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Drover, you make a lot of sense. I’ll turn 80 next February. I’ve always loved rifles. When I was a poor college student, I sporterized a Jap rifle my uncle brought back from the war and gave to me. I killed a lot of deer with that rifle and its peep sight. In my early 40’s I bought a Remington 700 in .270 and used it for years — largely influenced by Jack O’Connor. As I became more financially mature, I started adding rifles. Many of them are customs of the “old school” — fine wood and beautiful bluing. I have some done by Al Biesen and/or his son Roger. Jim Kobe has had a hand in providing several really nice rifles, either from scratch or very significant modifications. For years now I’ve had the frustration of having to choose which rifle to take on a particular hunt. I have one beautiful custom that I have never killed anything with.

If I had it to do over I don’t know if I would do anything different. But from what I know now, a guy could do a lot worse than buying a NULA in 30-06. However, I am planning to take my 375 H&H to Africa next year. 😃

Last edited by WoodsyAl; 11/15/21.

Al

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PHwillie,

12-gauge shotguns don't have to be boring. Here are three I acquired within the last year:

J.P. Sauer Falke sidelock hammer gun, with 2-1/2" chambers, made in 1911.
R. Lisle of Derby, on a Webley & Scott boxlock action, probably made in the 1920s.
W.W. Greener boxlock ejector, with Damascus barrels, made in 1895.

They're easy to hit with, and I've taken birds with all three guns this fall.

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Like John, I'll turn 69 in a few weeks. My life of gunnery has taken many turns - if I had every gun I've owned there wouldn't be room to turn around in my nest. I don't know whether to label myself as being fickle or prone to being bored easily. (Could explain why I was married twice but am not now, and have had so many girlfriends I can't begin to remember them all in one sitting.)

One thing I know JB and I have in common is we both bought Remington 700's in .243 at about the same time in the early 70's. I coulda/shoulda/woulda done all my deer hunting with that one rifle for the last half-century, but it went the way of the wind after a couple years because, well, I got bored with it. Besides, the search for the perfect deer rifle, shotgun, .22, etc. is as fulfilling and exciting as the "finding" is. That pretty much defines my experience with women too. And British cars. And fly rods. And....

I'm doomed. (But I wouldn't be if I could locate a cheap Mannlicher-Schoenauer 6.5x54, or an affordable Rigby Ballard .32-40, or a...)


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That's basically me as well, other than still being a ways off from 69 😂

I get bored. I get something, fiddle around until I get it to shoot how I want it to, then I usually get bored with it and trade it off on something else to start the process over again. There's only a few guns I've ever held onto for more than a handful of years.

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In the same boat as many here. Started hunting at 14, got my first rifle at 15 and was captured by deer hunting (in the snow preferably). Hunting only in BC but have spent more than a few days looking for three species of deer, black bear, sheep, elk and moose. Never had an interest in shooting a grizzly, but have hunted n grizzly country a bunch.
Had only a few guns til I was in my mid 40's, too busy raising kids, getting established and just hunting til then. Then as finances permitted I went through perhaps 100 guns (almost all bolt actioned rifles) which was fun in itself and a decent hobby.
By my mid 50s I really started to focus on what I thought would be great and practical rifles for me to hunt with, and less on just a nice rifle at a decent price. Call it a refining of tastes, or an awakening to what made a rifle special. In amongst that is a reverence to what my dad, grandpa and one uncle hunted with. I think about them frequently while out and about, rifle in hand, and wish we could hunt some more together.
No big money rifles now (just a working guy) but a couple pretty nice ones (both pre 64 model 70s) and a couple more on the project bench (both model 70s). Very little of the latest offerings interest me much at all.
Now there is more focus on getting hunting while I can, as life sometimes gets in the way and the clock is ticking.
Knowing what I know now (or think I know) I'd have just gone to a couple good/excellent rifles built on pre 64 actions and just gone hunting. Nothing exciting for cartridges, 270/280/30-06/7mag would all work well.
Used them all, and a bunch of others, but have the most experience with a 270. Being mostly a deer hunter it is the gold standard, for me.

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I don’t have much use for a .416 Rigby. [/quote]

But I had one for awhile!!! lol

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One of the first real memories I have would be helping Dad police up shells after a round of trap. Afterwards he'd let me help clean the Superposed he used back then. I might have been about four. There's never been a time since when guns were not really cool to me. At age 52 moving to a practical battery is not going to happen.

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I recently turned 73. Realistically, I could get by with one CF rifle, a shotgun and a handgun or two. I know guys who do so. I envy them.

I don’t consider my brothers “gun guys.” They probably only own 25 - 30 guns each and use even fewer. One does all his bg hunting with a BLR in .308 and the other with a 700 in .30-06. One uses an old Remington 58 12 gauge for all his shotgun stuff, the other uses one shotgun for steel and one of two for upland. They kill a lot of stuff and have a lot of fun.

I have a couple of guns right now that I’m trying to get myself to send down the road. It’s a struggle.


Mathew 22: 37-39



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I went thru the build a Mauser stage. And then the buy a really nice rifle stage. And the handload it until it can hit a fly stage.

At this point I know what I like and I know what works for me and I am past the buy it because it's a good deal stage enough to be happy with what I have. I am 41 so not an old man but old enough to know better lol

It's been a journey of a lot of money and time and I found that I didn't use the rifles for the imaginary hunts for which I bought them.

I trimmed down and am using a few I really like for various reasons and I think this is where I will stay.

If I won the lotto tomorrow though I might call Melvin and build a 250 savage ultra light and see if I could wear it out. smile

Last edited by mjbgalt; 11/15/21.
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"If I won the lotto tomorrow though I might call Melvin and build a 250 savage ultra light and see if I could wear it out."

Not yet an old man I still dream like a younger man. Similar idea but I would make room for a pre 64:

https://www.gunsinternational.com/g...uper-clean-dom-1947.cfm?gun_id=101768626


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At 66 still buying a few and moving them if they don't make me happy. It's hard to pass up one that's a good deal for me. I'll shoot it for awhile to satisfy my curiosity then it goes away for more than I have in it. that's the way it has always worked for me. Mb


" Cheapest velocity in the world comes from a long barrel and I sure do like them. MB "
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It's not hard to generalize on one rifle for non-dangerous, thin skinned medium to large game. But the .308 (or .30-06) would be VERY low on my list of options. The .300 WSM or 7mmWSM would likely top my list. And not everything is thin skinned and non-dangerous. Similarly, the .223 would be low on my list of "do everything" varmint options. The 6mm AI might top my list in a single shot. For bolt actions the .243 AI or 6mm Creedmoor is hard to beat.

Stopping rifles are their own topic - trying to shoehorn a .308 into that role is retarded. And some of the best public land hunts I've ever had were predator called bear hunts and require a stopping rifle.

9mm handguns are fine for people, garbage for bears. There's a reason the .44 mag exists.

A magnum 12ga does most thing, but does everything but waterfowl badly. Something like a 12ga SBE plus a 20ga side by side for upland/mixed bag plus a 12ga clays gun is a more reasonable battery.

Really it comes down to whether you want guns that do things badly, or do them well. Me, I'll take guns that do things well. Lots of people have a fascination with guns that do little if anything well, which they're entitled to but it's ridiculous.

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Originally Posted by Llama_Bob
Nothing tops a .30-06! Only gun you need.


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W & C Scott and Son 12 Bore

[Linked Image from i.imgur.com]

I love the smell of black powder in the morning.


I am..........disturbed.

Concerning the difference between man and the jackass: some observers hold that there isn't any. But this wrongs the jackass. -Twain


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Mule Deer,
My point wasn't that a 12 gauge was boring, just the thought of only a 12 gauge...I have 4 12 gauge shotguns at last count, including a 110 year old 1897 Winchester, but also have couple of model 12 16 gauges and a several 20 gauges. The older I get the more I lean towards the smaller gauges.
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Ken,

My post was somewhat tongue-in-cheek.

Right now I have 1 28-gauge (a Fausti side-by-side), 3 20s, 3 16s, 7 12s and one 10-gauge. Four of the 12s have 2-3/4" chambers, two have 3" chambers, and one has 2-1/2" chambers. The 2-1/2" 12-gauge is essentially a 28-gauge ballistically. (Oh, and one of the 2-3/4" 12s is a Winchester 97 pump.) They all have their roles, and they're all fun.

This isn't counting my wife's shotguns--she's actually more of a shotgun loony than a rifle loony--one 28, six 20s, two 16s and two 12s.

Probably should admit that two of my 16s and one of my wife's are combination rifle/shotguns.


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Originally Posted by DigitalDan
W & C Scott and Son 12 Bore

[Linked Image from i.imgur.com]

I love the smell of black powder in the morning.


That looks like another boring "old" 12-gauge!


“Montana seems to me to be what a small boy would think Texas is like from hearing Texans.”
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Originally Posted by Llama_Bob
It's not hard to generalize on one rifle for non-dangerous, thin skinned medium to large game. But the .308 (or .30-06) would be VERY low on my list of options. The .300 WSM or 7mmWSM would likely top my list. And not everything is thin skinned and non-dangerous. Similarly, the .223 would be low on my list of "do everything" varmint options. The 6mm AI might top my list in a single shot. For bolt actions the .243 AI or 6mm Creedmoor is hard to beat.

Stopping rifles are their own topic - trying to shoehorn a .308 into that role is retarded. And some of the best public land hunts I've ever had were predator called bear hunts and require a stopping rifle.

9mm handguns are fine for people, garbage for bears. There's a reason the .44 mag exists.

A magnum 12ga does most thing, but does everything but waterfowl badly. Something like a 12ga SBE plus a 20ga side by side for upland/mixed bag plus a 12ga clays gun is a more reasonable battery.

Really it comes down to whether you want guns that do things badly, or do them well. Me, I'll take guns that do things well. Lots of people have a fascination with guns that do little if anything well, which they're entitled to but it's ridiculous.




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I have a few more rings under my bark than most here.I went thru a lot of phases. The magnumitus hit me in my 30's but didn't last long.Old lever guns and old side by side shotguns lasted bit longer. Sometimes I would pick up something to shoot and elk with just for the challenge. Now I am wondering what to do with some of these rifles and handguns.

Elk hunting with center fires is about a thing of the past.The 30-06 and .308 sit in the back of the safe. Even muzzle loader hunting is getting close to being done.I can probably hunt deer and antelope out on the Colorado eastern plains,so the 6.5 Swede and .243 may still get some use. The 12 gauge old Fox Sterlingworth won't be shot any more and the 20 gauge Franchi might get 5 rounds thru it in dove season.

I gave a nice old 06, a Fox Sterlingworth double and a pristine M1 Garand to my God son along with a lot of ammo for them.Then I took 4-5 down to the LGS and put on consignmentt. That cleaned out my gun safe so that each rifle has a slot and are not stacked up one another.

Now I need to figure out what to do with all my ammo.My life time supply looks like it will out last me


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Originally Posted by Mule Deer
Originally Posted by DigitalDan
W & C Scott and Son 12 Bore

[Linked Image from i.imgur.com]

I love the smell of black powder in the morning.


That looks like another boring "old" 12-gauge!


It is indeed. Loaded up some brass shells awhile back; shot, buck and ball. It was a joy to shoot and it did very well.


I am..........disturbed.

Concerning the difference between man and the jackass: some observers hold that there isn't any. But this wrongs the jackass. -Twain


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