Our favourite ever firearms..

Ive owned dozens but the one that stole my heart is a little Savage Lightweight in .223. Had it for maybe 20 years from new. Burned out the throat last year and replaced it with a 1:8 stainless from Truflite. It was good before and even better now. Light and easy to shoot. But its a bit like owning a Landrover - the re-barrel cost more than I paid for the original rifle, then there was the bedding job, and getting a fault fixed in the trigger....

The 80 grain bullets it digests shoot deer like a .243.

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Attachment 207496

Sako A2 in 243 that someone had put a heavy barrel on, long sold , long missed.

A 1949 BRNO 22 Hornet that my father bought for me at a clearing sale when I was 15 in 1981. I (stupidly) sold it in late 1986 as I'd run out of money at the end of Uni. Starting about 10 years ago I kept my eye out intending to replace it with something similar, ended up buying the same rifle back!! Gifted it to my son for his 21st three years ago, he'll never sell it.

A 465 no doubt? It was all downhill from there.
I had a Fox -briefly-. Sloppiest action I've ever seen

Interesting - after 40+ posts there are few trends emerging regarding our favourite arms..

1. They can be any type of firearm - centrefire or rimfire or shottie. Old or new. No particular type.
2. Favourite firearms are rarely pricey models. More often it will be less expensive arms eg 303s, Baikal, Marlin semi, Ruger 10/22 etc.
3. People seldom choosing the big Name brands as favourites- most choices are low to medium price arms. Yes there are also some well setup Sakos etc and that's also good.
4. People's favourite arms are usually described as very good at their purpose. Favouritism based mostly on efficient performance. Functionality wins - regardless of name or price.
5. Also very clear that when confronted with possibly selling a favourite firearm, we should not just think twice about it - we should think half a dozen times about it, then put it back in closet and sell something else. Avoid the regrets. Favourite fireams hold more than just an economic value - they're a pleasure to own and use. That's called life.

Just trends - not rules... there are none with personal choices.

I'd add a couple more arms to my own honorable mention list. I intend one day to pick up a Lithgow model 12 22LR - learned to shoot with one and remember it as an accurate, efficient Aussie 5 shot bolt action. Good wee units and a few still around. Also may pick up one or two rifles I haven't yet owned - either a Remington 511 Scoremaster 22LR 5/10 shot mag bolt action, or its tube counterpart the model 512 Sportmaster. Fine 22s from 1930s thru 1960s - will have one of them in the closet sometime.

I have a few rifles I treasure a BSA Viscount 7x57 a mint Monarch 30-06 various BP cartridge & muzzle loaders but my favourite is my Winchester Mod 88 - 308, barrel is down to 19" now and just swapped the 4x Leupy M8 off it for a Zeiss 2-7. Had that rifle going on 40 years.

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Originally Posted by Barry the hunter

now heres a question for you earlier Remington fans that has always intriqued me -I saw a Rem in a Taihape sports store early eighties - and have not seen same since - Okay we had the 700 BDL I have one with its yuk plastic forend - then there was the 700 ADL no floor plate -well this was a 700 with a very nice stock and floor plate -stock was very nicely shaped -different to an ADL but I cant remember what model the store was calling it - delux maybe

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Might have been a Classic this is one in.222.
They put them out in different calibres each year.Attachment 207508

yup I went online and that is likely what it was yours is a thing of beauty

Yes it is a nice little rifle.
But weighs pretty much the same as Winchester Featherweight.
The bigger hole down the middle of the barrel must reduce weight.

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Originally Posted by mudgripz

Interesting - after 40+ posts there are few trends emerging regarding our favourite arms..

1. They can be any type of firearm - centrefire or rimfire or shottie. Old or new. No particular type.
2. Favourite firearms are rarely pricey models. More often it will be less expensive arms eg 303s, Baikal, Marlin semi, Ruger 10/22 etc.
3. People seldom choosing the big Name brands as favourites- most choices are low to medium price arms. Yes there are also some well setup Sakos etc and that's also good.
4. People's favourite arms are usually described as very good at their purpose. Favouritism based mostly on efficient performance. Functionality wins - regardless of name or price.
5. Also very clear that when confronted with possibly selling a favourite firearm, we should not just think twice about it - we should think half a dozen times about it, then put it back in closet and sell something else. Avoid the regrets. Favourite fireams hold more than just an economic value - they're a pleasure to own and use. That's called life.

Just trends - not rules... there are none with personal choices.

I'd add a couple more arms to my own honorable mention list. I intend one day to pick up a Lithgow model 12 22LR - learned to shoot with one and remember it as an accurate, efficient Aussie 5 shot bolt action. Good wee units and a few still around. Also may pick up one or two rifles I haven't yet owned - either a Remington 511 Scoremaster 22LR 5/10 shot mag bolt action, or its tube counterpart the model 512 Sportmaster. Fine 22s from 1930s thru 1960s - will have one of them in the closet sometime.

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Greetings All,
We do not choose favourite rifles, they choose us. It can be long and diligent service, association with others, some who have passed or any of a vast number of other reasons. We often have other rifles that are lighter, shoot flatter, are more accurate or a range of other attributes but the favourites remain just that. They are personal to us and we should make sure that whoever cleans out our rifle safe after our passing feels free to dispose of them however they wish.
Regards Grandpamac.

I had a soft spot for the A5 as the first time I ever shot it and on probably maybe in the first handful of times I ever shot clay targets, on a pissing down bleak day at the Greymouth club I shot something like 18 or 19 out of 25 and very close to possibles on the other lower rounds.
This was a 15 year old.
I was struggling to see the clays sometimes with the weather and on several occasions was either losing them after the first shot, not hitting them or not seeing them.at all and then seeing them in the distance thinking shit it's still there, firing a shot and breaking them 3 feet off the ground. Loved that gun. Ended up buying it a few years later and shot very well with it. Full choke and dint shoot that often but was good enough to keep.most c graders and quite a few B and A grader's honest
Shot quite a lot of 10/10s, more than a few 15/15s and several 25/25s with the best one getting in a shoot off and missing on the 13th target so 38 and that didnt count round before so possibly higher.
That round also had the dubious honour of me getting too efficient with my loading technique and managed to push the bolt release a split second before my other thumb loading the round was out.
The very sharp extractor tore a chunk off my thumb and it bled like a stuck pig.
This was in the first 25 round on maybe the 10th target
I was pushing my thumb into the camo polar fleece I had just got made but it didnt work well.
There was blood in the gun and other competitors commented on the drips of blood every station lol.
It may have helped my shooting as I wasnt thinking about not missing any.
It was get to the next station, try to stop the bleeding, shit my turn, shit that hurts loading, pull, bang, repeat.
Been shooting at the local soon to be shut club for 5 odd years now and still.havent hit a 10/10. That's with other guns too. Technique and eyesight probably to blame. Hint I am left eye dominant that shoots RH I just dont see the target like I should although the force in me isnt as strong as it once was.
Plus the times down at the bunny hunt although not always a lot of rabbits around shooting a 20 walking up and down a willowy creek getting a handful each time.
I will say it is a heavy SOB compared to most and that bunny hunt I got 60 rabbits with quite a few shots sent down range at times and I did have a small bruise the next day.
Hunting rabbits in scrub and using the 5 shot mag but seeing another one, frantically loading one up the speed loadr when another one pops out only to have to do it several times as another rabbit (or maybe one I missed getting away) pops out.
This led me to making a.mag extension, which were non existent at the time for it but geez it made it heavier to carry and point
Still love that gun and it has such a great noise when that bolt is released. Has a fantastic ring.
When I fixed a niggling issue and got it together to use for the first time in over 10 years since moving to aussie and back, I looked like a kid at xmas listening to that noise (missus must've thought i was losing it), thinking now i will be a force to be reckoned with at the club, but sadly I think I am letting the old girl down and that is not the case.
Did I say I still love that gun?

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Originally Posted by grandpamac

Greetings All,
We do not choose favourite rifles, they choose us. It can be long and diligent service, association with others, some who have passed or any of a vast number of other reasons. We often have other rifles that are lighter, shoot flatter, are more accurate or a range of other attributes but the favourites remain just that. They are personal to us and we should make sure that whoever cleans out our rifle safe after our passing feels free to dispose of them however they wish.
Regards Grandpamac.

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It seems to me reading this that 'favourite' is a hard thing to pin down.Looking in the cabinet I spotted a M52 Winchester with Bausch & lomb scope,and got to thinking it's not for sale but not fired in many years.I wanted one and it turned up and now just having it sitting there is enough to earn its board and lodgings.
As to passing on guns there seems to be a unwritten police policy of not renewing elderly shooters firearms licenses and have seen several instances of this recently.

I hear you Ted. I seem to do that a little bit.
I will also say that I did jag 2 trophies at the club on the days I did shoot pretty well and the normal really food shooters didnt lol

I've still got the 10-22 I bought in 1980, doesn't get much use now, and I'm going to take the Leupold 1-5 off it and put it on my new favourite the FX PCP slug gun in .22. Nailed a couple of rabbits with it out the window last night at 59 yards with 7cm of elevation, too easy.....
Second oldest I have is the BSA CF2 in .243. carried that bloody heavy thing for days and days in the 80's, looking fruitlessly for deer. It accounted for a lot of goats though. Sentimental attachment - but too heavy to be a favourite.
The T3 in 7-08 - a vast improvement in every way on the BSA in terms of function, if not form. Maybe being lighter it is a bit harder to shoot consistently, I need an excuse after missing 2 stags in 2 years both at 170m.
Maybe the Lee Enfield from 1912, which is pretty close to the same one my 2 great uncles took across the world to Gallipoli. One is buried at Chunuk Bair the other in Wellington, wounded in April 2015, never really recovered and died of the last pandemic a few days after WW1 ended.
But I suspect my favourite will be the next one I buy. For a while anyway, but I probably wont stay in lust forever.... I think it will be a 7mmRM, maybe semi-custom, with a Z5. Unless its 6.5PRC. Or 300WM, need to think more on that. As my knees and fitness get worse I need to get more and more range from the next rifle so I can shoot across 2 valleys.

One of mine would have to be my TOZ 17. The same as the first rifle I bought ( on dads licence :wtfsmilie: ) at 15.
Had to sell it a year later to finance an engine rebuild on my Honda SL125.
3 years later I was brave enough to rebuild the gearbox on it myself but at 15, no way.
Bought it purely on nostalgia, but it shoots bloody well.
The Martini Henry is one of my sons toys.
Attachment 207544

Continuing the thoughts on favourite firearms, there is for me another group. The one's I very much wanted, lusted after, but did not get to buy. Those firearms that will always remain on the wishlist. Until bought..

As a lever action fan for 50+ years I've had many different lever rifles, but there are two I always looked at, desired, but for some reason never got to own. First is the Marlin model 39A lever (in 22LR) and variants. One of the very best 22 levers and now very collectable. Very well made, well regarded little rifle, and very accurate. Up there with my Winchester 9422s. The second lever coincidentally is also a Marlin - the model 336 in 30-30. Perhaps comes from my northern bush background, but would love to have had/have now a model 336. Great little firearm. Have had two Winchester 94 30-30s because I really like their classic design and delightful slim handling - but - the Marlin is also a real gem and I would be very happy to have one in the closet. Winny 94 and Marlin 336 are biggest and second biggest selling centrefire sporters in history - they've got to be doing something right.

Couple of others on the fave wishlist .. a Remington model 552 Speedmaster 22LR - beautiful little semiauto - and the Winchester model 88 lever action. Couple of classics.. Kind of rifles that if I see them on the gunshop rack, I've just Got to go have a look, and have a wee play..

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Originally Posted by Northkiwi

I've still got the 10-22 I bought in 1980, doesn't get much use now, and I'm going to take the Leupold 1-5 off it and put it on my new favourite the FX PCP slug gun in .22. Nailed a couple of rabbits with it out the window last night at 59 yards with 7cm of elevation, too easy.....
Second oldest I have is the BSA CF2 in .243. carried that bloody heavy thing for days and days in the 80's, looking fruitlessly for deer. It accounted for a lot of goats though. Sentimental attachment - but too heavy to be a favourite.
The T3 in 7-08 - a vast improvement in every way on the BSA in terms of function, if not form. Maybe being lighter it is a bit harder to shoot consistently, I need an excuse after missing 2 stags in 2 years both at 170m.
Maybe the Lee Enfield from 1912, which is pretty close to the same one my 2 great uncles took across the world to Gallipoli. One is buried at Chunuk Bair the other in Wellington, wounded in April 2015, never really recovered and died of the last pandemic a few days after WW1 ended.
But I suspect my favourite will be the next one I buy. For a while anyway, but I probably wont stay in lust forever.... I think it will be a 7mmRM, maybe semi-custom, with a Z5. Unless its 6.5PRC. Or 300WM, need to think more on that. As my knees and fitness get worse I need to get more and more range from the next rifle so I can shoot across 2 valleys.

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That was my first centrefire. Mongrel of a thing. Being left handed even the .243win gave a nice sharp line on my cheek from that terrible stock.

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Originally Posted by Frogfeatures

One of mine would have to be my TOZ 17. The same as the first rifle I bought ( on dads licence :wtfsmilie: ) at 15.
Had to sell it a year later to finance an engine rebuild on my Honda SL125.
3 years later I was brave enough to rebuild the gearbox on it myself but at 15, no way.
Bought it purely on nostalgia, but it shoots bloody well.
The Martini Henry is one of my sons toys.
Attachment 207544

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Toz 17 was my first rifle too. Got another one now but a single shot.

I Always wanted but never got … a mohawk 600

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Originally Posted by Bagheera

I Always wanted but never got … a mohawk 600

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I wouldn't mind a remington 788 carbine. If they did one in 222 223 or maybe even a 22-250. Already have a 243 and wouldnt want one in 7-08 or 308.
For some reason a savage or winchester lever in 284 would be nice too.
Also for no other good reason a classic mauser 7x57 with the correct twist barrel.
One day I might get my hands on my fathers 280 ross straight pull but while I'm not looking very hard one of them in 303 would be neato

It wont let me edit properly for some reason but I will say while i have a 243 it is not a 788.
An ex family acquaintance had a 243 788 carbine and it was a fecking tack driver

Couple of favourites not yet owned but on my longterm wishlist - beauties! Remington model 552 Speedmaster 22LR semiautomatic, and Winchester model 88:

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Yes a model 88 is definitely on my wish list. My favorite rifle will always be my dad's model 100, shot my first deer with it but of course it is no longer with me. The 88 will fill that hole nicely.

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Originally Posted by mudgripz

Couple of favourites not yet owned but on my longterm wishlist - beauties! Remington model 552 Speedmaster 22LR semiautomatic, and Winchester model 88:

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yes I would love to get my hands on one of those remington .22 semi autos or the pump but lol I have never seen one for sale

@csmiffy tell us what you like about the Remington 788. Wasnt that the one with the rear locking action and 6 small rattly locking lugs ? It must have some endearing features I overlooked at the time .

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Originally Posted by Bagheera

@csmiffy tell us what you like about the Remington 788. Wasnt that the one with the rear locking action and 6 small rattly locking lugs ? It must have some endearing features I overlooked at the time .

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being cheeky here butting in - yes clunky bolt -yes made as a budget rifle - but one with a good barrel will shoot as well if not better than most rifles on any gunshop shelf - very very accurate - fast lock time helps -trigger was usually quite okay -mine does not shift zero either after storage a bonus - handle very well

Off topic but does anyone remember what some of these old rifles cost new back in the day? Like the Sako Vixen.

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Originally Posted by Shearer

Off topic but does anyone remember what some of these old rifles cost new back in the day? Like the Sako Vixen.

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Sako Vixen in 1969 was if I remember correctly around the $170 mark

Ok. So around $3140 in todays money. Interesting.

@Shearer My first centrefire was a sporterised K98 8x57. $72 used. My butchery apprentice wage was $48 per week. In about 1980 I bought a new Ruger M77 .270 and it was $434. My mum absolutely hit the roof. That was the rifle I regret selling.... Oh; and a new Win 94 30/30....

1965

Attachment 207576

1970

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Ok. So they had the Vixen listed at $189.95 in 1970. That would make it $3500 today. Exactly the same price as the current Sako 85 hunter wood/blued.
Funny. The 308win was cheaper than the 243win and 270win! What were they thinking!

We live in a golden age when it comes to bang for buck for rifles.....

@Bagheera my ex family acquaintance had the 243 carbine.
Used it or should I say I carried it a bit and I like the handiness of it. It was a neat little gun that shot very well.
There are others ahead of it in a wishlist though
If I ever get around to saving up the shekels I'll get a 300 h+h reamer and make one out of my P14 sporters

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Originally Posted by Tahr

Ive owned dozens but the one that stole my heart is a little Savage Lightweight in .223. Had it for maybe 20 years from new. Burned out the throat last year and replaced it with a 1:8 stainless from Truflite. It was good before and even better now. Light and easy to shoot. But its a bit like owning a Landrover - the re-barrel cost more than I paid for the original rifle, then there was the bedding job, and getting a fault fixed in the trigger....

The 80 grain bullets it digests shoot deer like a .243.

Attachment 207495

Attachment 207496

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that other one in photo stole a heck of a lot of hearts too mate.....

looking at that tisdales list...303brits with new barrels!!!!! oh if only they were still around to be had at those prices.... even inflation adjusted,what a bargain.

well- .22 my first outfit(at cockie landlords behest)was a Stirling m14with 4x28nikko tiara scope .with winchester dyna point or rabbit ammo that outfit shot countless shitty livered possums and randy rabbits .bought a Voere semiauto -4x40 Tasco scope -dont remember much about it though the scope later went on the Stirling -my all time favourite sniper outfit for jackos -spotlight on crosshairs between flared nostrils and mad eyes -"wallop" lights out .my last was a Toz 17 bought from a workmate -my marriage broke up and i moved to CHCH in 1979-had Paulus Manders fit one of his suppressors .unusual he made and fitted an adapter to the barrel flashhider and one of his suppressors .the horrendous birch stock warped like shit and my mod s didnt help so I fitted it to a Stirling m20 s/a stock.
That rifle is on" permanent' loan to GSPF who bugger me has outshot me more than once with it .now got a Norinco with 16"barreland suppressor -dandy wee gun for in the truck plus a 10.22gifted to me.
that outfit was deadly in its former owners hands .centrefire Greatgrandad 1943No1 mk4.303 long branch .30 with target barrel fitted.



.Gundoc did some work for me on it and taught me some very valuable lessons on it .its ma "naval gun "with 180gn slugs she trundles em down the tracklike a geriartic spinbowler and wellint seen a wicketkeeper ye t game enough to don gloves for her! .did compost a couple of hares with it though

Have a Norinco 7.62x39 and its baby sister the .223 also . the .223 was IIRC a very dandy birthday buy for me from another illustrious member on here Tim&Talon. Virtually brand new with 100rds ammo IIRC!
shotties .my gggGrandfathers 12gsxs which we think was bought from A&W Carthy Dunedin in approx 1861-63 when family arrived from Aussie on to the Otago goldfields. Last fired in 1963 before dad confiscated it from a cousin he caught using smokeless ammo. Firing pins split action loose so i removed em -a clan heirloom and wallhanger.
Next my Era gameking12sxs-my first 12g was a Mitchell Gameking of the same type -sold for $10.00 profit when my marriage went bust .Loved that gun and a couple of years ago saw one on TM for $150.00-stock a little tatty but shes in the safe .Luvly to use for pigeons with clay target rounds! Bentley Pointer s.a for some reason i loved the browning A5 and a cobber who was getting out of shooting sold this to me -later after his marriage went tits up he called me from Aussie and gave me about $1.5k of ducks hooting gear as well. She dont get much work these days but when i do she still performs !my go to 12g team GSPF """""siddown ,get in behind....."(he derisively calls it the bloody boat anchor)the mighty original model Escort magnum with manual 2stage gas reg .I bought her 16yrs ago second hand and she still plugs along .a couple of malfunctions -simple D IY fixes from a fortuitously bought box of spares.no1goose gun -formerly fitted with mag extension (bought $25.00 sold to NZ Police for $140.00).No1 goose gun (3"chamber)
C404 sold me a wonderful wee Baikal U/O single trigger in 2 3/4chambering and the little russian princess is my feraarl goose (fath arthur)gun .boy oh boy has he knocked a few over with literal bum shots give ewm a couple of seconds to get airborne -rake em from arsehole to breekie hole with a dose of 32gm 4's .bingo. She is also my general use gun which doesnt do any harm cause more than once Ive been guilty of the old spray&pray with the Escort.

\Iwas gifted a ? "Landber" skeet gun (same bloke as 10/22) but havent fired it as yet .Smiffy has (feel free to cxhime in on it smiffy if you feel inclined).Its in showroom condition,so next clays session with the troops illhave to try it.

my dearest wish .a mate owned a Mannlicher Schoneaur 7x57 with Pecar 4x81 scope.Rotary mag and spoon handle bolt plus set trigger I still drool thinking about it .Hes taken a fair tally of deer with that superb outfit .HMmmmw hat if i had one in the cabinet? from my TF days a good old SLR-bloody heavy but simple action and what gets hit generally falls over permanently. hiding behind trees aint no escape.
\
my philosophy -All my outfits are budget -iaccept that ,but i know i can if on song do the job with any of them.they have and still do bring endlerss hours of enjoyment with my shooting crew and retreating out to lake ellesmere or over home to the coast is my safety blanket for keeping me sane!!!!!!!!!!

My dad's farming mags used to have a few pages at the back with Valentines army surplus stuff, probably around 1977. They were selling new Jungle Carbines for $26 each. They were also selling M1 carbines. They also had WW2 "packs" of Brit helmets, gasmasks etc together for a set price and a lot of Vietnam war Alice packs and gear

Bruno Model 2 serial #350444
My first 22 If I could find it I would buy it back. Stupidly I traded it on a M597 POS
Has small patch ground off the bolt handle to clear scope, barrel shorted and all open sights removed and barrel turned down so no collector value at all.

Mikee - that was a bloody bad trade :) We live and learn eh... :)

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Originally Posted by mudgripz

Mikee - that was a bloody bad trade :) We live and learn eh... :)

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Mate you are a champion of understatement, I should have been slapped to bring me to my senses before I completed the act of stupidity but sadly no one did and I have a M597 sitting in the safe to remind me how dumb I was!!