Favorite guns I have,
and lust after.
Tam had a couple posts yesterday about the strange cravings she has, and I have some similar sources of covetousness.
I have put my hands on a handful of firearms in my life, not being a serious collector, and I’m well on my way to having- or making- the stuff I want
Most of my desires run to long guns, my short game being not my strong point. And there are those “necessity” long guns, like a 44 mag chambered Marlin 336. I made that one out of a 30-30 336 and a bunch of spare parts; it’s a little crude but it can shoot moment of deer. Also, my Charles Daly/Traditions muzzleloader, required for hunting in the hoosier state and in Illinois. These are both firearms I would not otherwise own, but I like them just fine.
No, there are a handful of firearms I want and intend eventually to have, and here is my short list.
22. I think the Browning Auto-22 in all it’s incarnations is the pinnacle of the firearm manufacturers art. I have one of the Remington Speedmaster versions. it was made when my father was a small child. it is in incredible condition for it’s age, and it shoots like a house afire. The Auto-22 version is also an incredible shooter. I regularly take mine to 22 matches and beat the pants off guys wiht full tactical hypermodified bull barreled 10-22 rifles.
30 carbine. I have one that’s just plain pretty. It’s not a military rifle, it’s a postwar civillian version. It came with the ugliest stock ever, and a stamped steel trigger group. I replaced the stock and trigger group, and the stock has thirty-odd coats of Minwax Antique Oil Finish. It looks like a million bucks. I love love love shooting it. I also love my reproduction m4 bayonet, which fits my carbine like a dream.
I have a Harry McGowan Interarms mauser in 30-06. It isn’t what I’d call “bespoke” but it is at the upper end of the market as far as quality is concerned. if I were to replace it, it
would be the same caliber, but it would have to be a Rigby rifle or something from one of the old German makers.
I want a fine double in 16 or 20 gauge. Ideally, a Dominion grade Holland and Holland. I’ve seen them in the $8k range. Failing that, a Purdey, or at the very least, a Parker-Hale. I don’t want anything any more modern than 1930.
I want a nice A-5 in Sweet Sixteen. I don’t care if it’s perfect when I get it, I don’t mind rebluing it, I don’t want a collectible, I want a finely made Browning designed shotgun.
I have a nice double; I want two more. I want to build a 44 magnum double on a leFever forged receiver. I want a big thumping double in 500 or 577.
I want a Harry Pope Rifle. I don’t care which one, though I would love to put my hands on one of the pope-ballards in 25-20.
Those are the principle lusts I have, or had, until Tam pointed out that the BLR was available in 35 Whelen, which is a cartridge I’ve lusted after for a while It would be better if it was available in the Savage 99, the “other” conventional magazine levergun (and, in my mind, the most beautiful), but to have a 35 whelen levergun? I’d ‘Settle” for the BLR.
18 comments Og | Uncategorized
Spalding Smails: I want a hamburger. No, cheeseburger. I want a hot dog. I want a milkshake. I want potato chips
Judge Smails: You’ll get nothing, and like it!
Please explain that bit about how a muzzleloader is “required” for hunting in IL and IN. That sounds like idiocy to me, though it would explain why we have so many damned deer running around.
it’s not legal to use a centerfire rifle to hunt deer in illinois. You can use a slug in a shotgun, and some of them are good, and accurate, but I’d just as soon hit the deer with a rock. For enthusiasts, the best choice is a muzzleloader, which has good ballistics and because of the large projectile, hits hard.
My Dad has a pre-war Browning A-5 in 16 ga. It was the first firearm I ever fired. I understand why you covet one.
Can’t use a centerfire round–
Sure, why not make it as hard as possible to hunt deer? That way we can have plenty of deer running around to run into our cars and eat our gardens.
Argh
In Ohio we cant use centerfire rifles to hunt deer either, the idea being that they shoot too far and could overshoot, injuring a fine Ohio citizen. However, I can use centerfire rifles of pretty much any caliber and take out coyotes. Also, my 20 gauge slug gun firing Hornady SST sabots can reach out pretty damn far, pretty damn accurately and could overshoot about as well as half my rifles. I can use a black powder 50 cal rifle that will shoot very far and not as accurately as my .308, meaning more chance of me hitting something other than that which I am aiming at….But you cant use centerfire rifles to hunt deer….
doesn’t make any sense.
I long to return to SC where I grew up and I can use my .308 without people looking at me like I’m a weirdo.
yep, it’s butt-stupid, but we’re making baby steps, OH. Five years ago there were NO rifles in indiana, now there are SOME rifles in indiana. Hope OH and IL will eventually follow suit.
You have good taste in firearms, but you need to add a nice early Kimber .22 rifle to your “arsenal”. If for no reason other than to look at and marvel.
Roger
I like the CZ rifles more than the kimber, because I like the stocks CZ uses a lot more. But I’d still rather shoot my old Speedmaster 241
You mean like my CZ 452 Full stock?
No logical reason for the full stock.
No improvement in accuracy (& possibly a decrease).
Absolutely no reason for a CZ 452 Full stock.
BUT when I saw my first one, I had to have one. As a side benefit, it shoots nice tiny little groups.
Firearms are part function, part beauty, and part passion.
Keep up the good work Og.
Roger
I’ve got a 20 ga in the cabinet AND I’ve got several boxes of slugs for the thing.
Dad used to go deer hunting in IL once in a while; this explains the slug cartridges and the slug barrel on that shotgun.
Nice to know that if I’m starving and need to poach a deer, I can do it without violating one of IL’s idiotic gun laws.
That CZ FS is a pretty damned rifle
Yep. Hunting deer in Illinois w a rifle is illegal. So nobody does it. Nope.
You wanna put in the time, we can work on your short game.
All it takes in practice. (and ammo)
I just love turning money and time into smoke and noise. And it helps my marksmanship.
I just got .380 dies….
When I HAVE the time!
I may well take you up on that, next year.
I’ve got the norinco clone of the browning. Got it from someone that did not know how to fix the thing. the adjustment on the break down point was off. That changes the head space which makes for many problems and one fix.
Had a speedmaster once. Damn fine gun. Love to find another.
Been counting the collection of late and I seem to have strayed well into the arsenal level. Damn.
Nobody hunts deer in Illinois with a crossbow at night either :)
NM AR15. 223 space guns. AR Carbine. GarandX4. 1903A3. Krag. Swede Mauser, German Mauser, K31, M1 CarbineX5. Argentine Mauser Carbine from 1891 X2 and 1909. Jap T44. SKS. Ruger #1/7X57 in full length stock. Suppresed 10/22.
I wish I had a Swede Krag Carbine and a Johnson 1941. I’d also like an NRA Sporter 1903 30-06. And a Swede Carbine in 6.5. Plus I guess you could force a Valmet on me just for show.
Those shotgun -only laws for deerhunting are just to harrass hunters. Disgusting.