I tell myself (and my wife) that it’s not a sickness and my proclivity for new rifle purchases can easily be compared to a golfer and his bag of clubs. I explain that just as it takes different clubs to hit the golf ball accurately to suit the range of the hole the golfer is playing, the same holds true for hunters that hunt different game under varying conditions. Well…..sort of.
The truth of the matter (not that truth has anything to do with my desires) is that if need be I could easily whittle my long arms down to two rifles and a shotgun. OMG! What am I saying? Yeah….it’s true, I could probably do that. I never would, but I probably could.
Paring down the rifle locker makes perfectly good sense. Taking into account the many bullet choices available to reloaders today, one can reduce the number of rifles owned by tailoring the rounds of a particular caliber to a variety of game. Taking that fact into consideration, I could indeed keep and shoot just two rifles. Hmmmmmm, maybe I’d hold on to my Howa .243 (with a faster twist) and my AR in 6.5 Grendel.
Uhhhh…no, maybe my 223 AR and my Grendel. But the Kimber .308 and my Husky/Mauser 30-06 would be good to have too. They both offer varied bullet weights and versatile loadings. Oops, I almost forgot my Tikka 25-06 that dropped those Antelopes like a brick. Now that’s one rifle I would not want to do without. Hmmmmmm…..but wait…what about my light calibers. Yeah, my CZ in .17 Remington really kicks butt with those 30-grain Berger hollow points jamming at 4200-fps. It liquefies coyotes. And it is such a fun rifle to shoot. Yikes, I can’t forget my Howa in .204 Ruger. That’s another one that really is fun to shoot. Dang, but how could I ever give up my Tikka T3 in 22-250. It is such a sweet shooter and what could be more versatile than the trusty, classic 22-250 caliber.
OK, let’s see….plinking, we all love plinking. Well that’s .22LR territory for sure. I gotta keep one of those handy. Ok then, the 10-22 is a keeper. Plus, I have so much money in that stupid 10-22, I can’t afford to sell it. Sure, but that Marlin in 17 HMR has got to be one of the most accurate and fun rifles I own. How could I part with it?
Come to think of it, my C&R rifles are really worth holding on to also. The Enfields in .303 British really have some smack-down power. My Enfields in .308 kick butt too. Even the Nagants in 7.62X54 Russian can slam a deer well. In a pinch, what military rifle is more versatile than my old M1-Carbine. I could never part with that. Nor could I give up that old, collector’s classic 8MM Mauser with Nazi markings.
You’ve heard the saying, “Beware of the man with only one rifle”. Because of the fact that he owns only one means that he knows its limitations and shoots it very well. Amen to that. Maybe I’ll only keep one rifle and wring all the accuracy I can out of it. One man, one rifle. Yeah….that’s it. Just like the saying goes. NOT!!!
I can assure you that any suggestions that I sell off some of my arms would be met with laughter. Why….because they’re fun and I enjoy each and every one of them. They all have individual character, shooting characteristics and memories attached to them. Nope, I ain’t selling even one of them. Come to think of it, they may be a gittin’ lonely fer some new company. I don’t own one of them there short, fat calibers yet. I may just have to amble down to my buddy’s store and have a look see. Not that I need one….dang…here come the Zombies again.
No comments:
Post a Comment