Corn-Picker
Member
As the title asks, where does aesthetics rank among your factors for choosing a rifle? It has become more important to me as I age, at this point I find something that fits my needs and then I tend to go with my heart. The Libertarian thinker Harry Browne talked about the "intellectual trap," that is trying to find the item that best meets your needs when simply meeting your needs is enough (and at which point you should worry about sex appeal rather than utility).
For instance, I know that the AR-15 is superior to the mini-14 in every way, but if the mini-14 meets my needs then I'll go with it because I much prefer a traditional wood stock over plastic and a pistol grip. Likewise, when I imagine passing down a hunting rifle to my kids or grandkids, it's easy to imagine passing down a wood-stocked Model 70 or CZ 527, but hard to imagine passing down the ugly (to me) plastic TC Dimension, even though it shoots better than the other two.
I'll probably always keep a few synthetic rifles, because sometimes it does rain for five days straight during a hunting trip, but I'm not as excited when I pull them out of the safe.
For instance, I know that the AR-15 is superior to the mini-14 in every way, but if the mini-14 meets my needs then I'll go with it because I much prefer a traditional wood stock over plastic and a pistol grip. Likewise, when I imagine passing down a hunting rifle to my kids or grandkids, it's easy to imagine passing down a wood-stocked Model 70 or CZ 527, but hard to imagine passing down the ugly (to me) plastic TC Dimension, even though it shoots better than the other two.
I'll probably always keep a few synthetic rifles, because sometimes it does rain for five days straight during a hunting trip, but I'm not as excited when I pull them out of the safe.