The 1st step is admitting you have a problem!

[turner1978]

I think that I might have a real problem on my hands. It starts out with thinking that maybe a 277 cal would be nice or how about an AR or a bigbore 416. And before I know it I am trying to sneak my newest toy past the mrs without her noticing. I get down stairs and put it away with all of the others. I spend some time reloading for it and shooting it and fondling it and admiring it and....
Before I know it I start thinking that maybe a new 338 would be kind of nice so I go down to the local sporting goods store and come home with a remington 300rum.
What is wrong with me? SHE says that I am addicted but I tell her that I can quit any time that I want to. I can. I know I can. I just don't know how. What can I do to stop this insanity? Any body else suffering from gun fever?

[Madawaska]

Just about everyone who reads this forum! You are not alone and fortunately you will NOT find help in this outfit. Consider me. I hunt very heavy bush in Eastern Ontario, Canada but would I ever like a pre-64 Super Grade in .264 Win. Mag. The 26 inch barrel would be real handy in thick bush. I have tried to limit (sure, keep telling myself that, I might believe it) to one rifle for a particular kind of hunt. So one day at the range we decided that you need a minimum of five rifles to go deer hunting. Your lucky rifle of course (we all have one), your dirty day rifle (stainless, synthetic), your thick cedar bottom rifle (short and handy), your climbing rifle (light) and your open country rifle in case something crosses the logged off areas. Then I thought I would take up moose hunting. Thick country again, but need something with oomph. Managed to pick up (in Finland) a 19 inch barrelled Sako Mannlicher carbine in .338 Win. Mag. Only because they were not making .375s anymore. And of course they don't make any of them now. Paul Quinnett, who used to write a column in Shooting Times years ago, described how he managed to get a rifle into the house disguised as a lamp. The dead giveaway though is when you try to explain why you need a bigger gun vault. Gun fever? As John Barsness likes to say, you're just another "rifle loony". Relax, it won't hurt a bit. Welcome to the club! Madawaska.

[Mark]

Don't look for a cure, just relieve the symptoms.
Mark

[airborne]

Oh thank God. I am not alone. Others suffer the same problem as I. When I moved back to PA in 1997, I had a 20 ga. and a 30-30. Now I have no less than 25 rifles and shotguns, and 7 pistols. I justify it to the wife with a fancy name called a COLLECTION. After all, we don't spend any more money on a gun than they do for a pair of shoes, do we? I too got caught when I bought the 32 gun safe. Well what can we say other than" I didn't have this one" Enjoy it and if you get to far out of control, just tell the wife you will miss her deerly.

[Yooper]

My wife hunts too and likes to shoot. So when I get a new gun, I tell her it's so we can spend more quality time together. Seems to have worked most of the time, although now I think she may be suspicious...

[lewis56us]

I haven't bought a new gun in about 12 years and I'm getting a bit jittery. Went to the Wanenmacher's gun show in Tulsa last month and got a hankerin' for a springfield armory 1911-A1 GI .45 Champion with the 4in. barrel. No wife to worry about, just have to get the money together and find a decent price on one. It's not a problem, it's an investment!

[hunter1992]

Another problem would be the one where you find sacks of hunting equipment in your truck after a trip to the sporting goods store. This year we spent 300 dollers in just 2 trips to one store. With guns though I only average around 1 per year.

[turner1978]

I told her that I wasn't gonna buy any more guns untill next summer and I honestly believed it too untill my friend asked me today if I wanted to buy his 308 win. Ruger 77 mk 11. I'm not sure what to do because it's a really good deal. It has only had one seasons worth of use on it and he only wants $250.00 dollars for it. He bought it last year and went out and sighted it in and went hunting for 3 days with it. He decided that he didn't like hunting and now wants to sell it. I think I am gonna buy it but I have to figure out how to explain to HER why I spent $250.00 right before x-mas. Maybe I can disguise it as a lamp and sneak it in!

[turner1978]

I thought that I would just let everybody know what happened with the 308 win that I was gonna buy from my friend. I bought it and decided that I would just tell the mrs that I got it for her (thinking that she would blow it off and say she didn't want it and give it back to me) and you know what she did. SHE KEPT IT! Then she said thanks and asked if we could buy a new scope for it. Kind of backfired in my face so now I know not to use that "I bought it for you honey" excuse any more. Now I just have to figure out how to get my new 454 cassul into the house without getting in trouble. I laid it away so I would have time to come up with a battle plan. LOL!

[turner1978]

I thought that she was gonna kill me when she found out that I had layed away a "few more" winchester model 70's and 94' and a 1895. She didn't kill me but it's worse then that. She made me swear that I wouldn't buy any more guns this year. Shes a cold hearted...LOL!

[Yooper]

My best friend once used the excuse that he was buying guns "for his wife," so they could spend some "quality time" together. He had even gone so far in this in that he had HER fill out the paperwork. She said she knew he was lying and that he just wanted the guns for himself. She was OK with that though and let him buy them.

Flip ahead a year. She left him to go for the guy she was cheating on him with. During the divorce, she demanded the two guns "she" had bought be returned to her. She gave them to the new guy.

Just a bit of caution should you think about using the "QUALITY TIME" approach, but really don't mean it.

[turner1978]

OUCH! That is totaly wrong of somebody to do. Even if you are that mad it is still considered stealing. I have been through a divorce also but I was one of the lucky ones and everything went pretty smooth and we both feel that we were treated fairly. And thats how it should be.