I am looking for a safe queen. This will not be a "useful" gun. I'm looking for something beautiful and interesting to shoot. I want something that I can take out of the safe and go "wow! this thing is gorgeous" and have let friends shoot and and joke how it wasn't so bad.

Gun #1 is a un-fired .300 Wby Mag. A exquisite thing of beauty and the most expensive of the bunch. I would love admiring the wood & engraving and just owning such a rifle would be an honor. I just don't think I could bring myself to ever shoot it which takes it down a notch on the fun scale.

Gun #2 Is another .300 Wby Mag. and is the least expensive with some very nice wood and checkering. Beautiful enough to take out of the safe just to admire and it's already been fired so I would not hesitate to shoot it on the range. And, it is just enough recoil to be out of the ordinary that it would be fun to shoot.

Gun #3 is priced between the other two and is chambered in .460 Wby Mag. I suppose due to the recoil the wood is more straight grained through the wrist but is nicely figured in the heel and really beautiful. It's been shot so I would definitely shoot it just to say I survived the recoil and would enjoy having friends give it a go. And, it's an elephant gun! How cool is that! Just pay no mind to the $130-150 price for a box of cartridges.



I've almost written off #1 because I don't think I could bring myself to shoot it but the choice between #2 and 3 is quite difficult. I suppose if I win the lottery I would get all three but for now I must choose one. #2 would be the most reasonable choice but the bullets for #3 look like the tip of your finger which is really cool.

This


or this?

 

.460 hands down. If for nothing else, the caliber. Gotta be nice looking.

 

Well...to me...pretty is as pretty does. I'd rather have a racy looking .22LR with laminate thumbhole stock, carbon fiber barrel, and will print 1/2" groups at 50 yds than something that costs $3 per shot and never gets used for anything.

 

Yea, probably my favorite gun is a .17 hmr with a laminated thumb hole stock, stainless bull barrel and at 100 yards I use empty 9mm cases as targets. And, if I'm not under cover it quiet enough to shoot without ear plugs.

 

If it's to truly be a safe queen, you won't need to worry about shooting it. For just that occasional shot and the frequent oooooing and ahhhing...does chambering really matter? If it's to be shot, being able to shoot it accurately is a biggie. Missing the target does nothing at all for the ooooh and ahhh factor. Kinda sounds like you're after the bragging rights factor a lot more than anything and missing the target takes away a LOT of the bragging. How much fun is it to have ppl look at it and then you say you don't shoot it 'cause it costs too much to shoot? How fun to bring it show off at the range and not be able to hit anything? Be embarrassing in my opinion. Hitting the target over and over is far more impressive than missing and "pretty" doesn't take away from the poor performance. Get what you can shoot and enjoy.

 

Now you're talkin'! While I have the big boomers, including a number of the aforementioned #1's, even one quite suitable for the elephant the OP is apparently after. :lol: The funnest I have are a number that fit Gunguy45's definition of "pretty". Although even some of those like the pricier ammo.

 

Here's mine; of course I don't take it out very often.......:

 

Probably got a few deer with that, huh? Like a whole herd? Lol

I always liked the M60....of course ours were on a mount....the furthest I had to carry one was from the armory to a bridge wing. Not 5 miles.....

 

That pic is the furthest I ever carried one (you may remember I was in "air"). It was on static display, Marine Corps birthday ball, 1998, Aviano, Italy.

 

I dragged my feet too long. My original choices sold but I did end up buying a Ruger No. 1 tropical in .458 win mag. The gun is still in transit but I will post some pictures when it arrives. I ordered a box of ammo which did arrive today. On the left is the .458 followed by a .223 and a .22l long rifle.

 

Whatever floats yer boat. Still seems like kind of a safe queen to me.
Not that a lot of my pistols aren't....I just can't bear to sell them for the prices they'd fetch.

Hey...maybe you can do like they do on U-Tube and charge people $5 a shot? lol

 

I pased up a couple .458 #1's. Just never felt the need for the cartridge having the other #1's here. Do like the Tropical profiles though. I'd load those up with black powder and make it a LOT of fun at the range.