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Range report: sometimes you let them go

Posted: Wed Jun 17, 2026 5:58 am
by DsGrouse
My nephew's father was in want of a 308 bolt. I had a Gen 1 Ruger American that shot very well with subs. 5 shots at 70 yds that i couldnt stick a sharpie through.

I told him to come shoot this before he dropped big money on another boltgun.

He liked it a lot. He wasn't a fan of the factory stock. A life in the military (my age, still in), he prefers an upright pistol grip. He's shot my 6.5g and 6mm arc in the MDT chassis. He picked up a chassis and dropped it in.

He was out yesterday ringing steel back and forth for a few hours.

He let me shoot a group with the ammo I loaded up for my REM 700 M24 clone. The rifle was still toasty warm. We'd put 20 rounds through it earlier in the day and had just finished up another 50.

10 rounds, 100yds, I pulled my 5th shot low left. A breath or two between shots. I'm happy to see that both the Ruger and the M24 clone like this load.
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Sigh, I'll have to imagine what I could have done with it in the long term. I'd only ever shot it with 175-grain subs for deer hunting. I hadn't touched it in two years. Sometimes you let a good one go to the right person for the right reasons.

Re: Range report: sometimes you let them go

Posted: Wed Jun 17, 2026 8:34 am
by BrokenolMarine
You do. Years later you look back and say, "I wish I still had that so and so.". Been there, done that, several times. Don't regret letting the special folks get those few guns, but look back on those good guns and really miss them. :lol:

Re: Range report: sometimes you let them go

Posted: Wed Jun 17, 2026 8:42 am
by rickhem
I think that after a while, when we have all (or most) of the things we "always wanted", there comes the time when some of them can be passed on. At that point, you really want them to go to someone that appreciates them in the same way that you did.
I think you found that for this rifle.

Re: Range report: sometimes you let them go

Posted: Wed Jun 17, 2026 8:47 am
by Sir Henry
I dont regret having friends get them but selling to strangers is hard.

Re: Range report: sometimes you let them go

Posted: Wed Jun 17, 2026 8:52 am
by DsGrouse
rickhem wrote:
Wed Jun 17, 2026 8:42 am
I think that after a while, when we have all (or most) of the things we "always wanted", there comes the time when some of them can be passed on. At that point, you really want them to go to someone that appreciates them in the same way that you did.
I think you found that for this rifle.
Exactly. Letting this go was the crack in the damn. I've a lot of stuff I simply do not shoot. I'm in the process of letting things go. I much prefer to shoot suppressed, so most of what is headed out the door in the next few months are things I can't shoot suppressed.

I've contacted a couple of the national auction companies, and we'll see what the terms are.
I dont regret having friends get them but selling to strangers is hard.
Yeah, as I get older, it's tougher to look at it as purely a business transaction. It's why I'll probably end up consigning quite a bit of what I'm thinking of divesting to a national auction co.

Re: Range report: sometimes you let them go

Posted: Thu Jun 18, 2026 7:38 pm
by Sir Henry
DsGrouse wrote:
Wed Jun 17, 2026 8:52 am
rickhem wrote:
Wed Jun 17, 2026 8:42 am
I think that after a while, when we have all (or most) of the things we "always wanted", there comes the time when some of them can be passed on. At that point, you really want them to go to someone that appreciates them in the same way that you did.
I think you found that for this rifle.
Exactly. Letting this go was the crack in the damn. I've a lot of stuff I simply do not shoot. I'm in the process of letting things go. I much prefer to shoot suppressed, so most of what is headed out the door in the next few months are things I can't shoot suppressed.

I've contacted a couple of the national auction companies, and we'll see what the terms are.
I dont regret having friends get them but selling to strangers is hard.
Yeah, as I get older, it's tougher to look at it as purely a business transaction. It's why I'll probably end up consigning quite a bit of what I'm thinking of divesting to a national auction co.
I’ve been on the other side too and been the buyer.

Re: Range report: sometimes you let them go

Posted: Fri Jun 19, 2026 9:36 am
by JVogler
Knowing where your firearms are going...to someone you know who wants them takes the "sting" out of having to sell or trade them out on the open market.

Re: Range report: sometimes you let them go

Posted: Sat Jun 20, 2026 6:26 am
by DsGrouse
Yep, that it does. I'm currently talking to auction houses. Amoskeag, Morphy's, Rock Island etm... I was hoping that I could get away from using GB, but it seems that is the route I will have to go to clear some space in the safes.

I most shoot almost exclusively suppressed, and I've come to the decision that to let some of. The impossible, hard to, or expensive to suppress guns go.

I've not used GB in a decade. It's changed ownership, and there is a lot to it that I'll have to relearn and learn anew. With the new laws in VA, many of the guns have to be sold out of state. Which means either LGS, who puts them on GB, or the auction house, who puts them on national auction.

I'll see what the commission rates are versus GB's new listing à la carte gouge you through the moon costs are.