Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunter's Campfire ARE YOU A GUN SNOB?

Yes!!!
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<br>1) When I see a hunter with a $600+ rifle and a $100 scope I shake my head.
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<br>2) When I see a hunter with a superlaserflatshooter in terrain that allows a 75 yard shot I shake my head.
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<br>3) When I see a hunter with a hacked up old warhorse that just should have been left alone I shake my head.
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<br>4) When I see a hunter with an engraved work of art that he/she is afraid of rubbing the finish off the stock of I shake my head.
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<br>5) When I see a hunter with a working rifle/scope combo (regardless of price/features) that shows he/she bought the best quality affordable at that time I strike up a conversation.
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<br>Good Luck,
<br>Bob
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Gunny, I like your post and most enjoy your signature line.
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<br>I must not be a gun snob because I shoot an ugly Browning Stainless Stalker (with a mis-matched 1.5 x 5 x 20 Leu. VXIII) complete with the terrible plastic stock. Sadly, the old girl shoots better than me. No class anywhere at all -- except for the caliber: .270 Winchester.
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<br>I won't say I'd never own one, but surely the Boatpaddle stocked Rugers were some of the ugliest production rifles I've ever seen. Of course they work great.
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<br>I'm moving up in the world (maybe) with my new Tikka .223 (LH). It is a well-built piece, but not the thing of beauty I wanted but couldn't bring myself to have built for 3x the price.
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<br>I don't look down on ugly guns. The best hunter I know totes a model 99 Savage in .308. He hates slings, so he uses an old soft nylon rope. I assure you he is DEATH in the deerwoods. One of the guys I hunt with owns a stable of custom Sakos, all iced by Swarovski. I know the guns well, because most every time we go out I find myself looking down the barrel of one of them. The Savage looks better than the Sako in this instance, I assure you.
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<br>I'll admit that I struggle with lust for the Sako wood or laminate and stainless rifles, and for the Weatherby LH ultralight in .257, and anything Mel Forbes does.
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<br>I only have plans for two more guns: a .22 rimfire and a frontstuffer. If I can ever go for brownies a .375 will be needed. Should a hot .25 find its way to me, I'll save the .270 as a loaner -- maybe.
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<br>I told myself two things a long time ago: 1) use your money to buy experiences, not wood and metal; and 2) don't replace or aquire any outdoor gear until what you have limits you. So it looks like there aren't a lot of rifles in my future.
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<br>Three teenagers are in my future. I have two now!
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<br>However, if I ever win the lottery ...
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<br>Jeff

No, the way things are going now, I'm just happy to see someone out with a gun, as long as they are safe with it.
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<br>If someone has less than quality equipment then if the situation develops so that I can gently impart some knowledge regarding guns to them in a friendly manner, so much the better. Usually this works by example. If they don't want or can't afford a better gun, then I'm glad they are out with what they have. Having grown up around some people that used decided inferior firearms but killed more game than most of us will ever see, I know that it is not the gun, but the gunner that matters. I knew a rancher that killed a trainload of deer with a beat up remington .22 LR single shot(510). He didn't know that he couldn't do it, so he just kept dropping them.

Don't know if your moose rifle is bigger than mine, but I can pretty much guarantee mine is uglier! And funnier. First of all, I'm way overscoped for shooting 50 yard moose (my average range for 20 dead bulls is about 60 yards, only one over 100), but all set for them 500 yarders, if I could even see one that far, much less i.d. it as legal with these slot antler regs we have - with (you reading this Gunny?) a 3.5 to 10 X 50 scope - but it's the best low light scope I have. I need it there more than I do on the sheep and caribou rifles, which tend to get used mid-day, if at all. On a Ruger 77, that means I need extra high mounts for scope clearance. That means the top of the factory comb resides somewhere below my chin. That means I slapped a $16 stick-on foam rubber comb raiser from Brownell's on it, which after a half dozen seasons is getting pretty ratty. (I think they may not carry it anymore - wish I'd bought two) I tend not to like holes or bulges or even sights on my barrels, but it has been Mag-Na-Ported, and custom fitted with the lowest ramp and blade (custom brassed) I could find, and a V notch filed in the forward scope bridge for a rear sight, the combination of which "just happens" (not) to work out to a 100 yard zero (more or less) with my usual reloads or most factories, in case I bust the scope 'way back in. Or want to pack it for bear discouragement. Only BG rifle I have that wears sights, and it's gonna stay that way.
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<br>But you know what? It fits this giraffe-necked geek in a comfortable, heads up position without contortions, and when I snap it up, I'm looking right down the crosshairs at whatever I was focused on before raising the rifle. What with the extra weight of everything (I also carry four rounds on the offside of the stock, just behind my shooting hand) it shoots sweet and straight, with very tolerable recoil even from the bench. After last season, it badly needed wood refinishing (its 3rd or 4th, gouges filled with epoxy, a crack in the stock pinned and epoxied), but I just slapped on a couple coats of True-oil instead. Literally. I need water resistance, not purty. End of story. I'm busy. Next time around, I'll fill and sand and buff.
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<br> But if I add any more hardware to the thing, it will have to be wheels. One of these days I'm gonna backtrack some and put on a smaller, lower X variable scope, and a Brown Precision stock, somewhat customized, and Parkerize the metal, but 'til then, I'll just hide it. I'm not even going to put one of my factory, near new, takeoffs on it. Why bother? If I want something prettier to look at out there, I'll take a mirror, or watch moose (I am telling you this gun is UGLY!)
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<br>I don't show it around much. I sure as heck don't show it to past or potential gunsmithing clients. In fact, I wait 'til no one is looking, slip it out of the Kolpin case, and slink off deep into the woods before anyone can see it. And that's where I find my moose. They don't seem to care. You probably don't want to get me started on my home shooting range, which involves pallets and moving the wife's car.
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<br>Does this mean I don't get a button?
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I'm not a gun snob. My own taste runs to WWI and WWII-era rifles, which are mostly ugly and beat-up to start off with (but not after I'm done with them). I won't buy a gun that looks like it's been used as a high school shop project, though--even I have limits.
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<br>I don't want to own a gun which I'm too scared to take out into the field--a gun is a tool, not a work of art . I'd feel the same if someone did some pretty engraving on a Bosch drill--looks pretty, what the hell is it there for?
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<br>As long as you take care of your gun and respect/love it, I don't care what it looks like.

las,
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<br>Absolutely loved your post. Two thumbs up!............
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<br>Own Drummer,
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<br>Great analogy,in regards to the drill............
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<br>I can do an ugly rifle,as long as it reliably does what I expect out of it...................