Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Rifles Hunting with Safe Queens?

Every thing we have gets hunted. Bear

Still hunt my Fathers M98, a commercial FN, and the battle scars are warm memories.

When you bought the stock was your objective to relegate the gun to the safe? If you did not, then you need to either hunt with the new stock or find a hunting stock to switch it into so that you can save the pretty wood.

My thinking is just carry this gun for some "gentleman hunts" where you are not likely to beat it up for a while.

I had a 12 ga. Citori restocked for me, complete with a fancy gun fitting and special dimensions. By the time it was all said and done, I was into the stock over $1k. The first time I scratched it, I felt bad for a little while, but then I felt a lot better about using it for its intended purpose because the bugaboo was off my back.

Do I enjoy looking at rifle? yes.

But I enjoy shooting them even more.

And I enjoy hunting with them even more still!!

The only gun I have not hunted with is an old pump 22 that hung in my great grandfathers barn. I have it for sentimental reasons. And honestly - I do not know how safe it is.

By definition, it is impossible to go hunting with a safe queen. If you do, it ain't. If it is, you don't.

urethane and laminated stock on a safe queen? Seems unusual to me.

Of course, I don't own safe queens. My most expensive rifles are my hunting rifles.

Brent

Have 2 safe queens. A pair of Colt Ala. Sesquecentenial .22 revolvers, gold & nickle with white grips. Consecutive ODD serial numbers. Bought them on lay-a-way when I was 18 & working my first clock-in job. Never had the hammers backed. Son looks at them with lust in his eyes so I'm sure with my passing (or maybe before) the barrels will be leaded. That's not a bad thing. Another that has lost the designation but not yet fired is a Belgium Browning Grade II or III,forgot which,.22 semi-auto my Daddy bought because it was so pretty then told Mama he got it for her. To his surprise she took it and put it up. It was passed to my daughter and we simply have not gotten her to the range when there was proper time to enjoy its initiation into the real world. When that happens I'm sure MawMaw & PawPaw will approve and the heavens will smile. For my part no real queens exist. I recently came by a red pad Ruger 77 in .270 made about 25 yrs ago that has never had the scope rings put on. I intend to float the barrel, mount a scope and let it draw blood. Hunting rifles want to hunt, they really do. Sorry to drag on but this thread brings back more memories than there's room to write.

Guns were made for shooting and hunting with, they are basically useless setting in a safe. Take that thing out and kill some deer with it.

Here's one for you. I own a MINT 1960 fwt M70 243. It cannot be replaced. Do I hunt with it?

Hunt with it!!!!!

Rick: I have a few "mint" pre 64 M70's; for the most part, they are ALL I hunt with.I got a mint 270 FW about 9 years ago (I call it the Boise gun, cause that's where it came from); I hunt it, and took it to Wyoming last year.It ain't mint anymore, but then neither am I. I could hunt that rifle the rest of my life, and it will still work fine when my son gets it.

Rick - it is only a gun - you are a man - I think your enjoyment of the rifle is more important than preserving an inanimate object - hunt with it (or at the very least shoot it at the range)!

I may own some "potential Safe Queens/collectibles", but I hunt them anyway.

I've always said that I shoot what I own and am not a collector (by definition).

If you force yourself to carry what you can't stand to possibly mark up or ding a bit, your usual and accustomed hunting style will necessarily be altered. Not good.....unless of course you find yourself walking slower and taking baby steps to put off any chance of falling and marking up said rifle and then you miraculously score each year thereafter.

Do what feels right and won't stress you out when afield......that's the whole idea of being out in the field anyway.........IMHO.

Thanks for the grins guys!

It is only a rifle. In this case however, the dollar value difference between what passes for a "mint" pre-64 fwt and an "excellent" condition fwt will easily buy a new VX-III Leupie. This one will probably not get hunted, if only because I can use other pre-64 fwt's that I also own. I didn't say it was my ONLY fwt!

The funny thing? I own two other custom stocked pre-64 M70's. They are much nicer rifles than the factory 70, and I don't think twice about hunting those.

It is nice to have choices, whether we make them based on well grounded, factual reasoning or just plain "gut" feeling.

Enjoy your season no matter what firearm you choose.

sounds to me like you want someone here to talk you OUT of using it:) ain't gonna' happen... best guns around are those with stories of your own.. use it....

woofer

++++1

winmod70...

OH-EMM-EFF-GEE!!

you wernt a kidd'n!!


but sorry, you still gotta hunt it

We got my dad a supergrade M70 in .338 topped with a VXII 3-9

it's got pretty wood like your does.

It goes elk hunting every year & has for... well this will be the 10th year in a row now.

If I am lucky enough to acquire that very rifle some day, it will be of greater value to me because the old man hunted it.

scratches & all, I'd like it much better years down the road knowing it was in the old man's hands on many an adventure.

but that's just me.

very pretty gun.

Dave

Not at all, just having a conversation.

In honesty it won't get carried this year, mainly because I have a M70 Roberts I like better. See...a good reason to not carry a rifle!

rick, my reply was aimed at the original post... i know you'll cave...

woofer

Winmodel70,

Since the stock doesn't have "B" carve checkering I take it out! Just kidding

I have a pre-64 M-70 .243 99% condition and took it out opening day without a scratch and it bang flopped a nice deer.

Yeah...probably.