With apologies to m. bach
A LOT of gunbloggers have discussed their gun cabinets, and what they carry, and what they have, and I look at the pile of rifles and shotguns I own, and think, if I buy one more rife, i’m:

a: going to have to sleep i the garage until I’m sixty, and
b: going to have to get another gun cabinet.

I’m less worried about “A” than most might imagine- and in fact, the ogwife likes to shoot as well, but we have other, pressing things to do around the Hamlet of Og before up-armoring.

All of which led me to think, I have a pretty full gun cabinet, does it have everything I need?

So I thought, what should every wellstocked gun cabinet contain? Here’s my list:

A 22 rifle. Hell, I have many of them- but you should have at least one. With the Cugirs coming into the states at $59, there’s almost no excuse. In fact, a Cugir is a good basic rifle. My dream rifle would be a Browning Auto 22, or a Remington 241 Speedmaster. Wait, I have a speedmaster.

A shotgun. A scattergun will cover a large percentage of north American game, and if you get a pump or an auto, you can get a slug barrel that will allow you all the rest. My personal favorites are the Remington 870, the browning Auto-5. Harder to find a slug barrel for an Auto 5, but not impossible. The Mossberg 500 field/deer combo is a solid, reliable pump which comes with the rifled slug barrel for under $250. Hard to beat.

A medium power centerfire rifle
You don’t need a lot of reach out and touch someone to take down a deer, or a coyote, or a badger, or any of the vermin you’re likely to encounter farming or ranching; a 30-30 lever action is a perfect choice. Fast, smooth, rugged, reliable. I have a Winnie 94. Marlin makes a bunch of fine rifles too. The Savage 99 rocked. THe Browning BLR rocks. I lke the winnie because, well, it’s a Winchester.

A higher powered centerfire rifle. If you intend to hunt anything that you can’t easily get close to, or something you don’t WANT to get close to, a cartridge beginning in a “3” with a designation anywhere from 30-06, to 300 win mag, to 375 h&h mag, is a good choice. these are NOT toys. These rifles are meant to bring the battle to the enemy, from a long way away. If I could choose only one,it would be an M14. I’m lucky enough to have several, and my favorite is an Interarms mark X mauser, custom made and barrelled to order for me.

Some states don’t allow high powered rifles for deer hunting, so you have to use a coalburner. I have a cap-and-ball percussion rifle made by Traditions for Charles Daley. it’s a nice rifle, but I would not reccomend it as a hunting weapon. If you go afield looking for a deer, and you want the rifle to go bang when you pull the trigger, buy an inline. Preferably one with shotgun-primer ignition. Save yourself the grief. The muzzleloader I lust after was made by David Pedersoli for Cabelas, and is a replica of the old Remington Rolling block. It’s around three hundred bucks, and worth every penny.

I like to think every gun cabinet should also have a 22 auto; I have a Ruger mark II. As Kim says, a 22 is a commodity.
I also think every home should have a 38 special or 357 revolver. I’m partial to the rugers, there.

Lastly, I think every wellstocked gun cabinet should have a large bore auto. A Glock or some similar modern firearm is a good choice- glocks aren’t pretty or classic but go bang every time you pull the trigger, which is the entire point. I’m always going to be partial to the 1911, but there’s something to be said for glock reliability and double-action convenience.

What’s in your ideal minimum gun cabinet?