Author Topic: The drilling "mindset" (Read 3057 times)

pastorp · « **on:** December 07, 2012, 12:29:22 AM »

Good morning all, I'm a early riser so after 2 cups of black coffee I'm ready for my "mocha" and a little conversation. I was sitting here thinking about my gun accumulation. My collection has little reason or direction. I like all kinds of guns, but am finding that drillings are becoming my favorites.

Question- do you think the Drilling requires a certain mindset to hunt with?

to me it offers the best of everything & they are a work of art to boot. Nothing else is as versatile. I am thinking about selling off everything else but my drillings.

What's your opinion?

Regards,

Drilling Man · « **Reply #1 on:** December 07, 2012, 02:31:53 AM »

My "opinion" is, that you should "gift" those drillings to ME, so you will STOP having those "other" crazy thoughts!! lol

DM

AkMike1 · « **Reply #2 on:** December 07, 2012, 04:38:29 PM »

Since Christmas is the time of giving.. I'll be happy to recieve any that DM doesn't get!

RevGeo · « **Reply #3 on:** December 08, 2012, 06:49:55 AM »

Interesting question. I inherited my drilling from my late father. It was the centerpiece of his gun collection and I remember it from my earliest years as being truly a work of art, but it was used as a hunting tool as well. The old man got the gun right after the war. My mom was a German war bride and my dad was of German heritage so the drilling seemed to fit right in with our home life. My dad shot many roe buck and one hersch (German elk) with it while serving in the army of occupation (he was a career officer) and shot deer with it when he got back home.
I've shot a few whitetails, three or four turkeys and one coyote with it. So, yeah, I find it to be a very versatile gun. Some of my friends think I'm crazy for taking such an expensive and fancy gun into the woods and actually hunting with it. The old man always said the guys that built the thing built it to be used. It has a few dings and scratches here and there, but it is an accurate, dependable gun and, it was my dad's gun - making it very special to me.
I ain't selling my other guns, but my drilling is the special one. The one I always call 'my gun'.
Oh yeah, by the way, it is a Richard Marholt & Sohns drilling in 16x16x.22 Savage HiPower AI. Hows that for an oddball?

THE_HUNTERIAM · « **Reply #4 on:** December 09, 2012, 01:12:46 PM »

Great picture! thank you for the share.

Very cool indeed.

dougk · « **Reply #5 on:** December 10, 2012, 02:06:32 PM »

Quote from: RevGeo on December 08, 2012, 06:49:55 AM

Interesting question. I inherited my drilling from my late father. It was the centerpiece of his gun collection and I remember it from my earliest years as being truly a work of art, but it was used as a hunting tool as well. The old man got the gun right after the war. My mom was a German war bride and my dad was of German heritage so the drilling seemed to fit right in with our home life. My dad shot many roe buck and one hersch (German elk) with it while serving in the army of occupation (he was a career officer) and shot deer with it when he got back home.
I've shot a few whitetails, three or four turkeys and one coyote with it. So, yeah, I find it to be a very versatile gun. Some of my friends think I'm crazy for taking such an expensive and fancy gun into the woods and actually hunting with it. The old man always said the guys that built the thing built it to be used. It has a few dings and scratches here and there, but it is an accurate, dependable gun and, it was my dad's gun - making it very special to me.
I ain't selling my other guns, but my drilling is the special one. The one I always call 'my gun'.
Oh yeah, by the way, it is a Richard Marholt & Sohns drilling in 16x16x.22 Savage HiPower AI. Hows that for an oddball?

Great story thanks for sharing.

I think your drilling is a great combination for use in North America.

mauser98us · « **Reply #6 on:** December 10, 2012, 02:39:59 PM »

Iv'e had a couple drillings one on 8mmx360r amd one in the standard 8mm JRS.Wonderful guns,and made to be used. Unfortunately,I came across this when I was young and smitten by magnumitus. I knew what they were and the fine craftsmanship they involved,but also knew they were fantastic trade bait.Here in Arizona, they are rather limited due to not much wing shooting when centrefire seasons are going on. One must also realize laws concening the amount of firearms owned by the european populace,these guns lended themselves well to the purpose.

mcwoodduck · « **Reply #7 on:** December 10, 2012, 03:43:59 PM »

A drilling is great. It is the Leather man of guns. Multi tool. Now the Drilling is great for the North East or North West where the terain and woods are very similar to Germany.
The ability to take different species of game with the same gun at a variety of ranges is great. But like the the leatherman it is a great and handy thing to have but is not always the best tool for every job.
I would love to add a Drilling to my collection for our Farm in NC and have the ability to take Quail, Squirrel, Deer and Bear with the one gun in hand.
but it would not be my first pick to take it to Montana for deer or to take it to Idaho for Elk, or to the high deserts of Ca for Coyote.
But if a drilling is what you grab then let me know what else is in your collection that you do not use and I may beable to help finance your next Drilling.

petemi · « **Reply #8 on:** January 24, 2013, 12:42:03 AM »

Sorry guys, I lack the "mindset". I like my guns short, light and fast swinging. Drillings are normally too long and heavy for my preferences. Add cost to that and any furtive thoughts I may have had are gone.

Pete

pastorp · « **Reply #9 on:** January 24, 2013, 01:29:44 AM »

Pete, your not saying your. Err a little cheep are you?

Regards,

I half to admit it took me a while to work up to the cost of one.

Wish my dad had left me a drilling, but alas all he left me was a old owl head.

Drilling Man · « **Reply #10 on:** January 24, 2013, 01:58:30 AM »

Quote from: petemi on January 24, 2013, 12:42:03 AM

Sorry guys, I lack the "mindset". I like my guns short, light and fast swinging. Drillings are normally too long and heavy for my preferences. Add cost to that and any furtive thoughts I may have had are gone.

Pete

SOOOO, pick the RIGHT drilling!

My steel framed drilling is 40 3/4" long, weighs under 7 pounds and cost me $350.00...

Dural framed drillings are normally lighter yet...

DM

pastorp · « **Reply #11 on:** January 24, 2013, 02:16:57 AM »

$350. when? & that was before you started fixing it the way you wanted it.

But I bought lots of guns cheep too compared to today's prices.

ha ha

Want your money back on it ?

Regards,

Drilling Man · « **Reply #12 on:** January 24, 2013, 10:46:13 AM »

Quote from: pastorp on January 24, 2013, 02:16:57 AM

$350. when? & that was before you started fixing it the way you wanted it.

But I bought lots of guns cheep too compared to today's prices. ha ha

Want your money back on it ?

Regards,

It wouldn't do YOU any good, did you notice that it's set up for left hand now?

DM

pastorp · « **Reply #13 on:** January 24, 2013, 10:52:57 AM »

DM, for the right price I could switch.

Regards,

petemi · « **Reply #14 on:** January 28, 2013, 01:58:20 AM »

Quote from: pastorp on January 24, 2013, 01:29:44 AM

Pete, your not saying your. Err a little cheep are you?

Regards,

I half to admit it took me a while to work up to the cost of one.

Wish my dad had left me a drilling, but alas all he left me was a old owl head.

No Byron, not cheap. I just have my priorities. As I said to Spanky over on the H&R forum "I'm at a point where if I want something I get it. I've got "X" amount of time to enjoy it, and I can't take the money with me when I go."

I'm much more lazy than cheap

Pete

Drilling Man · « **Reply #15 on:** January 28, 2013, 03:25:11 AM »

Quote from: pastorp on January 24, 2013, 02:16:57 AM

$350. when? & that was before you started fixing it the way you wanted it.

But I bought lots of guns cheep too compared to today's prices. ha ha

Want your money back on it ?

Regards,

That's true, $350.00 was before i started fixing it up! BUT, i didn't add any weight to it, i didn't make it any longer, i didn't make it shoot any better and it DID put meat in my freezer before i "fixed it up",

SO, i could of left it at the $350.00 purchase price... and my above answer would still be valid.

DM

pastorp · « **Reply #16 on:** January 28, 2013, 04:12:14 AM »

Awww, I jokes. You need to take that one in your casket on your big trip to the happy hunting grounds.

Regards,

Drilling Man · « **Reply #17 on:** January 28, 2013, 04:42:26 AM »

Quote from: pastorp on January 28, 2013, 04:12:14 AM

Awww, I jokes. You need to take that one in your casket on your big trip to the happy hunting grounds.

Regards,

Well, two more bucks with it and i'll probably be done with it and retire it. I won't need it anymore after it's retired, so i'll probably just throw it in a dumpster on the way to town.

DM

pastorp · « **Reply #18 on:** January 28, 2013, 08:06:12 AM »

All righty them, send my a teaser map.

You'll get over it, when you tire of that 240W.

dougk · « **Reply #19 on:** January 28, 2013, 02:36:08 PM »

Hey Dm,
I will give you $1050 cash money in $100 bills..

You can tripple your investment...

pastorp · « **Reply #20 on:** January 28, 2013, 11:04:23 PM »

I wonder how much money that $350 would be in today's economy?

Regards,

dougk · « **Reply #21 on:** January 29, 2013, 03:21:30 PM »

if it was gold... I would bet alot...

sharps4590 · « **Reply #22 on:** February 13, 2013, 02:28:27 AM »

Geezz....I haven't been here in a while! Great thread. I have a Meffert with the Dural frame...it isn't the least bit less handy than my 1913 Ithaca Flues. Fine piece
I like drillings because....they make perfect sense, (to me), I won't say the craftsmanship is incomparable but it is indeed fine, even on most Zella-Mellis pieces, I like quality, I am of German extraction and understand completely the reasons to overcomplicate the simple. I am something of an individualist, (my wife says "contrarian"), in that I do not desire what everyone else has, drillings, combination guns and German stalking rifles definitely fall into that category. I am an inveterate experimenter and the Continental cartridges open an entirely new, to me, field of endeavor. Finally, for this post, when sitting in the woods whether pursuing deer, squirrels or any other game that can be taken from a stand or stalking in the woods, one can always admire the engraving....I see something new in all my German firearms almost every time I have one out.

Graybeard · « **Reply #23 on:** November 27, 2019, 05:27:18 AM »

Let's bring this one back up and see if folks might want to talk more about it.

Drilling Man · « **Reply #24 on:** January 23, 2020, 02:02:17 PM »

I laid off the 8x57 for a couple years with a shoulder problem, but that's been over for a while now. SO, I went back to my "go to gun", my old drilling and have shot numerous deer with it since this thread was last viewed.

Including several nice meat bucks,

and some does,

Yeaaa, I hunt with it, no matter what the weather is doing,

BTW, my old drilling turns 85 this year...

DM

luv2safari · « **Reply #25 on:** August 25, 2020, 01:51:00 PM »

I turn 73 today, so I'm 12 years younger than your drilling.

I've hunted with drillings since I was 12. We hunted chuckar and blue grouse while we were deer hunting, and we were as happy with a bag full of birds as with a deer down.

I've owned about 200 drillings and assorted other combo guns over my lifetime, trading, selling, buying, and "upgrading". I'm presently down to five drillings, a nice pre-war sauer cape gun two barrel set in 12X12 and 12X8X57JR with scope in claws. I have three Valmet 300 series combos-BBFs, also, in 12/308-a beautiful Savage 2400, and two of the plain versions in 12/222 and 12/22 HP.

My favorite two drillings are my old circa 1909 Charles Daly/Sauer 12-12-3030 sidelock/side cock and my modern Kreighoff Trumpf Dural in 16-16 and 7X65R wearing a 1.5-6 Zeiss in claws.
Daly:

Kreighoff:

The last deer I took with one of my drillings was a nice 3X3 mulie that fell to a Triebel 16/16-8X57JR at 280 yards. I call this one my "pimp" drilling.

luv2safari · « **Reply #26 on:** August 25, 2020, 02:31:00 PM »

I used this Sauer 16/16/7X65R in Oklahoma on a pre-Christmas special doe season during a very good quail season.

I use the Kreighoff Dural drilling as an upland gun a lot. It fits me perfectly and is light and nimble. It's a great blue grouse killer, and it's death on quail.

neckisred · « **Reply #27 on:** August 25, 2020, 11:46:19 PM »

Awesome stories and guns. Thanks for sharing.