HIGH- ROLLING HEATERS

Excellent working-class firearms ... if you have money to burn.

- ELWOOD SHELTON

Here’s a statement that should shock absolutely no one: l like affordable guns. Earthshattering, I know. But the great thing about making that statement is it pretty much means I celebrate the greater swath of the American gun market. If you have, say, $1,000 burning a hole in your pocket, then chances are good that you can ferret out a pretty solid pistol, rifle or shotgun—even a double barrel—to fit your need and serve you well.

All that said, this doesn’t mean I or any other red-blooded American shooter doesn’t wipe away a bit of drool when eyeing high-end heaters. For most of us, the better part of the top shelf will remain prohibitive. Perhaps we’ll have enough wherewithal to squirrel away enough nickels and dimes to put one—maybe two—absolute gems in the ol’ gun locker. Or, maybe, slim as the chance is, your lottery numbers will come up and you can collect the whole lot. Whatever the case might be, even if your bank account gasps at the irons you eye, there’s no reason to stop looking and hoping.

MAKING A LIST

Honestly, if you have the money, the sky is the limit for what you can spend on a firearm. The best guns of the Purdey and Holland & Holland stripe push into the six-figure range, and you can dump a load of money on a custom job to make it one of a kind.

Here, we’re not so concerned with turning a run-of-the-mill Kalashnikov into a unique shooter via a Saddam Hussein gold plate special. Instead, we’re going to delve into the world of excellent production and semi-custom guns that cost a mint but are worth every penny. These guns, in many cases, are best in class and, while not utterly unique to the user’s specification, are rarefied in price and performance.

BERGARA PREMIER COMPETITION RIFLE