all i have is ugly guns, mostly old ones.

3 60 year old enfields which were ugly new now after 60 years and a war or two {ww1, ww2} that still shoot inch patterns at any range.

a old western field 22 that shoots sub MOA at 100 yards {cover 10 shots with a quarter}

a old savage overunder 22mag over a 20 gauge mag.

a 1916 k98 8mm bringback which still sjoots at what ever range you aim at

a new savage single shot semiautomatic 22 {shoots shorts, longs, or long rifles} i bought yesturday which doesnt have a serial number but just patent numbers.

the newest one maybe only 40 years old. theyve been dragged thru the brush or thrown behind the seat of the pickup for 30 years or been thru a war and used hard.

all are ugly as sin but all still shoot better than any new guns ive seen including alot of target rifles. i grew up with these guns and have shot each 1000s of times and never had one fail if i didnt fail and they all have fed me and my family for as long as weve owned them.

they may be ugly but in my heart they are priceless.

I realy like a nice stock on a gun. I was a forester all my working life and when I see what someone can produce from a piece of raw timber I have to appreciate the end product.

Always be aware and remember, "Be wary of a man with only one gun!"
No matter what it looks like, if it has any sights or any finish left on it at all! That man will humble you in his ability with that gun!!

I went on a tribe hunt for Caribou up by Kotzabu (bad spelling), there was an elderly man that had a .250 Savage with no sights at all, he cleaned everyones clock and dropped 33 in about 10 minutes, from 15 yards out to 100 yards on the run. All one shot drops or kills. I shot 11 in the same time. That day there were over 200 Caribou taken within 15 minutes that the tribe processed together and distributed to the elderly first and then down the line, all for the winter supply.

It was an honor to join them in their hunt and in the processing. One event in my life that I will never forget!!

Kotzabu ?? We had a drop hunt outta there some years back .. I'd live up there but old woman says she aint going .. Something about ' cold weather ' ..
Jack

They just ain't adventurous, are they. Jack. Mine is a party-pooper too when it comes to sleeping in a tent for a few days on a hunt...Something about being the "camp slav...Aah...cook just doesn't set too well with her...

longwalker wrote:

I was on an other site recently and responded to a thread about gun quality. It got me to thinking maybe I'm all wet. Have any of you ever felt the guns you had were not up to the task because they weren't pretty enough? Or more to the point you were embarrassed to use them because of what someone might say? I just can't bring myself to understand this "logic" longwalker

Let's put it this way. I do not adore my Savages because they are pretty. Far from it. I adore them because they have earned my love and respect as fine shooting weapons at a great price!

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder to be sure. I'm not a big fan of synthetic stocks, preferring nice walnut or laminate. However, I have several synthetic stocks by McMillan that are great for competition shooting. To each his own. Best wishes.

Cal - Montreal

I’ve never been embarrassed by what others might think about my guns. If they’re looking down their nose at my guns THEY have a problem, not me.

That said, I prefer a good looking gun. Pretty wood or laminated or even a nice synthetic, finely polished metal with a deep blue, stainless in most of its variations. Then there are things I find much more desirable like metal parts instead of plastic, cut checkering instead of pressed, real walnut instead of ‘walnut finish’. Steel scope mounts instead of aluminum.

When I bought my 12 ga I got a Remington 870 3” Super Mag in synthetic with a dull black finish even though I really love my buddy’s Browning BPS. Just couldn’t see spending the extra money on a gun that was going to spend a large part of its time in the field in muddy ditches…

Dad gave me a Savage 110E in .22-250. Plastic trigger guard, ‘walnut finish’, lost the front sight somewhere, typical Savage finish on the metalwork. Daughter #2 described it well and honestly as “Ugly”. But it shot like a dream for the first 2500 rounds or so. After that a thorough cleaning would restore accuracy for a few shots and then it would shoot patterns instead of groups. At that point it was still an old friend but well past its prime and pretty well useless as anything but a noisemaker. Had plans to rebarrel and change the stock but ended up selling it outright for $250. Minutes later I picked up a like new Ruger .257 Roberts with a Leupold M8 4x scope for the $250 and another $150 from my pocket, so selling the Savage was the right decision.

Anyone looking for ‘fine’ rifles in my safe better be looking for shooters or they are wasting their time. The best looking rifle is the used Remington .308 I picked up earlier this month. It was made in 1975. I’ll find out how it shoots tomorrow…

A friend of mine showed up at the range for a DCM match with his match grade M-14, not a beauty in most anyones book. There were some fellas there who were sighting in for Big Horn Sheep hunting. They had some of the fanciest rifles and scopes I had ever seen, probably 4 to 5 grand in each one.

They were blazing away, off of sand bags, at the 500 yard gong. Hitting it one out of every five shots.

One of them walked over and said"Wow, an M-14, a real work horse, too bad they have such poor accuracy"

My friend just looked up and said "do mind if I have a go at the gong?"

The other guys said go ahead. My friend pulled out his range book, adjusted the open sights, slapped a 10 round mag in, and cranked out 10 hits to the gong in 10 seconds from a standing position. Turned to the sheep hunters and said "yeah, you can't hit @#*@ with these things.

They packed up their fancy rifles and left.

I look at guns as tools as well. I have the fortune of inheriting some awful pretty tools in a Colt SAA and Marlin 1889 that belonged to my great grandpa. I don't shoot them much, but they still do shoot, and quite well.
However I also have a Stevens .410 bolt action shotgun that was passed down to me as well. It is almost a hundred years old and my grandpa, my dad, and I all took our first birds and rabbits with it. It is scarred, dented, and has very little bluing left. But I can still knock down partridges and rabbits all day long with it, and my daughters will be doing the same soon. No one but me would think that this thing has any beauty whatsoever. My hope is that my girls will look at it 50 years from now and see the "inner beauty" that I see.

The only thing I am ever embarassed about is if the firearm I am shooting is a clunker in the accuracy department. I have gotten rid of a some firearms that were much "prettier" than the ones I have now because they couldn't shoot up to my ability. The ones I have now shoot as well as I can make them. In other words, if I miss, it's the Indian, not the Arrow.

If a firearm looks good and shoots as well as it looks, then I look at that as having a bonus. One that comes to mind is the newest to my collection. A late 60's Parker Hale in 30-06. Clean lines, great wood, functions smoothly, and has sub MOA accuracy.

The only requirment of a gun I own is it better work reliably and group well.