Where has all the bluing gone?

[AJD]

Tis true that blued guns and nice wood don't stand up to as much abuse.

However...

I worn blued finish and a wood stock with a nice grain and some wear on it will still look 100x better than mint condition matte black finish and plastic stock. Just my 2 cents.

 

[TX1911fan]

Caimlas, I'm not much of a hunting rifle person either, but I was in the market for something big for a hunt in Alaska next year. When I picked this up, I just couldn't let it go. I got a good deal on it, comparitively speaking, so I got it. It shoots like a dream. I can tell it is recoiling hard, as it is a 300 Win Mag, but I can't really feel it. The ergonomics and recoil reduction of the gun are fantastic. I've now got my scope on, so I'm off to the range tomorrow to sight it in and see how she groups.

 

[redneck2]

I had a chance to buy a NIB Browning 12 gauge auto, maybe 1960's vintage about three years back. I mean NIB, never even removed from the packaging. Could get it for about $700 IIRC. My local dealer said it was an OK deal, nothing special. I about flipped.

Dealer says new buyers want stainless and plastic. Something they don't have to take care of or worry about.

Pride of ownership is pretty much gone. Everything now is disposable or something you don't really have to take care of.

 

[cracked butt]

Tis true that blued guns and nice wood don't stand up to as much abuse.

However...

I worn blued finish and a wood stock with a nice grain and some wear on it will still look 100x better than mint condition matte black finish and plastic stock. Just my 2 cents.

Agreed to a point- especially the second point.

It depends on what one defines as abuse?
If abuse means dragging it down a muddy gravel road behind a 4-wheeler and then leaving it lay out in the snow for a week at deer camp or for a person who doesn't pay much attention to care and maintenance an synthetic stocked stainless gun might be the best for them. If a person takes reasonable care and doesn't outright abuse a rifle, it will last for generations and still look good. The Remington 700 that I pictured has been used every year for deer hunting for nearly 40 years (first by my dad, then by me) it has a few scratches and dings in it, but then again it has been used in driving tag alder marshes, tamarack swamps, and thick stands of young poplar trees more times than I can count, and Its been used plenty of times in the rain. Rust has never touched it. The model 12 that sits in the cabinet at my grandmother's house was used by my grandfather for decades- he hunted waterfowl every possible day of every season for decades- the gun looks a bit worn but is still beautiful. I really feel that the 'weather resistant' idea of rifles is really vastly overblown- they may have their uses in salt marshes and along coastal areas, but for the most part don't offer any real advantages.

Most guns simply don't get enough hard use toeven begin to worry about wood stocks being damaged or blueing ruined.

 

[cracked butt]

Dealer says new buyers want stainless and plastic. Something they don't have to take care of or worry about.

Pride of ownership is pretty much gone. Everything now is disposable or something you don't really have to take care of.

Could be that guns are actually cheap.

A Winchester Model 70 or Browning A-5 might have cost a working man a month's salary at one time, but something like a Benelli nova, or a remington 710 can be bought with a week's pay from Burger King.