I'm not down to one centerfire,but I am down to two calibers with multi rifles in those.I'm down to .284 and .308 calibers.These two have got me covered for all my hunting needs.Shooting bullets from 120gr to over 200grs,there is not too many animals I cannot kill with them.

I have had those thoughts, but not all the way down to 1. Cannot argue with the logic. I have attempted to pare down before, but usually wind up buying the same again, and of course at a higher price ! So now, I just try, not to purchase other ones, even the "what a great deal" ones. I would be very restless with only 1 center-fire, even though certainly could be done and has merit. There barest personal minimum would be 3 different cartridges by tough choice. But two, if 1 was a 338 Win and the other a 223.

3584ELK suggested the European switch barrel system.... I have that, and it doesn't help a gun nut. 😬

Jack

22lr
222
6BR
7x64
9.3x62

&

6,5x55

I am more then enough covered.. Even though I want more, I don`t need more.

i could for this Dakota 30-06

https://www.gunsamerica.com/userimages/3310/962768072/wm_1936543.jpg

Yeah. I could make do with that. Friggin gorgeous rifle.

I've given this a lot of thought. I could get rid of everything but my Ruger 77MKII RLS in 308, my 77/22 and a S&W 3000 12 Gauge pump with a multi choke barrel and a slug barrel. But then I realize that I still need a muzzleloader for the black powder deer season and when I retire some informal SASS shooting and an occasional CMP match with the requisite AR would be fun and there's six more guns that I "need". Sentimental attachment kicks in (10% sentiment and 90% mental) and I would miss grouse hunting with Dad's Sweet 16 and how could I part with Grampa's Savage 99 and Springfield 03 or Great Uncle's 99. Then there's the Sharps, the Marlin 94's and Dad's 71. You see where this ends up, looking for a spot for another safe.

My 35 Gibbs would take care of everything up here for me. The 225 Sierra for most and 280 SAF for moose and brown bears. It might be a little tough on wolves as my trapline rifle though!

As I approach retirement in about two years, I think I'm going to get rid of the .300 H&H, the .375 H&H, the .348 Win, and the .300 Weatherby. I don't hunt anything
larger than deer or pronghorn anymore. I think I will keep my pre-64 Win M70 .270, my Ruger M77 .270, and my Cooper .243. Will keep all the shotguns and
handguns. I don't need the big horsepower weapons anymore. I do see a nice custom 1911 in .38 Super as a retirement present though!

I could probably hunt everything short of Cape Buffalo and Elephant with my .300 H&H and do fine. The only problem is that Shiloh Sharps and Savage 99s are my passions so I have to hang on to them and will continue to hunt them