Thread: Walnut and blued steel,

Originally Posted by Frodo

Pfffffffffffffffftt!

Rifles are made to be used!

And unlike a poxy plastic stock, wood can be restored to its original state.

As for the NZ bush being unforgiving on rifles - yeah, but only if you stumble around like you're King Kong on acid - tripping up all the time and being incognizant of what your hands are doing. An unwillingness to marr the finish on your rifle can teach you a thing or two about moving silently and efficiently through the bush. The same goes for rougher alpine terrain - especially if you're hunting solo - if you take care with the manner in which you travel, you may just spare yourself an accident.

Sometimes it pays to be gentle v.s fighting the environment around you - frantically bashing through scrub; smashing your plastic rifle into tree trunks/rocks; falling over on scree slopes...it won't do your gear any favours, nor you.

The bush is only as unforgiving as we make it. And if a piece of gear can remind us to pull the reigns in from time to time, then all the better.

Just another perspective.

Safequeens and treestands be damned!

This isn't my rifle - but look how classy it looks even with the worn finish. That's what honest wear looks like.

Yes but what you have stated isn't actually true. If you take a big gark out of a wooden stock you aren't going to be 'restoring it' back to it's original state - it doesn't quite work like that. Yes you can steam out smaller dents and to some degree scratches but if you have taken a chunk out it's gone ...

And yes that is a lovely rifle but that hasn't been carried around on the South Island tops