Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Savage Collectors Too nice to shoot

Some wouldn't own a gun they couldn't shoot, others including myself have some rifles that it doesn't make sense to even handle too much. The gun in question is a '57 model F in .358". Super clean like it was made yesterday, has a R forearm on it so I am told. I really like shooting this gun, I bought it because I couldn't find a nicer .358 in my price range, an EG or R I would have preferred, but mainly because I did not own a 99 in .358. This firearm doesn't have the tang crack because it hasn't been fired in my estimation. Should it be put away, or maybe buy a replacement stock and fire away? What do you guys do when you like shooting a gun but fear tearing it up? Thanks in advance for your replies. Mike

I suspect we have all reached the point of, "why did I buy this?" Or some other version of, "what was I thinking?" when you're looking at a rifle that no longer excites you. When a gun no longer gives you some pleasure, get rid of it. If it gives you pleasure to shoot it, shoot it, if you smile when you shine it? shine it! If you're afraid to handle it, then sell it to a museum and let them worry about scratching it.

Good news is You still have the choice!

+1 on what Jeff said. The gun is an inanimate object, it doesn't have feelings, so pass it along to someone who will cherish it so you can get something that excites you. There are other heavily used and molested 99's out there to use as your franken gun, I would keep that one original.

Personally, if I won't hunt/shoot it, I wont buy it.


However, Jeff is much wiser than I am.........

I would listen to him

People go to Vegas every year and lose billions. To me, that is a waste and dumb. Spending $ on firearms isn’t dumb.

I don’t think you should worry about shooting your 358. I killed a really nice buck with my 358 EG. The 358 is a sledgehammer!

To make you feel better, I have hunted with my all original, excellent condition 1947 Model 70 Winchester in 250-3000. And it was a great feeling to use it. This coming season I am am going to use my mid 50s Super Grade in 257 Roberts. Just not if it’s raining.

Have a picture of the gun you could post , curious why a like new F model would have a R forearm on it. Confusing? GW

Like I said, I never noticed that this was not the correct forearm for this gun, but I was told here by another fellow that it belonged on a R.

Sure enough that's what it looks like, an F-R! Those R-shaped forearms are very easy to control in weird field positions. I'd shoot the bejeezus out of it and replace the butt stock if it ever cracked beyond what duct tape could heal. Or offer it up for trade toward the one you really want.

Shoot it.

I was trying to say that, but you know me. Not very tactful. Put a gun in my hands and I'll send a pill down the tube. That's what the hell they were made for.

Sorry for the image size, I am struggling to get it correct

Choot em! why they were made!

It does the soul good to have a couple of special rifles. Whether or not one chooses to shoot them really doesn’t matter....

Amen

I know people with safe queens, and that's fine as long as they don't begrudge others for shooting their rifles...regardless of condition. I do know a few folks who bitch and moan about others using extremely high condition rifles that should "be in a museum, since there's so few of those left" but I don't subscribe to that train of thought. If your heart tells you to shoot it, then go for it.

This isn't a rare model at all, but it is in exceedingly rare condition---and I wasn't about to not hunt it.

Thanks for your point of view. It is refreshing.

Four or five years ago I took my 1899B, which lettered July of 1899 out to fill the freezer, which it did nicely. Told the fellers at work, and they said "ARE YOU NUTS, TAKING A 114 YEAR OLD GUN OUT HUNTING?'. I told them that is what it was designed and made for. Funny thing, it went back in the safe looking exactly what it looked like prior to the hunt. I was extremely gratifying to get a nice en with the old 1899B in 303 Savage. I won't own anything I won't shoot. By the way, the rifle I speak of is in very fine condition, not a beater.

There isn't a rifle in existence that can come close to me in the good looks department. God knows how many times I've gone into harm's way, so I sure ain't worried about a rifle...

It depends. If I bought it strictly as an investment instead of, say, gold coins or rare stamps then no, I wouldn't shoot it. Same goes for a super rare exhibition grade M1899- I might be tempted to fire it a couple times and then carefully and thoroughly clean it but I wouldn't hunt it. After that disclaimer, I don't, and never have, looked upon my guns as investments nor have I any intention to buy guns for investment purposes only. To me the joy of ownership extends to shooting and hunting them- even nice condition rarities. I just never used any "nice" ones to prop open a rusty barbed wire fence, or took one out when rain/snow was in the forecast (mainly because of the crummy oil finish used on factory rifle stocks from "our era" which allow water to pass through into the wood like a sieve.)

The only time in my life when I failed to heed my own creedo was when I fell for a 1940-vintage Colt Officer's Model .38. New in the box literally- not so much as a turn mark on the cylinder, and factory grease still evident, and the box was mint also. I loved looking at that revolver, and tried to justify what I paid as an investment, but it gnawed at me. Rather than break down and bust its cherry, I sold it, at a profit, to a collector who may or may not have fired it.