• Friends, our 2nd Amendment rights are always under attack and the NRA has been a constant for decades in helping fight that fight.

    We have partnered with the NRA to offer you a discount on membership and Muzzleloading Forum gets a small percentage too of each membership, so you are supporting both the NRA and us.

    Use this link to sign up please; https://membership.nra.org/recruiters/join/XR045103

Thoughts when buying a gun

Muzzleloading Forum

Help Support Muzzleloading Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.
Many years ago I watched a fellow shoot five times with his shotgun, then look around and see if anyone was watching.

Lay his gun out flat and tossed it out of a 12 to 15 foot tree stand.

That always amazed me, my brother saw it also.

This guy was just lazy, and really didn't need to.

If your life depended on it would you use your gun as an oar?

You don't want to, but would you?
 
Exactly, you didn't want to but you did!
A man's gotta do what he has to do sometimes. My options were limited.
A: Float down river wrong way and hope for help at night in dark.
B: Use shotgun paddle the short distance back to take out location.
Chose Option B: Cleaned, dried and lubed the gun once I got home. Good as new no issues. Thats the benefit of buying quality.
 
A few back my Son had taken a load of gear across 20 so yards of canal with a beam 20+ mph wind, the perfect duck morning to use my 1500 dollar Brand New unmentionable. He came back to get me as we were hunting in one of South Floridas “paddle in only” areas. When he pushed off with his oar it stuck in the muddy bank and came out of his hand with just enough force to get us about half way before his homemade pirogue stopped. With that wind, pitch dark and all those thought of large gators under our small vessel I quickly removed my new prize from over my shoulder and said “Here break it in”. He was reluctant at first but really no choice. Tom Knapp and Phil Robertson would have been very proud because once legal shooting time arrived it still went Boom Boom Boom!!
 
You wouldn't use your cordless drill to drive nails. My thoughts, take care of your tools, they'll take of you. I've known a few guys over the years that have abused their guns. One guy in particular stands out, he was from a well to do family and didn't have to work for anything, had no clue of the value of things. Watched him toss a Browning Auto 5 up a creek bank instead of letting one of us hand it up to him after he climbed up. Dirt in the barrel, then shot at a squirrel and ballooned the barrel about 3 inches down from the muzzle. Coulda been a lot worse. He tried to say it was my buddy's reloads that caused it. Quit hunting with him after that.
good decision!
 
Once out duck hunting the shoreline in a belly boat( think inner tube with a seat), after shooting i had floated far enough out my feet didn't touch bottom. Looked to my buddy??? No rope to throw. Looked at the burl walnut stock on my Beretta and just paddled. When my feet were firmly back on ground wiped the stock best as i could and cleaned it well at home.
Never planned to use as a paddle.
 
When I buy a firearm, I just know it's the right one for me. I spotted a used Charles Daly rifle at my local gun shop that had been sitting for a long time. The price was low, and the gun was in excellent condition, so I took a chance and bought it. The owner said no one wanted it because it was a Charles Daly rifle, and the company had a bad rep for rifles. That was 30 odd years ago and I still have it. Best shooting gun I ever owned. I don't have many guns but the ones I do own get taken out of the safe once a month and get cleaned. If I need it, it better shoot.
 
Looking back this may be why I like a water proof sealer and finish on my guns.
I use Spar Varnish with an equal amount of Tried & True, thinned a bit.
You can always take the metal parts and clean, dry and oil them.
But the stock needs a good sealing.

Row Row Row Your Boat!
 
ok ok ok I admit it. My duck hunting outboard stalled out and wouldn't start I only had one paddle n the jon boat and somehow my idiot buddy dropped it in the water in the river and it floated away with us having no way to retrieve it. I paddled back to the ramp using my modern shotgun ( I dummy corded it in case it was dropped). Didn't like using almost thousand dollar gun as a paddle but we had to get home.
A shoe works well and has more flat power surface than a gun stock. I met a man in Mexico who had kayaked from Washington State, down the entire west coast and back up the Sea of Cortez to San Carlos, Sonora ... all documented in several ways. Paddles do work fine in Salt water and were originally designed to do so. {Eskimos and others?] Dale
 
When I buy a firearm, I just know it's the right one for me. I spotted a used Charles Daly rifle at my local gun shop that had been sitting for a long time. The price was low, and the gun was in excellent condition, so I took a chance and bought it. The owner said no one wanted it because it was a Charles Daly rifle, and the company had a bad rep for rifles. That was 30 odd years ago and I still have it. Best shooting gun I ever owned. I don't have many guns but the ones I do own get taken out of the safe once a month and get cleaned. If I need it, it better shoot.
Yeah, I recently bought a Charles Daly at a pawn shop. I paid $180 and it is a near perfect; cal .45 ML. Pretty gun, well finished. Added. Looks to be unfired but if not, then well maintained for years.
 
Last edited:
A friend once told me why he shot a Bear Grizzly bow. [in late 1960s]

"It was not expensive and if he needed an oar [paddle] or push pole for his canoe, he could use it."

I have always looked at guns as a tool, and when buying a new one, I ask myself, would I, could I use it as an oar?

Doesn't really apply to handguns.

Thoughts?
Nah.
 
When I buy a firearm, I just know it's the right one for me. I spotted a used Charles Daly rifle at my local gun shop that had been sitting for a long time. The price was low, and the gun was in excellent condition, so I took a chance and bought it. The owner said no one wanted it because it was a Charles Daly rifle, and the company had a bad rep for rifles. That was 30 odd years ago and I still have it. Best shooting gun I ever owned. I don't have many guns but the ones I do own get taken out of the safe once a month and get cleaned. If I need it, it better shoot.
Arent those Charles Daly rifles made by Investarms?
 
Many years ago I watched a fellow shoot five times with his shotgun, then look around and see if anyone was watching.

Lay his gun out flat and tossed it out of a 12 to 15 foot tree stand.

That always amazed me, my brother saw it also.

This guy was just lazy, and really didn't need to.

If your life depended on it would you use your gun as an oar?

You don't want to, but would you?

You can't hand paddle.. you don't get far. It's probably a little to cold to kick it back too.. or I'd jump in.

You should have oars. Two.

To be honest I wouldn't get in the boat.. without everything. Life jacket whistle. Good flashlight.. 2 oars..

I don't trust the motor. No.
 
Back
Top