What makes a rifle a classic?

Sometimes the classic is not even beautiful. Take the old '95 Winchester. When the action is open and the innards are hanging out, it looks for all the world like an aging hooker whose had a bit too much to drink and doesn't realize her garters are showing.

Even with the action shut, it looks ill-balanced and awkward as hell. Loading it requires an odd regime that requires you stand the cartridges straight up on end. And yet for the close and ugly, it puts the bullets where they need to be, fast.

Blued steel and walnut firing a traditional cartridge that ends in "Winchester" or "Remington" (not a Creedmoor).

Of course, beauty is in the eye of the beholder ...

Butt stock plate, quality Manlincher wood stock with some knurl work, iron rear sights (100 to 300 mts), hood front sight with point (FO) or plate and magazine box with 5 or 6 round.

In other words, the closer rifle to my taste that my pocket were able to capture were 2 CZ 550 full stock one in 308 and other 6.5x55 swede.

Most often a "Classic" is friendly to the eye, it needs to be user friendly, it needs to have a following of admirers, and it needs to retain it's value. How many compound bows, TV sets, computers or travel trailers do you think of as a classic? They tend to be outdated only months after they are sold. Parts can't be found, maintenance can't be had or it's expensive. Today people tend to throw things away or sell them cheap when they become useless.

When it comes to firearms they need a following of admirers that continues for many years, and it is often firearms that are passed from generation to generation. Look at the ATF listing of firearms that qualify as Curios & Relics and you will see many classic firearms. I doubt if many of the new expensive designer rifles will end up as classics because they are bulky and heavy which makes them qualify more as a tool.

My idea of "classic" has everything to do with subjective looks and objective materials, finish and workmanship. Jack O'Conner's opinions about what constitutes "classic" in terms of rifles and shotguns are the ones I'm most in agreement with.

What makes a gun a classic is the same thing that makes a woman beautiful. I am not sure what that really means but it starts to make sense the longer you think about it.

Let me show you the opposite, please no offense intended to Mossberg owners.

Chuck Connors and John Wayne are spinning in their Graves ........

Mossberg Co. people have very strong ideas about marketing.

What makes a rifle a classic?

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Somebody on Gunbroker listing it as such . . . .

Most classics are no longer produced due to the cost to produce them in hand fitted parts, I have several such as a Winchester Model 62, a Winchester Model 12, a Winchester Model 1897 in 12 gauge, a Savage Model 99 in 300 Savage, and on and on the newest is the Savage made in 1931, you can usually tell by the wood to metal fit that was done by an artisan gunsmith, not to mention the metal butt plates.