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oldhickory
02-10-2011, 03:20 PM
A cold and nasty winter does strange things to one's mind. I took pen and paper and decided to write down and catalog every gun by caliber I ever owned.

Not surprising, the .22lr. came in first place for rifles, followed very closely by the .30-06. The closest runner-up to the 06' was the .45-70, followed right on it's heels by a 4 way tie between the .308WCF, .30carbine, .30WCF, and .303Brit. Honorable mentions went to some old favorites as well, .30Army .223 and 8mm Mauser. I discovered I never had much use for sub-.30s other than the .223, (and that was entirely AR-15 usage) and magnums, I only ever had 4 magnum rifles in my life, and currently own none, (and don't miss any of them). All in all no surprises here, I love the .30-06 and .45-70, the .308 and others have also done me good service with cast and jacketed.

In shotguns there was no surprise either, I've owned over double the number of 12gauges than all other gauges combined. It's just plain useful.

Muzzleloaders-Well, I collect civil war rifle muskets so .58 eclipses all else naturaly.

The real surprise came in handguns. Aparently I really-really like the .38spl. I found over the years I've owned more .38spls than any other handgun caliber, (slightly beating out the .22rf, if I don't count .22/.45 conversion units for1911's) Not surprisingly, the number 2 spot went to the .45acp with the .44magnum, and .45Colt comming in close. There's a substantial margin of 2 to 1 between the .38spl and .45auto. I think mostly because I love the old Colt DA's from the 20s&30s, guess I never thought about it before, I always considered myself a big-bore handgun fan, but add up all the various .41s, .44s, and .45s together and they do beat out the .38spl. There's nothing like an old Colt "D" or "I" frame .38spl in my gun-life, (guess that explains all the gallon freezer bags of .38spl brass laying around).

There was a few guns I've owned I never shot, an old 10ga. hammer double with twist barrels, a Walther .25 vest pocket pistol I took in trade, and a Remington 760BDL custom deluxe .270 also taken in trade, (NIB-and it left that way, I never did like pump rifles).

Old Colt DAs-1911s-Mausers-M1 Garands-03s-1917s, and Trapdoor Springfields make up most of the center fire guns I've ever owned...Not bad choices really.

It took a while to think of all those guns and write them down for posterity. What have you guys owned mostly? Write em all down...The results may surprise you.

Wally
02-10-2011, 03:27 PM
Noticed you listed the .30-06 & the .308..was wondering what your thoughts are comparing the two using cast bullets---if you are still bored....have to give you something to do.

I just worked on an inventory of my goodies for insurance purposes...seems I too liked/like the .38 Special as well. I still shoot it the most often.

3006guns
02-10-2011, 03:34 PM
Hickory, I read your post and was somewhat astonished.........I've owned virtually every caliber you mentioned with the exception of the magnum rifles, just never had any use for them I guess. Included would be some European and Asian calibers too. Funny how you look back, sometimes wishing you'd never gotten rid of half the stuff you had......but it was a good trade/sale at the time!

Like you (and probably many others) I have freezer bags full of .38 special (and others) also. Really gets some looks when you haul out your ammo at the range....hey, I'm not forkin' over three bucks for no fancy plastic box with a lid! Plastic bags squish down and conform nicely in a .50 ammo can.

With winters the way they are these days, reloading is the only indoor hobby worth a darn. I'll probably never get the chance to shoot what I've got, but I'm worlds ahead of the guy that buys his ammo!

firefly1957
02-10-2011, 04:24 PM
I had a 760 pump in 270 winchester I bought the gun cheap and was going to have a 35 Whelan barrel put on it for brush hunting here in Michigan. Since I could use the 270 brass I bought two boxed of ammo and went to the range that gun shot 1/2 inch 100 yard groups with factory ammo. The gun was stolen I would like another 270 but really do not need it. My brother had a 30-06 in a 760 he was recoil shy and could not hit the side of a barn with it but it shot fine for me.

oldhickory
02-10-2011, 05:23 PM
Noticed you listed the .30-06 & the .308..was wondering what your thoughts are comparing the two using cast bullets---if you are still bored....have to give you something to do.

I just worked on an inventory of my goodies for insurance purposes...seems I too liked/like the .38 Special as well. I still shoot it the most often.

From my experiance with cast in either the 06' or .308 I have a whole lot more bench time with the 06' and naturally they are all well acustom to boolits and shoot then well. I'm just starting to load boolits with the .308s, Lyman 311332, 311299, and RCBS 30-180-FN. Though the larger case size of the 06' doesn't matter as much with cast, (and actually may be a handicap) the longer neck is definately an advantage with a boolit like the RCBS 30-180-FN, it takes a full lube grove more than the .308.

So far my most accurate boolit rifle is a 98 Mauser chambered for .30-06 I built some years ago with a 26" Shilen #5 barrel, nice fitting walnut stock, Timminey trigger, and Burris Signature 3-9 scope. It'll keep my favorite 311332 load inside an inch off the bench with boring regularity.

I've got 2 .308s I want to get, "boolitized" when the wheather breaks. A Remington 700 short action with a 25" Hart #7 barrel, Summit Technologies kevlar stock, and Shepherd PS-2 3.5-10 scope. It's the heaviest rifle I own...And the most accurate with jacketed ammo. The other is a factory Winchester M70 FWT with a Burris 4-12 Mini and a slightly over-size bore that with the right boolit load, I'm sure will out shoot any jacketed load I've ever tried. It's such a nice light well fitting rifle I'm more than willing to work with it until I have it shooting boolits better than it'll shoot jacketed, (on average 1.5-2" groups off the bench at 100yds). Since it's my primary deer rifle, I really want it shooting the RCBS 30-180-FN at around 1,900-2,200fps...I think it'll do it with a little patiance and load developement.

Wally
02-10-2011, 05:44 PM
Seems you have done lots of customizing and it has paid off for you. I have a stock Rem 700 .30-06 & use the RCBS 180 gain cast bullet wth homemade freechex GC's--I use 16~17 grains of Unique. I am pleased that on a steady day I can pop a 3.5" wide steel plate @ 225~250 yards consistently with it. Always wondered if a .308 would be much better. I load the bullets out long to almost touch the lands...and I single load them when shooting.

oldhickory
02-10-2011, 06:03 PM
Hickory, I read your post and was somewhat astonished.........I've owned virtually every caliber you mentioned with the exception of the magnum rifles, just never had any use for them I guess. Included would be some European and Asian calibers too. Funny how you look back, sometimes wishing you'd never gotten rid of half the stuff you had......but it was a good trade/sale at the time!

Like you (and probably many others) I have freezer bags full of .38 special (and others) also. Really gets some looks when you haul out your ammo at the range....hey, I'm not forkin' over three bucks for no fancy plastic box with a lid! Plastic bags squish down and conform nicely in a .50 ammo can.

With winters the way they are these days, reloading is the only indoor hobby worth a darn. I'll probably never get the chance to shoot what I've got, but I'm worlds ahead of the guy that buys his ammo!

Well, I've tried a few magnums for various reasons, a Winchester M70 in .264 Win mag for long range ground hog hunting, but found the 06' just as good, another M70 in .300 Weatherby mag. just because it was "different" and collectable, (wouldn't shoot worth a darn and didn't last long in my safe). A Ruger #1 Tropical .375 H&H-Just because I wanted one, and a Rossi M92 lever gun in .357 mag that kept breaking lifter pins, (finally replaced it with a roller bearing and sent it down the road).

As for guns I let get away, I regret every Colt that left my ownership, a sweet little Beretta M70 .22 pistol, a few ****h N frames, a nice pre-64 Winchester M64, a whole bunch of .30-06 & .308s, but the one single rifle that I never should have swapped off was a mint condition FN 49 sniper rifle in .30-06. I swapped it for a HK-41 sniper with Hensoldt 4x scope, bayonet, bipod, a dozen or so magazines, etc. The HK's a fine rifle, but it ain't a FN 49 sniper in .30-06!

Of course, there were some I bought with the sole reason of re-selling them and making a buck or two, a couple Marlin 12ga pump guns, a Remington 760, Winchester 1873 with a shot out bore, (rest of the gun was nice) some Mausers, Enfields, Sniders, Martinis, Walthers, Sharps, etc. And a few I just couldn't wait to rid myself of, a Browning BPS .22mag that jammed every 2nd or 3rd shot, (never did get a full magazine to run through that one without a few jamms) a S&W 6" M17 with chambers so rough I had to beat the ejector rod with my fist to empty it, sent it back to the factory, they took so long that the shop owner gave me another M17 NIB made in the 50's with an 8 3/8" barrel to replace the 6". I think I made out okay on that deal, that 8 3/8" Smith is the most accurate .22 revolver I ever owned.

oldhickory
02-11-2011, 10:09 AM
Seems you have done lots of customizing and it has paid off for you. I have a stock Rem 700 .30-06 & use the RCBS 180 gain cast bullet wth homemade freechex GC's--I use 16~17 grains of Unique. I am pleased that on a steady day I can pop a 3.5" wide steel plate @ 225~250 yards consistently with it. Always wondered if a .308 would be much better. I load the bullets out long to almost touch the lands...and I single load them when shooting.

With any luck, I'm going to begin preliminary load developement with the M70 .308 this week-end and the weather is supposed to turn nice next week, I may even get to the range!:smile:

I can only take credit for stocking the 700, Gary Gault of Marysville, Pa. (1000yd bench rest builder) did the barrel work on it. It is a sweet shooter though! 1:11 twist and it'll pound Sierra 175gr. match bullets on top of each other. It has a tight bore and even keeps European NATO ammo under an inch at 100yds, (I had Gary open up the chamber to accept the NATO stuff, I didn't want a strictly .308). I haven't tried cast in that one at all yet, it's been my groundhog thumper the past 10 or so years.

I'll let you know how I make out with the M70.