The rifles you buy when you're young and stupid

[Mills]

I think Sheryl Crow's song goes: "It's not getting what you want, it's wanting what you got."

Well, I currently own three rifles– two of which I wish I didn't. Not because they aren't nice rifles. But because they don't fit my style of hunting.

The rifles I speak of are my Remington .25-06 Sendero with a Nikon 3-9x40 and my Sako 75ss 7mmSTW with a Zeiss 5-15x42T. I wish I could slam these two together and get one rifle I THINK I'd be happy with (at least at this point in my life). Here's what I mean:

I love the .25-06 caliber for deer and antelope. Just not in the Sendero package. It's a great shooter, but it's just too big and heavy to carry all day. On the other hand, I love the feel/balance of my Sako STW, I just don't like the caliber. Don't know why I ever thought I needed a magnum. Ah to be 20 something again.

So now (at 40), I own two very nice rifles (that I worked and saved my butt off for) (and that most people would love to own) that I'm not perticlularly fond of.

I guess I would like to have a lightweight custom rifle that wasn't a magnum that I could use primarily for antelope, deer and once in a blue moon elk. I'd top it with Leupold 3-9x40.

Is it possible to use theses two rifles to purchase a new one...without getting bent over? Has anyone ever done this? Do custom gun builders ever take guns/scopes in trade on another? Is this all just stupid?

I'd appreciate any thoughts any of you might have, or any similar experience you've went through to get your ultimate rifle. And what is it?

Thanks for letting me whine.

[gspsonny03]

Mills, trading guns to a dealer is kind of like taking your car to trade for a new one. Not very profitable. Yes it can be done, but don't expect to much out of it. You would be better off selling them on your own or having someone sell them for you at a gun show. Sometimes a gun dealer will sell your gun for you on consignment, but even doing that you ususally have to pay him for doing it. Put a pic of them up on the swap forum here and see if anybody is interested. You might be surprised. Luck to you.

[M.T. Pockets]

I've traded guns in the past, you're trading in wholesale at best, and buying retail. Can't blame the gun dealers, they are running a business and need to keep the doors open. Personally, I won't trade a gun in again. I'd rather take my chances selling it outright for a reasonable price.

Have you thought about keeping one of your scopes ?

[hofts]

trade em both in or sell in paper. keep zeiss scope, get a 280 lightweight mountain rifle and never look back! you will lose a little but that is just how it goes. good luck!

[Rocky Raab]

I'd agree , but caution you to never sell a gun through the newspaper. At a minimum, never have people come to your house to see the gun.

You may as well ask the police to start filling out the burglary report if you do.

You can meet somebody somewhere else, but even then you risk a knot on the head and the loss of both your gun and your truck. Or worse.

Kinda makes the few dollars you lose in a trade-in seem cheap, huh? Or carry it around the next gun show with a For Sale sign in the barrel. Or list it on an online auction/sale site (May I suggest our own Swap&Shop?) and ship it through a dealer.

All are safer to you than exposing yourself needlessly to crooks.

[Mills]

Hofts...I see we're both from Sioux Falls! Could you tell a little more about .280. Not familiar with that at all. How's that do on an elk? Thanks.
mills

[Evan03]

Mills


shoot me a price on the 25.06.

that is one rifle id buy while im young and dumb


Evan

[MarkL]

Are you familiar with the .270? The .280 is the same except the bullet is .007 inches larger (ooooh, aaaaah). I think the SAAMI pressure spec is lower, but I should double-check that.

.270 = .277
.280 = .284 (true 7mm)

If you reload for your 7STW, any bullets you have would probably be usable in a .280.

I think most folks would recommend something a little heavier for elk, such as a 30-06.

[Mills]

Evan03. Check your private messages.
Mills

[Cal Sibley]

I detect the age old problem of accuracy vs weight in here. Years ago I decided to push for accuracy. I ended up with a half dozen rifles that are terrific from the bench, but too heavy to tote in the field with any kind of ease. Had I went in the opposite direction I would have some wonderfully light weight rifles that were delightful to carry but probably didn't shoot that well, certainly not from the bench. It's all a tradeoff. The same thing with caliber selection and recoil. A heavy rifle will likely eat up much of the recoil, but at the unwanted expense of carrying it around. I guess we just have to make very careful selections. They all involve tradeoffs. Just one mans opinion. Best wishes.

Cal - Montreal

[billy ahring]

A few years back I was enamoured with the the idea that bigger and faster is way better and that you can't go too big or too fast. And then my lust was fueled even further when I went to the mailbox one day and there it was right on the cover of Shooting Times! A Weatherby Accumark in 30-378!!!!!!!!!!! Holy bejesus!I gotta have one of them babies!

Well now I'm pushing 40 as well and I still have the big 30, it's even topped with a nice Leupold 4.5X14 Vari-X 3. The only problem is all I've ever done with that rifle is punch paper. It just doesn't make sense to use it where I hunt. I keep telling myself that someday I'm gonna go on hunt where it will be just the ticket but that day hasn't come yet and it just sits in the safe. I've considered selling it, have even had opportunities to sell it for what I've got in it. In fact one fella I shoot silhouette with has a standing offer on it for what I paid for it. He had one that he could not get to shoot 1" at 100 yards and he ended up sending it back to Weatherby and got his money back. Mine will shoot .25" inch groups, but I gotta say that it is a tough gun to shoot well, not very much enjoyment to be had in setting down for a bench session with.

For now I am going to keep it, I hate selling guns. I've only done it a couple times and I regret letting both of 'em go. Someday perhaps I will christen it in the field, but for now it is just not my first choice when I open the safe to grab a rifle to head off into the woods with


Billy

[Catfish]

Sounds to me like you need a good old .30-06 mountain rifle. It`s still the best alround cal. for the N. America continent. Makes a good varmint rifle with the Speer 130 gn. HP`s, and will take a moose with the .220 gn. bullets. Hit some gun shows and take your rifles with you, shouldn`t be hard to work a trade.
AND, as for bying guns you really have no use for when your young and dumb, I have a .411 Hawk. A wildcat on the 06 case blown out to .411 and it will push a 300 gn. bullet to the same velosity as a .375 H&H mag. Nothing to shoot with it here in Oh. but paper, but I was old and dumb when I bought this one. But I love it and would get ride of it on a bet, unless someone offered me twist what it`s worth, :rolleyes: :rolleyes:

[bigbrother]

If I had 2 guns and wanted a custom, I would sell off the 7STW privately. Then, I would take the Rem 700 to a competant gunsmith, have him true the action rebarrel it to a 280 Ackley (you didn't want a magnum but this will get you just about a 7mag without the extra powder and recoil) put a new stock on it and have the gun weigh a normal to light carry rifle weight. Now you still have the stock and the barrel off the 2506 that you can sell, or have the gunsmith sell for you....FYI sendero stocks alone will sell for 125 to 200 depending upon condition. Take off barrels will sell for around 50 to 100 bucks again depending upon condition (or how many rounds shot through it).

The only reason I mention this route, is that you already have a good action for a smith to build your custom gun on....that can save you a lot of money in the custom gun process. Of course you can tailor barrel countour, length, twist rate etc. and stock style, weight, type, etc. to your needs but it shouldn't cost you near as much to do. By going this route you have less to "trade offs" to worry about also. A good gunsmith can build a light weight rifle, capable of subminute accuracy and recommend stock style, brakes, or a host of things to keep the recoil to your tolerable level. For instance, don't think all brakes are the same. Some are horribly loud, some are not (to the shooter, never stand to the side of any brake) some reduce recoil more than others. Stock style also will make felt recoil intolerable or comfortable. Good luck in whatever you decide.

[Mills]

Big Brother
Excellent advice. I did think of that but wasn't sure it was possible to move a stock and a barrel. Is that fairly easy to do? Also, do you have a few names of gunsmiths that you'd recommend? I had a guy I found off this site (Josh Woods...went by the handle Headhunter) build me a .243 in 2002. Awesome rifle. I haven't been able to get a hold of him. Haven't seen his posts and his phone is disconnected. What are your thoughts on a .280 vs. a .280 Ackley? Not sure I want to get into the fireforming thing.
mills

[royinidaho]

Many years ago, 1966 in fact, I did what Bigbrother is suggesting. Though I started with a $36.00 army surplus 7MM Mauser (M98 action).

Immediately rebarrelled to 270 win am still using it. Until recently its the only large bore rifle I owned. Its been a dream.

For the once in a while Elk I'd consider going with the 280 or 280 AI. It may be only .007' difference but that sure seems like a bunch when it comes to performance.

A sugestion would be to keep the bbl at least 24" even better @ 26.

I have a win 70 in featherweight w/ a 22" bbl and it limits its performance quite a bit.

Just my $0.02

[Cossack]

My considerable yrs of being ridden hard and put away wet, not to mention a "football shoulder" finally led me to a Kimber Montana in 7/08 this past year. It weighs 6.5 lbs looded, scoped with Leupold 1.75-6 VX III and sling, 22" barrel, McMillen stock, controlled round feed and entirely stainless. Loaded with Barnes 140 TSX and Varget it gets 2950 fps. Recoil is not an issue. It's my current deer gun but would not hesitate using it on the "blue moon elk" with that load. Can't wait to work up 120 TSX's, shoud be pperfect for 'lopes.
Only problem: couldn't part with the 6/284, 260 Rem (handgun), 284 Win, and 280 Rem to make room for it. Since admitting I'm not so much a gun collector as a gun gatherer I no longer feel the need to justify the ones I keep. It's the ones I traded but should not have that give me fits.

[Builder45]

Mills I am in the same boat I too have one of the superfast 30s except it is a wildcat that not alot of people know about. I am currently having a browning a-bolt rechambered to 30-06 ackley. The regular 06 is just fine but I may be taking the rifle to Africa in April if it finished in time for plains game so I figured for bigger game the extra punch couldnt hurt. My reason in this is so I could go just about anywhere and get ammo for the 06. My big super whomping 30 is useless if I forget my ammo.

Worst case scenario I will have my big 30 rebarreled (again) to .458 Lott that way I can use the old 458 win mag and find ammo pretty easily, in africa at least. So I feel your pain brother. May it work out for the best. Builder45

[earschplitinloudenboomer]

Mills;
I have been where you are. Looking through these posts, I saw some very good advice. The one thing I would share with you...you probably will not get any younger or healthier, in a few scant years, not only will the weight of a rifle make a difference, the recoil will become more noticable. Some of the suggestions are of lightweight rifles approaching magnum performance, they don't do that gently. I suggest you keep one of your present rifles and use the other as a means to something a little more user friendly. Standard 30-06 really can't be beat, however, I opted for 7X57. I am very happy with that round. You may want to talk to some of your hunting buddies, maybe a group session at the range would turn up some good ideas. Actually shooting a different rifle/calibre is the best way to form an impression of it.

[Lycanthrope]

Disregard...reading too many posts at once.

[JBD]

You will come out better selling your rifles yourself rather than trading. I do it all the time. My best friend used to have an FFL and we ordered guns of all types almost weekly, shot them a while, and then sold them and bought something else. I don't turn them over so much now but still five or six a year. A few will stick but I don't get sentimental about any firearm though I have sold a few I wish I still had. Anyway, take them to a gun show, make your shooting friends a deal, or advertise them through Shotgun News. Last rifle I sold was a Classic Model 70 Super Grade in .270 about three weeks ago and it took one phone call to a shooting friend. Be realistic about the price and you can move your stuff pretty quick.

[Mills]

I sold the STW...moved it on GunsAmerica.com. Got exactly what I wanted out of it.

Going to use the funds to build a .280 Ackley. Gunsmith I'm talking to recommends a Rem 700 action, Lilja barrel (#3) and a Borden (used to be Rimrock) stock. Think I'm going to put a Leupold VX-III 2.5-8x36 with a Boone & Crocket reticle on it. Hopefully, that will be my "one & only" rifle...at least until I'm 50.

I'm currently in search of a BDL action...

Oh yeah, could use the action from the .25-06 Senderro, but won't. It's such a great caliber and Rem doesn't make em anymore. My son is 10 and that will be a great rifle for him.

Mills

[Evan03]

mills

i think your money would be better spend on the 3-9x40 vxII. i also think a #3 tube calls for more glass, because its not by any means a mtn rifle set up. with with moderate glass and fluted #3 or 4 it would be pretty close and still more than likly shoot better than pencil thin light weight barrell.

["yote"]

Keep the glass and sell the 2 rifles for the most that you can get.
Find a dealer that you trust or sell them to another party. You should be able to get enough out of them to buy yourself a nice semi-custom 30-06. Put that Zeis glass on it then you will have a go-anywhere, shoot most anything rifle. Find a good "smith" that you like and use the money to build a good "06" that you will like.

[Lilred]

I've always been bass-ackwards..it wont the stupid guns I bought when I was younger..somehow I managed to find awesome guns that was worth quite a bit and bought em for lil er nuthin when i was young...dummy always went and traded em fer somthin else ..but I wont all stupid..some I did keep. Unfortunatley in the state of VA, when ya git a dee-vorce..wether ya had it since you was 25 or 5..it gits split right down the middle. And in 1 week, my gun collection was down to nothin.

So..I was just stupid all the way round I reckon... :rolleyes:

[Cal Sibley]

I used to be young and stupid. Now I guess I'm old and stupid because I'm still buying bolt action rifles that require glass bedding, barrel floating and trigger work to make then shoot as well as my guns from the '80s. That's adding about $200-250 to the cost of each rifle. Total that up for about 15 rifles, and momma and I could have taken a nice trip somewhere warm in the winter. It looks like stupid might be a lifetime affliction. Best wishes.

Cal - Montreal

[Evan03]

am i the only lucky one???????/

every rifle i have right now is plenty good enough for me right out of the box. pushing trigger tuneing aside i guess you could say.

vs sf will shoot better than i can

2506 walnut ruger will also outshoot me. its not bedding or anything and i dont plan to touch it at al.

27 shoots not quite as good as the above mentioned to but it shoots plenty good for deer and elk hunting out to 300yds.

ruger 22/250 vt that one suprised me. its 24 years old ans still shooting very very good. but someones already glass bedded it before i got it.

my 270win rerm 700 shoots facotry ammo not quite as good as the wsm but shoot good enough for bout 7 bucks and one bull elk

ruger vt 220 swift shot freakn good. but i let that one go wish i wouldnt have. it was untouched.

rem adl 204 shot some very nice groups the short while i had it. i adjusted its triger and free floated the barrel. so i guess i cant exackly say its out of the box acurate. id also like this rifle back.

out of those rifles ive yet to find one that wont shoot, with very little work envolved and no cash spent. i havent had to bed anything except for my 17hmr that the stock i bought didnt fit quite right so i used glass bedding to tightn everything up. even it shoots very good with the facotry barrel and stock.

thats bout it

Evan