How much can you change a rifle before it isnt the same rifle(sentimentally speaking)

[Shawnba67]

I live in Indiana and this year I took my first centerfire deer. I used my mannlicher stocked 8mm-06Ackley mauser 98.
Well as planned this spring its getting a new barrel, a new caliber and a new stock.
This got me wondering, is it still the same rifle I took my first center fire deer with?

 

[Jonathan Zimmerman]

It’s a tool. It’s ok.

Edit: I’m not a sentimental guy though. The memory is what matters to me.

 

[spclark]

Well as planned this spring its getting a new barrel, a new caliber and a new stock.
This got me wondering, is it still the same rifle I took my first center fire deer with?

In your head?

I’d say yes.

In your hands?

Probably not.

 

[ireload2]

As long as the hole in the barrel is not changed you are good.



https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ship_of_Theseus

 

[IdahoSharpshooter]

What you will have left; the action, and all the memories. Unless a famous gunsmith built it, the memories are what is important...

 

[Zero333]

Yes and No

 

[Riesel]

You might consider going to a gun show, pawn shop, or used gun store and shop around for a different donor gun. That way you will always have that "first" deer rifle.

 

[Bbear]

Going through this same question. First year production 700 ADL 25-06 has a shot out barrel. Thinking of re-barreling it. Personally, I would think it's the same rifle, only better. I'd probably keep the old barrel for no particular reason.

 

[Ringostar]

Sentimentally I wouldn't consider it the same rifle. You can get a different hunting rifle for a lot less money than rebarreling and stock would cost. If your set on a semi custom and like the Mauser action, you can find used Mauser actions very reasonable to build on.

 

[Ray B]

Guess it depends on where you draw the line. If you have a rifle and the firing pin breaks and is replaced, you no longer have a completely original rifle. but then, if you remove an intact firing pin and place it in an entirely new rifle you still have some of the original rifle in the new rifle. Your decision is in which part of the rifle does its soul lay.

 

[DOGCAPPER]

A rifle is like my Grandfathers 45 year old axe he was so proud of.

It had only had 33 new handles and 4 new heads.

 

[CharlieNC]

Its totally up to you, and how you feel about it. For me I would not change anything, but spend the designated funds on a new rifle. Best of both worlds.

 

[ben lurkin]

That can only be answered by you. I wouldn't hesitate to throw another barrel on it. You can always send yours off to someone to duplicate the contour have it blued however you like. Likewise with the stockn etc.

Personally, I think it's a shame to relegate such things to wallhanger status. The beauty in old guns it to be able to experience shooting them as my grandfather did.

 

[dcali]

All I know is that I can’t bring myself to get so much as a trigger job on the 77/22 my mom and dad got me for Christmas when I was a kid. Everything else is fair game. Don’t care so much.

 

[Just Dave]

I would buy a new gun
My fathers Remington "wingmaster" 22LR put food on our families table thru the great depression, and I shot it so much as a kid/teenager, open sights out to 100 yards in an old gravel quarry, that I could never see myself changing it in any way, not even fixing the chipped wood stock, the scratches, nothing.
I slathered the barrel and action with grease, and it sits in the safe for eternity.

 

[people]

For me everything but the action. Barrels are consumables and stocks can crack or break or just suck. I would keep the old parts but swap out what you need to.

 

[ebb]

Its a new rifle you changed too much. Replacing parts that are broken is one thing, you changed the whole character of the rifle. It doesn't look or feel the same, the old one is gone.

 

[TC260]

Oddball round, Mannlicher stock, I love hunting with unique guns like that. On the other hand, all you need is a barrel vise, action wrench, and a screwdriver to spin the old tube and stock back on.

 

[Had2muchofForums]

Wow, what a philosophical question! Reminds me of a story I once heard.

A man (think Greek & Roman times) goes off to war and asks his wife to do only one thing, care for his boat. So after a year, the wife notices a board rotting, so she replaces the worn board with a new one. And as the years go by, more and more of the boat begins to rot and deteriorate. And, as she promised, the wife continued to care for the boat and each time a piece needed replacing, she replaced it with an identical piece. Always placing the worn part in storage. Before too long, she had replaced every part with a new, identical one.

Upon arriving home, the man asks his wife where his boat is. She replies, "It's right there on the water honey, right where you left it."

He responds, "That is not my boat"

So, the question becomes...

Is his boat the one sitting on the water--the "form" of the boat? or, is his boat the pile of pieces he originally left, now sitting in storage?













There is no answer by the way!

 

[sdean]

I don't understand why what anybody's thoughts on here has anything to do with what you feel. It's like you are looking for an excuse. You change anything then it's different. Good luck.