There are several classes of firearms that absolutely blow me away and it is best if I try to avoid them. The first are military rifles and handguns in excellent condition at reasonable prices. These are quite rare today in this condition and price range so that danger is limited. Second are nice classic (older) shotguns in excellent condition and cheap. Here we do have a problem because the local market is being overrun with nice shotguns as older hunters give up hunting or give up the ghost and their nice scatterguns end up on the used gun racks in the shops that I visit. Finally, I have a fondness for nice used .22 l.r. rifles (bolt, semi-auto or pump) and they are plentiful and cheap right now. My only defense is to limit my trips to the local gun shops. Is anyone else so impacted? Let me know. All the best...
Gil

Gidday Gil. Like you I am a bit of a sucker for a nice old classic side by side 12 gauge shotgun and also ol school .22 rimfires. Nothing more satisfying than hunting bunnies with an old but serviceable s x s shottie or an old single shot .22 rimfire...mine came out of the factory here in Australia on 10 July 1946 and it's still dead accurate.

Right now I don't get to indulge in anything that costs money. I just laid out $7500 to heat and cool my shop and garage so until I get the bank account back where it belongs it is necessities only.
I do seem to have been drawn to shotguns in the past but right now I feel the need for more hand guns. I haven't been looking for anything other than reloading gear for some new reloaders and I did spend $90 on a Rock Chucker Plus press for one of the lucky young men. The rest I have been given or bought for very low prices in the past. Its nice to get people started in something they will enjoy for a long time.

well to be honest I cant really justify purchasing anymore as all the bases are covered and overlap......... on dream list is a Bakail SXS in .45/70 for a bush hobbit that has to be pretty close to perfect.

My weaknesses have always been Ruger #1s and 1911s. In the past I have had a habit of "adopting" neglected cartridges just to be different. I played with .17 Remingtons, .280 Remingtons, .250-3000, .257 Roberts, .300 Savage, .35 Remington as well as other cartridges before they made a resurgence in popularity. I also have a hard time passing up what one writer termed "gray rats" (interesting firearms that have been neglected and are in need of attention) to restore.

Elvis' SxS .45-70 sounds tempting...

I think I'm getting jaded. There's just nothing really grabbing my attention these days. I think part of the problem is that I'm not finding time to shoot any of them so it seems pointless to buy yet another expensive toy to sit in the case.

I'd like a couple of Rugers. Specifically a Blackhawk in 45 Colt and maybe a Redhawk in 44 magnum. I don't need them and I also like the stainless CZ75B too. But it will likely be a year before I can even consider any one of them seriously. Then there is another AR15, and an all custom large bore "sniper" rifle in 338 mag or maybe 50 BMG. Then I need to put a new barrel on the 3006 that I inherited from dad and a 10/22 all dressed in stainless and dark wood. Then....

Ok, if wishes were horses and all that but I am going to live a long time so I will get all my toys so I can give them to my grandkids when I can't use them anymore.

I suffered a bout of weakness yesterday due to a rainy day that cancelled my Range Officer shift so I drove to a favorite gun shop. After just looking around for a while, one of the clerks (that I have known for many years) asked me to look at a nice 20 gauge sxs made by Savage. It was a Model 5100 in excellent condition with a single non-selective trigger and was bored modified and full. What a beautiful gun so I plead poverty due to my retirement status. That worked. The clerk wanted to sell that shotgun and lowered the hang tag price by $30. I expressed my appreciation, but said it was still too expensive. He lowered the price another $30. I noticed that someone had attached a note to the shotgun with a name and address of someone from New Jersey who apparently wanted that shotgun. I caved-in and put the shotgun on layaway. I hate it when that happens. All the best...
Gil

Sharps Quigley 45-110 .. yeah... dream on..

gelandangan wrote:

Sharps Quigley 45-110 .. yeah... dream on..

you like these big cigars? A friend reloads them with BP and about 0,5 cm (bullet)grease between powder and bullet. He can shoot many times without cleaning between shots. The 'durt' remains soft.

so now you know how to use it you can go and look for one...



For me when a firearm can shoot, it's hard to resist. And when a firearm doesn't shoot anymore, the challenge is there to make it shoot again...

I have always wanted to restore one of those martini henry rifles of the movie "zulu" to mess around in the piney woods with.I would like to either rechamber or have it rebarreled to 45-70!Those guns just look like fun!I would hope that the action is tougher than an old trapdoor springfield that I have-as I am always having to download the ammo for it!

SingleShotLover wrote:

My weaknesses have always been Ruger #1s and 1911s.

Bingo! Love them red pad #1's!


-DallanC

I agree that a Ruger #1 is hard to resist. Many years ago I lusted for one in .280 Remington or .270 Winchester and never found one. The prices of new ones gave me chest pains so I scanned the used gun racks in several gun shops without success. One day, I came across a beautiful used Ruger #1 in .30-06 with a 3x - 9X scope and Redfield base and rings for $500. I caved in and put it on layaway. The rifle still rests in my gun safe. All the best...
Gil

All the stuff we can't have, ar15, Aug styres, barret .50 cal, Lithgow f90.
Ar10,
Etc

dhc4ever wrote:

All the stuff we can't have, ar15, Aug styres, barret .50 cal, Lithgow f90. Ar10, Etc