How do ar member's guns hold up on safaris ?

My main hunting rifle is a cz 550 ahr w/ Swarovski scope.

I have had the gun out in the field for a total of 44 days - between 4 safaris - zim, zim, botswana and burkina.

The rifle functions perfectly but signs of wear and tear and use. Creacoat coat finish wearing out of bolt, barrel, magazine plate. Swivel screw worn out. Front sigh hood loosened and stock beat up.

Sent it Wayne to be refinished and restocked with custom stock. Even wayne said gun looked beat up. It will come back all new and shiny when Wayne is done with it.

For the zim and botswana hunts the gun traveled in a soft case. Burkina was just a torture test with the gun strapped to the truck handle bar.

How do your guns hold up ? Very likely i am just tough on my guns - treat them like tools.

Side note - alaska was worse than everything combined but the ruger barely shows any wear and tear. A cheap rifle helps at times.

Mike

perhaps you might consider carrying them around in a thin sock-type sleeve until you actually see game...?

There's something about the phrase cheap in a sentence of praise that seems off to me.
These aren't pictures that we hang on a wall. They had better be tools.
Please forgive me as I am just a bush Alaskan.
In my estimation the best looking gun is the one with the best endurance . Beautiful wood belongs on a coffee table. Not a rifle stock where it can get into trouble and fail at its purpose.
Back when Mr Shoemaker came out with his revolutionary idea of actually spray painting a rifle most guys that I knew were at first taken aback. Now its common practice as your Cerra Coat proves. Tho I mostly just rattle can my rifles and shotgun. A rifle that has some battle scars on it that were received thru use and still works flawlessly is a beautiful thing. I very well remember the comments about a client that carried his rifle in a case when he was hunting , comments given by his guide. a guide that is a member here. They were not nice!!
If you think being strapped to a truck is hard on a rifle, try hanging it from the towing post of a heavy welded flat bottom sled out in a 6' chop on salt water. Finally get to where the shooting may begin and have to chip an inch of salt water spray ice off it. I'm very please to say that my 458 has had that happen a number of times and it always was able to fill the boat with meat afterwards. That is a faithful friend. Not some gussied up harlot.

Again, sorry for being forthright. When my 9.3×64 was new an old Alaskan looked at the rifle then me and made a comment about how I probably couldn't hit well with it. I then pulled off a very nice neck shot on a running animal. On purpose. After that he looked at me very differently. That rifle still looks good and I haven't painted it yet.. .But I might.

Why don't you have Wayne get you a synthetic stock for the rifle and use that on the heavy duty hunts? Also, in the truck keep your rifle cased. I have had more damage done to guns riding in the truck than anywhere else.
Some people can beat up a rifle more quickly than others. I have a good friend that is absolutely a disaster with his guns. They are a wreck after one hunt. He now uses synthetic for all his stocks and doesn't use high ticket guns. Its easier on his nervous system.
Have Biebs put together a Blaser for you. Nothing can hurt their appearance!

Thorn bush and sweaty hands will age a rifle pretty quickly. After one hunt in the Omay in October my rifle looked older than some guns I've used for a lifetime under 'pleasant' conditions. I took good care of it but determined that 'inspecting' it every day for cosmetic damage would be a distraction. Getting to the 'beauty is ,as beauty does' stage was a little painful, but the rifle now reminds me of Africa when I pick it up.

quote:

Originally posted by LJS:
Have Biebs put together a Blaser for you. Nothing can hurt their appearance!

quote:

Have Biebs put together a Blaser for you.

Lou, He still doesn't meet our minimum standards :-)

Mike,

Your rifle looks like a hunting rifle should look after a few years use, well thrashed. I wish mine looked like that; it would mean I was hunting more. I hope you don't baby it when it comes back all purty.

My rifles are tools. They are gonna get beat up. Some more than others, but that's what i bought them for!

My Rem 700 06 and my Sako AV 375, which are my go-to guns for almost everything has more nicks dents and scratches on tehm than I do. but every one of them is a reminder to me of a fun time I had hunting, a reminder of friends now gone, a memory of places visited...

I have a couple "safe queens" that never see the field, and rarely the range, but my hunting rifles definitely show that they have been used... and I wouldn't change a thing!

I think the British had it right. You use a rifle or shotgun as it was intended, then get it refreshed every so often to keep it tuned up.

Now, I can look at my rifles and retell the tale of each large stock scar. Last summer, an energetic PH hit the forearm checkering of my rifle with a rock as he cleared the area in front of my wife's zebra for photos. He was petrified. I showed him the gouge in the butt from a horse rolling on it and assured him that stock dings were par for the course. It put a nick in the checkering, and makes a me smile and laugh when I see it. As for the horse, I was also there when he rolled, and wasn't pleased at the time. Bastard dumped me in a creek, but that is another story.

My guns are cared for, and I don't try to harm them, but........Memories don't get made by guns that live entirely in my safe.

Jeremy

Some of my guns have been to Africa more than a dozen times on extended hunts. They show a lot of honest wear, but no abuse..I expect the blue to wear, the stock to take on nicks and dings, and just polish wear and a couple are so worn that they appear to be stainless steel and driftwood and some of them are mostly saddle wear.

The idea of carrying a gun in a sock or gun case while actually hunting leaves me cold! I won't even carry a gun over my shoulder with sling, I want it in my hand and ready to shoot when those windows of opertunity show themselves, and that practice has accounted for some of my best trophys.

Sights coming loose, screws backing out, broken swivels coming off? That is poor workmanship or absolute abuse, and inexcusable. Not working out all the grimlins in your gun prior to the hunt has ruined many a hunt. Field repair has ruined many a gun!

Every honest ding, scratch and wear is a memory that can't be replaced..I wouldn't dare refinish any one of these particular guns.

I have been hunting with the same rifles on at least 20 African hunts.

Lots of scratches, but never anyt5hing to affect the operation at all.

My rifles are out of the travel gun case the day we arrive, and remain naked until after the safari.

They get a quick clean and put in the travel case to be cleaned properly at ho9me.

It is best if your rifle does not fall out of a speeding Toyota, but even that should not disable it (my 1886 lived through it).
Any rifle that has been hunted hard for years may show some hard earned dents and scratches, but those can usually be fixed if desired.
My old circa 1900 Parker double still has minor dents and rock scratches and barbed wire cuts from my teenage hunting years, but it still shoots and is the fastest light 20ga that I have ever used.

The forearm shows evidence of using it to push down strands of barbed wire to get through fences (of course we had permission to hunt there: what teenager does not?)

These are all great memories and will not be fixed as long as I am alive

Whenever one of my guns gets to beat up, I buy or build another one!

My firearms get alot of use and (like Ray said above) receive no (or at least to me) abject abuse, either - opinions vary.

Also, like your horse, dog(s), vehicle, rifle, scope, boots, binocular or other important piece of equipment means they are immediately (or shortly thereafter) attended to after being subjected to a hard or easy hunt. That way they give you a lifetime (or sometimes less) of good servive.

I hunt/shoot 150-200 days a year (I'm retired) and believe me when I relate that really separates the Wheat from the Chaff when it comes to firearms finish and appearance.

The R93 Blasers (OffRoad stocks, so they're a plastic tools) hold up really well, despite the spots where the finish has simply worn off, swivel studs, mounts, muzzle, an honest unavoidable ding or two; schucks - shit happens but as long as there's no rust, pitting, loose screws nor mechanical defects and everything works as intended; I'm good to go.

This is all a personal "Thing" IMO; as I've buddies who go wobbly at the knees with the first nick, spot, rub, scratch and any other potential visual imparity may be on their Boomers. Personally, with these ("X" or "Y" personality type); most of the time I have difficulty finding these blemishes even when they're pointed out to me. If it floats their boat, re-finish the rifle/shotgun, please.

Yeah, I've got some nice wood and rust blueing and they don't receive the same level of hard use as the black plastic tools but I don't favor them when the going gets adverse, just use them as intended. I've also paid to have a firearm refubrished, so when it's time .....

My Remington 3200 Skeet action and trigger guard are grey; not from abuse but because I shoot it @ 3 days a week (since 1972) the finish is simply worn off from handling. I don't fret, just give it a good rub-down (maybe that's the reason?) prior to putting it back in the safe. I like the Patina.

quote:

...These aren't pictures that we hang on a wall. They had better be tools...A rifle that has some battle scars on it that were received thru use and still works flawlessly is a beautiful thing...If you think being strapped to a truck is hard on a rifle, try hanging it from the towing post of a heavy welded flat bottom sled out in a 6' chop on salt water. Finally get to where the shooting may begin and have to chip an inch of salt water spray ice off it. I'm very please to say that my 458 has had that happen a number of times and it always was able to fill the boat with meat afterwards. That is a faithful friend. Not some gussied up harlot.

I use my guns, and they all have those marks and scars to show it, and which add greatly to their character.

I understand the "they're tools!" spiel, I really do. But there is "use" and then there is "abuse", and in my estimation the treatment above falls into the latter category. I am a tradesman, I work with tools on a daily basis, usually outdoors and often in some fairly harsh conditions. I respect my tools and take care of them, and they are like my guns...they show their age and their experience, but they also show that they are valued and taken care of. I work with people who treat their tools the way that the gun in the above quote is treated, and it shows...not only in the condition of their tools, but often in the quality of the work they do with those tools.

I also look at them as something to be used.

I am not adverse to having one refinished if it is going in for some reason (like a rebarrel) or to remove the worst of excessive bad behavior on my part, but I don't get too worked up about it.

It is kind of neat when your gun has more honest wear than the PH's... But that only happened to me once, and by then the barrel was shot out on that gun.

I like guns with fine walnut and bluing, but still take them in the field. I have had guides comment on a couple of them (one guy couldn't believe I was hunting with one of the Dakota 100th anniversary .30-06 guns) but why buy it and leave it in the safe all the time?

One hunter's use is another's abuse.
This is a pretty silly discussion

Again I am probably a majority of one on these forums. I have actually returned from Africa only once with even so much as a scratch on a gun.It was on my laminated stock on my Mdl70 375H&H. Climbed thru a barbed wire fence and scratched the stock on it. While on safari ( I made only 8) I never put my rifle in a truck rack or soft case. When I returned to camp it was placed in the hard case it traveled in. At all other times and I do mean ALL other times it was held in my two hands. I didn't find it inconvenient in any manner. When in the truck I sat with the butt on top of one of my feet and the barrel vertical between my legs. Just my way and it always has been. I probably cause more finish damage just holding and playing with them in my home than while actually using them hunting. I think of all my firearms as prized posessions not just THINGS I own. I treat my photographic gear the same way as I do my vehicle. It's served me well for my 81 years.

Sorry to post my old Browning again but it is a perfect example of 15 years in Africa as a loner, used! but not abused.

Hell, beating/wear/tear gives gun/tool character
As long as it shoots straight , then nothing else matters

Hey Rob does your wife know about your buying all these new guns?..

I suppose when she gets old and worn you'll get another one or dip her in the blueing tank!~ I may have to try that on mama, she's getting a bit long in the tooth.

quote:

Originally posted by scutulatus:


Sorry to post my old Browning again but it is a perfect example of 15 years in Africa as a loner, used! but not abused.

This^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^!!!

quote:

Originally posted by scutulatus:


Sorry to post my old Browning again but it is a perfect example of 15 years in Africa as a loner, used! but not abused.

Damn, if that's not a thing of beauty!

-John

I seem to be able to go hunting without bashing the crap out of my rifles. The odd mark happens, but its rare. For rough use I have some stainless/synthetic rifles that may hang in a tree in the rain for a few weeks, but mostly they look new except for work polished actions and the insides of the barrels.

Oddly, I don't care much about clothes, gear whether a vehicle even gets washed. Guns and knives get pampered.