What's your Beer goggles rifle?

[comfisherman]

This thread was inspired by a conversation I had this morning that got me thinking...

Stall mate on the boat next to me has a ruger mini 30 that he adores, much to the chagrin of his crew and everyone who hunts with him. It's an old accuracy systems international build from way back. .825 stainless fluted barrel with their old forward blow comp, chambered in whatever predates the 300 blkout or 30 hamr. It's some weird wildcat, it's trimmed with a laminate thumb hole in a color best described as "inclusive and diverse". It's topped with what appears to be a gen one long tube aimpoint red dot. His crewman were giving him a hard time saying he should only take it off the boat in the dark. It's ugly, loud, uses a semi pointless wildcat and was expensive.... but he claims he loves it. He called it his beer goggles, last call, any port in a storm rifle. It goes everywhere with him and he shoots it often.


Got me thinking, what rifle do I adore in the face of logic and objectivity...

I mean sure we'd all like to claim we only have 1/4 moa pragmatic rifles.... but are we that utilitarian?


What rifle do you have and enjoy that require some "beer goggles" to enjoy?


My past was probably a 270 wsm r1 that patterned looser than most 12 gauge buckshot. For whatever reason benneli rate of fire overruled accuracy and it never didn't make me smile.

After that... I have an adult acquired chipmunk 22. It's a pain to load, trigger sucks and it makes people laugh to see me shoot it. But I take it everywhere and it gets more range time than probably all my other rifles.

 

[jessej]

I'm in. I've got a few. Most are rattle canned redneck cerakote. It'll take me a little while to determine which is the old grey mare in the stable of fillies.

 

[comfisherman]

Haha.... someone has a pink cerakoted chrome accented hello kitty themed ar in the closet....

 

[HSmithTX]

LOL, I have a Rem 700 in 308 that I got in one of those black friday rifle package sales when my kids were getting old enough to hunt, it was/is a 26" heavy 12 twist barrel, with a spectacularly flimsy craptastic camo plastic stock and had an equally craptastic 3-9 scope in the package for FREE lol. I think after the rebate it was $325 bucks and 340-ish out the door? The store didn't have the 243 I wanted so I took a 308. I bought it and a different rifle we won't talk about that day..... It got taken apart and put back together with the rings and bases checked etc. It shot 150 powerpoints to an inch at 100 easily if you didn't lean on it much, and it's heavy so recoil is mild, it got the nod for my son's first deer. He shot his first 3 deer with it. He's learned a lot of his reloading skills with it and shot several hundred rounds through it at least. Over the last years I/we have routed out the super flimsy stock, epoxy bedded both carbon arrows and 1/4" square steel tubing through it, epoxy filled the forend cavities etc. It was a chore reinforcing the wrist of the stock with nothing visible from the outside but we managed LOL. I found a Savage 110 long action one piece pic rail in the clearance bin at a gunshop for 8 bucks, a chunk of that has been cut off and it was bushing bolted through the 1/4" square tubing epoxied into the stock for a pic rail bipod mount. It has a full custom lol JB Weld bedding job to complete the bubba'd kitchen table no budget renovation on the stock, complete with the blue play-do dam residue visible in places. The whole time I have been modifying it I have had a really nice greyboe stock waiting for it but seeing if a $3 stock and $40 worth of epoxy and parts would make it work better has been entertaining. Nothing to lose, if it didn't work out put it in the good stock and go right? It is still in the trash but solid stock, it now has a nightforce steel rail, an old but fresh rebuild Luepold 3-10 Mk3 Marine mil-dot scope, and it stacks bullets. We have shot it past 1000, it's a hammer with 168 A-max and Varget. The original load we developed for it years ago still shoots under half minute at any reasonable distance and I have some really nice rifles but it's the one I grab when I need to go shoot something. It's also the first one I grab if we are going shooting. I guess I just have full faith that it will work and that I can count on it to place a bullet where I want it. If I remember correctly it's almost 13 pounds ready to go with a sling and the accutac bipod that doubles it's value when I put it on. It could be a lot nicer in basically every way, but it's a shooter and it's never too far away from me.

 

[Rosebud]

Have a PPS22, imitation of a Russian PPS 41. But it shoots 22LR. Has a 50 round drum that will leave your thumb bleeding before its loaded full. But I found couple of 30 round stick mags. Its seriously ugly but has a great feature. It was taken apart and cleaned years ago and when reassemble it did a strange thing. When you pull the trigger it fires, when you let off the trigger it fires. Learn to tickle it just right an a hail of bullets come out of it. Its called (Precious)

 

[crashlanding]

Romanian wasr 10. It's been in the bottom of a river boat under 2 inches of water mud and muck while cat fishing, back of the sxs bouncing around trails, under the seat of the truck, was drawn on a bear that me and my dog stumbled on eating a dead rotted cow up on the Unc. I cleaned it once, finish worn (some call it battlefield finish), wood is beat, has a wire side folder that is uncomfortable as all get out to shoot continuously. But a beauty in its own right and one of my guns I'd never get rid of, too many good time's

 

[comfisherman]

I'm thinking the link is rate of fire covers a multitude of sins...

 

[cohunt]

Pics guys-- pics

 

[JimFromTN]

LOL, I have a Rem 700 in 308 that I got in one of those black friday rifle package sales when my kids were getting old enough to hunt, it was/is a 26" heavy 12 twist barrel, with a spectacularly flimsy craptastic camo plastic stock and had an equally craptastic 3-9 scope in the package for FREE lol. I think after the rebate it was $325 bucks and 340-ish out the door? The store didn't have the 243 I wanted so I took a 308. I bought it and a different rifle we won't talk about that day..... It got taken apart and put back together with the rings and bases checked etc. It shot 150 powerpoints to an inch at 100 easily if you didn't lean on it much, and it's heavy so recoil is mild, it got the nod for my son's first deer. He shot his first 3 deer with it. He's learned a lot of his reloading skills with it and shot several hundred rounds through it at least. Over the last years I/we have routed out the super flimsy stock, epoxy bedded both carbon arrows and 1/4" square steel tubing through it, epoxy filled the forend cavities etc. It was a chore reinforcing the wrist of the stock with nothing visible from the outside but we managed LOL. I found a Savage 110 long action one piece pic rail in the clearance bin at a gunshop for 8 bucks, a chunk of that has been cut off and it was bushing bolted through the 1/4" square tubing epoxied into the stock for a pic rail bipod mount. It has a full custom lol JB Weld bedding job to complete the bubba'd kitchen table no budget renovation on the stock, complete with the blue play-do dam residue visible in places. The whole time I have been modifying it I have had a really nice greyboe stock waiting for it but seeing if a $3 stock and $40 worth of epoxy and parts would make it work better has been entertaining. Nothing to lose, if it didn't work out put it in the good stock and go right? It is still in the trash but solid stock, it now has a nightforce steel rail, an old but fresh rebuild Luepold 3-10 Mk3 Marine mil-dot scope, and it stacks bullets. We have shot it past 1000, it's a hammer with 168 A-max and Varget. The original load we developed for it years ago still shoots under half minute at any reasonable distance and I have some really nice rifles but it's the one I grab when I need to go shoot something. It's also the first one I grab if we are going shooting. I guess I just have full faith that it will work and that I can count on it to place a bullet where I want it. If I remember correctly it's almost 13 pounds ready to go with a sling and the accutac bipod that doubles it's value when I put it on. It could be a lot nicer in basically every way, but it's a shooter and it's never too far away from me.

Did you buy it at Dick's back before they became anti 2nd amendment? That rifle sounds familiar. They sold one just like that with a cheap plastic camo stock. I always had my eye on them but never bought one. It was one of many regrets from not buying a rifle before it went out of production which could be a whole other thread.

 

[crashlanding]

Pics guys-- pics

Don't let the pictures fool you, it's oiled up at the moment, dry it's a different picture

 

[Rosebud]

This is precious, it was gifted to me about 20 years ago, it got it's name from the book th hobbit. Referring to the ring, as in "It's precious to me". Its seriously fun to shoot, no-one who shoots it doesn't have a stupid grin on them afterwards. Read earlier post as to why its fun to shoot.

 

[comfisherman]

This is re affirming my belief that rate of fire is the common bond.

My current bad habit is a savage edge 243.

Life got a bit bumpy right after getting married and I parsed it down to essentially three guns for a while there. That was about the only time I understood those "three gun" threads that you see from time to time on the internet. Eventually life-leveled off and I realized how much I missed having a 243 for General use down in the lower 48. They fling 55s better than most hot rod 22s and thump deer just fine.

Savage released the edge and then renamed it the axis, a local Oregon retailer called Bi-Mart had them for right under $200 plus a $25 rebate clearing out the edge stamped rifles. Think I was out the door with background check for under $200. It's bounced in every truck I've owned since then, hunted deer in Florida, lived on a boat for 4 or 5 years and been Saran wrapped to the strut of my buddies first janky little airplane. It's spanned Florida to Dutch harbor.

It's never had proper load workup done and been fed a constant diet of the cheapest ammo and components available. Its been loaned out to at least a dozen friends and family and been shot hot at colony varmints as well as soy bean field starlings. Heck in October it was passed of to a Brother in law who was moderate caliber poor since his 22-250 was sent off for a rebarrel. He's probably the 12th or 13th person to throw it behind the seat.

It's probably the least remarkable gun I've ever had, 6 years ago we painted It's stock khaki just to illustrate how mundane it is. It's had an assortment of blister pack scopes atop that were free from other donor rifles, it's never missed a beat and always shoots good enough.

It's only redeeming trait is.... that it was only 200$ with that said, most my boat guns are stainless. Even the stainless savages usually rust over time. This one had a bloom on 5h4 front action bolt and the accutrigger blade.... and that's it. For reasons I don't know it's coating is better than savages stainless. My crew debates if it's the coating or did savage make a rifle so incredibly plastic it can't rust....


All that to say it's been 200 well spent, if it doesn't return from its current trip I'll still be money ahead on it.

 

[CBH Australia]

Life's to short to hunt with ugly rifles.

But, I do have a Tikka CTR in 7-08. It was bought online and was intended to be ugly.

I called her Ugly Betty before I saw her. She's my truck gun and there were a couple of years she rode regular and we dropped most all she was aimed at. You don't need beer goggles to love a rifle like that, we have history.

 

[Rosebud]

Don't let the pictures fool you, it's oiled up at the moment, dry it's a different pictureView attachment 410220View attachment 410222

Yeah, no one ever mentioned pretty and AK in the same sentence.