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Soulless modern gun or classic


sishyplops
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What do you prefer to shoot a modern machine or a timeless classic or just whatever gets you the best score, after buying a brand new maxus which has to be said is faultless in its performance but I find it to clinical too dull too lifeless it lacks all that I enjoy about shooting which is the passion brought about in taking a 40 yr old sidelock to a game shoot or an old 101 to a clay shoot up against modern CNC made guns that are pumped out of a production line, this even extends to clothing for me as well. Whilst I appreciate some modern jackets are sublime in their manufacture doing everything better I prefer moleskin breeks and a chrysalis tweed. Am I just getting old?

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Oh cheers :)

Only joking, I feel the same way actually. There is a lot to be said for todays modern manufacturing techniques and the modern materials used, but they lack character in my opinion.. I have a synthetic .22 CZ which is totally practical and is now taking on a bit of character owing to a few scuffs and 'shiny' bits where it has been repeatedly handled, but it is nothing compared to the patina of a well used but cared for wooden stocked model.

I have always had a keen interest in militaria and have owned a wide variety of old guns over the years, and most of my shotguns currently owned are discontinued Winchester models.

A mate loves the modern stuff, and his shotguns are always the latest model but I have noticed a leaning lately of him buying models he used to own 20 or 30 years ago. He is currently looking for a Beretta pump he used to own many years ago.I didn't even know Beretta made one.

I have stopped buying Goretex trousers as once the membrane is punctured with pushing my way through briers etc on our rough shoot, they're knackered, and have gone back to moleskins and waxed over trousers....Barbour of course! I still have a 16 year old Barbour jacket which I simply wont part with even though some of the creases are starting to tear. It gets waxed at end of each season, as much for the smell as the waterproofing. Wouldn't part with my snood though. :)

I drive a 1973 registered Landrover.

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I love my 'classics'. I have a really pretty Jeffery 16b boxlock which gives me a lot of pleasure. All my driven shooting is with a Webley 700 which some would not regard as classic at all, but I much prefer to a modern OU.

 

I have no problem picking up a modern browning gold semi when I want to shoot large charges or steel, each gun has its place. Sometimes the view of older guns is somewhat rosy and we forget just how far advanced modern technology has brought us. For example I am sure it was Benelli who did a test of the common barrel bursting error of putting a 12b shell behind a 20b shell stuck in the forcing cone. In the benelli the 20b shell was simply blown out without bulging the barrel. Now thats strong!

 

I am also really enjoying the older, cheaper guns which aren't quite classics yet, of which the Beretta pump mentioned above would be a good example.

Edited by theshootist
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sishyplops-I hate to break your 101 bubble but I'm fairly sure the gun was made in Japan-most likely on early CNC machinery.

 

Its still a great gun though. I have a friend who shoots with a 1970s Miroku boxlock SBS. It refuses to wear out. He took it for a service some time ago and was told it was very well put together inside.

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sishyplops-I hate to break your 101 bubble but I'm fairly sure the gun was made in Japan-most likely on early CNC machinery.

 

 

Yeah Bruno I know you are probably right :good:

 

its a bit like an old Cortina or Escort they wern't lovingly made but there is more to them than the sum of their parts, i have had as company cars some real nice cars Audi, BMW Merc etc but they are all the same after a few miles, brilliant in what they do but just dull. mind mind you the repair bills they give you are mind numbing, eg the Audi service manager said with a complete straight face "i'm afraid as its out of warranty albeit by only 6000 miles and also by only 4 months i'm afraid the job is chargable to you" (to my company he meant as it was not a lease car) and the price for my multitronic gearbox £7500!!!!! the way he said it was as if it needed a new hub cap.

 

sorry gone off subject

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I know where you're coming from, my Miroku is 40 years old and my Beretta is 31 years old, not old by any means but they've seen some use and possibly abuse and still they perform faultlessly.....they have character!

They just seem to look and feel that much nicer as they appear from the gunslip and when your shooting is absolute pants (in my case most of the time) you can blame it on the "old gun".

 

Eric.

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classic guns have a personality. Even the guns described a " a modern classic " fall pitifully short.

 

My shooting buddys grandad has a work horse of a .22rf. Its probably been used to knock fence posts in, and prop up dry stone walls, the scope is crude, but a rabbits wouldn't tell you anything different between that and a new manufactured gun.

Edited by demonwolf444
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heart says sxs,head,and scores on clays says o/u. have a mixed cabinet and gun to suit me mood and type of shooting.

I'm the same got an OU a semi and a SxS, I use the OU most of the time but now and again I use one of the others. Thinking about a pump just because I can ,and a Benelli auto.

Does it matter if you shoot a £5k gun or a £100 one as long as you enjoy it.

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What a great topic! I'm tempted to say whichever you shoot better with, however hunting and the whole general shooting scene is much more than that. During my youth I tended to favor the newer guns which tended to be the latest thing. However during those days I was not able to always afford the latest and "best" gun and had to make do with something older. Now how times have changed! I find myself wanting to go back to the timeless and classic guns, the same as with my gear. I'm currently in something of a transition phase utilizing the best of old and new. I must say some of the technological advances are great but at the end of the day it's an imperfect world out there, not shiny, new or clinical and I like it that way. At the end of the day it's what makes you happy and not what others think.

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Thats how i feel about my Maxus its a superb gun but its just a machine no passion to it, i don't think i would ever sell it especially with steel shot looming although i don't think it would ever be a full transition, mind you they said that about the move to unleaded, i want a Pump, i could buy a hatstand or a new winchester but i really want an old 870 Wingmaster. have found an unused remi 1100 for £650 if i didn't have the maxus it would be in my cabinet now, so if anyone wants a new 1100 (old version not the new) let me know, having said that i might just buy it anyway :lol:

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