My kind of rifle

[mikel_holt]

I've always loved super accurate varmint rifles. A buddy called me a little while ago and told me he had an opportunity to buy a rifle. I don't know why he was telling me unless he can't afford it and hoped I would be interseted. He really didn't say. He's trying to raise the money so I may get a shot at it if he can't.

On to the good stuff. The rifle is an early eighties Remington BDL in .22-250 with the high gloss finish and heavy barrel. It's complete with some kind of older high powered scope. The rifle was custom tuned by a local late gunsmith some time ago. It's reported to be a tack driver. If this buddy of mine buys it I'll get to shoot it but maybe I'll get a chance to own it. The price is $450 FTF and I want it right now. I'm gonna go crazy now until I know what he's gonna do. I probably won't be able to sleep tonight.

 

[skeeter1]

Don't go after the rifle until after your buddy decides he doesn't want it/can't afford it.

When I was a frat boy in college, there was a saying among the frat house that you didn't go after a bro's girl unless he said OK. The practice of stealing someone (or something) out from under a buddy was refered to as "Buddy-f***ing." Don't do it unless you really think that gun is worth more than a friendship. There are plenty of good guns out there, but not good buds.

 

[Puppy]

I'd be more concerned about the barrel being worn out, than how my buddy would react.

When you consider the velocity of the cartridge (3800-4000 fps range) coupled with the rifles age (at least 20 years old) I imagine there is some throat erosion & subsequent loss of accuracy because of it, which might be the reason why the guy is selling it.

 

[oldbillthundercheif]

Deffinately check out the bore... and the high-gloss finish would have to go. Spray it flat-black with rustoleum if you have to, but that plastic-looking 80's varnish is the worst.

Listen to the frat guy and let your buddy have the first crack at it.

 

[mikel_holt]

The guy selling it is in a financial bind. There's no way I'd buy the rifle out from under my buddy. He's definately got first shot at it, I just made sure he knew I wanted it if he didn't. Yeah, the barrel is always an issue though not as much as with an older Swift but it still has to be considered. I'm just anxious to get to look at it. I do more bench rest shooting than anything and I really prefer the nice finished guns. I don't abuse them so they're pretty easy to keep looking good. The last thing I had similar to it was a custom .220 Swift varmint rifle that would shoot true one hole 5 shot groups at 100 yds. all day. Have you ever been bored and laughing at the same time. That's what it would do to you.

 

[joshua]

If he's a good buddy then let him have the first crack at it first. Now if he's a real good buddy then you can loan him the balance so he can have the rifle and you can deal with how many weeks/months it will take to pay it all back w/o interest. Now if he's like a brother to you then you can just give him the money if you can afford it. Most of the time rifles that are chambered in overbore calibers that are at least 10 years old will have some wear to the bore, some will be needing new barrels. Bolt actions are easy to check, just get yourself one of those maglite-fiber optic bore checker, take the bolt out and shine that light from the muzzle to the chamber. If there is excessive wear the rifling's leade will not be sharp, it may even show up as black, rough gouge marks. Now if the rifling looks good and the bore is shiny, next question is was it cleaned properly by using a bore guide and coated rods? Those damages are very hard to see and requires a bore scope. So buying an old rifle takes a bit of gambling unless you have all the tools to check for damages/wear. josh