JTHunter
Member
Sometimes you just like something without good reason. Often guns fit that mold. What are your favorite guns that you know are obsolete, inefficient, or objectively-not-the-best for the job you use it for?
For me there are a couple:
Single or double barrel shotguns for hunting. I can’t really think of a time when these can’t beat by a pump or semi, but they’re just charming to me. The wood and steel elicit a nostalgia that the plastic of a modern scattergun just can’t compete with.
Another is the large framed .38 revolver, like a model 10. Heavy, low capacity, and underpowered for their size, they’re objectively beaten in every category by even compact autos or similarly sized magnum revolvers. However, the wear on the finish of an old, blued .38 is something special. When compared to a lot of other pistols it’s pretty obvious there are better guns you could carry, but on a Sunday I like the idea of a model 10 in a well-worn leather holster.
The primary shottie I use for hunting is an older Stevens Mod. 311, a 12 ga. SxS with double triggers. It is about 55 years old and I picked it up about 30 years ago, second-hand. It had fixed chokes (F/M) and I took it to the gunsmith in town and had him bore it out to put in screw-in chokes. Several years later, I learned that this was what the Mod. 511 had done when it came out about 5 years after mine did.
Having two chokes of different constriction, I was able to use two loads for two different distances OR two different animals. I could shoot squirrels or pheasants near & far, or rabbits & quail, all by changing the loads or chokes. I can also use it for HD with a Skeet #1 choke in one side and an IC in the other. Then I put a 3" OO Buck (15 pellets) in the IC side and a #4 Buck (40 pellets) in the Skeet side (Skeet less choke than IC) and fire both barrels for a cloud of 55 pellets. Then I'd grab my AK with a 40 rounder is I need "more".
I do have a pump gun that I had bought before I got the Stevens and I use it more for duck hunting where distance is a bit more consistent.