Ponderings

[Dinny]

  So this is how it all got started...my addiction to Handi rifles. In 2008, the State of Indiana passed into law a bill that allows hunters to use pistol caliber rifles for deer hunting. A quick internet scan revealed few companies that offered such a rifle. I have never really been into lever guns so my mind redirected towards H&R. I bought a friend's 30-06 Handi and he sent it off to H&R for 45LC and .357 Mag barrels. We still have both of those barrels (Mom has the original Mag barrel, now a Maxi  ) and they remain the "go to" for deer hunting in IN. Since then, I have had a few dozen different barrels, even a few customs. I even tried an Encore.


  Now in my mind, I have always preferred a bolt action rifle. I believe this to still be true today. I have a marvelously accurate Win M70 30-06 sitting in the back of my safe that I have a bunch of it's preferred ammo loaded and idly standing by for it's day to perform. This rifle was supposed to be "the rifle" to end purchasing any other rifles.   I told myself that I wouldn't need any other big game rifle unless I left the lower 48. Does it get any use? Nope. It just sits there in the back of the same and never touched.


 Right now my Handi battery is this:

• 2 receivers
• one 28" 45-70 barrel
• one custom .356 Win barrel
• one 30-30 barrel
• another 357 Max barrel
• soon-to-be 7mm-07 barrel
• one 45LC barrel

 Here's my dilemma. Based on my original intent, I don't need any of these rifle-caliber barrels. My 30-06 covers all the same purposes the others have. I have my second child on the way and have serious doubts about keeping anything excess. Should I pitch them to save the Win M70 from the auction block or just load what I have and store them away hoping that I don't need to trim any fat? All of them have been a significant investment in dies, bullets, powder, scope and etc. I hate to see any of them go but the M70 will get the job done just as well.




Thoughts?


Thanks, Dinny

[bigvarmnt]

And people tell me I think too much


Leave the bolt where it is for a while, ain't bothering anybody but you.


Enjoy what you have, life's short. If you have to sell them you always can


Maybe I missed something but sounds like you have your bases covered and you're having fun. That's what matters right now.


You can't use the 06 for deer in IN.

[gendoc]

dinny, you ain't done got one them handi's to out perform that 70 yet ??
i too have a couple winnies in 70 style, but as you..........they jus collect
vault remorse. i don't need any of tha other rifleguns i have, but i ain't
 part'n wifum....no !!! my family will live on well after i'm gone
 

[Deerhunter#1]

Dinny- I fully understand you dilema. I have two great shooting bolt guns one in 243 and one in 270. I now have
30-30,243,308,7.62x39,20 usg,25-06 in handi rifles. I also have added 3 little ones to the family in the last 4 years and am beginning to think about the same thing.  Good luck with your choices as I cant figure it out mysrelf what to do. Every time I say I am going to sell one of them I just cant do it. Well I did want to part with the 25-06 but no takers.

[Dinny]

You can't use the 06 for deer in IN.

That's why I would keep the pistol caliber barrels.

dinny, you ain't done got one them handi's to out perform that 70 yet ??

It shoots in the low .3s.    None of the Handis are even close to that.




Thanks, Dinny

[Dinny]

Dinny- I fully understand you dilema. I have two great shooting bolt guns one in 243 and one in 270. I now have
30-30,243,308,7.62x39,20 usg,25-06 in handi rifles. I also have added 3 little ones to the family in the last 4 years and am beginning to think about the same thing.  Good luck with your choices as I cant figure it out mysrelf what to do. Every time I say I am going to sell one of them I just cant do it. Well I did want to part with the 25-06 but no takers.

I forgot about my Weatherby SPM in .243 Win.

I sometimes get the feeling that I'm being greedy. I spend more money sometimes on myself than I do my wife or daughter. Granted most of that money comes from my wheelin and dealin but nonetheless, I spend it one myself.


Thanks, Dinny

[gendoc]

dinny, you ain't done got one them handi's to out perform that 70 yet ??

It shoots in the low .3s.    None of the Handis are even close to that.




Thanks, Dinny
-------------------------------------

 
so itsa 06.... ok, then ya need ta getta or make'a handi do it.
 
my "39" wud'nt doit at first.....but now, its better'ernat.
 
i hava m77 rat in swift that cannot be out performed.........yet.
i gotta handi closen in quickly and i won't quit until a handi will payoff
 
tha "39" will take it ina heartbeat... but we compare bores

[Dinny]

Doc,
  Hill Country Rifles put that rifle together for me. I spent way too much money on it and could never part with it, even if a Handi did out shoot it. Maybe I just better hope the promotion gods have faith in me this year and I get a hefty raise.


Thanks, Dinny

[gendoc]

i understand dinny, i have seen afew them HCR's. they are excellent
in workmanship. very nice

[cwlongshot]

I agree, leave the '06 where it is, its your "insurance" policy. I realize the $$ add up on handis and the associated "necessities". But to sell it off what are you really gonna get? 100 a barrel same for the receivers and maybe 10-15% on the dollar for the extras.... IMHO NOT WORTH IT!
 
I have a similar story, back in 2002, the year after 9/11 we lost allot of the properties I grew up hunting. I focused on "local" hunting. Around here there are small parcels of land and may of those peoples back yards or pieces surrounded by roads. I had to put away the 35 Whelen, 8MM Mauser and 358 I used in New York. I used my Marlin 1894's and 357 Maxi H&R.
 
Back in 2000, I had some things happen in my life and needed to liquefy some "assets. I needed to pay down my Mortgage and Credit Cards and looked at my gun collection to satisfy the biggest part of that...
 At that time I had allot of S&W hand guns, nearly every Marlin made since 1900 and a good amount of contender "stuff".  I sold off all but a couple S&W's, all Contenders and barrels and all doubles and all HI dollar Marlins.
 I have kicked my self for those Marlins and a couple of those S&W ever since. Yes I paid down the mortgage and yes I got thru the rough spot.
The good thing that came outta that is same as you, H&R's! see I kept all the scopes I had on any long gun sold and about 2002 really began buying up H&R rifles! I mounted those Leupold scopes on the barrels. I had had a couple H&R shotguns some time before and bought a 357Maxi just before 2000. I hunted white tails for a bunch of years in PA, VT and CT with that maxi and man did she do right by me. I learned the bullets and what it could and could not do.
 
My point is I regretted the sale and could have made due with out selling... There is a number of guns that I will never replace. All I have are the memories, in most cases I don't even have a picture. I REGRET DOING IT!! You are gonna hear others stories like mine and the commonality will all be the same, REGRET!
 
CW

[eye shot]

Dinny
Ya gotta do right for the family. Keep the M70 if you absolutely have to but keep one reciever and the 45LC barrel for hunting. All the rest can go and be replaced later.

[tacklebury]

Not to put you into a tail spin, but I was at the same point as you are back in the 90's.  I got rid of all but 1 of my best shooting guns, my 7x57mm Mauser Bolt.  I have since ended up tracking down every one of those and purchasing it back and the bolt I kept so long, I sold off to pay for my .45-70 BC.  hehe  Moral of the story is that what's important to you today may not be tomorrow, but when it is, it's harder to get it back.  I've ready so many stories of people getting rid of one they want then wanting it back, that unless I'm about to be homeless, I'm not selling/trading too many any more.     Hmmm now I'm missin that mauser, who was it I sold that to?  ....

[Dinny]

Thinking more on it today, I've come to a few conclusions. The .356 Win covers everything the 45-70 can do. The 7mm-07 covers everything the 30-30 can do. I can keep my pistol caliber barrels and be covered with only two other Handi barrels. This will give me two barrels on each receiver and should cover any game I could conceivably hunt in the lower 48 when paired with my trusty 30-06.


Thanks, Dinny

[Hit or Miss]

I've watched a good friend of mine guilt himself into selling lots of guns in the past.  He always regrets it and ends up buying stuff back to fill in the holes.  In the mean time, I've watched his wife spend money like there was no end to it. 


I don't know your situation but I'm sure you'll do what is right by your family.  Just be ready for some serious regret down the road, even if it was the right thing to do at the time.

[demented]

 Life's too short to spend much time trying to figure out why we buy firearms we think we don't need.  Actually WE do need them or we wouldn't buy them would we?  I don't need twenty some odd handguns, nor a 1/2 dozen bolt action rifles of 1/2 dozen evil semi-autos or a dozen shotguns BUT I WANTED THEM enough for it to become a need.   I think I've got at least six 22 rifles and only one ever gets fired, the others have say idly by for at least three years, same for most of the other guns I have. 

[smokehouserex]

 
 
  Hey Dinny:
 
 I think most of have done or at least had to considered the same think at one time or another. In the mid 70's I was in college and my wife was also going to nursing college so it happened at my house also. I sold 15 or so pistols mostly rugers, maybe a bushel of prepped military 06 brass and some long guns, never replaced all of them, we do what we have to do and move on,,,if we can.
  We can justify a collection of almost anything if we look at it as an investment. I still have baseball cards from the 50's that I never sold, so I guess we do have to reserve somethings as untouchables. I did sell my old 38 Ply. Coupe Hot Rod years  ago to my nephew and have never ceased to regret that. LOL
  You will make the right decision for you and yours.
  HM

[Darreld Walton]

Hold onto everything, and figure out a way to pay for the baby. 
I won't sell anything outright without a replacement until after the coming Pres. election, and perhaps a bit beyond.  I've sold many, many firearms over the years with the explanation to myself that I can replace them later.  To date, I've yet to replace a single one of them.  Most missed were some beautiful S&W and Colt revolvers and semi-autos, old Winchester bolt and lever guns, AR's, and, well, you get the idea. 
Remember how tough it was to find ANYTHING chambered to .223/5.56, .308, 9mm, .380, .357, .44 and .45, much less the ammunition to push through them after O'Bummer was elected?  Couldn't even get .22 LR in ANY configuration for several months, and primers were absolutely impossible.  I also remember seeing powder go for outrageous prices, including several internet auctions for Varget, that went $600+ for an 8 pound keg.
Beyond all of that, there are days when the family shows up, and a trip to the sandhill happens, and almost one of everything goes out, and gets used.  You might also want to consider way down the road, when one of them young'uns wants or needs, or just becomes interested in shooting, and asks to borrow something.  There's a name, other than mine, attached to everything in the safe for "just in case" something were to happen to me.
Do what you want, and please understand, I'm not claiming that the sky is going to fall,...yet.  Just, well, a fella might want to CYA for awhile, you know?

[bikerbeans]

Dinny,
 
Darreld is right, hang on too them and see what happens in Nov 2012.  I would bet any gun related item you own are going to spike in price right after the November elections.
 
BB

[shvlhead.45]

Dinny,

Likes been said, if you sell anything off you will be rebuilding the arsenal at some point down the road and things will  be a lot more expensive.  You say you have your needs covered, so slow down on the number of projects you do.  Sometimes you have 2-3 projects going at one time and those stub jobs aren't cheap so limit yourself to one or two a year if you can afford it.  Once this new bambino gets here you will have a lot less money for toys.  You are at a point in your military career and in your personal life where you are going to have less time to play and less money for toys till you retire and your kids are through college.  Oh, I don't care if a high buck bolt gun in .30-06 and a bolt gun in .243 will handle 90% of all your hunting needs, options are more fun especially if you can tailor a couple of switch barrel guns to accommodate specific needs and uses.  Hold, Fold, or Draw, life's poker game goes on and it's your turn. 

[OldSchoolRanger]

Plain and simple, if you can avoid it, don't do it.  I purchased a Ruger No 1, back in the late 70's or early 80's forget exactly when, really enjoyed it over the years.  Went through a rough stretch in the late 80's after my second son was born.  If I would have sold it, I know that I would have never been able to buy it back, the price almost tripled.  Glad I held on to it.

That said, "a man's gotta do, what a man's gotta do".  Best of luck with your dilemma, I know you'll work it out. 

BTW, I'm keeping my fingers crossed, and hoping you pass the promotion boards.

[petemi]

Dinny, if you sold the guns/barrels you're thinking of, what are you going to make on it?  I'll wager you're getting more back on your 2011 Tax Return than you'll clear selling the guns.

Back in '65 I had orders for Italy and didn't want to go through the hassle of bringing guns in.  I sold the few I had.  The Rem. 521T and the J.C Higgins 12 ga. pump my dad gave me as a kid, my 336 tirty tirty and my Colt Frontier Scout.  I have since replaced the .30-30 and the pump with the same models, but I still haven't replaced the 521T or the Colt.  I'm 71 this April and still don't have them.  It probably sounds silly, but I WILL replace them.

Pete

[rdlange]

Well Dinny, I won't own a gun that won't shoot, or that I don't expect to shoot.  I figure someone else deserves to enjoy it.  So I sold my father's collection years ago and only regret not dealing harder.
 
BUT, if I have a 'planned' use for a gun, I'll get it 'ready' so when the opportunity pops up I'm prepared. 
 
And everyone needs a back up, or the OMG I'm dreaming of the BIG one or the well it was a good deal so I..., in the closet, you know... just in case.

[thejanitor]

Hey Dinny- if you quit feeding them they don't cost nothing. They are paid for, just leave them sit don't jump the "gun", your second child could make a third hunter that is if your wife isn't..... you may need what you have eventually and if some of the factory changes occur with less barrels available and what not, they may be worth more later on than now.... Just saying, I try not to get rid of anything that I may not afford to replace later.
Hope you work through your delema without thinning the herd.  thejanitor

[Dinny]

No one has mentioned anything about "the man that owns but one rifle" part of this. Not that I would sell all but one of them...   I don't recall the last time I shot the 30-06.   At the range, maybe??


Thanks, Dinny

[Swampman]

I have a nice .30-06 with a Zeiss scope on it.  I never shoot it.  I want a Sharps but I know the .30-06 is actually the only rifle I'll ever need.  It's a something I think about a lot....

[Sourdough]

Dinny, you know where I live, and what I hunt.  I have 30-06s in bolts, Savage and Ruger.  Semi-auto, Remington. Pump, again Remington.  Single shot, 2 TCs Encore and TCR.  But my go to 30-06s are my two H&Rs.  One is a Standard Handi, the other is an Ultra Comp.  The Standard Handi is my go to gun for the summer time up here.  Caribou, Moose, Grizzly, don't matter it will take them all down.

So if you are trying to get an assignment to FT WW, you may want to hang on to that 30-06 barrel.  Especially if it is an ejector, the only kind to have in Alaska.  Barrels don't take up that much room.

I may not be here if you do come up.  The wife got a job offer from DC today.  I'm hoping she turns it down, it's inside the belt way.       

[Dinny]

Rog,
  My 30-06 is a Win M70. It's not going anywhere! Life as you both know it will change drastically if you move to DC. I don't right care for that area at all and I have never lived in the great vastness of Alaska like you have.

Thanks, Dinny

[cwlongshot]

I have a nice .30-06 with a Zeiss scope on it.  I never shoot it.  I want a Sharps but I know the .30-06 is actually the only rifle I'll ever need.  It's a something I think about a lot....

I too have a very nice custom 30/06 rifle....I too know the 30/06 is actually the only rifle I'll ever need... BUT, unlike Swampy I try NOT to think like that.
 
Only a foolish man would argue against the '06. Thankfully we are not limited to just one gun. All we can tell you is what we would do and what we have done, the decision is all yours my friend. You know how "handi" it is to have choices.
 
CW

[rdlange]

Hey Sourdough,

If work in DC:  Live in Virginia.  Check out Fairfax Issac Walton League in Bull Run, and Fairfax Rod and Gun.  Awesome ranges and VERY nice folks.  Shoots every weekend.

Luk...

[cab32]

Dinny
Over the last 40 years I bought a lot of firearms and sold a few.  Some of the guns I did not like and I have no regrets that I sold them sometimes I really needed the cash,  but most of them were sold just because of an idea I had that there were too many of a type of gun.  All of those, I would like to buy back, some of them I have.  For example, The first handgun I bought was a ruger single six for $75. I sold it 8 years later for $125.  Now I can't touch one for $300.  The 41 mag blackhawk I bought for $125 and sold just because I bought a redhawk, now turns up at $400 and there is the Marlin 336 I bought for $75 and traded for a Colt Army Special.  I just bought one used for $240 and was happy to get it.  My point is that if you need the money, sell the guns.  If you only feel that you should sell them, keep them, they are a source of cash and will be wanted and useful later.  Free advice from another Soldier and Indiana hunter.  Hooah.
CAB