Modern rifles, tool vs. soul

Polaris

Handloader
Dec 16, 2009
1,239
29
Anybody else feel a bit turned off by the modern iteration of the hunting rifle? Just my opinion, but they have no soul. No doubt, a tool for taking game or precision shooting can be had in relative terms for perhaps the cheapest price, with a higher accuracy potential, than ever in human history. One can go to a box store and walk out with a product by Savage, Ruger, Weatherby, Howa and many others for less than $600 with decent optics mounted and never want for an effective big game rifle. As an example, a sporting goods and hardware dealer has a Mossberg with a fluted bolt, bedded stock, adjustable trigger and Vortex 3x9 for $500. But something is missing. The stamped and molded parts, the cold, lifeless polymer/fiberglass stocks, just leaves something out of the whole experience, even vs the stained Beech and Birch stocks of the 60's-90's working class rifles... at least they were wood and steel. And on a side note, try to find a scope with a heavy reticle in the lower magnification range that doesn't either have tacticool bells and whistles, a circle plex or somesuch shotgun reticle, or a German/Austrian price tag, good luck!

Am I just a hopeless throwback, or is anybody else out there "old" too?
 
I think there are several on this forum who would agree with you, myself being one of them. I am sure Guy, Dr Mike, Hodgeman and others still use the good old rifles from yesteryear. Scotty loves his "pre 64" winchesters and why not, Cheyenne loves her 71 winchester. We are out here and we agree with you.

In one hour it will be 5 o'clock somewhere and that will be here, so I will have a drink and toast rifles of yesteryear when thet were not made out of plastic and weighed 1 pound
 
I'm sort of a mixed bag on this one.

I've got a few older guns that are lovely in all respects, but I rarely hunt with them anymore except on rare occasions . Most of my "using guns" are of the stainless/cerakote/plastic/synthetic variety. My last walnut stocked hunting rifle just took a ferocious thrashing after a few years to the point I felt guilty even leaving the house with it.

On the flip side- yeah, I miss the craftsmanship that went into building a good rifle. Today sub-MOA smoke poles grow on every CNC powered tree. From an engineering perspective, I'm astounded at them. For instance, I've got two Ruger Americans... tack driving machines that cost a mere $300 each. I don't know what Ruger spends producing them, but it can't be much more than $100 and most of that is the barrel. Other makers do the same thing. We've learned to make good rifles for cheap.

You can still get good quality craftsmanship, but you have to be prepared to open your wallet for it. I keep thinking I'd like to get a swanky grade .270...in polished blue and oil finish walnut and topped with a glossy finished 6x Leupold. Maybe one of the better grade Kimbers or a Supergrade Winchester or even maybe a walnut stocked Sako in 7x64 Brenneke.

I don't what I'd do with such a piece, but it makes me feel good to think about it.

To get past the point of plasticy bits and MIM components you have to spend a good deal of money indeed. It's hard to do from a performance standpoint when the result is more fragile and likely less accurate (or less predictably accurate) than a "wonder rifle" from the box store.
 
Ya, for a serious, all-weather hunting tool, I don't think we've ever had a better selection of rifles available to us.

Stocks, metalwork and scopes that are all about impervious to the weather are very tempting. Particularly to one who is more of a hunter than a fan of classic rifles.

Guy
 
Guy Miner":2prswow8 said:
Ya, for a serious, all-weather hunting tool, I don't think we've ever had a better selection of rifles available to us.

Stocks, metalwork and scopes that are all about impervious to the weather are very tempting. Particularly to one who is more of a hunter than a fan of classic rifles.

Guy

Yeah, that's my son. He's a hunter and shooter through and through. To him a rifle is no more significant than a hammer, or a chainsaw. Just another implement with a specific job to do.

I keep hoping he'll become interested in the rifle itself and the differences in craftsmanship involved. If anything, it'll keep off drugs and out of bars because he'll be too broke to engage in that kind of behavior.
 
I'm right there with you. I know a good synthetic stocked rifle is probably better in almost every way, but I just can't abide by them. I don't see myself ever laying out money for 1 except maybe to acquire an action or barrel I'd want for a build. I do have a beater 22 in a synthetic and that's about the value I put on it.

There's no lines, no beauty, no craftsmanship. No inherent value to be treasured by family members or collectors years later. It's a tool worth what that tool is worth in a particular make and model, not much different than my deceased Father in law's pipe wrench that stands in the corner of the garage that I keep around in case I need it. I understand why they are popular, but they are just in no way shape or form, for me.
 
I love craftsmanship, and I have a few rifles that show the loving touch of a human hand. However, it is difficult to ignore the practical quality of some of the newer stuff on the market. Hodgeman is correct is noting how so many see the rifle as a tool, and they aren't all together wrong--it is practical. Still, I do appreciate handling a firearm that was assembled from steel and wood by a skilled craftsman. It seems almost to transfer a spiritual quality from the one who crafted it to the one now using it.
 
DrMike":25slv6a3 said:
I love craftsmanship, and I have a few rifles that show the loving touch of a human hand. However, it is difficult to ignore the practical quality of some of the newer stuff on the market. Hodgeman is correct is noting how so many see the rifle as a tool, and they aren't all together wrong--it is practical. Still, I do appreciate handling a firearm that was assembled from steel and wood by a skilled craftsman. It seems almost to transfer a spiritual quality from the one who crafted it to the one now using it.

Agreed. Hard to explain, or at least for me, but just like hunting itself that a person can't always explain to somebody, there's way more to it than just shooting an animal. Same goes for the gun that's part of it. For me a machine stamped piece of plastic takes away from the total mix of what all makes me appreciate everything I do about hunting. But that's me, nobody else has to feel that way.
 
I will say that the condition is significantly better for the shotgunners.

It seems that good grade shotguns are quite a bit easier to find than good grade rifles. There have always been economy grade shotguns, but it seems the market makes a pretty big jump between the two extremes.
 
100% agreed..... Dull finish, plastic stocks, machined everything.. A hunting rifle to me is an expression of who the hunter or huntress is, and how the look at what they are doing in the field.. Care and respect come to mind, and it shows in a fine rifle. I guess I am old school too. I will have to post a new pic of my 125 yr old model 91 after its refinish and reblue that I did last spring.. It has a real soul..
Take care
Ed
 
I am a hunter first and a shooter second. I think I have two rifles with wooden stocks and they are laminated. While I do appreciate a beautiful finish, and the deep dark colors of a fine wooden stock, as well as the care that goes into creating a beautiful rifle, I do not own one. Why, because I would not take it into the woods with me. It probably would be scratched before it even made it to hunting camp. I want a rifle that will retain zero under almost any condition, that I can use to occasionally help me over a downed log in the lodgepole, and not having to worry about scratching it or marring it in any way. My hunting rifles have black stocks, some with bluing, some with most of it worn off. They are a treasure to me, but some would think them ugly. But they get the job done and take a beating sometimes, when I fall or lose my purchase on a shale side hill. Just my 02.
 
Probably one of my all time favorites is a J.C. Higgins M50 30-06 that was gifted to me by a friend shortly before he passes away. Nice classic stock that he carved out and the rifle was very accurate. He told me to hunt that rifle. Don't cry if it gets scarred up as it was made to hunt. He passed it to after an accident left his shoulder messed up and he couldn't handle the recoil. He went to a 257 Robt. he'd built up for deer.
Well, the stock or that rifle got broken on a hunt when I slipped and literally fell off a cliff. More like a slide than a fall but steep nevertheless. Stock and scope were a total loss. That rifle now sits in a Butler Creek synthetic and it still gets hunted. One of these years I;ll get it properly restocked with a nice piece of walnut I've had laying around for a while.
Another 06 favorite was put together as a custom rifle with the most gorgeous piece of walnut you could imagine. That stock was so unstable that the point of impact would change literally after every magazine refill. I didn't use that rifle for years because of the problem until I put it in a McMillan synthetic. It's now a .50" gun with Nosler 165 gr. Accubonds and I'm thinking of seeing how it does with Partitions. I took a nice fat cow elk with it and the 165 AB two years ago.
Now I'll admit right off the top that my preference is for wood stocks and blued metal properly done but I do not sneer at a rifle that that has a good synthetic stock like a McMillan. I'll also admit that my preference in rifle actions is for a well made Mauser type, especially those by FN.
Paul B.
 
Well, me too.
Life is too short for bad coffee or ugly guns.
So I bought both sons Ducks Unlimited Berettas. The beauty of that walnut makes my heart flutter.

But to Guys comment about the weather, my M70 extreme weather 300 win mag, I don’t think twice about were I’m carrying it. Not worried about getting soaked or scratches.

I’m happy. Coffee is strong and the guns look great.

I don’t buy ugly wood.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
mjcmichigan":xn4rjquw said:
Well, me too.
Life is too short for bad coffee or ugly guns.
So I bought both sons Ducks Unlimited Berettas. The beauty of that walnut makes my heart flutter.

But to Guys comment about the weather, my M70 extreme weather 300 win mag, I don’t think twice about were I’m carrying it. Not worried about getting soaked or scratches.

I’m happy. Coffee is strong and the guns look great.

I don’t buy ugly wood.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

And ugly dogs. Ha. I always said it costs the same to feed an ugly dog as a good looking one so I do my best to keep good hunting dogs that I can at least admire on days I'm not hunting. :mrgreen:
 
ShadeTree":2jyw3wvc said:
mjcmichigan":2jyw3wvc said:
Well, me too.
Life is too short for bad coffee or ugly guns.
So I bought both sons Ducks Unlimited Berettas. The beauty of that walnut makes my heart flutter.

But to Guys comment about the weather, my M70 extreme weather 300 win mag, I don’t think twice about were I’m carrying it. Not worried about getting soaked or scratches.

I’m happy. Coffee is strong and the guns look great.

I don’t buy ugly wood.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

And ugly dogs. Ha. I always said it costs the same to feed an ugly dog as a good looking one so I do my best to keep good hunting dogs that I can at least admire on days I'm not hunting. :mrgreen:

shade tree and mjcmichigan this could also include women ( sorry I could not resist)

back to the topic at hand. I wish I could get Cheyenne to post on this thread. I know she does something to the wood stock as soon as she gets it. Few people "use" their rifles a much as she does and uses it in very extreme conditions.

As I said in the beginning, I am old but for me, "convenience" was never the deciding factor

I like wood and blue and admittedly have scratched, dinged, split and broken a wood stock or two and always put another wood stock back on. Hunted the same rifle with a wood stock for many years in the heat of Arizona and the cold of Alaska. Admittedly i never "guided" in Alaska, so the rifle was in the cold and/or wet only three or four weeks at a time and then back to Arizona.

like a couple others have said, life is to short for ugly rifles, dogs, horses, sailboats and men--opps, I mean women
 
The new rifles definitely don’t have the looks of the old rifles for sure. I can’t complain though, they shoot very well. Also it doesn’t hurt my feelings to beat the crap out of them. I catch myself on gunbroker looking at the classic custom mausers and original rigby rifles all the time. To me that is the definition of craftsmanship. I can’t afford either of those anyways so I just keep looking and drooling lol.


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Europe":s4ke00h1 said:
ShadeTree":s4ke00h1 said:
mjcmichigan":s4ke00h1 said:
Well, me too.
Life is too short for bad coffee or ugly guns.
So I bought both sons Ducks Unlimited Berettas. The beauty of that walnut makes my heart flutter.

But to Guys comment about the weather, my M70 extreme weather 300 win mag, I don’t think twice about were I’m carrying it. Not worried about getting soaked or scratches.

I’m happy. Coffee is strong and the guns look great.

I don’t buy ugly wood.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

And ugly dogs. Ha. I always said it costs the same to feed an ugly dog as a good looking one so I do my best to keep good hunting dogs that I can at least admire on days I'm not hunting. :mrgreen:

shade tree and mjcmichigan this could also include women ( sorry I could not resist)

back to the topic at hand. I wish I could get Cheyenne to post on this thread. I know she does something to the wood stock as soon as she gets it. Few people "use" their rifles a much as she does and uses it in very extreme conditions.

....


like a couple others have said, life is to short for ugly rifles, dogs, horses, sailboats and men--opps, I mean women

Lol. I knew you’d go there....


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I am one who adores a nice wood stock on a rifle or shotgun. My daughters model 7's are synthetic, as are my two Knight muzzleloaders but everything else is wood. I've toyed with the idea of having a beautiful rifle built with an exceptional piece of wood someday. It would get used, as I believe in hunting with my guns. I just can't warm up to the plastic stuff.
 
It seems to me the younger set doesn't have the passion for craftsmanship in many things, and, don't care for them nearly as much. When I see what some people do with their houses and cars, I'm sometime appalled.

I started hunting with wood and didn't adopt anything synthetic for probably 35 or 40 years. Now, I fear damaging the wood and take a synthetic when I head out. However, I treat the synthetic rifle with care and make sure it is properly cleaned and lubed. It's soul now comes from me, with its familiarity and the confidence I feel when I head out. It's a Blaser R8 professional, and 98% of the time is sports a 300 Weatherby barrel. It's not a tool to me, it's part of the experience. In fact, I don't go on hunts where I can't take my own rifle.

If it is possible, I think I have too many options.
 
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