500Grains,

I read over your 3 scenarios and none will work.



Option #1 (sell guns) - far too painful to part with any, worked too hard and long to build up the collection I do have. My wife would be verry happy with that plan though, she still doesnt see why I need more than a couple guns.



Option #2 (cheaper truck) - I already drive a beater 95 F150 so I can have some extra gun money. Actually the savings goes to kids college with a little skimmed off the top for my toys



Option #3 (elope) - Daughter is only seven and I fully intend to make sure that when is dating age every teenage boy in a 300 mile radius is terrified that I will skin them alive and all kinds of nasty tortures if they so much as look at my little girl. I remember all too well how boys think towards girls.



So I have to do it the hard way, but good ideas though. A friend of mine has a very nice collection and I asked him how he was able to get them by his wife.



His theory is that every time you leave the house take an empty case with you. You tell the wife that you are dropping a gun off to a friend, gunsmith, range, etc... After the wife gets used to seeing you take a case everywhere you use the empty case to smuggle a new addition to the family back in. It works very well. Not that I would dare attempt to sneak a new toy past my wife.

Reminder:

500Grains,
Very nice rifles. Life is too short for ugly women and ugly rifles.

For $1000 you should be able to get something pretty good on the used market. I recently saw a few year old M70 in 375 with a screw on muzzle break and a low powered Leupold variable for $700.

500,
For a using rifle and thats what M1 tanker is talking about, on a budget....there is one hell of a lot of difference in a drop in stock at $225 and a full blown custom rifle at $3500 to $10,000.

Brockmon can make a $5500 rifle also..

But for the money and for a hunter, I would get one of Brockmons drop ins and finish it for a CZ550, and be in a damn nice gun for the price of a CZ, a $225. stock, and a can of finish, sandpaper, and a perhaps a cabinet rasp...

Ray, I know Brockman is offering something inexpensive that works.



But once a man has tasted quality, it is hard to go back. Personally I am tired of junky low-end guns, and I have decided that I will own a few nice guns rather than lots of so-so guns. There is nothing wrong with a person deciding to sacrifice quality in order to save dollars, but I felt light headed and nauseous upon looking at and shouldering the Brockman laminated stock cz at SCI. Maybe he can make custom guns with the best of them - I don't know, so I don't want to comment on that.



Another crude piece that turned my stomach was the "Texas Safari Rifle". I don't know who makes them, but it was a classless piece of plywood, making a Savage 110 look like a Jerry Fischer gun.



I will say that the shape of Brockman's cz laminated stock is better than the original hogback, but it did not have a nice fit like a Breeding or Smithson rifle, or Butch's .404 bolt gun.



Here are some other ideas on how to painlessly upgrade from a $1K rifle to a $5K rifle:



1. Take your lunch to work instead of buying it. $6/day lunch times 22 working days per month times 2.5 years = $4K.



2. Adopt pets for free from newspaper ads and sell them to medical research labs.



3. Get bitten by your neighbor's dog twice. Average dog bite payment from homeowner's insurnace (if the bite draws blood): $2500. (just kidding on this one)



4. Work the night shift at 7-11 for 100 nights.

This morning I looked at a used Ruger 77 Express 375H&H with a Leupold 2x7 and Decelorator. Used but like new for $1100. The guy who owns it bought it new last year because he drew out on NM oryx. Shot his oryx and has no desire to ever shoot that rifle or hunt again. He is retired and had always wanted to go hunting and really wanted to hunt oryx. He did what he wanted and is content to leave it at that. Plus he said it kicks too hard for him. It has 3 boxes of Federal Premium ammo minus the 6 shells total it has fired. Has a very nice Brownells leather 1907 sling. Aluminum case and Cordura soft case are included.



Needless to say I jumped all over it. He is kind enough to let me do the lay-away thing with him. Since he is a retired soldier he remembers how it takes some creative budgeting at times to get some of the nicer things in life.



I dont think I could of gotten a better deal anywhere.



I plan on steel-bedding it using Devcon with atomized stainless steel. It also needs a trigger job and possibly a little stock shaping for perfect fit and balance for my tastes. I will most likely put a NECG front sight on it. A little lapping of the rails is in order also. I wont know what else is needed until I do some serious shooting with it.



I do question how consistent the factory rings will be if I swap back and forth between iron sights/scope. Is there a better QD ring to put on this rifle? I have always found Warnes to be great for repeatability, but that is with their bases and not the Ruger integral.



I think I will be very happy with the rifle.



Your input and comments would be appreciated.



500-

I figured if I sell my blood every week in a year it would be paid for. 6 months if I vampire the wife too.

congratulations on your sweet deal m1,
maybe your wife has a rare blood type and you can pay off your new rifle faster.

I think you made a good buy on the Ruger RSM, it's alot of rifle for the money. I beleive Warne makes lever rings for the Ruger mounts, check w/ Brownell's. I keep looking @ the big Rugers for a .375 but I had to build my .404 first!

The pic with the rifle and zebra rug is very classy. How does the 404 shoot? If everything flows right I will take the new Ruger 375 elk hunting in Idaho this fall. I would feel guilty having a new toy and not taking it out to play.

Tanker,

Congrats on your new rifle! I think you're going to really like it. I have two of the Ruger Magnums; one in .375 H&H and the other in .416 Rigby. These rifles are a lot of gun for the money. Enjoy!

-Bob F.

M1 Tanker,

It is possible and not expensive at all to have a good gunsmith convert the Ruger rings to levers..A good tig welder can do that in a flash and they work as well as anyone elses rings..All you have to do is remember the lever posititon...

The Ruger is a lot of gun for the money IMO..Glass bed it, cross bolt it twice (some are and some have dummy crossbolts) get a new 3/32 ivory bead front sight for the Ruger from Brownells.

El Paso has always been over-run with darn good gunsmiths on every cornor on both sides of the border...

Tanker: You do not need to cross bolt the Rugers. I have one in 416 with close to 800 rounds through it with no problems. I did have some bolt "catching" problems but Master Gunsmith Mark Penrod fixed that for about 130 bucks. RSMs have a unique bedding system in that a steel plate is used to anchor the barrela nd action. you can bed the plate itself, but X bolts are definetly not required. I thoght that I did need it but Penrod and other gunsmiths agreed. You have a great rifle. I recommend you have the investment action polished for smoother operation and that'a about it. You made a great purchase. Here's a picutre of my RSM in 416Rigby. It's an older one ( swivel in the forearm, but it shoots!) jorge

M1, so far the .404 is shooting great. I have shot several 1.5" groups w/ 350 & 400gr Hawks. This isn't bad concidering the recoil off thebench & the 4.5x socpe. I am working on a load w/ the 380gr NF, stay tuned.
BTW, I checked & Warne does sell lever rings for the Ruger: part #1R7LM, med. 1" matte rings. Good luck w/ the new rifle.

500,

I love your ideas for extra 'toy money.' I'm writing them down. I would share some of my own, but I post under my real name and exposure is just a Google search away.

I have been thinking about a CZ Rigby stocked so that I wouldn't mind dinging it up - maybe I'll think some more.

Todd

I ordered a set of the Warne QD rings. I have used Warnes in the past with great success. They are my favorite rings. My concern was the repeatability from removing/installing the scope to shoot irons. Since I will lap the rings once they are on the rifle that will remove any offset that may be present.

I really think I got an incredible deal on the rifle. The previos owner paid $2200 for the entire package and I got it from him for half that. I am very happy about that. My wife is even surpised at how good the deal was and that I now officialy have her blessing in buying it. She has always been very patient and supportive of my hobbies even when they get a little pricey. But she is asking that I get her a piano within the next 2 years. I can handle that one I think.

Thanks for all the great comments and help. It really made it a lot easier to have a little knowledge about what to look for in a rifle for Africa.

I really love happy endings.
Frank

M1Tanker
Congrats on your good buy. For elk in Colorado this year, I used Barnes X bullets in 210gr and 235gr in my .375 H&H. They did a number on four animals, filling my two licenses and killing two wounded animals from others.

I am a man of straw so I have a cz 550 .375 with leupold 1-4 in cz mounts. I am very happy with it and although the rifles 500 gr shows are very nice I would be to scared to take them to the field as they are so damn nice