[Marko Kloos]

So I am sitting at lunch with a friend today, contemplating my next rifle purchase. Things have changed on the employment front, and I may be able to treat myself to a new toy in another month or two.

I found myself pondering what to buy with $800-ish, and for some reason my first thought wasn't "evil black rifle", it was "nice bolt-action in the Remington 700 class, .308 caliber, with a very decent scope on top."

The only self-loading rifle that even rings my chimes at the moment is an M1 Garand.

Am I getting too old, or what?

[ShaiVong]

Not old, just reehaw!

[Dave P]

Prolly true, but you are also gettting smarter! Many evil black rifles are good for spray-and-pray and are kinda fun, but as Cooper (AFAIK) said it: the only interesting rifle is an accurate one!

[Larry Ashcraft]

Well, I must be getting old too. As much fun as it is to shoot my semi-autos, I would much rather drop a coyote at 450 yards with one well -placed shot from my blued, walnut stocked, scoped 25-06.

[sm]

Nope.

Seasoned, voice of experience, maturity, practical, smart...terms come to mind.

C.I.T. (curmudgeon in training) myself ;)

[T.Stahl]

No, you don't need to worry.
My brother isn't even 25 and his first rifle is a completely un-tactical Rem 700 VSSF.

I think what you're going through is called "diversification". ;)
One can get bored of tactical firearms if that's all one sees.

[Ringer]

If so you are not alone. Craving a 700 or something similar in .308 myself.

Maybe this one wouldn't make us feel so old!

http://www.remingtonle.com/images/rifle/700ptws1.jpg

The TWS package includes a Leupold® Vari-X™ III (3.5 x 10) scope with a Duplex™ reticle and flip-open lens covers. A Harris bipod, a Michaels 1" Quick Adjust™ sling with swivels, a rugged Pelican® hard case, and sample of Remington gun care products to round out the system. It's only available in .308 Win./26"BBL.

Kinda doubt this would meet the $800 criteria though.

[El Tejon]

You've just been in the Land of Orange too long.:D

[Schuey2002]

You've just been in the Land of Orange too long.
Too old? Nah! "You've just been" hangin' around Tamara "too long".. :D

[308win]

If you can find one you can get a 700BDL with the R5 barrel and synthetic stock in 308WIN for around 750 + tax. (They are available when Rem runs a batch for Army contract.) I have one and it is a nice shooting rifle. The only problem is the stock is short. I haven't weighed it but it will definitely get you in shape if you haul it around. I have added a set of UM's milspec QD swivels, a Springfield Armory 1 1/4" sling, Leupold bases and rings (for the time being) and a Sightron 4X16X42 mildot. Gun will shoot 3/8" groups all day and isn't fussy about loads (at least hasn't been yet).

[Steve Smith]

Should be attributed to Col. Whelen, not Col. Cooper.

[Navy joe]

Nope, you'll know you are too old when you take a healthy interest is blackpowder benchrest and bullseye pistol. ;)

[El Tejon]

Former lend, congrats on the new gig! A man's got only one job, that's to work. That darn wagon.:)

Steve is correct about Uncle Jeff. It was Uncle Jeff citing the other good Col.

[Blain]

Am I getting old and cranky?


Yes

[NapAttack]

Yes, but it's sure better than the alternative.Nope, you'll know you are too old when you take a healthy interest is blackpowder benchrest and bullseye pistol. OH MY GOD!!! I am getting old then. I've been looking more and more at bullseye lately. At least I'm not interested in blackpowder benchrest yet. Does .22 rimfire benchrest count?

My wife keeps telling me that my 49th birthday is coming up in September. I don't believe it. I know she's lyyyyyiiiiinnnnngggg on meeeeeee! I'm too young to be 49.

[ed dixon]

Am I getting too old, or what?

Well, luckily, the answer is no. I've got nine candles on you and continue to be as hip, withit and groovy as ever.

[T.Stahl]

Oh, and didn't Heinlein say something about specialisation and that it should be for insects only? ;)

[Chugach]

Naawwwwwwwhhhh. Just maturing and growing wiser.

[Byron Quick]

I'm actually mellowing...I was young and cranky:D

Don't know what to tell you.

I buy a Browning BAR. Next a HK91. Then an AR15. Next is a Remington 700PSS .300 Win Mag. Then a SKS. Next is a sweet Carolina Precision Rifle built on a 1909 Argentine Mauser action in .35 Whelen...curly maple stock. Then a Reminton PSS .308 and a Parker Hale 7MM. Then a Springfield 1903 MkI and a 98k Mauser. Forgot to mention a M1A and a Marlin Guide Gun in there somewhere. BRNO 602ZKK .458 Win Mag. My rifle buying doesn't follow a pattern except that they're all darn fine rifles.

Thinking about a smokepole:D

[Sven]

If you don't have a Garand yet, you've definitely got at LEAST one more rifle to buy.

http://www.imageseek.com/sven/win-13/top_.jpg

[Dave T]

Marko,
I am old and cranky and I've been thinking about a long range 308 bolt gun. What does that tell you???

[Mike Irwin]

Why wait until you're old?

Be like Mike! :)

[Schuey2002]

" Sometimes I dream...That he is me. . . Like Mike.. If could be like Mike!!"

:D

[Mike Irwin]

" Sometimes I dream...That he is me. . . Like Mike.. If could be like Mike!!"


Hey, look, you little whippersnapper puke, that wasn't put up for YOUR edification!

:neener:

[duckfoot]

Was once told "Youth and speed are no match to skill and experience." at a trap club by a man with one gun.


duck

[Soap]

I think its completely normal. Ninja toys can keep a man warm for only so long. Now beauty, craftsmanship, etc., that is good for the long term.

[Schuey2002]

Hey, look, you little whippersnapper puke, that wasn't put up for YOUR edification!

It was a joke, Mike. And NO! I didn't post that for my "edification"..

Besides, if you feel the need to call me a "puke", do you think that you could at least have the common courtesy to send it via a PM next time??!

[Mike Irwin]

Schuey!

What do you think this was supposed to mean -- :neener:

It meant that I was posting my response a JOKE.

I recognized yours for what it was, and responded in turn.

What other response would a curmudgeon give?

[Tamara]

Old and cranky is when you're looking at a few of your FBPP's and thinking "You know, I could buy a buttload of exotic, cool and funky old milsurps if I sold those things..." :uhoh:

[Atticus]

It's funny how you're apprecation for "mature" qualities increases as you get more mature yourself. My heart used to race at the site of tactical black Ninja toys- but now I look at a pre-64 Winchester bolts, or lever action cowboy .22's and get the same feeling. If I could put nice Walnut stocks, and a lusterous blue finish on my AR, I probably would. I think you gain a better appreciation of what life once was, and get more nostalgic, as you get older.

[Ky Larry]

Why can't you enjoy shooting both? I do.

[Tamara]

Speaking only for myself, it's not that I don't enjoy shooting both (I do) but that I collect guns and have just lost my enthusiasm for collecting Flat Black People Poppers. An old Mauser or Mannlicher-Schoenauer or Springfield is an honest-to-Wodan Piece Of History. It has a story, it may have been used in combat, it has decades of history soaked into its wood furniture along with the cosmoline. While I like my EBR's just fine, the fact remains that my Daewoo or Beretta are just commercial replicas of military service rifles. They shoot just fine, and I guess I like 'em okay, but they don't really fit in the mileu of my personal collection anymore. That Daewoo could be turned into three or four or five good Mausers or Enfields. The Beretta is worth enough that I could go hunting for Siamese or Persian Mausers, Ljungmanns or FN-49's, or pretty much any other milsurp I wanted if I cashed it in.

I've pretty much decided that I like and use my HK enough to keep it, my AK stays because every collection needs one, and I need to pick up an AR, but the funkier guns deserve to go to someone who collects and appreciates them, rather than sitting here gathering cobwebs.