Shoot it or make it a safe queen?

[Mark M.]

Shoot it.

 

[Ndfarmer]

My dearly departed dad who is solely responsible for my shooting , hunting and fishing addictions always said owning a gun you don't shoot is like having a wife you won't sleep with

Regarding the ammo I would give I tot folks who own those calibers and gauges. everyone I know likes free ammo.

Haha! That sounds like something my dad would say.

 

[SnowbirdUT]

My dearly departed dad who is solely responsible for my shooting , hunting and fishing addictions always said owning a gun you don't shoot is like having a wife you won't sleep with

Regarding the ammo I would give I tot folks who own those calibers and gauges. everyone I know likes free ammo.

I just wanted to let you know that I am going to take the saying;

"owning a gun you don't shoot is like having a wife you won't sleep with "

as my own. That is a terrific analogy.

 

[srogerson]

Update: Going to pick up the rifle with about 500 rounds of loaded 22-250 tomorrow and my son is making an offer on all the loaded ammo. He and the three grandsons are willing to pull bullets, dump powder, punch primers and sell bullets/brass as components. Son is buying a Dillon 550 with a ton of accessories as well. I will scrap the 22-250 brass "all mixed headstamp" and keep the bullets for the AR. Ordered some Norma brass and picking up some varmint bullets for it. This rifle will be used on coyotes in a game unit that has predation on the antelope there and help keep the round count down on my two .257 Wbys. Thanks for all the great input, I was always leaning toward shooting it as well.

Great decision, sir!

 

[crkckr]

Regarding the loaded ammo, and assuming there's no data for the individual lots, and depending on the caliber, I would be inclined to first pull a few bullets and check the loads and as long as they aren't max for the caliber, I'd shoot them (unless you know he wasn't a good reloader). I would be more cautious with anything oddball (e.g. 32-20) or canon type rounds, such as .338 WM. As long as the ammo is not some fire-breathing monstrosity and if the 10 or so rounds you pull apart are consistent, you should be just fine. You should at least give her component prices for it but just pulling them apart without checking them first seems like a waste to me. As to the Ruger, rifles are meant to be shot, which is exactly what I'd do eith it.
Cheers,
crkckr

 

[Jack R Tishue Jr]

I think hold it and sell it. How often you going to find a new one? They only become more valuable. Get dumb and shoot it and it becomes a "shooter" , worth about a 1/4 , if that of what it's worth as a NIB, Especially as a collector item. I bought a Colt Diamondback, to replace one I'd been shooting in competition, and when it came was NIB. I could have shot it and it'd be worth $300 now, but worth closer to $2k, as a collector, so it isn't getting shot. Why throw money away. Sell it to a collector, go on line at Ruger collectors and let it be know you have it, and see what comes along. As for the ammo, if the guy who loaded it is known to be competent, etc., then shoot it. Almost impossible to overload ammo any more, unless someone dilbert enough to shoot Bullseye pistol powder in a rifle with the case full. I just donated some ammo a guy at the range gave me, because it was OLD, 2 years old, jeese, to a guy with a rifle in that caliber, and he said he'll probably shoot it, but did pull down ONE round to see what was in it. Don't let other people talk you into blowing money, but ruining the rifle by shooting it. If you sell it can always buy another one in shooter grade and have lots of money left over to buy ammo with.

 

[therifleman556]

This ain't a Colt Diamondback. Shoot it and honor your friend.

 

[Jack R Tishue Jr]

Obviously, something being misunderstood about a collector rifle and one that's now just another junker/shooter. Hey, just go to the Ruger Collectors Society and see what they paying for them. If not more than you paid, then hold it. You're obviously not "honoring" your friend , if they were, your just using it as an excuse to shoot something that HE didn't shoot (and perhaps was therefore honoring as a collectible). Once shot, not going to be put back in new condition. If not sellable as a collector, can always be shot later. Shooting it, just to be doing so, kind of stupid.

Ruger Collectors' Association
www.rugercollectorsassociation.com
RUGER COLLECTORS' ASSOCIATION . Co-founded in 1975 by the late Stephen K. Vogel and John R. Hansen, Jr., the Ruger Collectors' Association is an independent organization of Ruger collectors, not affiliated with or sponsored by Sturm, Ruger & Co., Inc. The association's members are dedicated to the study and preservation of Ruger …

 

[therifleman556]

Someone,at some point is going to shoot that rifle. Might as well be someone close to departed...

We're lucky that our chosen hobby has functional tools that can also be works of art. Guns to me are something that can be collected, but should also be used and enjoyed. Collecting for the sake of stowing them away only for our loved ones to deal with once we're gone is quite pointless in my opinion. It would be like collecting baseball cards or the like; if all they're good for is to look at then it's of no value to me.

If I inherited a minty 68 Fastback with 5000 miles on the clock am i going to build a garage around it so my buddies can get drunk staring at it all weekend while debating what the best years to own are? Pfftt, hell no I'ma gonna drive that bee-otch!

 

[Jack R Tishue Jr]

But the car already used. This mint so should be offered to someone who will appreciate it. If they want to keep it mint, so be it. Many people don't realize collectors also historians and collect the guns mint, so as to be able to show them. How many different styles, etc., of 77s are there? Enough to collecting them to be a pastime in it's own right. Easy enough to spend someone elses money, and ruin a perfectly good collectible. Like I said, he can sell it to a collector who will appreciate it and take the money, buy another one, as shooter and ammo with the excess. You can always buy another shooter, but can't put one that's been used back in new condition.

 

[therifleman556]

This mint so should be offered to someone who will appreciate it. If they want to keep it mint, so be it.

So it's okay for the next owner to shoot it but not the op? Because the collector will "appreciate" it more?

 

[Jack R Tishue Jr]

That's not what was meant, because a collector WON"T shoot it, period. Misspoken.

 

[therifleman556]

Hmm. Glad I'm not a collector, that just doesn't sound fun.

 

[Jack R Tishue Jr]

I think to them it is, but also a Education. Education what it's all about.