Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Rifles Who else shoots "junk"??

1ak

I feel you are dead on with what you said about Big Stick. I don't know the man and probably never will have the privilege of meeting him, but a statement he made early in this thread says it all for my money.

I've yet to wakeup in the morning,with a burning desire to see how marginally I could perform ANY task,let alone a passion.

I've known a few people in Big Stick's line of work and that statement sounds just like something they would say. And I might add, they back it up in spades. I made the mistake a bit ago, innocently I might add, of making it sound like maybe Stick used a "brand X" saw instead of the "Husky" he apparently uses. He remarked that he was proud he used it also. As far as I am concerned anyone who makes their living in the woods has a right to be proud of their equipment. I might also add I have ran into some who are proud of their "Brand X" and "Brand Z" saws and don't have a lot of time for anything else, especially some saws which most definately are not up to what some of the best brands are. That doesn't mean that those lesser brands won't get a tree down or bucked up, they just won't usually do it as easy. Most really good sawers I have met feel they are as "good as the best, and better than the rest", and their particular brand of saw helps make them excell.

It's no different with rifles as far as I am concerned. We all have different ideas about what works and what doesn't, and a good bit of that no doubt comes from our personal experience. Big Stick has admitted he has a passion to excell in shooting and if he feels it takes the rifles he uses far be it from me to try and change his mind. His accomplishments pretty well back up his thoughts on the matter, but there are other combinations that will work how-be-it maybe not quite as well. However if a person can only afford something less expensive to be able to hunt that shouldn't matter, just do what you have to do and don't worry about what others do.

I also, have a hard time thinking Big Stick would be real tough on a young shooter who had a Busnell Sportview on a Remington 710. I could be wrong, but I don't think so. I would be curious to know what he started out his shooting career with. We all started somewhere and few had the means to have the very best right from the start. I also am looking forward to seeing a picture of his daughter with her new rifle someday that if I remember correctly will have a purple & green stock. Hopefully though, no skull and crossbones <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/laugh.gif" alt="" />

id:

excellent points -

from your post: I feel you are dead on with what you said about Big Stick. I don't know the man and probably never will have the privilege of meeting him, but a statement he made early in this thread says it all for my money.

from stick's: I've yet to wakeup in the morning,with a burning desire to see how marginally I could perform ANY task,let alone a passion.

who could argue with either?

but here is an additional point: i suspect very, very, very of us on this board HAVE to hunt or fish to eat or feed our families. if so, you can bet a castnet is used for fish or spotlight and a 22 hornet are used for poaching - NOT the most efficient "sporting" equipment available for sporting pleasure.

if - and that's a big if - i had never been hooked on military bolt rifles or sporterizing or been forced by idiot circumstances brought on by own poor stewardship to sell good/better grade firearms, i'd have a locker stuffed with a dozen really nice rigs, well scoped, that didn't get used very often because i didn't have a hand in making them shoot the best they could with my limited skills.

i just plain get a bigger kick out of killing a deer with an $89 mosin-nagant m-44 or a $187 handirifle or a mismatched mauser 96 than with a bedded and tuned SUCKS with good glass on top. that's my brand of passion. there's others. and that's what this thread is all about.

I really hope I have never contributed to making anyone feel that way. I was at the range not long ago and an obviously new shooter with minimal low budget equipment was shooting. Before long there were a number of experienced shooters talking with him and helping with some problems he was having. He was made to feel welcome and a part of the club. I'm betting he will be back. I'm also pretty we will get the same result here on the board when new shooters or members are made to feel welcome.

Hey Fish
I agree with you. I have not unil now heard of the story of Stick chastising a youg man for having a savage. In the circles I run in that would be fighten words. My disclaimer is I really dont want to offend ANYONE here or get involved in some petty gripe about what firearm I shoot. I made some statements here a long time ago and got jumped so I keep a low profile. I come here to learn and not to offend. I have picked up a few pointers and logged them in the hard drive. I also remember Stick responding to a post that he admitted he used a garand M1 type at one point. I have nothing Against anyone here. Just one thing I shoot my gun you shoot yours.
Bearbeater

I'm much contented to NOT reside in a PC Fluff World.

Not all offerings in any pursuit,rate equal relative quality ratings. That would encompass everything from [bleep] paper to Political Candidates,with more than a few stops in between.

My "circle" is simplistic,in that most often [bleep] IS simply [bleep],regardless of price.

So I personally don't differentiate a pro-Clinton vote cast from a Bag Lady,from a like vote cast from Bab's.

Point bein',more than a few things float in this World and all for like reasons...........................

Awww, don't pay any attention to him......he's just sore thinking about all the ugly girls he's not getting a crack at! (grin) That one goes down as one of my most favorite Stickisms!

Hey Hunter
What did Stick just say?? I need a Stick Dictionary. Can someone interpret for me as well as others. Did he mean he uses charnmin or scott toilet paper?? <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/help.gif" alt="" /> I had another person read it and they asked if he was a rapper or a beatnic?? I come here to learn from others and I learned to keep my PC fluff shut.
Bearbeater

i THINK he equated a mauser with a savage 110 with a handirifle with a win model 70 with a tomato stake with a 710 with a weatherby.
but as everyone here should know by now, the rifle that really SUCKS is a rem 700, what with that nasty walker trigger and all. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/cool.gif" alt="" />

glad to hear someone has the courage to say they enjoy shooting/owning something other than a custom built rifle. if you can hold a tight group & kill cleanly with it, i dont care what you paid for it or who made the rifle...or the scope.

I've yet to whack anything with the price tag proper,though Sally Struthers couldn't eat the stuff I've whacked with what lay beneath the sticker.

Great tools have yet to hinder any endeavor and one can take THAT to the Bank.

That'd be both figurative and literal,for those plagued with suspect comprehension......................

I dunno where the implication that anything but a full blown custom rifle is "Junk" was conceived, and I am rather confused as to why solid battle rifles are to be considered "Junk".


I would ask that the peramiters be refined and narrowed so as to further define the rifle that is the topic at hand.

I have several custom rifles, and a BUNCH of esoteric but still battle worthy Ordinance in the safe.

Heck,I carry an antique almost constantly for personal defence, as do many of my contemporarys.

Clapped out,worn out, and unsafe is one thing.

Nailing a woodchuck with a serviceable Gustav M-96 with 1900 on the Crest is another.

I think that the popular fascination with customs rifles might be at the root of all of this....

I also suspect that it easy to assume.

E4E


Folks need to pay attention to the obvious simple things.
Especially when it comes to translating Stick.

Go with the gist of things, and suffer the details later for nuance.

Some things float simply because they lack Iron, or suffer from a lead deficiency.

I think that the popular fascination with customs rifles might be at the root of all of this....

Actually I am betting the digtal camera has as much to do with it as the custom rifle. There have been many pictures of nice custom rifles in any kind of combinations possible posted on this site. Several of these also include "Proof of the puddin" with animals or targets. To me it is a great to see things like this and it would make no difference to me if it was a $2000 custom or a $50 milsurp rifle with battle sights that the bullet came out of. Trouble is few folks post pictures of the latter for one reason or another. Perhaps if more pics were posted of less expensive shooting irons and their success, be it paper or critters, there would be less aggravation.

I am reminded of a few pics, I believe it was on HuntAmerica, about a get together in the sotheast U.S. where a person shot a very nice group with what I believe was a Turkish Mauser with open sights at a very substantial distance. I realize that some folks are not as interested in such things as the nice looking customs but it is a fact that such lesser shooting irons can be interesting for some. Pictures of said rifles would be intersting to me and I suspect to some others also.

Shucks, I killed my first Whitetail over 45 years ago with a Springfield rifle topped with an old 6 power Weaver scope that the crosshairs were not even centered in. It dropped like a rock at the first shot never knowing what hit him. The rifle was a bit crude back then but it did work. It still would today, but I, like many others, prefer to hunt with something a bit more refined today. How far refined is a personal preference and I am reluctant to judge another's preference. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

You are a wise man Larry.

And if the fellow still using that Springfield with the gotcheyed scope is still happy and proud of it and has no more reguard for rifles than he does for hammers who are we to tell him it is junk?



BCR

sally struthers .... gack!
now THAT is funny ...
something else 'bout tools:
a craftsman never blames his tools if he doesn't do something well - and vicey versey.

Placing a $1645 price tag on a NEF,don't alter it's mechanics.

"Free" can be expensive too...................

There are more than a few Trades in which compromised tooling would negate a pay check.

Skills are an issue seperate,from mechanical devices.

Beware the best Injun' with the best arrows................

BigStick, I couldn't quite work through all of your post, but did get the Sally Struthers part right...............and I don't care WHAT you've shot, that gal could eat it!!!


On a lighter note everyone, I took my 101 year old M96 Mauser to the range this morning, and was trying out some loads I worked up for my daughter.


I'd had good luck with 140 gr Hornady's but wanted to go to a lighter bullet for her. I'll post the thread shortly.

After investing serious amounts of time and effort in the PM (Pre Marriage) I became keenly aware of one of the most truist axiom's of life. "You cannot judge a book by it's cover" it is indeed a fact that the best I've ever had has been on the ugliest I have ever seen, and the worse I ever had has been on the prettiest I've ever seen. Please do not misinterpret this to mean that only/all ugly ones are good, just that if you pass up the ugly ones you may be missing the best of all. As an aside the ugly ones are almost always a low dollar investment with outstanding returns of your money, The opposite is also true the prettiest are usually high dollar with minimal returns.

Snuffy1,
Are you saying that pretty rifles don't always perform well because they have a headache?

Rob

I LOVE this guy!!