Your Beater Guns

When the water fowl rules changed and I had to switch to steel, I retired my model 12 and bought a used 870 Remington. That shotgun had thousands of rounds put through it when my buddy owned it and I put many thousands through it as well. I put a new firing pin in it and that’s about it. It’s beat up a bit as duck guns get but she’s still as good as she ever was.

I take the gun I want to take, regardless of conditions. They can always be dried, cleaned, and relubed. The only question is will I be able to, or will I want to bother retrieving my brass? For those days when the answer is no, such as rainy, tall grass, in the snow, brutal cold/hot/buggy, and mixed bag shooting clinics, etc., I shoot (once) cheap steel cased ammo or mixmaster / end of life brass reloads.

With only a very few exceptions, my guns are used for the purpose I want to use them independent of weather or other environmental conditions. I have found that weather is rarely an issue if the firearm is well cared for before and after the exposure. I have never worried about damaging my guns with what I am doing.

Nothing's better than a firearm (tool) that is ugly from honest wear, it stands tribute to the success and trials its user(s) have overcome.

Yeah, I have a thing for cheap single barrels.

I have a Marlin 60 that came from the woods. It got lost by an amish boy who was trespassing and got bucked off of his horse, and we found it by running it over with a Jeep and I saw buttstock on the hood for a split second when it got slung. The Amish boys father refused to take the gun back so that his son would learn a lesson. It’s rough inside and out but it works now and is still accurate enough to pop a squirrel. 80% reliable unless using really hot ammo. Add to that my Phoenix hp22a. If it’s deer season I may grab my 16ga single with a slug in my pocket, shot in the chamber.

Remington 870 , but I don’t hunt when it’s raining anymore , but if I think it might rain I take the 870 .

Glad the rifle will be put to good use after its rescue. My problem is with the severity of the Amish dad's punishment. Obviously, it wasn't for losing the rifle when bucked off, which would be an accident.

Was this trespassing casual or deliberate or malevolent? Obviously it was on your property. Had the boy been warned? Or was it just that he thought the rifle was now junk?

I don't want to second-guess the Dad's decision, but I wondered why it was so severe.

Terry "I'm a Dad, too" 230RN

Armored farmer said:

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Yeah, I have a thing for cheap single barrels.

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Is that HR or Pardner? There is one of each at my LGS that catch my eye. I can get them for $150 each. Just tempted for a cheap gun

My BHP mk III and my cetme 308. Though I take care of them, they do get used roughly at times

I suppose my old Springfield/Stevens 12 gauge pump would fit in this lot.

Have had it the longest of all my guns, and its been a great one. Sure, it doesn't quite fit my shoulder/arm length, but I manage just fine.
Saved it from a dealer at a gunshow who was planning on cutting it down for a "home defense shotgun" if it didn't sell after this show. This was just right before the big scare of "Y2K" where
everyone was trying to sell everything and anything to ward off what might become of society after all the computers failed.....funny to look back on that now.

Mars5l said:

Is that HR or Pardner? There is one of each at my LGS that catch my eye. I can get them for $150 each. Just tempted for a cheap gun

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The top pic is a pardner shotgun.
The middle is a handi rifle in .204
The bottom is a sb2 slug gun.
I have a few others around here too......

230RN said:

Glad the rifle will be put to good use after its rescue. My problem is with the severity of the Amish dad's punishment. Obviously, it wasn't for losing the rifle when bucked off, which would be an accident.

Was this trespassing casual or deliberate or malevolent? Obviously it was on your property. Had the boy been warned? Or was it just that he thought the rifle was now junk?

I don't want to second-guess the Dad's decision, but I wondered why it was so severe.

Terry "I'm a Dad, too" 230RN

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It wasn’t my property but my buddies family farm. We found the gun and it had been through that small community that the gun was lost and if found please notify the family. We took it to them and had a good talk with the dad about where it was and how we found it. He got the boy out of the field and asked him if he had lost the gun by the pond as he originally said or in the woods across the road. He had apparently lied to cover up that he was on ground he had been told to stay off of, and now the story was out. He didn’t have much of a poker face to put it mildly and he caught a slap right on the spot. The father told us to keep the gun if we wanted it, but otherwise he would throw it in the pond. The punishment was harsh for “normal” standards, but it was pretty much what would be expected in the Amish community. The boy disobeyed, lied, and got caught in his lie. Furthermore, the lie was public so the fact that it was a lie would come out when the news that the gun was found came out, and would be serious dishonor to the father. The Amish don’t play those games, and that boy got a good lesson.

To add… we were on really good terms with the Amish in general. The reason they were to stay off of that farm was an old argument about property lines from a generation before. About 200 yards away I had turned the Amish back the winter before and I got a buggy out of a ditch when a young couple went off in the snowdrift. I sent them home to keep their horses safe, and the young couple got home with the horses but couldn’t get the buggy out. They have helped with various little things we were doing too, just not on THAT farm.

OK, that all makes sense. My son moved into an Amish area in Ohio and he's developing a respect for their methods of operation, although many of them still seem strange.

He's into all kinds of animal and ag husbandry and I dare not mention this to him, but I expect him to buy a horse and buggy within two more years.

Terry, 230RN

Weather is almost a non factor as long as it's wiped down and oiled at the end of the day. What's much more important is how banged up it's going to get in the bottom of a boat or back of a truck etc. A little bit of care can mitigate most of this though.

Im not intentionally rough on my gear, but Im also not inclined to leave anything at home just because of what it is.....so anything from my Christensens, BAR, etc will go hunting.
Tho i TRY to take one of the stainless and coated guns in the rain, and I specifically bought a Mesa to use as a loaner because of that.

JMHO- the guns and knives and stuff I'd
bought years back that I've been " afraid "
to use have been gradually going to new
homes for a while now.
I'd guess one could say that all my gear
could be referred to as " beater "

I guess I'd also need to add that anything
I have has to be functional and reliable

I'd take an AR15... They are a dime a dozen, I have several, spare parts are easy to come by, and they are easy to work on.

Mine is my Benelli Nova. I love my doubles, but that $400 gun has taken more game than any of them.

I have a couple, though I don't think of them as "beater" guns but let's say I'm not as concerned about cosmetic issues with them as I might be with some other guns. In other words they started out a little rough to begin with.

First up would be a Ruger Single Six given to me from a friend of mine who use to take it along when checking his trap lines. It was already fairly well worn when he got it originally and taking it along with him in all sorts of inclement weather didn't help matters either. I gave it a good cleaning when I got it, gave it a little TLC. with some Flitz, and got a new set of factory grips for it.

Next a slightly worn Manurhin P1 came to me by way of a trade at a gun show. It had been a police issued gun and the finish on it was somewhat worn but nothing really disconcerting. I got it mainly to have as a foul weather gun as I knew it be a very reliable and proven gun.

If by beater guns you mean: "trusted weapons that are used daily with little regard for cosmetic preservation",
then yeah, I have a couple
Springfield pump 12ga that has more scratches from barbed wire than cat's post.
Cz52 thats been caked in dust and waded through swamps, sometimes in the same day.
Ruger 10/22 carbine that actually still looks decent considering where it's been and how varmints it's put down from the seat of my tractor or Honda Foreman.

I do not have any cheap firearms but I use all of them. If the weather is nice, the wood stocks and shiny blue come out - inclement weather, the stainless and composite come out. I am too old to hunt hard anymore and range visits are easy on all firearms. I can say that all of my stuff still looks close to NIB and I like to keep them in that condition. I used to hunt with guys that seemed deliberately uncaring about their firearms - I did not really care as they were not my weapons but I find it too easy to be careful and avoid damage. It is always up to the owner in the end. I never understood damage or a lack of maintenance to any item, it is just too easy to take the time and care to keep anything in decent shape and long lasting. But again, abuse the crap out of it if you wish, you are the owner.

Steve S. said:

I do not have any cheap firearms but I use all of them. If the weather is nice, the wood stocks and shiny blue come out - inclement weather, the stainless and composite come out. I am too old to hunt hard anymore and range visits are easy on all firearms. I can say that all of my stuff still looks close to NIB and I like to keep them in that condition. I used to hunt with guys that seemed deliberately uncaring about their firearms - I did not really care as they were not my weapons but I find it too easy to be careful and avoid damage. It is always up to the owner in the end. I never understood damage or a lack of maintenance to any item, it is just too easy to take the time and care to keep anything in decent shape and long lasting. But again, abuse the crap out of it if you wish, you are the owner.

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I agree with some of your point. I have a model 94 that's hunted every year since 1983 and still looks new. But it hasn't waded the swamps, crossed the barbed wire fences, and made the boat rides that my old 12ga Springfield has.

I guess I have a few. For handguns, I have a Glock 23 gen 2 that goes to the woods and sometimes on the bike. I also have an old milspec Springfield 1911 that does some of this too, and a Ruger MK1 22 that mostly lives in my shed. There's also a Glock 17 well over the 100k round mark that only goes to the range and back. I have an old 20 gauge crack barrel that lives in the shed too, and rides on the 4 wheeler sometimes, and 2 of those H&R riot guns wal mart sold for about $140 that are 870 clones from china- 1 in my truck, 1 in my jeep. In the rifle arena, I have a S&W 22 AR that goes to the range and back as a trainer, and a AR 15 I built over 20 years ago that is on its 4th barrel that does the same thing. I guess it would be safe to call my Ruger RAR with its spray paint camo stock in 6.5 CM a "beater" hunting rifle, even though I really haven't ran it through the ringer- usually the worst thing I deal with deer hunting is some rain.

I have a brand new Ruger American that looks like it’s been trashed straight out of the box. Others would say it looks new.