I know this old guy from back home he is in his eightys and still hunts every fall, here's the thing thoe he has hunted with the same rifle all his life a 38-55 Winchester lever action rifle.
Has never used anouther rifle never owned anouther rifle, he has shot everthing from skunks to grizzly bear.
I stared thinking about this and I reliesed that even my father only used a his 351 Winchester self loading rifle.
Seems this generation got one rifle stuck with for life sort of like being married to the same women no divorce nothing new.
Anyways anyone else know a one rife man?

My dad has used the same .270 for over 55 yrs.
The rifle says JC Penneys and is on a mauser action

My grandfather used the same 30-30 for most of his life. It was also the rifle my Grandmother, Mother, Aunts and Uncle used on the ranch. It is the rifle I shot my first Deer with.

He shot Moose, Grizzly Bear, Black Bear, Deer, Coyotes and would have shot Wolves if they had got there yet.

He had a drawer in the Dining Room with Ammo in it and he, or anyone, would just take a handful of shells. They were all brands and all bullet weights. No body ever matched anything to the game and you might have a magazine with three or four different bullet weights or brands in it.

It always seemed to work.

Just my opinion on this, but I think the deal was, that first, they didn't have the selection of rifles we have today. Secondly, they were only trying to obtain meat or trying to keep something from making them, their family, their livestock or pets, meat.

And lastly and most importantly, they used what they could afford. They didn't trophy hunt. If they saw something to shoot and were low on meat they shot it. If they saw a coyote, wolf, black bear, grizzly, anything that could take food from their family, they shot it. They lived with those guns, they were a working tool for them just like a hammer a saw or a shovel.

They did what they had to, to get by, and they did it with the equipment they had.

Lots of the old farmers around here, ever only owned one rifle, usually a Lee Enfield or a P 14. They bought it after they got out of the military, when they returned to the farm and the son still has it standing behind the back door.
Looking at things rationally, the vast selection of todays Makes and calibers is more marketing than necessity. Myself, I own quite few, but when I need something that I know and can count on, its the 7 MM Sako, I've owned for about 20 years.
Grizz

............My father shoots only one rifle. Remington 760 pump in .30-06 Two falls ago one shot one deer. Last fall, two shots two deer. He has hunted for close to fity years and doesn't read gun mags and these discusion forums bore the piss out of him. Thats my Dad!!

My dad has used a Remington 760 Gamemaster in 270 Win for over 40 years.

He doesn't understand my fascination with guns. All I have to do is ask him how many boats(3) and fishing rods and reels(I have no idea) he has. He then goes on to explain everything has a purpose and different use.

My reply "exactly".

What I have notice over the years is guys with one gun are not gun people. Most of them are not great shots most do not practice.

Most use the excuse that one man one rifle as a reason not to spend money on ammo or another gun.

There are the exceptions but face it if I only had one rifle it would have been shot out long ago. The reason these rifles last so long with out rebarreling ect is that they spend most of the time sitting behind the door.

I've shot out three rifles. If I only had one rifle it wouldn't have made it til today.

quote:

Originally posted by p dog shooter:
What I have notice over the years is guys with one gun are not gun people. Most of them are not great shots most do not practice.

Most use the excuse that one man one rifle as a reason not to spend money on ammo or another gun.

There are the exceptions but face it if I only had one rifle it would have been shot out long ago. The reason these rifles last so long with out rebarreling ect is that they spend most of the time sitting behind the door.

pd

You are right, especially in my Grandfather's case. A firearm was a tool, not a toy. Take care of it and it will take care of you. It was used for food, protecting the stock and protecting the family. I posted a story about my Grandmother and a grizzly on here a year or so ago.

I have it now and I must say it has a much more boring life with me. An honoured member of the family that stays home when all the fun starts.

Back in the era of 1920 thru 1950 there was only one car or no car per family. Houses were heated with coal or wood. Mothers made clothing for thier family. Stuff was saved and the term "make do" ment something.

My late dad founded and owned a small tool and die shop. He employed about 12 toolmakers. He was primarily a target shooter with both the .22 pistol and rifle and before that a substinance hunter and trapper. He owned just one pistol, one M52 rifle and a 8mm Lebel he sporterized and then in 1950 got a new JC Higgins M51 in 30-06. He bought new cars but thats all the guns he owned. Never saw a shotgun in the house.

Many many people today have far more stuff than they did in the past.

quote:

Originally posted by Savage99:
Back in the era of 1920 thru 1950 there was only one car or no car per family. Houses were heated with coal or wood. Mothers made clothing for thier family. Stuff was saved and the term "make do" ment something.

My late dad founded and owned a small tool and die shop. He employed about 12 toolmakers. He was primarily a target shooter with both the .22 pistol and rifle and before that a substinance hunter and trapper. He owned just one pistol, one M52 rifle and a 8mm Lebel he sporterized and then in 1950 got a new JC Higgins M51 in 30-06. He bought new cars but thats all the guns he owned. Never saw a shotgun in the house.

Many many people today have far more stuff than they did in the past.

And those houses averages 1000 sq ft, seldom had garages (1 car if at all), One radio (later 1 TV) was all you ever saw. No wonder consumer credit is at an all-time high?

Remember Linkletter's queen for a day? Women broke down in tears if they won a damn washer and dryer or sewing machine.

A rifle was expensive back then by any standard and most folks couldn't justify two.

My maternal grandfather was my hunting mentor. He only owned one gun in his entire life. It was a Browning A-5 Sweet Sixteen. He used it on everything. Mostly on quail but also on deer when they came back into Southern Arkansas.

He was proud that he shot nearly a case of shells every year while quail hunting. He never shot at anything other than a live target.

My paternal grandfather owned a single shot 16 gauge, which was a hand-me-down from my grandmother's father. I never once saw my grandad fire that gun.

My dad's only gun, growing up, was a Marlin 39 .22. Much later in life he bought a shotgun for bird hunting.

I'm doing my best now to improve my family's long term average.

My father-in-law shot a Remington 760 pump rifle with iron sights at Deer. When he died he left it to my brother-in-law who killed many Deer and also took it to Alaska with him as a young school teacher. Up there he killed many Caribou, a 91/2 ft. Brown Bear and everything else that was legal. He came back home and now still hunts with the rifle and uses it on his Bison farm. He also was Biologist in charge of Bison harvesting on a nearby Federally owned refuge. That rifle has accounted for over 500 Bison in it's history. I asked him recently when he had last cleaned it and he said "never". It has also accounted for countless Deer and the only time he hunts with anything else is for Elk in Colorado where in our hunt area the shots are long and he wanted a scoped rifle for more precise bullet placement, and went to a .300 Winny. Good shooting.

octave:

I was born in 1930 and grew up in a "gun" family. I heard the old expression quite young: " Beware of the man with one gun".(It came about because of the shooting competitions starting as far east as Pennsylvania and later spreading to the West) It's also not a bad rule to follow. Of course, I don't mean that a shooter should not use different guns - It does mean that absolute total familiarity with a firearm always pays off.

My Dad (74) is the oldest of 8. Born and raised in south Louisiana. He had a single shot 12ga for the game they took to feed the family.
In 1967 he bought a used Sears 243 with a k4 Weaver. In 1971 a rem 1100 but still has the single.
He has used the 1100 for doves and squirrels. Dad says that he has reached the stage of his life that he dosen't have to eat them damn ducks any more.
Dad has killed 2 wt deer. The first was with a 71 chevy just south of Houston on our way squirrel hunting. Man his pals gave him a hard time about that. The second was in 1998 with the 243. He said "I have taken enough game" and has not been hunting again.
Dad has several .22rf pistols and rifles along with SW mod 19 and a Ithica db that he bought to help a friend in hard times. He shoots very little any more but is a life member of the NRA and still reads all gun mags he can.
Thats my Dad.