[spitfire_er]

I think I have an problem! I have had an addiction you may say for which has been bad for about the past 8 years. It all started small, with a small caliber rifle, my Ruger 10/22. I got this when I was 11 years old! Shot it for about three years then decided I wanted something more out of it. I saved up some money bought a new Butler Creek heavy barrel and stock. I then proceeded to put on a 4X32 scope. I was getting closer to what would be my now addiction later down the road.

I then took a hiatus for a few years and did not do anything with the old 10/22 it just sat and collected dust. Then in college I met one of my best friends. He and I had this big problem of, "If you get one, I need one too!". We both purchased a handgun. He got an XD-40, and I got a Para P14-45. We shot the heck out of those two pistols, then we moved back over to what leads me up to my problem today. We both decided we were going to go on a Montana antelope hunt, so..... we both needed a high power rifle. I of course wanting to outdo my brother with his 7mm Mag, I ended up getting a Benelli R1 in .300 Win Mag, and my buddy got a Tikka T3 in .270 Win. We both spent the summer shooting and had a blast. I ended up going hunting, but he had something come up, me and the other guys still had fun.

Then I started working at Cabelas in college. Started learning about more and more, and buying more and more rifles. Buying, selling and trading various firearms, I could not find a rifle that would satisfy me. I sold off the Benelli for a Tikka and sold the Tikka for a custom Ruger .243 Win that came into the store. I got all the stats off it from the owner and knew I needed it. I ended up getting a $1,400 rifle for $400! It's a tack driver too! It is still my go to deer rifle. Since this rifle, I have sold all my other factory rifles (besides a few older collector pieces) to go the way of custom. I have since built my custom collection up to 4 with the 5th being built right now.

So what is my addiction you may ask.... well maybe I have two addictions, accuracy and custom rifles! I always strive for the best accuracy and am always thinking about what I want to build next! I find myself thinking about this stuff a vast majority of the day.

Am I alone here or do you guys think about this stuff as much as me?

The really sad thing is if I find a rifle I want, I always find a way to acquire it! I'm thinking though that my days of buying what I want when I want are coming to a close being that I will be getting married this summer. Hopefully I'll still be able to fuel my needs in the future, but maybe I have a problem.... maybe I don't.

Ether way I live a fairly good life, have a good family, good friends, good fiancee, and am happy I live in the USA, and sorry, but glad I don't live in California!

 

[spitfire_er]

I guess, I get what I want within reason..... No $8,000 Barretts in my near future!

 

[paulb]

Take it from an old fart.
It doesn't go away.
Just gets more intense.
I am still watering the gun tree after 55+ years of buying .
Gotta go. Need a fix! There's this new AR I am looking at....................

 

[broom_jm]

You sound perfectly normal and healthy to me...but my opinion may be slightly skewed.

 

[Helix]

Here is a perscription from old Doc Brown... the pills are a little hard to swollow but they make a big impact on your condition. Take 200 of these and call me in the morning.

 

[mattsbox99]

Are you sure you want a cure?

My "collection" if you call it that, has been breeding like Gremlins.

 

[smokinfz1]

I have a lesser form of the malady. It seems you have the ability to get rid of one to obtain another, I lack that ability. I constantly want the next one, I scan through rifles on auction sites EVERYDAY, even during periods of being unemployed. I have a true problem. Once one becomes mine, the next step is the endless search for that pet load, normally during this time I also locate the next one I want. This disorder has caused extreme anxiety in my poor wife.

 

[unclenick]

Spitfire_er,

This sounds serious. Cold turkey is the only cure. Clearly, you need to send me all those guns for your own wellfare.

 

[spitfire_er]

I have a lesser form of the malady. It seems you have the ability to get rid of one to obtain another, I lack that ability. I constantly want the next one, I scan through rifles on auction sites EVERYDAY, even during periods of being unemployed. I have a true problem. Once one becomes mine, the next step is the endless search for that pet load, normally during this time I also locate the next one I want. This disorder has caused extreme anxiety in my poor wife.

This sounds familiar for some reason!

Here is a perscription from old Doc Brown... the pills are a little hard to swollow but they make a big impact on your condition. Take 200 of these and call me in the morning.

That made me laugh!

Are you sure you want a cure?

I don't think there is a cure!

Spitfire_er,

This sounds serious. Cold turkey is the only cure. Clearly, you need to send me all those guns for your own wellfare.

I don't know about that, I would have some pretty bad withdraws!

 

[slim 60]

spitfire..that addiction will kill you.. just box all you drugs up an send them to me..you gotta go cold turkey.. good luck with your addiction..
i ll be looking for them rif--- i mean them bad ole drugs by the brown truck mabe..its for your good im willing to do this nowslim

 

[casstrh]

You're hooked. There is nothing at this point that be done to save you. Marriage will slow the habit down a lot, but where there is a will, there is a way. Some advice from an old pfart that has suffered with your problem for over fifty years, don't trade off anything - ever. I can't think od a single firearm that I sold/traded off that I wouldn't LOVE to have back.

 

[Cavitation]

You had better stay away from the AR 15 with all of its flexibility and options out there you are a prime candidate for BRD. Since the 80s I have kicked all my addictions but one. BRD it is a nasty one that has no known cure.

AL

 

[squarles67]

Hi, my name is Stephen.....and I'm a gun-oholic........

 

[VA Bigbore]

I too fear that I have the same affliction. My wife would agree. My addiction has progressed in stages. First it was lever guns. Then I progressed to bolt actions (oh so many to choose from). I then progressed into the rimfire stage of my addiction, (the wife is still recovering from that one and my relapses often find me in trouble). I was then diagnosed with Encore-itis. This is a particularly overpowering disease. It stems mainly from the fact that your flavor options are almost endless! You have darn near every option from factory to wildcat available to you, and you can have it delivered right to your door, legally!! My latest "trip off the wagon", so to speak; has been the dreaded BRD. OH, how my wife has suffered. I thought I was recovering from my addictions, however a new dealer offered a new more potent pill in the form of the .50 Beowulf. Something about a semi-auto .50 caliber just sucked me right in. The flavors and colors are almost endless once you catch BRD (Black Rifle Disease). I have since sampled the AR forms in .223 and just recently .25 WSSM. Oh, woe is me. Not only is the hard drug made from steel and polymer, it is also all the copper, lead, and brass that is associated with this disease. I openly admit that I am a... gun-aholic ... and I make no excuses for my actions. At times I think I want to be cured ... But then some other new dealer on the corner comes out with a new flavor that sucks me back in. I won't even go into my 10/22 addiction that pops back up every few years.

Thank you. I am not looking for the cure, just a place where I can discuss my addiction with like minded addicts and hopefully help my wife to deal with my affliction.

 

[spitfire_er]

haha.... I had a BR once and wish I had another!

 

[RaySendero]

haha.... I had a BR once and wish I had another!

Sometimes rifles will even follow you home:
http://www.shootersforum.com/showthread.htm?p=480169#post480169

 

[spitfire_er]

Sometimes rifles will even follow you home:
http://www.shootersforum.com/showthread.htm?p=480169#post480169

That's a beautiful rife, and I remember looking at that thread but don't remember hearing exactly how it followed you home!

 

[mattsbox99]

I was bit by the bug this afternoon too... I had a sporting clays buddy shoot this morning and on the way home I stopped at Cabelas for no specific reason and saw a Remington Sportsman 12 in excellent condition on the rack for $299, then I remembered I had a $40 off coupon at home, so I got a sweet NTM shotgun for $260.

 

[RaySendero]

That's a beautiful rife, and I remember looking at that thread but don't remember hearing exactly how it followed you home!

Well bout all I could remember when wife asked was finding that stowaway in my truck.
That's my story and I'm sticking to it!

PS: I didn't have ANY part in that trail of Hoppes #9 and gun oil leading to my truck.