Do you name your rifles?

[hydehunter]

I had a Rem 700 re barreled and chambered to a 458 Lott and it was called "The Beast"

 

[tmmcampbell]

I only name the female guns. The male guns don't need a name.

 

[Jacobs]

I kind of have to.
I keep load notebooks and targets throughout a barrels life. Even when the barrel is shot out I'll keep the notes for future reference. Every time I rebarrel an action I have to use a different name ( 270wsm, 270sm, M270wsm...)
Maybe I should just go with old girlfriend names and be done with it.

Yep ! I tried naming after old girlfriends, but eventually got more rifles than old girlfriends. So I either had to get more old girlfriends or sell some rifles.

 

[Jacobs]

Over time my guns eventually earn or just acquire a name. Not all of em. Just the special ones. Have a Springfield trap door carbine named Geronimo, (Observe picture) a Winchester named "Cody", a Marlin 45-70 named Thumper, a pair of Colt pistols so far called the Brothers, an AK that has been fired so much that the wood caught fire I am thinking of naming it "Stud", and an old and very full of Character Remington coach gun affectionately called "Muffin" !!!!!

 

[Martin@Hin]

I have a Weatherby in 378.
Its name is" One only"
The rifle was bought 35 years ago at a garage sale, with it came a box of cartridges 19 loaded one empty case.
The owner said to much gun.
My friend Dennis bought it with the intent to do something with it but he never did.
For 34 years I have hounded him to sell me the rifle.
Last month Dennis came over and handed me the rifle with the words " here you can have the **** rifle" and refusing any payment.
The gun is now well known to all gun owners in my small town.
I'll keep the gun and the ammo box as they are ,and yes she is a meany
Thanks Dennis

 

[BallisticsGuy]

I have a Weatherby in 378.
Its name is" One only"
The rifle was bought 35 years ago at a garage sale, with it came a box of cartridges 19 loaded one empty case.
The owner said to much gun.
My friend Dennis bought it with the intent to do something with it but he never did.
For 34 years I have hounded him to sell me the rifle.
Last month Dennis came over and handed me the rifle with the words " here you can have the ---- rifle" and refusing any payment.
The gun is now well known to all gun owners in my small town.
I'll keep the gun and the ammo box as they are ,and yes she is a meany
Thanks Dennis

Reminds me of an article in what I think was American Rifleman (probably something else similar) from an absolute coon's age ago. Some kid bought himself a .375H&H and was going to hunt some kind of American deer like thing with it. Apparently he shot it one time and found himself suddenly and utterly disenchanted with the thing and he then sold it at a huge loss to the eventual writer of the article. I gather the author of the article knew exactly what he was getting into while the kid only thought he did.

When I was young I won a double rifle in .600NE and just under 100 rounds of ammo from my dad. He'd won it in the same way as I did, only a couple decades earlier. The way we both had won it was to shoot it from the shoulder twice in 5 minutes. We're not a family of big guys by any stretch so what the bet amounted to was, "Hey, if this doesn't fold you into a human taco, it's yours." I thought I wanted it because it was cool as heck and worth more money than I'd seriously thought I'd ever own. I never fired it again after that day, nor as far as I know has anyone else. In the end that rifle was sold.

Something that strikes me is that the person my dad won it from must have had something of a love hate relationship with it to have put it on the betting table in the first place which suggests to me that he thought he knew what he was getting into but perhaps changed his mind later on.

This all brings to the fore a mental picture of a fine double rifle with an elegant minimum of delicate engraving whose entire life history amounts to little more than a game of hot potato. Kinda sad.

 

[Bob Wright]

The only gun I named purposely using the first two characters of the serial number. "RR" as it also known as my "Retirement Rifle" which I built right about that time.
I guess I could name all by the first couple of characters of the serial number. One is just "The Mauser". One is "Crowbar", as it has seen better days as a shotgun. One is the "Walker Gun" as I bought from my friend Jim Walker. I just kind of accidentally named them to confer people back to this or that gun so they would know which one I was talking about at camp.

 

[YZ-80]

As I recall, Private Pyle in "Full Metal Jacket" named his rifle, "Charlene". I've only named one of mine. My RRA Varmint A-4 is named "Painless". Inspired by Jessie Ventura in the movie Predator. Nothin' like being out on a chuck hunt with a plug of Redman, glassin' the field and repeating to myself: "C-mon out, old Painless is waitin"

 

[Martin@Hin]

Reminds me of an article in what I think was American Rifleman (probably something else similar) from an absolute coon's age ago. Some kid bought himself a .375H&H and was going to hunt some kind of American deer like thing with it. Apparently he shot it one time and found himself suddenly and utterly disenchanted with the thing and he then sold it at a huge loss to the eventual writer of the article. I gather the author of the article knew exactly what he was getting into while the kid only thought he did.

When I was young I won a double rifle in .600NE and just under 100 rounds of ammo from my dad. He'd won it in the same way as I did, only a couple decades earlier. The way we both had won it was to shoot it from the shoulder twice in 5 minutes. We're not a family of big guys by any stretch so what the bet amounted to was, "Hey, if this doesn't fold you into a human taco, it's yours." I thought I wanted it because it was cool as heck and worth more money than I'd seriously thought I'd ever own. I never fired it again after that day, nor as far as I know has anyone else. In the end that rifle was sold.

Something that strikes me is that the person my dad won it from must have had something of a love hate relationship with it to have put it on the betting table in the first place which suggests to me that he thought he knew what he was getting into but perhaps changed his mind later on.

This all brings to the fore a mental picture of a fine double rifle with an elegant minimum of delicate engraving whose entire life history amounts to little more than a game of hot potato. Kinda sad.

 

[Martin@Hin]

Hello Sir
I like to clarify something on my post.
Although I intend to keep the box of ammo as is as well as the rifle as is ,rest assured the rifle will be a active member of my armory lol.
I found the recoil to a bit more abrupt than my 338 RUM a bit less than the Rigby or my braked 500AS.
I will hunt with this rifle(225 Barnes)
and plink with it when camping with hard cast bullets at 3" slaps of wood as they float by in the river.
Its therapeutic.
Martin

 

[Vinootz]

My daughter and I were talking about one of my rifles this weekend, and she was confusing it with another one I own. I realized that I was always referring to them by one of the following
1. Manufacturer
2. Caliber
3. Cartridge

I thought I need to give them some real names.

How many of you give pet names to your rifles? Let's hear about "old Bertha" or whatever pet names you have!

I have great affection for the world of firearms and the 2nd Amndmnt. But it hasn't reached that level. lol If I were with someone I'd be like: pass me the big nickel revolver ;or remember the dark brown rifle ?; or give me the camo stainless over there. Assuming they are not as familiar with my firearms as I am. If someone I was conversing with could not differentiate(as in your case), I wouldn't bother myself. Of course no problem if you choose to. I wish my wife was as interested in knowing my collection as your daughter is in yours. But to respond on topic I just call all of them my babies.lol

 

[J E Custom]

My daughter and I were talking about one of my rifles this weekend, and she was confusing it with another one I own. I realized that I was always referring to them by one of the following
1. Manufacturer
2. Caliber
3. Cartridge

I thought I need to give them some real names.

How many of you give pet names to your rifles? Let's hear about "old Bertha" or whatever pet names you have!

I find that most people name there favorite rifle while others are referred to by cartridge. Some times a rifle has a special place in your mind and deserves a good name. Some have simple names based on performance.

If you name your rifle, some may consider you a Red Neck Others think it is normal. So do what you want and let the rifles performance
convince the non believers that it deserved and earned a name.

Sometimes a name describes a rifle better that a cartridge. (I have such a rifle named 'Spare Parts') that sums it up pretty good because I built it using parts from 4 different rifles that had major problems with them and were kept for salvageable parts.

So yes, many name there rifles and it does add to the conversation when we talk about them.

PS: I might be a Red Neck.

J E CUSTOM

 

[Jacobs]

I find that most people name there favorite rifle while others are referred to by cartridge. Some times a rifle has a special place in your mind and deserves a good name. Some have simple names based on performance.

If you name your rifle, some may consider you a Red Neck Others think it is normal. So do what you want and let the rifles performance
convince the non believers that it deserved and earned a name.

Sometimes a name describes a rifle better that a cartridge. (I have such a rifle named 'Spare Parts') that sums it up pretty good because I built it using parts from 4 different rifles that had major problems with them and were kept for salvageable parts.

So yes, many name there rifles and it does add to the conversation when we talk about them.

PS: I might be a Red Neck.

J E CUSTOM

Mr. Custom, I hope you don't mind but I think you just named another rifle for me. I have a Winchester 22 short gallery gun that I bought for $25 years ago. It was only the receiver barrel and magazine. Missing tube buttstock, carrier, buttplate, mag tube, and some other stuff. Over the years I slowly wrangled enough parts to make it complete. Almost a 10 year effort. If you don't mind me copying you, I think I'll just name him "PARTS".

 

[Flatbow]

My Son has a Longbow that I built for him out of extra wood that I had laying around the shop when I use to build custom traditional bows. We named it "Junk yard dog".
But it is a beautiful bow though!