Ode to a 30-30, Part 1, The Dream
05/16/02-12:48 PM Posted by: shaman from Shooters.com
Part 1
The Dream
By Shaman
We all handle stress differently, and everyone has their favorite methods of stress reduction. Since giving up climbing without a rope a few years ago, I’ve found shooting a box or two of ammo at the range to be one of my favorites. Even better is buying a new rifle. I’d been working up to this one for several months—the problem was I couldn’t make up my mind. I called my RA ( Rifles Anonymous) sponsor about a month ago and it went something like this:
“Bob, help me.”
“What’s up, Bill?”
“It happening again. . . only worse. I woke up in a cold sweat this morning. I was in the gun shop again, only I couldn’t make up my mind.”
“What was it this time?”
“It was .257 Roberts or 7MM –08. . . Yes, that’s it: a bolt gun in .243, or maybe a lever in 35 Remington or maybe a Savage 99 in .308. . .”
“Bill, you’ve in that forum again, haven’t you?”
” (long silence) . . .yes.”
“Okay. Settle down. Let’s go through our affirmations.”
“All right. I am an addict. I buy rifles, not because I need them, but because I want them. I am powerless to stop my obcession, but with help from a higher power. . .” The litany continued for a few minutes.
“Feel better?”
“No.”
“Okay, let’s try this. What do you have in the safe right now?”
“Five 30-06’s , Two 223’s. Fourteen-”
“Okay, stop right there. Ask yourself this: for all those rifles you’re thinking of right now, what do they do that the 30-06 doesn’t.”
“Err. . . um. . . less recoil?”
“But I thought you said that last batch of ammo you made up had almost no recoil.”
“yes. (pause)Um, Less drop?”
“All right then. You see, you really don’t need another rifle. I dare you to give me anything you’re going to shoot at within a five-hundred mile range of Cincinnati, Ohio that you can’t do in with either a 30-06 or a .223. ”
“Moose?”
“When are you going after a swamp cow?”
“Um. . .I dunno. I registered for the Kentucky Elk Lottery-”
“. . .And then you can put some 200 grainers in the ’06 and do just fine.”
“I know, but the dreams seem so real.”
“Look, RA doesn’t ask for much. It doesn’t even require you to believe in a higher power beyond Charlton Heston. It does ask, however, that you refrain from filling gun safes with rifles that you can’t remember purchasing and for which you have no ammunition.
“Thanks Bob. ”
There was a long silence.
“35 Remington? You say?”
“Yeah, I was just reading the other day. . .”
“Great cartridge, but it’s getting harder to find ammo and brass these days.”
“Or a 44 Mag lever.”
“I can see that. You take a Super Blackhawk with you, and you can match ammunition. So what kind of prices are you seeing?”
“I bid on a Marlin on Gunbroker’ last night, but fell asleep just before the auction was over.”
“Hmmm. I don’t have my system up. What kind of. . . Hey wait a minute!
You’ve got me thinking about another lever!
“Would repeating your affirmations help? Bob. Bob?
“Sorry, I was just seeing if I had room in this one cabinet. You know. If I pull out this one piece of wood, I think I can jam one or two in and still get the door closed.”
“Bob! Bob! Come back! ”
(next issue – the trip to Target World)
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