I would have an entirely different selection of guns.
Back in 2005 I finally got the job of my dreams,,,
It was the first time in my life (54 years at the time) that I had disposable money.
I bought a single-shot .22 rifle and a range membership,,,
I knew I wanted to do recreational shooting,,,
The single-shot was a good choice.
But then, having money to burn, I just went a bit crazy,,,
Buying just about anything that caught my eye.
I ended up with an interesting selection of rimfire rifles,,,
With no rhyme or reason to their selection,,,
Other than I simply "wanted" them.
Now I'm in the situation where as a retired man,,,
I find myself selling or gifting away a lot of the rifles (and pistols) I have amassed.
I'm keeping one bolt-action for it's precise shooting characteristic (CZ-457 Pro Varmint AT-1),,,
I'm keeping one semi-auto ( maybe two) for the same reasons (CZ-512 Rifle and CZ-512 Carbine),,,
I'm keeping one bolt-action single-shot with iron sights just because of the nostalgia (ES340B Mauser).
All the other rifles will be sold or gifted away by the end of this summer,,,
After I shoot each of them one more time for nostalgia's sake.
But as I sit and contemplate my somewhat eclectic collection of rifles,,,
I kind of wish I had gone another direction with them.
I wish I had gone with an early desire,,,
To purchase military rimfire trainers.
Just those short 17 years back the rifles were still relatively inexpensive,,,
I remember a Springfield trainer at a Wanenmachers show,,,
But at the time I thought $375 was too much,,,
Look at their prices now.
It's not that I would have bought them only as investments,,,
I just truly like (love) the look of old military rifles,,,
And most of them were damn good shooters.
But then again my OCD tendencies would have demanded,,,
That as soon as I purchased a .22 training rifle,,,
I would have to own it's centerfire sister.
That's what happened to me with handguns,,,
I searched out and obtained a nice collection of centerfire/rimfire pairs,,,
That was quite satisfying as I have nearly all of them encased in nice wood presentation boxes.
Several years ago I viewed a thread over at Rimfire Central,,,
Where a gentleman had a collection of 19 (I thing it was 19) pairs of battle-rifles and their matching rimfire trainers.
He took very nice pictures of the pairs,,,
And I drooled over each and every one of them.
I only have one military trainer myself,,,
It is a Polish WZ-48 single-shot,,,
An extremely precise shooter.
I should probably sell it quickly,,,
Before I succumb to my OCD tendencies,,,
And purchase a Polish Nagant to pair up with it.
Anyways, I am just musing on a very lazy Saturday morning,,,
On how different things might have been for me,,,
If I had just bought that Springfield trainer.
Aarond
.
Back in 2005 I finally got the job of my dreams,,,
It was the first time in my life (54 years at the time) that I had disposable money.
I bought a single-shot .22 rifle and a range membership,,,
I knew I wanted to do recreational shooting,,,
The single-shot was a good choice.
But then, having money to burn, I just went a bit crazy,,,
Buying just about anything that caught my eye.
I ended up with an interesting selection of rimfire rifles,,,
With no rhyme or reason to their selection,,,
Other than I simply "wanted" them.
Now I'm in the situation where as a retired man,,,
I find myself selling or gifting away a lot of the rifles (and pistols) I have amassed.
I'm keeping one bolt-action for it's precise shooting characteristic (CZ-457 Pro Varmint AT-1),,,
I'm keeping one semi-auto ( maybe two) for the same reasons (CZ-512 Rifle and CZ-512 Carbine),,,
I'm keeping one bolt-action single-shot with iron sights just because of the nostalgia (ES340B Mauser).
All the other rifles will be sold or gifted away by the end of this summer,,,
After I shoot each of them one more time for nostalgia's sake.
But as I sit and contemplate my somewhat eclectic collection of rifles,,,
I kind of wish I had gone another direction with them.
I wish I had gone with an early desire,,,
To purchase military rimfire trainers.
Just those short 17 years back the rifles were still relatively inexpensive,,,
I remember a Springfield trainer at a Wanenmachers show,,,
But at the time I thought $375 was too much,,,
Look at their prices now.
It's not that I would have bought them only as investments,,,
I just truly like (love) the look of old military rifles,,,
And most of them were damn good shooters.
But then again my OCD tendencies would have demanded,,,
That as soon as I purchased a .22 training rifle,,,
I would have to own it's centerfire sister.
That's what happened to me with handguns,,,
I searched out and obtained a nice collection of centerfire/rimfire pairs,,,
That was quite satisfying as I have nearly all of them encased in nice wood presentation boxes.
Several years ago I viewed a thread over at Rimfire Central,,,
Where a gentleman had a collection of 19 (I thing it was 19) pairs of battle-rifles and their matching rimfire trainers.
He took very nice pictures of the pairs,,,
And I drooled over each and every one of them.
I only have one military trainer myself,,,
It is a Polish WZ-48 single-shot,,,
An extremely precise shooter.
I should probably sell it quickly,,,
Before I succumb to my OCD tendencies,,,
And purchase a Polish Nagant to pair up with it.
Anyways, I am just musing on a very lazy Saturday morning,,,
On how different things might have been for me,,,
If I had just bought that Springfield trainer.
Aarond
.
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