Thread: My first firearm purchase...disaster

Originally Posted by Portsecurity

Animal,
Hope you got your money back before the big lockdown. I also enjoy the under the radar calibers. I have an old Swedish Mauser in 6.5x55, very easy to shoot and a good deer rifle, although my favorite hunting rifle is what my grandfather carried: a Savage 99 in .300 Savage. Anyway, I hope you are well and will soon join the ranks of gun owners and hunters.
Craig

Hi Craig, I'm doing well, hope you are also during this crazy time.

Unfortunately, I'm still a month out before I can get my money back as it's a 3-month wait period to put a stop payment on a cashiers check

The .270 I intended to buy has also been sold at this point. I was very much looking forward to using that caliber but fortunately I managed to find another Mannlicher-style rifle that I absolutely love. It's a Merkel KR-1 Premium Stutzen in .243 Winchester. I'll obviously need something bigger if I aspire to big game but for now, it's a great first rifle and pretty rare.

I just submitted DROS today. I'll post pictures here once I get it home and get the scope mounted!

Slightly off topic,

My first (and only) gun purchase, I bought a Sig P320. Came with four 21 round magazines and I fully intended to take classes, go to the range every week, etc. It sits in my closet because: the range gets expensive fast and I don't currently have time for the classes I thought I would take. I have had it at the range a handful of times and it does handle and shoot well.

Don’t count out the 243 got a buddy hasn’t hunted with any thing else as long as I’ve known him, has dropped some pretty big deer, it’s all where you hit em

Yup. Lots of deer taken with .243 and .270. Highly accurate.
Also nice to have ammo easily available.

Originally Posted by slim6596

Slightly off topic,

My first (and only) gun purchase, I bought a Sig P320. Came with four 21 round magazines and I fully intended to take classes, go to the range every week, etc. It sits in my closet because: the range gets expensive fast and I don't currently have time for the classes I thought I would take. I have had it at the range a handful of times and it does handle and shoot well.

Some advice from painful experience : get a gunsafe. I lost an LC Smith shotgun, Savage 99 takedown rifle, and two S&W .45 revolvers stored in my bedroom closet. They disappeared after a "handyman" was given access, but we could never prove he took them.

Originally Posted by tcrideshd

Don’t count out the 243 got a buddy hasn’t hunted with any thing else as long as I’ve known him, has dropped some pretty big deer, it’s all where you hit em

I have actually read at least a handful of accounts of people taking bigger game with a 243. As you said, "it's all where you hit em", just have to make sure I'm a damn good shot!

Guess what came in the mail today? My lost cashiers check!!!! Only took nearly 3 months to get found and returned to me A couple of more weeks and I can get my money back into my account. Definitely a relief to know it's no longer lost in the abyss somewhere.

Gun safe is always a great idea, and not just for your guns. We keep jewelry, bonds, important documents and gold and cash, not to mention it’s where I keep my razors that aren’t being used. The dehumidifiers create a “safe” place for them.

Originally Posted by Portsecurity

Animal,
Hope you got your money back before the big lockdown. I also enjoy the under the radar calibers. I have an old Swedish Mauser in 6.5x55, very easy to shoot and a good deer rifle, although my favorite hunting rifle is what my grandfather carried: a Savage 99 in .300 Savage. Anyway, I hope you are well and will soon join the ranks of gun owners and hunters.
Craig

Just picked up on this thread. I'm glad you got that check back. That's a real headache. I know a lot of people buy guns online but it would make me too nervous. It's a little bit too out of sight out of mind for my liking. I too like some of the more unusual calibers but one thing I don't like is the sketchy availability. I have a model 92 Winchester bored in 25-20. The things are $1.75 each IF you can find them which you usually can't. I also have a Savage Model 111 in .270. Every place that sells ammunition has a shelf chock full of those in various grains and brands. It's nice to be able to just say give me a box of these or those.

Edit: No offense Craig but I didn't intend to post that as a quote. Not sure what I did there.

Originally Posted by animalwithin

I have actually read at least a handful of accounts of people taking bigger game with a 243. As you said, "it's all where you hit em", just have to make sure I'm a damn good shot!

Yup, shot placement beats calibre/case size all day long. Elephants have been taken when they were commercially hunted with the lowly 6.5x54 M-S cartridge in a 20 inch carbine rifle.

https://www.chuckhawks.com/6-5x54_MS.htm

Bob

Originally Posted by tcrideshd

Gun safe is always a great idea, and not just for your guns. We keep jewelry, bonds, important documents and gold and cash, not to mention it’s where I keep my razors that aren’t being used. The dehumidifiers create a “safe” place for them.

A seemingly stupid question but is it worth it to get a safe even if I don't necessarily plan on affixing it to the wall/floor?

Originally Posted by PaulFLUS

Just picked up on this thread. I'm glad you got that check back. That's a real headache. I know a lot of people buy guns online but it would make me too nervous. It's a little bit too out of sight out of mind for my liking. I too like some of the more unusual calibers but one thing I don't like is the sketchy availability. I have a model 92 Winchester bored in 25-20. The things are $1.75 each IF you can find them which you usually can't. I also have a Savage Model 111 in .270. Every place that sells ammunition has a shelf chock full of those in various grains and brands. It's nice to be able to just say give me a box of these or those.

Edit: No offense Craig but I didn't intend to post that as a quote. Not sure what I did there.

I think my next acquisition will be a 270 after missing out on the last one. A caliber that I have loved shooting, but while there are quite a few options out there in terms of ammo, lead-free is much more expensive and rare.