My favorite firearm

[kenhuntin]

Curious. I want to know from this esteemed conglomerate your opinions on your # 1 all time favorite firearm you employ. Or wish to employ. I do not want to start any arguments because you know that will never be resolved. So the replies can only portray your favorite and an explanation as to why. Not sure if this has come up before as I have not been active for years. What is your favorite shotgun for hunting and competition? What is your favorite hunting rifle? what is your favorite battle/modern sporting rifle? what is your fav pistol? What is your favorite plinker? I expect a myriad of answers from it was Grandpas to best function or my first gun. All explanations are relevant. However the rule is no mention of mine is better than yours. We all look different and think different so negative opinions are not allowed. Bring it!

[HD]

Colt Python

[snow1]

Good topic Ken,kinda like what's your fav truck...

how you sittin on shotgun ammo Ken?I'm ready to hit the metro gun range/duck tower soon ifin we ever get a re-supply of 12ga target loads.I see bass pro/cabela's has some but at $10/box I'll pass,hopefully once our retail shelves load back up prices will come down,hope so also hope our gun ranges can endure these troubled times and are able to keep they're door's open.

[Steve-o]

Browning Hi-Power 9mm.  Nothing against polymer; I prefer steel.

[glenn57]

22......browning lever action.

deer rifle........remingtion woodsmaster model 740 30-06

shotgun........ted williams model 200 12 ga AND my dads 12 ga weatherby.

i also have 2 30-30's......... a marlin and winchester model 94 both lever action!!!!!

[markn]

  Beretta Super Trap for shooting clay targets.
  My grand grandfather's model 94 in the woods.
  Walther PDP 9mm is getting to be on the top of the heap for pistol. High Standard 22 in close second.
 

[Steve-o]

Dad started me out with a Winchester 1894.  I killed a lot of deer with that rifle.  Hard not to put it at the top of the list.

Later he gave me a Winchester 70 in 30.06 so I could mount a scope.  It ain't MOA-accurate out-of-the-box like so many new rifles today, but it shoots straighter that I do.

I think about getting a new rifle from time to time, but between these two guns, I don't need anything else to hunt deer in Minnesota.

[deadeye]

That’s an easy one for me.  Back in the early 70’s I borrowed a Remington 700 bolt rifle from my wife’s father.  It was my father in law’s dad’s gun.  My wife’s grandfather worked as a game manager in Custer State Park back in the late 1950’s through the 60’s. He used this gun to kill buffalo during the 1962 filming of the movie “How the West Was Won”.  I ended up keeping it and it has been the only gun I have ever used to kill deer with over the past 47 years.   Many years ago my father in law modified the stock by inlaying a piece of 2x4 to make it an early version of the Monte Carlo stock. He was more into function than form. I still have that stock although quite a while back when they became popular I replaced it with a black plastic one. I often thought about putting a notch in the stock for each deer I killed with it but by now it would be no bigger than a pencil.   

In 1974 I shot my first deer with this rifle. 


Last fall I shot his buck with the same rifle.

[Dotch]

Great thread! 

Several categories to choose from.

Favorite shotgun: My blue collar sxs Savage Stevens 20 ga. blunderbuss. Short barrel originally intended for hunting grouse. Has blasted more bunnies, raccoons, opossums, skunks, gophers, woodchucks, cats, etc. out of our yard & pasture than I care to imagine. Chamber two 4 shot shells and game on. Scares the hell out of the wife when I open the door and let fly without telling her first! 

Favorite rifle if I only want to give the wife a mild coronary when shooting out the window: Coast to Coast .22 (Marlin CC 440) with three 7 shot clips. Plinker but good when I want to economize and shoot stuff in the head. Have also had to put down numerous sheep over the years with it. I hate doing it but sometimes there's no alternative.

Only one handgun so it wins that category by default: 9mm Glock 19 gen. 4.

Prettiest gun: Remington 870 .410. Lots of intricate engraving. Beautiful walnut stock & forearm. Gold colored trigger. Almost too pretty to shoot.

Most sentimental: My Dad's Marlin model 93 30-30. Haven't fired it since it fell into my hands recently but I plan to. Remember Dad telling about getting a twig stuck in the sight so it was shooting high when he was firing at a snowshoe. Took its ears off before he figured it out.

Honorable mention: Tie. Single shot Remington .22 & Winchester single shot .410. Growing up in SE MN, spent many hours hunting squirrels. Brother took the .22 and I used the .410. If those guns could talk... 

[Steve-o]

If those guns could talk...

They do, but not everyone knows how to listen.

[snow1]

as far as I'm concerned if you find or have shotgun and or rifle in your closet or gun case they are all worthy as your fav,as a kid I remember seeing and wanting a .22cal /410 over under.my folks were poor and I was to young to work so never happened.wish I  had that baby today,I remember the combo weapon was the ultimate squrriel gun back then....heck I was killing rabbits and squrriels using my bear recurve bow and flu flu arrows.

[deadeye]

Snow1,
You can live vicariously through me. Back in the 50's and 60's I used my dad's Stevens 22/410 over/under for gophers, crows rabbits and squirrels.  I even attempted to use it for deer but couldn't hit a Montgomery Wards catalogue at 30 yards so never used it for deer. It was one of two guns my dad had. Lucky for me it was still hanging in the closet when he passed away in 2013. I expressed my desire to own it and thankfully did not get any objections from my brother and sisters.  On occasion I take it out to handle and reminisce about the old days on the farm. It is the older "Stevens" model with the "Tenite" stock.  Tenite is one of the first plastics developed in the late 1920's. Thanks for bringing up the subject as it gave me a good reason to handle it a bit today. I must admit I did get a little misty eyed when it once again brought back great memories.  Like Dotch, I will have to put this in my most sentimental gun category. 

[dakids]

My dad bought my mom a Steven's 410,/22 wood stock the 1st year after they were married.  Used that gun to shoot squirrels rabbits and pheasants  as a kid.  Loved that gun

[LPS]

I love my Ithaca Model 37 Deerslayer.  Rifled barrel.  We had to relearn how to shoot a deer when we got these.  An actual accurate slug gun.  Now we had to aim at a spot on the deer.  Before we just lobbed 3 at them and then 2 more if they didn't drop with out bird guns. I bought a Remington 1100 when I was 16.  Didn't have a vented rib.  Loved it for years as a kid and couldn't hit anything with it.  Bummed me out.  Then I got a used Smith and Wesson pump with vented rib.  I became a marksman.  Huge difference in my hitting birds and clay pigeons.  Too bad I didn't have it years earlier.   I also love my pump Remington .22 with scope that is in on warranty.   

[MN RACK ATTACK]

Great forum topic Ken

Favorite overall gun is my Remington 700 DM in .270 stainless. Have shot a lot of deer with it. couple of years ago I switched from the factory synthetic stalk to a Boyd's gray thumbhole, very comfortable. Also my daughter shot her first deer with it.

Handgun is my Ruger 1911 stainless.

Shotgun would have to be my dads single shot H&R single shot 20 gauge. Shot many a grouse, squirrel and ducks with it. Not sure who ended up with it but I could get 2 shots off to my brother with the 12 gauge pump.

I also have a fond love for a Winchester 130 in 20 gauge that is my daughters, a Winchester SX2 and a Mossberg 17hmr bolt with a skeleton stock, very comfortable to shoot.

[snow1]

That's the baby D.E. curious if your stevens is damascus twist? if so what ammo can you use?

[Steve-o]

I remember them telling me in my 1970s era gun safety class about not shooting a gun with a Damascus barrel.

When my kids took gun safety in the 2000s they told them not to shoot a gun with a Damascus barrel.

I don't think I've ever laid eyes or hands on a gun with a Damascus barrel.  None of the classes I attended had an example to show.

(However, those classes did have several examples of what happens when you fire a gun with a plugged barrel.)