Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Rifles "Too pretty to hunt with?"

Most guns in my safe have dings. From hunting.

I'm a shooter and a hunter. I don't own/buy/build guns I won't take to the woods.


I stock my own flintlock longrifles. I have countless hours in hand inletting everything, shaping, carving, finishing etc. They hit the bench and woods regularly. One of a kind and unreplaceable...

This one was pretty and it got hunted...

The all get hunted in turn. The only one that won't see rain any more is Dad's old 99. All the customs get hunted, as does the $3000 (used) Dakota76. If you don't use them, why have them?

That’s the dumbest thing I’ve ever heard of. Might as well leave em at home! Lol

One of my life mentors who had built himself from nothing was able to have a heirloom rifle built. He carried it to the stand in a soft case and once seated took it out and hunted. The pride he had in that rifle was immense though he still hunted it. All rifles are meant to be hunted. None of them should be abused.
GreggH

If the weather was really bad I didn’t take my Dakota Last year. If it’s reasonably nice, ie not dumping rain I’ll take it. No sense babying it but a little common sense probably doesn’t hurt.

........................Imo, before I would classify a rifle "too pretty to hunt with" it would depend on what stock protection process is used to treat the wood during the manufacturing process....Have a shooting bud who has owned a Winchester M70 super grade (tiger striped) maple that I have fired. Absolutely beautiful. He has gone on many hunts with it in all kinds of inclement weather and not one scratch, ding or dent on the stock...He does not baby this rifle.

In doing a little research, apparently the super grade maple stocks Winchester uses are thermally heat treated which makes the wood very hard and/ or very dense making the stocks far less resistant to surface scratches dings and dents. Does not mean that you can take this type of rifle and subject it to abuse such as swinging it like a baseball bat against bushes and trees. You will get some deep dings, dents and scratches.

But as he has told me. When waddling through the bush and brushing the rifle up against the brush etc, doing so does not affect the maple stock. And when he sets the rifle down on rocks, he does so reasonably gently without necessarily babying it.

Imo, the #1 grade satin and/or oil treated stocks like on the M70 sporters or the Browning X bolt hunters might be more susceptible to dings dents and scratching.

If I owned a M70 super grade maple, I would not hesitate taking it anywhere.......That thing is beautiful and a hunter.

I have a had a few that I did not really want to hunt with and bang around. Solved that by getting a beater stock. One was a pre 63 300H&H that had one box run through it. Found a cut down cheap stock. put a Limbsaver (much nicer than the steel butt plate) Used it for a couple of years that way. The pristine original stock stayed in the safe.

I hunt with Shiloh Sharps rifles and they are all gorgeous

I had one of those in their light Jaeger model in .38-55 and hunted it till I damn near wore off all the case color.....neat little rifle!

I have some rifles with beautiful wood.. My old .300 is one of them.. About 10 years ago it was in pretty rough shape, it had been to Alaska to South Carolina, to Texas, and the Yukon.. Also 2 trips to S. A. I sent it to a friend and he took out the dents old finish and put an oil finish on it and it looks new .. Beautiful.. It is on its third barrel and hundreds of head of game under its belt.. A plastic rifle will always look like a plastic rifle.. I won't own one..

Not dumb, I have also done this when I owned nice looking wood/blue rifles 👍......I take exceptional care of all my rifles (including my stainless/synthetic models) ....Too expensive (for Me) to abuse......Hb

Nope. No safe queens. I fret more over scratching up a scope than wood or metal on a rifle or shotgun. Should probably get some flipup caps. But I don't like extraneous things that might get hung up on stuff.
Shiniest thing I got is a Wingmaster, and it's been in a duck blind a few times.

I took possession of my first and only, semi-custom rifle , in spring of 1990. The cost was a bit above my “means” at the time, and was built for use, a utility rifle .....but, it was beautiful to me! On my first outing with it, 10 minutes into my hike, with a pack frame loaded with “bear bait”, while crossing a 1/4 mile wide willow flat being heavily worked by beavers.....I caught my foot under a “beaver-cut” willow limb. I did a face-plant, rifle down first , into 6 or 8 inches of mud and water. The dismay was great,but, temporary. It was a “utilitarian” hunting rifle, and had been “officially “ broken in! memtb

I have never seen one.....

Pretty fn accurate... That's how most of mine are...

It’s like saying you have a girlfriend who’s too pretty to screw.

Truth.


I never had that happen...

Nope.