Life and ugly guns

[Cheesehead]

Is life too short to hunt with ugly guns assuming one can afford beautiful ones? One major caveat: rough weather/conditions

More interested in the thought process. Yes I know a Savage Axis can kill deer, but how do you weigh the aesthetics of how we do what we do

 

[Willy Dee]

Love walnut stocks and good bluing. I Really feel no attraction to most "plastic" guns but respect their utility and own a couple for bad weather. I am really a sucker for old Weatherby Mark v deluxe models.

 

[choc dogs]

Both 3006. Sold axis. Picked up m70. Seems better.

 

[BrentD]

Not sure what the poll is asking, but I strive for beauty and elegance in all firearms regardless of the weather.

I'm proud to be a gun snob.

 

[Pmacc60]

Love them all , ugly guns need love too! As long as they perform!!

 

[Redman]

I love a beautiful wood stock and a nice blued finish. That being said I purchase mate stainless and synthetic stocks. I would trash the beautiful gun. They are tools and I want them tough, light, and accurate. If they are beautiful they don't come out of the safe to hunt with.

 

[SD_Prairie_Goat]

Love a pretty gun, but at the end of the day, they don't make the animal anymore dead than my synthetic stock vanguard, or my beat to crap wood Remington 870...

 

[TN2shot07]

With most things I’m function over fashion but with guns that wood puts them in another category. I do have a stainless/synthetic 270 for all day rain and still do want to try a Tikka but 90% of the time it’s wood and blue. Scratches and scuffs are a story for down the road

 

[andrew11]

Only accurate rifles are interesting- Townsend Whelen

That being said if it looks good and doesn't perform, its gotta go down the road or the smith to get fixed up.

 

[geetar]

Depends on what your focus in hunting is. If it’s to kill an animal as often as possible maybe looks don’t matter on a gun. If a beautiful gun is part of a higher quality experience then maybe it matters more to you.

 

[BirdManMike]

Somewhere in the middle for me. I like wood, not plastic, and some bluing is nice (but not necessary). I have purchased CZ guns for my past couple -- they look nice (enough), and - even though I could afford a lot more - they dont cost all that much (comparatively).

 

[belshawelk]

I still have the original cheap gun that started the plastic hunting rifle ugly guns. Remington 710. Its my leave at my cabin triple back up. Funny thing is its shoots pretty good for back them I paid $249 for the 30-06 with even a crappier scope. Its the only cheap gun I have. All my other guns I waited to buy when I had the money, other than a couple I won at fundraising auctions. Now its all about how they perform/function

 

[Panda Bear]

Not sure what the poll is asking, but I strive for beauty and elegance in all firearms regardless of the weather.

I'm proud to be a gun snob.

I agree with Brent

Also, like Brent, I like and use old calibers, albeit my choices are not as old as Brents choices

Win 348, 275 H & H, Savage 250/3000

 

[Hunting Wife]

I don’t know. Right now for example, I shoot almost everything feathered with my Beretta A400. It’s camo, and ugly as hell. But after struggling for years with all kinds of shotguns that just didn’t fit right, I will 100% take an ugly gun that I shoot very well over a pretty one that I am mediocre with.

Don’t get me wrong…I drool over pretty guns as much as the next person. Classic wood and blue are easy on the eyes for sure.

 

[Ben Lamb]

Everybody should have cheap guns. An 870 Express is the quintessential American firearm: Mass produced, rugged, reliable and it can take a licking all day long.

Everybody should get a fine firearm as well: Quality made guns are art. Hand fitted, honed and finished has a totally different feel than a cheap gun. It's the difference between 2 buck chuck & a fancy bottle of wine. They both get you buzzed, but one is far more pleasurable in the process.

 

[TimeOnTarget]

An accurate rifle is a beautiful rifle. That's how I judge beauty.

 

[BrentD]

You know, you can have beauty AND performance. Form and function are not tradeoffs. It's probably easier to find a vintage shotgun that will shoot well for you than an off the rack new gun.

Once I decided that hunting was the most important activity to me, I decided it was also where I was going to spend my money and energy to find the tools that that I enjoyed the most while doing it.

I also like to ride bicycles. And I ride them hard and I enjoy using them. But I am not as interested in them as I am in hunting, so I do not buy bicycles of the same quality that I buy firearms.

Therein lies the difference. How can I NOT hunt with the finest, most attractive kind of firearm I can afford??

And finally, fine firearms tend not to lose their value because they are used. Unlike the brand new truck, bike, or shotgun that rolls off the dealer's showroom floor, a new-to-you 19th century English shotgun may actually increase in value while you add a little patina to its surfaces. Albeit, I bust one once in a while.

And one more finally, fine firearms are not always expensive or at least as expensive as you may think.

 

[NR_Hunter]

Only thing I would consider myself mildly snobby about is upland bird hunting because that is about a certain aesthetic more than just function. I'd hate to hunt pheasants or grouse with some crappy synthetic Rustington, although I have used pumps and auto-loaders most of my life. Italian made shotguns are pretty rad.

Rifle or whatever else I really don't care at all. Make it a meme gun for all I care. My waterfowl gun has an ATF sticker on it.

 

[Akcabin]

I was trying to figure out what an ugly gun was. Near 40 years ago I traded some carpenter work for a Winchester, I think, model 1300. 12ga pump.
I used it for my boat gun. I was invited to go trap shooting so I grabbed my rusty beat up boat gun. Certainly the ugliest gun there. But I placed above mid pack.i shot that gun a lot

 

[noharleyyet]

Big fan of satin walnut, blue or bead blast stainless, quality synthetic furniture complimented with cera-coated metal drapes and proportionally stylized handle and bolt fluting...

-elitist <blank>