.38 Special
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- Joined
- Sep 15, 2006
- Messages
- 7,371
@Huntolive's thread "Buying new guns" got me to thinking a bit about what, out of my collection, I really couldn't do without. It's a short list:
A carry piece might be most important, and that would be my S&W Model 19 in .357.
The gun closest to my heart, though, is probably a plain-jane Ruger Flattop Bisley in .44 Special. It's pretty close to stock, but with firelapping and a top-notch action job it is screamingly accurate and is one of those guns that just begs to get taken along to the range or field. I really ought to send that one out for engraving - I'd just hate to be away from it for so long!
And of course, no handgunner should be without a good .22. As a revolver man I'm tempted to choose one of the S&W wheelguns, but the Model 41 is just too good to be left behind.
On the rifle side, another .22 has to be included, and that's a tough choice. I sure do like my pump and lever guns, but again, accuracy speaks. The Remington 541T-HB is another sleeper: average quality in every way, but shockingly accurate and with a perfect trigger.
And then a matched pair of Ruger "Express" rifles would round out the rifle side. If I can't do it with a .30-'06 and a .416 Rigby, it can't be done by me.
So it looks like half-a-dozen guns would do the job, at least on the centerfire side. There's a shotgun I'd really like to hang on to, and at least three blackpowder guns I'd be unhappy without, but it's still fewer than a dozen guns that I "need". Considering that there was a time when - like many here - I had more than a hundred guns laying around and couldn't wait to buy more, it's quite a shift in mindset.
Would you/could you whittle down? And what could you not live without?
A carry piece might be most important, and that would be my S&W Model 19 in .357.
The gun closest to my heart, though, is probably a plain-jane Ruger Flattop Bisley in .44 Special. It's pretty close to stock, but with firelapping and a top-notch action job it is screamingly accurate and is one of those guns that just begs to get taken along to the range or field. I really ought to send that one out for engraving - I'd just hate to be away from it for so long!
And of course, no handgunner should be without a good .22. As a revolver man I'm tempted to choose one of the S&W wheelguns, but the Model 41 is just too good to be left behind.
On the rifle side, another .22 has to be included, and that's a tough choice. I sure do like my pump and lever guns, but again, accuracy speaks. The Remington 541T-HB is another sleeper: average quality in every way, but shockingly accurate and with a perfect trigger.
And then a matched pair of Ruger "Express" rifles would round out the rifle side. If I can't do it with a .30-'06 and a .416 Rigby, it can't be done by me.
So it looks like half-a-dozen guns would do the job, at least on the centerfire side. There's a shotgun I'd really like to hang on to, and at least three blackpowder guns I'd be unhappy without, but it's still fewer than a dozen guns that I "need". Considering that there was a time when - like many here - I had more than a hundred guns laying around and couldn't wait to buy more, it's quite a shift in mindset.
Would you/could you whittle down? And what could you not live without?
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