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Swamphog wrote:Clean, and lightly oiled is my mark. Though I do get a bit carried away with rubbing wood oil into stocks!

Same here...sometimes if one's got wet, or is going away for a while, I virtually leave it 'marinating' in the cabinet.

Ovenpaa - Sorry, but I'm another 'it depends' - I'm happy to accept some 'character' on a second-hand rifle (often depends on what's available, and what I can afford), but I hate to add any new dents...can actually hurt!

Dougan wrote:

Swamphog wrote:Clean, and lightly oiled is my mark. Though I do get a bit carried away with rubbing wood oil into stocks!

Same here...sometimes if one's got wet, or is going away for a while, I virtually leave it 'marinating' in the cabinet.

Ovenpaa - Sorry, but I'm another 'it depends' - I'm happy to accept some 'character' on a second-hand rifle (often depends on what's available, and what I can afford), but I hate to add any new dents...can actually hurt!

Dont fancy a nice squirrel fur cheek piece then John?

*noted for next time I see Maggot at Bisley* razz

Talking of cheek-pieces; and relevant to Ovenpaa's post - I've been at the Spring Action Weekend shooting GR all weekend, and I was looking at what others had done to their rifle stocks...

...for the last few years, as my GR rifles are basically 'competition tools', I just taped some insulation tubing to the stocks for cheek-pieces - Now this works well (some national squad shooters have done the same), but having seen some of the nice work other folk have done making proper matching wooden cheek-pieces I fancy trying it myself; even to my Marlin (which was bought new and has little character), so I think it's impossible for me to just see a rifle as just a competition tool.

Guy in our Clay team has just paid £9,000 for a mint secondhand Perazzi S/S.

He's just fitted a raised cheek piece held on with black insulating tape.

AAaaaarrrgh!!

25Pdr wrote:Guy in our Clay team has just paid £9,000 for a mint secondhand Perazzi S/S.

He's just fitted a raised cheek piece held on with black insulating tape.

AAaaaarrrgh!!

See....shoulda used unicorn sinew

It was my Accuracy International that prompted the original post, I have owned it from new for a good few years and tens of thousands of rounds now and I took a closer look at it recently. Over the years it has gone in out of drag bags countless times and the plastic stock sides are showing signs of wear and scuffing, the 'scope drums are polished/scuffed from being slid in and out of the bag, the rifle now sports a different cheek piece and the butt has a couple of spacers I machined for it a while ago and it has different stock screws plus the magazine well shows signs of having a magazine slid in numerous times so the rifle generally looks used now.

I had a quick think about it and decided to leave it as it is and realistically will new stock sides and drums make any difference to the way it shoots, somehow I doubt it.

At the other end of the scale we also own some rifles that look like they came out of the shop yesterday, my SSG69 is rather pretty and all original and the Viking is a perfect example in that she flatly refuses to take her 22C out in the rain.

Dave - From what you've said about your AI in the past; that it's an all-weather, reliable solid piece, then in your position I wouldn't worry about marks and dings to the exterior...as long as it shot well, that's all that would matter.

I think I see my Anschutz like Christel sees her 22C - It wasn't getting much use until I started using it for Long Range Rimfire and Mini-McQueen...sometimes this means I can't avoid using it in the rain, and considered getting another rifle, but I love shooting it (and I'm getting some good results), so decided to just do my best to keep it well looked after (after rain I take it apart to dry and oil it inside and out), and enjoy using it...no point just leaving it in the back of the cabinet...