Downsizing to Matched Rifles...is it worth it?

[AZDAVE]

@Red Leg Amen brother on building a gun room!!!

 

[crs]

I have a few rifles and shotguns scattered about in safes and closets in different rooms and have only one that I want to sell- an unfired Winchester 1895 Deluxe .405 WCF safe queen.
It is redundant because of my 1895 .405 TD shooter. Plus, I could use that room in the safe for a new rifle.

 

[Ridgewalker]

rnovi, I am on your side! At my time in life I need to reduce my inventory to what I actually use. Maybe 1 22 squirrel/rabbit rifle, 1 223 varmint (PD, coyote, etc) rifle, 1 30-06 or 300 WM big game/plains game rifle, and 1 375 or 416 pseudo heavy DG rifle. But shotguns...I “need” my upland SxS 12 and SxS 20, semi-auto camoed 12 (waterfowl & varmints), and 12 870 turkey gun. WOW! I could get back to just 1 gunsafe!
Best of luck on what ever you decide!

 

[meigsbucks]

I lost a number of guns in a situation I hate thinking about. Since then, I only get rid of a gun if it doesn’t shoot.
I’ve thought about downsizing to maybe five or six hunting rifles. BUT... I can't bring myself to doing it. I love playing with all the different rounds.
If I had to start over, I’d probably try to do the five or six but I’m sure that would grow... AGAIN!

 

[WAB]

I decided to simplify and get down to one gun safe. So, while building our new house I had a vault room poured and installed a Fort Knox safe door. Voila, one safe with more than double the capacity of what I had before! I love simplicity!

 

[rnovi]

Heh, I actually did take measurements and found I can step up to a 38” wide safe. Hmmmm!

 

[Bullthrower338]

Heh, I actually did take measurements and found I can step up to a 38” wide safe. Hmmmm!

There you go, now you are talking sense! Whew! Thought we may have lost you!

 

[One Day...]

Well ... I did it ... sort of ... LOL

It is interesting how many of us have that yearning for simplification come a certain time in life. How can gazing into the gun safe at a collection of fine bolt actions, in my case: .223, .243 Win, 6 mm Rem, 6,5x54 MS, .257 Wby, .270 Win, 7x64, 7x65R, 7 mm Rem Mag, 7.5x54, .308 Win, .300 Win Mag, .300 Wby Mag, .338 Win Mag, .340 Wby Mag, .375 H&H, .416 Rigby, .458 Lott, plus a .470 NE double, all from fine (mostly) European and (a few) American makers (Sauer, Mauser, Mannlicher, Steyr, CZ, Sako, Dumoulin, Weatherby, Winchester, Remington, etc.) and all of them topped with either a Swarovski, Zeiss or Schmidt & Bender scope, how can this trigger a deep sigh of frustrated complication !?!?!? Never mind the obligatory pre-64 30-30 Win 94, the .45 Win 92, the Anschutz .22 and .22 Mag, the Merkel 20 and 12 shotguns, the old and modern military rifles, etc. etc.

So, I took the plunge ... with a twist. I did put together a matched pair ... but I kept (so far) everything else LOL

Here is my idea of the near ideal "anything, anywhere, any-weather, hit-them-far, hit-them-hard, world-wide, non-dangerous game, matched-pair":

Both are Weatherby Mark V true stainless earlier models (not the current silver coated carbon steel Weathermark); 26" #2 contour barrels; earlier stainless steel bottoms (not the current pot-metal cast bottoms); Bell & Carlson Medalist Kevlar & Aramid stocks with full length aluminum bedding block and pillars (not the original 'Tupperware' injection molded stocks); drilled & tapped for 8x40 base screws; and both have Zeiss Diavari Z 2.5-10x48 30 mm tube scopes in Talley bases and Talley Screw Lock Detachable rings.

Yeah, I too prefer linseed oil hand-rubbed walnut and rust-blue custom guns, and I have some pretty nice ones, but I had French walnut turn into a warped, gray plank, and rust-blue turn into plain rust after 3 days of uninterrupted rain in a fly camp in Newfoundland; and I had a $10,000 custom Griffin & Howe rifle turn into a stack of kindle wood and scrap metal during airport handling. So, relatively inexpensive stainless and Kevlar it is for me. Some say the Weatherby stocks accentuate recoil and are ugly. I have not found so.

Both rifles share what are practically the same ballistics:
.257 Wby with 100 gr TTSX sighted for 8" vitals (small & medium game): +3" @ 100 yd; +4" @ 200 yd ; +2.5" @ 300 yd; -4" @ 400 yd.
.340 Wby with 225 gr TTSX sighted for 12" to 18" vitals (large game): +4" @ 100 yd; +5.5" @ 200 yd ; +2.5 @ 300 yd; -6" @ 400 yd.

I consider dangerous game different, so the 3 gun battery has to include the double .470 NE...

I am actually considering selling stuff, and have even received offers, but so far, I have not done it. Would it sounds surprising if I were to say that just the thought of having to manage the administrative nightmare of posting a dozen rifles for sale, and having to undergo the inevitable 'used car' haggling from folks attempting to convince me that a - pick a brand: Sauer, Mauser, Mannlicher, etc. rifle, equipped with claw mounted - pick a brand: Swarovski, Zeiss, Schmidt & Bender scope, all in 95+% condition, "is-actually-a-piece-of-crap-that-is-not-worth-anything-but-they-will-still-do-me-a-favor-and-offer-me-generously-$700-for-it", just that thought, has been enough to deter me...

So far, I am with @Red Leg

 

[jduckhunter]

Heh, I actually did take measurements and found I can step up to a 38” wide safe. Hmmmm!

IMHO a much better choice....

 

[ChrisG]

I did the same thing although I couldn't leave it at two hunting rifles but if you want it pared down to absolute minimum...

.223 <150lbs
7mm rem mag/ .30-06 <750 lbs
.375 H&H for everything else

 

[Milehighshooter]

Ok you're keeping the 257. Great. Here's my opinion

257
30-06
375

Spend the money you make selling them all on HUNTS!! Not fancy matches rifles. Go get 2 Model 70's and be done with it. You can easily keep both a fancy wood AND synthetic stock for each rifle if you want, and just swap back and forth.

I'd say 300 & 375 H&H but you made ammo availability a requirement.

If you really want even more flexibility, change that 30-06 toa 300 Win Mag or Weatherby mag, and you're literally covered for anything, with the 257/300/375

 

[One Day...]

Both logical batteries ChrisG and Milehighshooter, I like them.
My choice of a .470 NE double is more romantic than practical, I realize that, but it works for DG. I also have a Kevlar stocked CZ .416 Rigby that takes the place of the .375 in your batteries. I would love the concept of a matched triplet with a .416 Wby, but it is too much gun for me ;-)
All of the plains game are GO with the .257 (<250 lbs) and .340 (>300 lbs), and they both give me massive safety margins.

 

[cmk]

These are the four brothers:

6.5×55 Swedish
.30-06
9.3×62
404 Jeffery

All are left-hand Sako rifles from the mid-80's to early 90's
The 30-06 and the 404 are getting new stocks made. The 6.5 will then inherit the "deluxe" stock and bottom metal from the '06.

I have a spare 6.5 barrel left over from the 404 build, and will have two spare stocks once the new ones are finished.

I have a shotgun and a 22 as well, but regarding real rifles, I think I'm pretty much done.

 

[Milehighshooter]

Cmk, very nice!

Im in the process of building 2 different trio's myself. Mainly for one day making it to Africa, but i could do anything with them.

Trio 1 all Model 70 H&H
300
375
400

#2 all metric mauser 98's
275
9.3x62
10.75x68

 

[oldhoward]

Tuff question to answer, at least for me. I have more rifles then I could use, but I use the same 3 rifles most of the time. One for varmints, one for medium game and one for the really big game. However I have heirlooms to pass to my sons, my dad riles, and grandfathers rifles and handguns. So I wouldn't sell any of them today. I just keep pace with my wifes shoe buying, one pair of shoes= one rifle. works for me.

 

[CBH Australia]

So, I've been struggling with this idea for a while now. I've got this stupid idea to downsize and simplify my while hunting game. Down to two or *three rifles.

Yeah, I hate those kinds of threads. "What if you could only have two rifles? Three rifles?"...well, I'm kinda there but it's more because I'm really feeling like simplification is a good thing. I have enough stuff. I don't need more stuff.

I hunt - that's the primary focus. Perhaps not enough but hey, let's roll with it. My "target shooting" is really about making sure I'm comfortable and sighted in properly for the hunting season. I hunt the USA (deer and hogs in TX, been on one Grizz hunt in AK) and Africa (PG twice...next time I really want Cape Buff). I'm also not a long distance hunter. 300 yards? Yeah, that's about it. My longest shot was 312 yards on Kudu from across a valley where I had ten minutes to set up. Prone, rocks stacked and supporting...yeah, I took that shot. I'm not that guy who wants to shoot at 700 yards for hunting. Heck, my range only goes to 200 yards on paper and 600 yards with steel only.

(*Note: I'm 49 years old...no health issues...plenty of hunting years and destinations ahead of me. And this is really about Hunting Rifles...not guns I consider "toys", which include my AR's, Garand, Etc.)

So, here's the "collection" siting in the safe. All Rifles are topped with respectable and appropriate glass (VX3 on the "light weight" end...VX6 and Leica is the norm).

Remington M7MS Custom Shop in .257 Roberts (my primary hunting rifle for deer and hogs)
Remington M7 AWR in 7mm SAUM (7#, 3oz scoped foul weather Alaskan rifle, been to Kodiak for Sitka and Goat.) Its biggest problem is the ammo - I have enough for a hunting career (260 factory rounds and 50 pieces of fresh brass that I reload)
Remington SPS (heavy barrel, Hogue stock) in .308 (*originally a "loaner" rifle for my dad...who redefines what "Mil-Spec" should really mean! A general Loaner at this point.)

2x Merkel Helix actions (switch barrel), 6.5x55, 7mm RMag, 9.3x62 (*Obvious problem here is lack of the .375 H&H...)
Merkel 141 Double, 9.3x74r (*well, it's a double)
Merkel K1 7mm RMag (6# 6oz of pure recoiling bitch).
Merkel K1 7x57r (my Wife's...not open for discussion!)

Montana 1999 in .375 H&H

Every single rifle is 3/4" capable. Which, in and unto itself, seems to be the boring norm. A couple deliver 1/2" accuracy or shoot better than me.

This could apply to a Blaser, Merkel Helix, Mauser Switch Barrel...or two identical rifles, save caliber.

I keep thinking...I could reduce to just two or three rifles. Sell everything, reduce to just two or three rifles. These would have to "universal" rifles. Ammo availability in Africa...or a 'Stan would be necessary. So, common calibers.

Let's say I sell everything and start over with a $10k budget for just two rifles*. The rifles as a pair have to hunt everything from Texas blinds to Alaskan Goat to African Cape Buff.

So...how nutty am I? Downsizing anyone? Is there a real value (know your gun, handling, etc.) in keeping it simple for hunting purposes? Just an '06 (or .270 or 7mm RM?) and a .375, matched rifles (different stock colors though!) make sense? I really would like to hear your thoughts.




*(Except the .257...it has certain sentimental value. And besides, my name is Robert sooooo...)

An old thread but I hope you didn't do anything silly,
I have rifles I don't use regularly but most are set up for a purpose in mind scopes matched to an application or use.
At 49 myself. Hoping to still get some use out of all of these.

 

[rnovi]

LOL, nahhhh, I got busy as heck with work and well, that was that! the safe is "safe" and intact.

Thanks!

 

[dougfinn]

When ever I come across a rifle in a caliber I don’t have, I ask myself where it would fit in with what I already have. This system worked pretty good for me until I ended up with the three main hunting rifles I have now, which are two model 70’s in .243 and .375H&H, and a browning x-bolt in 7mm rem mag. With these three calibres I have not been able to convince myself to get anything different. Now I will admit to having other centre fire rifles in other calibers, but they aren’t my main hunting rifles. I will
probably hang onto them but the three I hunt with are all I need.

 

[Rell]

I tried this and failed. Sold 25 rifles, 30 handguns and 3 shotguns.

Bought two Joe Smithson GMA98 custom synthetic stocked beauties in 300 win mag and 375 H&H.

Bought three Berretta Jubilees. 12g, 20g and 28g with matching custom stocks. All with 29.5 inch tubes.

Bought two 1911 Wilson Combat super grades in 9mm and 45acp.

6 years later …… four full gun safes

Futile exercise!

 

[Kevin Peacocke]

I must admit I am a very strange animal, I just want one to dote upon, the other three will go. That will be my 450/400 Heym double with a QD red dot for plains game. I can't see ever having to shoot beyond 100 metres at anything, and my bushcraft can and will make that happen.