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Old February 15, 2013, 10:34 PM   #26
FrankenMauser
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Most of my firearms look factory-new. I take very good care of them.

But, there are a few that have had a hard life.
They were either bought used and were already beaten up, or I simply consider them to be "tools" and don't baby them.
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Old February 16, 2013, 01:22 AM   #27
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Yes, this applies to my six Enfields, especially my only M-1 Garand, and to a moderate extent even the Norinco SKS and Romanian M-69.

The SKS is always carried in a soft polyester gun bag.
There might be no more imports of any SKS (maybe some are stored in US distr. warehouses), so why be careless when the prices have no where to go but upwards?

For the novices to milsurps, there is almost no chance that the CMP will receive any more Garands from the DOD. That is their only source.
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Old February 16, 2013, 04:03 AM   #28
Newton24b
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only a moron doesnt baby something important like a gun. nothing like abusing something that contains oh, 30-60,000 psi a few inches from your face or hand. its not like we mind paying 600 for a rifle, then scimp on taking care of it so we can play "weres my face" while the ambulance comes.
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Old February 16, 2013, 04:14 AM   #29
Tactical Jackalope
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Do you baby your guns?

Well that just depends. I baby the following. Just going to post two so you get an idea.
ImageUploadedByTapatalk 21361005722.421149.jpg
ImageUploadedByTapatalk 21361005756.141290.jpg

And here's what I don't baby. Just going to post two so you get an idea.

ImageUploadedByTapatalk 21361005837.680467.jpg
ImageUploadedByTapatalk 21361005878.722944.jpg

Now with rifles... I clean all my weapons thoroughly after each use.

(Sorry no pic of the Rock River LAR-15, tapatalk app is flipping out).

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Old February 16, 2013, 04:44 AM   #30
dalegribble
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i treat mine with respect. i don't toss them around as if they were junk like john wayne did with his guns. i try to avoid dropping, scratching or otherwise damaging my guns on purpose. they get enough wear and tare being treated right, they don't need any more by being treated wrong.
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Old February 16, 2013, 05:37 AM   #31
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Yes, I baby mine. Perhaps because most of them are either customs or heirlooms. Still, there is no excuse to not maintain them and treat them with the best of care. Im the same way with my tools and machienery.
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Old February 16, 2013, 06:34 AM   #32
TheNatureBoy
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Yes I do. By that I mean that I take very good care of them. I don't get bent outta shape if one gets dinged up a little though.
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Old February 16, 2013, 06:35 AM   #33
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Quote:
only a moron doesnt baby something important like a gun. nothing like abusing something that contains oh, 30-60,000 psi a few inches from your face or hand. its not like we mind paying 600 for a rifle, then scimp on taking care of it so we can play "weres my face" while the ambulance comes.
How, exactly, do you abuse the chamber of a rifle in a way that will induce a failure...short of dangerous reloads?

Last edited by shootniron; February 16, 2013 at 07:05 AM.
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Old February 16, 2013, 08:37 AM   #34
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>>Do you baby your guns?<<

Yeah, pretty much. That's why they look the way they do. And when it comes time to sell them, it really pays off.
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Old February 16, 2013, 10:16 AM   #35
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I handle them carefully since I want them to last but I don't put on white gloves first. I don't cry if they get some rust freckles or nicks from normal use. I use them as tools and tools suffer wear-and-tear.

I don't hesitate to hunt in the rain with my synthetic guns but I'm more careful with the wood-stocked or more historically significant ones.
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Old February 16, 2013, 10:53 AM   #36
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It depends. I do baby most of my guns. However, there are 3 that I don't baby:

1. Ruger LC9 - my every day carry
2. Glock 17 - it just doesn't need any babying
3. Savage 110 30-06 - I hunt with this, and can't help being in harsh weather. So, I quickly spray it down with WD40 and clean it off when I get back. The WD40 repels water and works great for this purpose.
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Old February 16, 2013, 11:34 AM   #37
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Well there's using a gun and then there's USING a gun. Not all conditions are equal and I can pretty well guess that the "My guns look like new" crowd are not using guns the same as I am. If they did, their guns wouldn't survive more than one or 2 trips and remain like new. Not a bash or dis, it's just a fact.
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Old February 16, 2013, 03:45 PM   #38
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I take good care of my guns..they are precision tools....Nice weather..take out blued guns....Bad weather..stainless ones....
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Old February 16, 2013, 04:05 PM   #39
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I treat mine better than I do the Marine Corps' M16A4s, but that's not saying much
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Old February 16, 2013, 05:01 PM   #40
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Quote:
Well there's using a gun and then there's USING a gun. Not all conditions are equal and I can pretty well guess that the "My guns look like new" crowd are not using guns the same as I am. If they did, their guns wouldn't survive more than one or 2 trips and remain like new. Not a bash or dis, it's just a fact.
^^^True...
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Old February 16, 2013, 10:56 PM   #41
Heavy Metal 1
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Yes, I baby all my guns. There are only certain ones I will hunt with in the rain and with those they are pre-treated with Johnson's paste wax before the hunt and carefully dried afterward. Last fall buddy & I were hunting deer in the rain; he gets out of the car and sets his rifle (that I sold to him) on the car. I cringed, but held my tongue while thinking "I never should have sold that to him". I put a piece of electrical tape over the bore for rain hunting. I am very careful with all my equipment-take care of your equipment and it will take care of you. OCD? Yup!
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Old February 17, 2013, 07:58 AM   #42
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I don't baby them , or abuse them , I use them !
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Old February 17, 2013, 08:09 AM   #43
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I'm all done hunting in lousy weather. I use scoped rifles exclusively and don't like getting water on lenses and inside gun mechanisms. However, I hunt within 5 miles of the house, I'm retired and can hunt 6 days a week, so losing a day or two to bad weather isn't a problem.

I take good care of my guns, but use relatively carefully. I'd absolutely never club an animal with a gun. Ammo is cheap, guns aren't.

Being a part-time gunsmith over the years, I tend to take better care of my guns than the average hunter/shooter. My shotguns are lightly-scratched from going through brush and bluing is worn off carry points, but they're barrels aren't dinged, nor are any parts rusted. My rifles and handguns may show handling/shooting wear, but are functionally excellent; most tuned to be better than new.
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Old February 17, 2013, 08:55 AM   #44
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Quote:
Originally Posted by OP
Example, I bought an ar and for some paranoid reason I didn't want to take it out into the pouring rain. Am I alone in this? Is there a cure
I was introduced to the AR by my Uncle who had a bunch of them in a big arms room at Fort Knox, KY. I carried several over the course of 25 years, in all manner of weather. Dust, sand, grit, monsoon, dry baking heat, snow, you name it. If I was there, the little rifle was there with me as well.

I still own one, a clone of the A2 that I carried for so many years, and I like the A2 better than the A1 I was issued in the early '70s. It's still the rifle I carry when the weather is apt to go all booger-snot on me. There is nothing there that the weather will hurt.

But, all my rifles (and they are legion) are rifles to be used. Wood stock, plastic stock, if I can't take it out in the weather it's useless to me. My current favorite is a wood stocked Rem700 ADL that was built sometime around 1983. All those scratches mean something and it's the rifle that my grandkids argue about getting when I pass on, because it's PawPaw's rifle. I don't know that any of them drool over the AR, but they lust over that beat-up Remington because that's the one I carry.
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Old February 17, 2013, 10:12 AM   #45
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I try to take good care of my guns but I bought them to use. Scratches are just memories. I hate rust and go to great lengths to avoid it. And WD40 never ever touches my guns anymore.
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Old February 17, 2013, 01:59 PM   #46
RUT
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>>I treat mine better than I do the Marine Corps' M16A4s<<

I know I'm showing my age, but when I was in the Corps. we were using the venerable M14!
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Old February 17, 2013, 02:02 PM   #47
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No babies,bought them to use as needed.I do clean them regular might be in the creek But they are cleaned & oiled.
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Old February 17, 2013, 03:52 PM   #48
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Just got done building and sighting in a 10/22 for the sole purpose of using the hell outta it.

Tore into the parts tub and installed an old stainless barrel with broken sights, new sights, old dinged and cracked laminated stock and an old yet proven Savage 3-9x that came on a Savage 110 package a decade or 2 ago. Only true upgrade is a VQ hammer.

Built specifically for riding in the truck, hunting the nasty weather, crawling thru the mud and slippin on the ice. Not to mention the beating it takes hunting the thick stuff. Baby it? I think not.
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Old February 17, 2013, 03:54 PM   #49
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1903 stock

hey bama : where did you get a stock of birds eye maple for your 1903, thats great!!!! I love it. I maintain, I wanted a springfield 30/40 in a carbine. so I took my 270 mag in for a trade. Now this weatherby is nice but I hunt with it. the buyer said it was too beat up, for a trade. BS the 30/40 was 1890 vintage, but nice for it's age. I will keep my 1970's vintage Weatherby, and keep searching for a 30-40 side trap. Birds eye maple stock,
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Old February 18, 2013, 06:40 AM   #50
Brotherbadger
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I use them but i don't abuse them. If keeping a nice layer of oil on them while in storage is babying them, then yes. However, several of the guns were given to me as a present by a deceased relative, so i think it is disrespectful to him to let them rust up.
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