Upgrading in quality vs. number of firearms

[Calvin45]

In the process of doing the same. I had fun trying a lot of different things, but now just want a few that I know shoot well, feel nice in the hand, and bring me joy.

Decluttering is really nice and having your few favorite rifles ready to go with ammo at hand is a pleasure. It's a work in process, but I'm settling in on a 6.5 and 300 prc for my go to cartridges, with a 17HMR, 22lr, 223 and 375 H&H for special occasions

I trimmed down my collection and sold off some rifles I was in fact quite fond of but realized I'd never really use and were redundant in my collection. Sold off the .257 wby, .358 Norma mag, and 8mm Mauser. Love them all but when push comes to shove anything I'd use any of those for i realize I just prefer my .300 win mag. It's my everything gun.


I do have a bolt gun .270 and a savage 99 .243 that don't see much use but are important to me for sentimental reasons and will make great hunting rifles for my kids when they're just a bit older. And a few other .22s. But at present my main battery can be boiled down to 5 main long guns.

1. Ruger 10/22 stainless synthetic takedown rifle. 22lr . If forced to bug out in a SHTF scenario with only one gun, this is my gun. A pure survival weapon. Reliable as all hell, and with a .22 you can carry thousands of rounds no problem. Useful for a little bit of everything. Easy to fit in a backpack or roll up in a sleeping bag.


2. Benelli mr1 tactical, .223 rem. About the only true "combat" weapon I have that isn't just a hunting gun that could nonetheless be used very combatively haha.

3. Savage 111 long range hunter, .300 win mag. The most accurate firearm I own. My "everything" rifle.

4. Winchester M70 safari express, 450 Ackley. Honestly the way I see it now that I have this beast is that if the .300 win mag ACTUALLY isn't enough gun or doesn't make me feel confident, ima get close to whatever the heck it is and absolutely STOMP it with the elephant gun haha. I no longer have a real perceived need or want for any of the .33-41 cal medium bores. Again, if a .300 win isn't enough power you're obviously dealing with something very serious and worthy of the biggest stick you can hit it with IMO. This is my big stick

5. Benelli Supernova 3.5" 12 guage goose gun, 28 inch pipe. No functional firearm lineup is complete or whole without a full size 12 guage shotgun. Enough said.

In the future the gaps i still see that will likely be filled will be for a short tactical type shotgun and an accurate varmint gun, maybe a .223 or honestly maybe a savage 17HMR heavy barrel.

 

[USAFRet]

Definitely keep any for your sons kids!!!
I was given one from a brother-in-law who then passed yrs later I was able to give to my nephew and it really meant something to him.
i have some that may not be most expensive or fancy(browning blrs and similar) but I'm going to keep them since they came from good friends who passed one and wanted me to have them.

I wish I could. He didn't have any children. Thank you.

 

[USAFRet]

I think the first thing I am going to look at doing is selling my Ruger American 6.5 CM and my CVA Cascade 6.5 CM and getting a Tikka Roughtech in the same caliber.

 

[waspocrew]

I'd much rather have quality over quantity any day.

 

[comfisherman]

Have done 2x really big culls, one so big a few friends called to make sure I was doing alright... but inevitably something catches my fancy and it's hard to rationalize custom on everything that's interesting.

Went through a pelt saving varmint hunting phase, rotated through a couple factory guns simultaneously. Think my last 22-250, 204, and 17 hornet cost less than the barreled action on my last custom. When one makes a clear lead over the others I'll likely sell or give away the others ans build whatever the favorite was.

Sometimes it's nice have the rifle equivalent to a 10 year old silver honda civic. Not always practical to put miles on a rip snorting custom.

Have a couple really nice guns, probably the only ones I need. The rest are toys that come and go, or fill the roll of range toys.

 

[FEENIX]

I have had a problem for a while with always buying inexpensive bargains. It is something that 20 years as an enlisted Airman that has been hard to shake. By the time I get all my stuff and upgrade, I could have bought a nice mid-tier rifle. Then, when I find a deal, I buy another one or two budget firearms in the same caliber. So, besides a very few custom rifles and pistols, I have a butt load of $500 and less bolt guns and handguns. Plus, I reload and it is almost hard to keep up with working loads out for all of them. I do fairly well now, and I feel like I want to cull the stable for a few nicer firearms.

Anyone else who wants to or has done the same? Please share your thoughts.

Like you, I am a retired USAF and am working on my second retirement from the civil service. My firearms inventory has a pretty good mix of full-custom, semi-custom, and quality factory rifles, shotguns, and handguns. Some of the older/cheaper rifles have been repurposed as DIY projects. So, I guess I have not slowed down, maybe a bit.

It's a personal choice; you do not need anyone's approval on whichever route you take. Good luck and have fun with it.

 

[skipglo]

You can go broke finding "good deals"

You need to decide what you'll be happy with and stick to it. Otherwise you'll be upgrading forever.

Nothing wrong with upgrading for life! He who dies with the most toys....Wins! ( Or at least...that's what I tell my wife!)

 

[RB II]

I have several heirloom type rifles that will never leave.

I have some nice custom rifles, two are very close in usage/ so I may re-barrel one to reduce that overlap. Then I have a bunch of less expensive rifles but all of which are very accurate. So hard to get rid of those. Lately I have been loading some light for caliber bullets and having lots of fun making new rifles out of older ones.

Someone mentioned a 10 year old silver Honda Civic rifle. I have a couple of those that are dedicated range/practice rifles. They shoot really well and are easy/cheaper to load for with very long barrel life.

I have two or three that I intend to sell as they just never get shot. Not "bad" or super cheap but just not often shot.

 

[Frank in the Laurels]

...in a hunting rifle I've found very little need to buy anything but El cheappo deluxe bolts...most big game have a vital area ranging in size from a volleyball to a beachball and I've never seen a mass production bolt that couldn't but a bullet into it out to 300 yards and honestly the vast majority of hunters ever shoot farther than that. No dead big game animal ever knew whether that bullet came from a $300 rifle or $5'000 rifle..as the say the difference between boys and men is the price of their toys.

 

[BenelliHunter]

I try to stay off the classifieds anymore. I had one gun safe, then two then a 14x16 vault and then that became small. Sold all the cheap ones to upgrade, upgraded but replaced them all 3-1. Now as I just tipped past 50 I am looking at many college years of education for the kids just sitting there as I am afraid to send a bullet down range for fear of not being able to replace it one day in the future.

 

[Mark37082]

I've been in the upgrade mode line of thinking for the past several years. At one time I prescribed to the "more is better" in my firearms. Now I have no problem letting things go. When I started reloading not too long ago, I found myself adding components of different types like a mad man. Always wanting to try something different. Just like rifles and handguns, it really did not make much sense to keep chasing my tail.

 

[unclecroc]

I try to only buy heirloom quality guns. I appreciate the craftsmanship and I enjoy the pride of ownership of having higher quality and unique guns. Every budget gun I've ever owned turned into someone else's no matter how good it shot.
Just my .02 cents. Nothing wrong with budget guns, I can't blame a guy for buying budget guns nowadays.

 

[Greyfox]

The older I got the greater the shift from quantity to quality….Not always as easy as it sounds due to a variety of factors…ie. experiences/nostalgia, personal appeal, specific use, etc. etc….

A valuable philosophy that I learned the hard way….

 

[ButterBean]

Me personally, I'd rather have 5 high quality firearms vs 20 cheap ones!

That is my direction as well.

I could care less what brand or what they look like, accuracy is all that matters to me