Budget vs expensive hunting guns?
- Thread starter Axis II
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Armored farmer
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I hunt with budget minded equipment.
I have never really felt that i have suffered too much from it.
I have never really felt that i have suffered too much from it.
Captcurt
Member
Most of my guns are decent, middle of the road, quality, but I have tested a lot of the cheaper stuff. Mossberg has surprised me with their rifles. I have tested a couple of the Patriot rifles and both of them functioned and shot quite well. In fact I have a few 3 shot groups out of their 308 that measures under a half inch. Their 500 and 835 shotguns has a loyal following in the Turkey woods. Stoeger, CZ, and Hugla make some decent guns and some of the handguns made in the Philippines are bargains. I could be happy with a Metroarms American Classic 1911.
Charliefrank
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I still turkey hunt with my plain Jane 870 turkey gun. 21 " barrel with extra full choke, parkerised finish plain dull hardwood stock. Paid $250 for it new in 92.
Man I'm sure glad I'm not alone. I was waiting to see a bunch of Benellie, browing x bolt, ruger, posts but seems the average hunting joe gets it done with some Walmart specials. I can dig it! 
. I get in this mood here and there where for some reason I just think I need a better gun. I did that with my Marlin last summer and ended up killing 2 deer and the biggest buck of my life with it! I despised my old single shot so it was money well spent.
. I get in this mood here and there where for some reason I just think I need a better gun. I did that with my Marlin last summer and ended up killing 2 deer and the biggest buck of my life with it! I despised my old single shot so it was money well spent.
George P
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My rifles are (were) an older 700 BDL, a Model 7, a1907 Swede and an XP-100 - at today's prices, they would seem to be considered expensive by folks here...........now when I look at some of my friends' guns, most here would probably cringe at their cost......
JeeperCreeper
Member
I was raised that it's better to hit a home run with a hand-me-down bat than strike out with the latest-and-greatest.
That being said, I like heavy value for money. I like guns that are cheap but good. That's a very subjective thing, but basically I like rugers, mossbergs, savages, tikkas, etc. for hunting.
Same with optics, I don't need a night force when a Nikon buck master will work.
So I like to aim above junk, but below premium. I'm like that with everything: I've always owned used Jeeps and I like Kias. I won't buy Apple products and I like my coffee from a gas station. Walmart is a good place to buy exercise clothes and I'd rather grille my own steak. I think that covers it.
That being said, I like heavy value for money. I like guns that are cheap but good. That's a very subjective thing, but basically I like rugers, mossbergs, savages, tikkas, etc. for hunting.
Same with optics, I don't need a night force when a Nikon buck master will work.
So I like to aim above junk, but below premium. I'm like that with everything: I've always owned used Jeeps and I like Kias. I won't buy Apple products and I like my coffee from a gas station. Walmart is a good place to buy exercise clothes and I'd rather grille my own steak. I think that covers it.
SoonerMedic
Member
Savage axis is junk? This is the first time I've heard this...
Armored farmer
Member
My father had only one cf hunting rifle for the last 50 years. A Remington 700 in .243.
Only thing i consider junk is the stock.
mcb
Member
I think some of this depends on if you are a hunter or a gun person that hunts or somewhere in between.
buck460XVR
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The old Mossy 500s and Remmie 870s are probably the most widely owned shotguns in the world. Been over 11 million 870s produced since they were introduced in 1950. So the answer is..... a lot. I own both. The 870 in an cheaper "express" model and an older more classic"Wingmaster" model produced in the late 60s when they were considered the shotgun to own. Using either for their intended purpose is not limiting or handicapping anyone.
My dad told me this also and after years of watching him buy and deal with cheap "junk"(all he could afford) I learned it well. bneing in construction for over 40 years, I learned the value of having quality tools. I also learned how to take care of them and learned not to lend them out. I also learned it doesn't really pay to own the best piece of equipment out there if you don't use it, or your own skills do not match it's capabilities. Gotta a lot of friends out thee with a shop full of high priced tools that I drool over every time I see them. They use 'em maybe once every two years and their woodworking projects look like a first time 4-H county fair project.
So not only get the best you can afford, but also consider what your skill level and usage is. Kinda where the term "Safe Queens" came from. Guns, are a very poor investment.....unless you are investing in them to use.
FL-NC
Member
I'll never be separated from my wally world 700 in 243! If I was to keep only 1 hunting rifle, it would be "the one".
More like hoarded the good stuff and got rid of the garbage.
In The Theory of the Leisure Class, Veblen suggested proposed a theory that the wealthy engage in conspicuous consumption in order to advertise their wealth. I believe this, wealth signaling is all about us. And I consider nothing more useless than the squirrel that has the nut but not the teeth
For firearms, I care about the bullet hitting where I am aiming and whether the firearm functions perfectly and reliably. If it shoots good, it is good. That is the bottom line.
This beat to heck pistol is one of my favorites:
Quine Moore, Camp Perry Civilian Service Rifle Champion used to say, do you want to shoot your rifle or make love to it? He would take a wood rasp and just gouge out wood to make his stock fit, and he did not care how it looked, only how it shot. And I think, he was right.
You can't see the scratches and dents on this rifle, but it helped me earn My Distinguished Rifleman badge:
I do have some pretty guns and I feel bad when they get scratched, but you know, if you use them they get scratched. When I was squirrel and rabbit hunting, I took my cheap Mossberg 500 and used it to beat down the scrub brush, and so what, it went bang each and every time, and it was cheap. The wood and bluing looks beat up, so what, I ain't going down the red carpet with the thing.
I will pay more if I get more accuracy, function reliability, better trigger, better ergonomics.
The rest is wealth signaling.
According to whomevers pocket book? Your's? Mine? Bill Gates? Average Min wage worker?
Where exactly should the cutoff between weath signaling and average person be?
200, 500, 1000, 2000, 5000, 10000, 100,000+?
I don't have a Flodman. But very nice they are. For those who don't know what a flodman is, http://www.flodman.com/Default_en.htm. I'm a Merkel owner. I have 3 And I've a Mauser M03.
SoonerMedic
Member
If you're buying a poly stock then what do you really expect? I've seen some wooden savage stocks that weren't bad....still wouldn't call them junk.
I mean would you call Glock junk because they have the seam that'll rub the skin off your thumb if you shoot for a while?
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mcb
Member
I agree there are many factors. I was just point out that many hunters are hunters first and the gun is only viewed as a tool to facilitate their passion for hunting. Other are hunters because its something to do with some of their guns and the guns are the focus of their passion. That is certainly as spectrum with most people existing between those two extremes.
George P
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I know folks who shoot VERY expensive shotguns, some upwards of $100K. None of them have ever looked down their nose at somone shooting something less expensive. They buy guns like that for two reasons:
1 - They have the money to do so
2 - It's something they wanted.
Period
Do you argue just for the sake or arguing with me? I wasn't the one who said the axis was junk in my OP but seems to be a consensus. I own two of them and like them very much and would have no problem saying my 223rem could hang with or out shoot a rem 700 in the same caliber with the same ammo cause I've seen it done. All the target shooting and woochuck shooting and coyote hunting I've done with both rifles the stock doesn't allow use of a bipod because when you load the bipod the stock either touches the barrel or feels like it wants to snap right off. I can feel the palm swell of the stock flex too when i get it tight on bags or bipod. IMO that's junk and i knew that when i purchased them and have every intention of putting a Boyds on it when $ becomes free. Everything else on the rifle is just fine.
As far as Glock goes i have no issue with them and don't use them because they don't point well for me. You have polymer which is what a Glock and M&P frame is made from and you have downright plastic which is what kids toys and my savage axis stock is made from. I would put $ on it that the types of material are way higher grade for a Glock than axis stock so they cant even be compared. If your having issues with the Glock rubbing you i suggest buying a real pistol like the M&P or an Hk or something similar.
Maybe even a Hogue grip or some 1k grit sand paper.- Status
