YOU KNOW WHAT !!!

[Purebred Redneck]

Very true

In the last 3 years, I've bought the walker, marlin 917, marlin 60, ruger mark II.

Walker was returned
Marlin 60's action failed about 5,000 shots that summer I got it
Mark II was and is a horrible disaster with jamming and the front sight falling off
And throw in the fact my 870 doesn't pump for the last 2 years (probably should get that fixed before decmember; of course I used it broke last year though)

But the new marlin 17 works fine

[jimiowa]

At this point in my life I hardly consider myself a gunsmith.
But am a gun nut. When I buy a gun I consider it half the fun to tinker with it. The ruger 22/45 was stripped and cleaned before it ever fired a round. The Savage MkII I did a trigger job before I ever fired a round and relieved the stock so the barrel floated. The Savage 10FP I worked on the trigger and relieved the stock in a couple places before I shot it. The Marlin .444 fired only 3 rounds before it had a new recoil pad installed.
The Mossberg K140 needed a bedding job, so I took the plastic shims out the previous owner had and did an epoxy bedding job.
Learning what you have, and fixing it is to me what I really enjoy and I consider that what it's all about.

The Muzzleloader is especially fun because something as simple as how hard you seat the ball on the charge can effect where it impacts on the target,