Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Rifles expensive lessons---what have you learned

I just posted a rifle/ scope combo on the classified that I have over 3K in. gonna lose some serious money on that one...

I've found that I have an unhealthy love for long heavy barreled, varmint rifles, tactical rifles, beanfield rifles etc. But in practice I don't like toting them around, I'm never satisfied shooting them, and when they are that long I don't take them in the field because they get caught in the dense brush/trees around here and I'm so short if I carry them in my hands I risk nose diving them in the ground while walking. So dating back to like 2001 when I bought my first Savage model 12 all the way through custom surgeon action builds and my most recent Kimber Open Country purchase I don't want to even think about how much money I've dropped on these rifles that didn't make me happy, and end up getting sold at a discount.

So no more!!!!

All my hunting rifles from now on are going to have:

---20" barrels or less (or be chopped to such)

---some sort of Winchester Model 70 based 3-position safety on the action (I can put a PT&G on a remington if I have to, but I'm not a big remington fan to begin with)

---probably going to be short actions. I have a 30-06, 35 whelen (it's fixing to get cut from 24" down to 20") and a 264 win mag (24" but it shoots so well I'm not touching it)

---will be under 7 lbs before optics (I've got 3 kimbers that are close to 6lbs scoped, and I love them the most, makes it hard to tolerate anything else)

---will have synthetic stocks, or be used and beat up so that I don't fret putting that first scratch in pristine wood.

What lessons have you learned about your rifle preferences, and no matter how tempted you are you won't ever make that same mistake again????

(this isn't meant to start an argument, just see what others have learned, I know there are thousands of sendero lovers out there like my cousin who won't own anything else)

I have several magnum rifles, 7RM, 300WM, 300Wby, 7wsm, and sold several more because I had to have one in case I got a long shot. They all shoot good and have nice glass on them and except for shooting paper every now and then they never leave the safe.


30/30, 35 rem, 243, 260, etc get the nod now.

Guess I'm taller than you. 42" barrel on the flinter is a joy to carry and shoot.

Load development to the nth degree. Trying 57 bullets when you only need one good one. You don't need to punch paper to kill schit.

I figured out long ago that I dislike long barrels and safeties matter little.

My problem is more generic than that. I've reached and age and inventory where I need fewer rifles, not more. There are many I would like to have to play with, but I'm happier just to learn to shoot the ones I've already got better.

a few more for me now that I've been stewing over it for a little bit.

---stainless guns, they seems to stick around longer for me


this one really cooks my noodle:

---.264 caliber short actions. I love the 6.5mm. and I've loved it for a long time, but I've been through more 260's than I can count (several were re-barrels or full custom jobs because of a lack of factory offerings), 2 grendels, and a creedmoor. I love my 264 win mag, and that might be part of the problem. I'm keeping all the ammo and dies for the creedmoor hoping I can find another package that works for me but I'm afraid it might be a lost cause, but I'm gonna blow money on at least 1 more rifle before I go there (lets be real probably 2 more rifles)

^This...toting around a lightweight Kimber will spoil you.

YUP!

Leaving the gun shop receipt where the Mrs can find it. There was a time when she thought a rifle cost $300.00 and a scope was $75.00. Unfortunately those days are gone forever.

A couple lessons come to mind. Don't settle for less than you want, you will end up buying again in the search for the holy grail. Also, buy as close to what your "perfect" specs are, then decide if the last couple % is worth the big jump in money! (i.e. 95% of "perfect" or do you need to get 100%)
No more than 24" barrels (we are talking big game rifles here), no shorter than 22" for me. Anything over 8lbs is too heavy for a hunting/carrying rifle unless it is a larger cartridge. A gun can also be too light (or maybe a combination of very light and not well balanced) to shoot decently in the heat of the moment.(like offhand when you have one or two seconds to make a shot as a buck slides into the thick stuff)
Mag cases vs long action std rounds really start to make a difference in speed at 30 caliber!

I have learned that gunsmiths are expensive............

This. I've got more deer rifles than I know what to do with. If I could do it over, I'd get two quality rifles with great glass- 1) custom long range bolt gun and 2) brush gun.

I have learned if you want to be practical that owning a half dozen different calibers (or more) that essentailly do the same thing is a waste, so now to keep it much more simple I only keep a few calibers, I dont varmint hunt anymore, and only deer hunt so all of my bolt action centerfire rifles (except a 30-06 thats for sale) are chambered in my favorite hunting cartridge .300 Win....I only hunt trophy whitetails that i might only get a once a year fleeting glimpse of so I love the way a .300 Win with a 165gr Barnes TTSX bullet easily dispatches whitetails at any angle i might be presented with. I hunt a lot of rugged, remote country so i also have found that I prize a lighter rifle made of stainless and synthetic, but above all it has to be very accurate...Tikka T3x Superlites are some of my favorites............Hb

Never sell a gun just to get the money for the next itch that needs scratched. I don't know how many times I sold a rifle in order to get the money for the next one that was going to be "perfect", never had that work out even once.

A cheap gun can be just as accurate as an expensive one, and quite often even more accurate.

Don't believe the drivel that "gun-writers" spout. They are basically snake-oil salesman, you have to read between the lines and decipher the code words that they use - such as accurate enough for "minute of deer" or "all I had was factory ammo for the test rifle but with some load development it will easily shoot to it's accuracy guarantee".

And the one that would have saved me a lot of money through the years - I could have done everything I do today with my Mossberg 22 lr carbine, my Ithaca 20 gauge pump, my Colt Scout revolver 22 lr, my Savage 99 308, and my S&W model 10 38 Special. It has been fun chasing the Holy Grail but it has been expensive.

One of the most important - if you have a rifle that works well for you never let it go.


drover

I started with a 22 and a 243 and an 870 and now I realize after chasing the loonyness that I could have stayed with those and not spent 20 grand.

I think you are ahead of me... I'm starting to ask myself what can XXX do that My .308 Adirondack can't do...(nothing is lighter/handles better than the adirondack) I'm probably going to move that direction in the future.

Paradigm shift...

I'm pretty much done with "load development" for the rest of my life.

I never tried factory ammo until relatively recent, and I have to say it makes gobs of sense in some cartridges.

Shooting offhand twice a week is 1,000,000,000 times more valuable than a group in the 2's.

You don't need high end schit to be consistent to the 600.




Clark

I like the guns i have even though I don't shoot them all every year.. If I sell, then I really miss it and want it or another like it. Have long barreled heavy rifles, and short packing rifles.. In my country the longer guns most often get the nod.. But I still like all of them..

Lessons learned:

Custom work rarely brings anything to the table at selling time. Re barrel, rebore, new stock and such generally bring no more than it would bring as issued.

Standard weight rifles from reputable makers in standard calibers usually have a decent market.

The last $3500 gun that I sold, took almost ten years to sell at that price. There is not a three grand customer behind every tree.

"Rare" guns are usually rare because folks did not want them when they were factory offerings. If they were selling back then, makers would still be filling orders. I still recall pre '74 Winchester M70s in .22 Hornet going begging for buyers. Who wanted a .375 H&H size action modified to shoot the diminutive Hornet? Now days, lots of folks. But I recall a hardware store that was still stuck with three of them in the late '60s.

Jack

About the same thing you did. I'm about finished, at least at this time, spending much money on rifles.