Need help deciding on a purchase

[Frapiscide]

With my money from graduating high school and money left over from expected tuition, I was toying with the idea of selling most my Remington 700 (I'd keep the scope, bipod, and sling) and between those three sources, buy a DTA SRS A1. I talked it over with my dad and he mentioned how recent it was that I got it (January '13) and he does have a point, but he said that since it's in my name and my money, I can do what I want with it.

Cost of the DTA and some seekins rings would be about $4300-$4400 after shipping and the transfer fee
Money between selling the Remington and my spending money is about $2400
Money left post college tuition is about $5000 in my savings acct.
That would leave me with around $3000-$3100 in my savings

I got a summer job to help post spending, but it's only about $150/week at $7.50/hour, so it would still be a heavy impact.
Assuming no raise over the summer, total accumulated money from summer work after the coming paycheck would be about $1650 and no income during college because of well... college.

So, the question is: Should I go through with this and get a SRS A-1, or keep the money and the Remington?

Also, this isn't meant to be a for sale thread.

 

[TheJ]

Man, as much as I would love to have a DTA, and I'm sure you would too...

I don't know anyone who couldn't have used more cash sometime throughout college. I'd hold the money, you have extra now, but part or half way through you won't any more.

JM2C

 

[The_FNG]

Keep the money, wear the living shit out of the Remington.

 

[Parsons]

If you are living away from home definitely keep the cash. I am in college right now and can always use extra money for just going out or if I forget to pay my water bill and have to pay the $75 reconnection fee. I bought coilovers for a car when I first started working during college thinking I would have money still to go out and do things. Well when bills and rent all hit at once my money was gone and I wished I had a little extra cash saved. If living at home and don't have rent or many bills I don't see why you shouldn't buy the DTA.

 

[Frapiscide]

I was planning on living on campus all four years or live in an apartment senior year. My house is about 45 minutes to an hour from the college.

 

[HogBoss]

College is expensive. Debt sucks and you will want to avoid it like the plague. If dropping 4k on a rifle means having to take out an additional 4k in debt, then don't do it. Get through school, major in something that the market actually has demand for, and go out and make money. Once you're in that position, go buy yourself whatever you want.

 

[Parsons]

I would keep the cash then as I said. My parents still help me out some but always nice to have the extra money.

 

[xdeano]

If you don't plan on working during college and living in the dorms on campus, i'd say keep the savings, the remington will do you just fine. If anything just rework the remington and add a few things you want. You'll have the rest of your life to buy guns, heck if you land a decent job when you get done you'll have the money to buy one. You'd be supprised at how fast the funds deteriate when you eat out or have pizza delivery and not to mention all the beee..., I mean soda that you'll drink. I know i wish i had a bit more spending cash in college. Not to mention women... they cost money too.

xdeano

 

[triceratops3]

From personal experience I'd say keep the Remington. I just finished my first year of college a month ago and I was completely broke and am still pretty broke. (to the point where I had literally $2.38 to my name and wouldn't be able to afford gas to drive home if my parents didn't help me out). Now, I need to watch my spending and have a job during the school year just to survive. (parent's don't want to help out too much and I live 6 hours away from school). Trust me, the Remington will work for a long time and you'll have many years in the future to enjoy more expensive guns once you get a regular job after college.

 

[Wolfrandal]

Keep the money and the Remington! Try to be a bit frugal with your money while in school. Your parents will appreciate you for it and shows them you can make smart choices. Hopefully in the end you won't have too big of a debt to tackle. Get through college with good grades and (forgive me for saying this) don't get anyone pregnant (puts a huge damper on everything). After you've made it out, try your hardest to land a good career. After that hill climb, make some cash and buy whatever you want when you want. Thats what I would do.

Dang, after reading what I have wrote down, I feel like a complete lecturing parent. Sorry about that Frapiscide. Was not my intention. Just got on a roll. I hope the best for you and your future.

Randal

 

[LVMED]

I have the perfect solution for you that will allow you to get the SRS, have some spending money and graduate without debt, Apply for an ROTC scholarship. They pay your tuition, books, living and they give you spending money. Just don't forget you owe them some time when you graduate.

 

[Pusher591]

Keep the Remington. One of the hardest things you'll have to do is get rid of the DTA later on because of debt. Stick with the Remington and enjoy it until you graduate....I'm thinking graduation present

 

[gixxer822]

Ill be tht guy then... Get the dta if its truely what your heart wants. Cuz guess what unless the remmy is Already done up, your gonna want a chassis, better trigger etc. We're always gonna be in debt but were not always gonna have the time to enjy the finer things in life.

 

[Defusion]

If his Remington is supposed to bring up $2400 without the scope, i'm pretty sure it's done up a bit already.
So unless it doesn't shoot for you, I wouldn't change anything right now.
If the remmy shoots, the DTA would only be worth the upgrade if you could actually afford to own and shoot the other barrels/calibers as well (assuming the remmy is a .308 or similar short action cartridge).

 

[Early Cuyler]

As all the fiscally prudent people have said above, keep the Remington and wait on the SRS. You'll have more of a buffer in your account in case of emergencies, the Remington probably shoots great (mine does), and you'll be able to afford ammunition more easily. You can either keep tweaking your Remington with small investments or you can save it all for a helluva graduation present!

As for the tuned up Remington vs. SRS debate, I faced that last year and got the SRS. Love it. Great trigger, accuracy, balance, etc. Hell, I just got back from Africa where I took it on Safari and it did amazingly well. At the same time though, I'm already saving up for reworking my Remington (Manners stock, truing, rebarrel, bolt knob, etc.) sometime next year.

 

[thrusty]

Keep the Remington.... Keep the cash and put it in a "gun fund" earn interest off it for the span of your college life. Don't touch the money unless it's an emergency or for your education.....beer, pussy, friends in overnight lockup and pizza are not to be considered emergencies.

 

[misterp36]

sell the remington, to go college and enjoy yourself! You shouldn't be sober enough to go shooting!

 

[Bear24]

Keep the Remington.... Keep the cash and put it in a "gun fund" earn interest off it for the span of your college life. Don't touch the money unless it's an emergency or for your education.....beer, pussy, friends in overnight lockup and pizza are not to be considered emergencies.

Big +1!

This is what I did during school. I took out a 2nd account just for gun funds. I lived in a rent house for 3 years with a roommate and put all the bills in my name. When it came time for him to pay his portion of the bills I took that money and it went into my gun fund that I didn't touch unless it was going toward a firearm of some kind. I got on a handgun kick as I had just turned 21 and got my carry permit and it was easier to find time to shoot handguns due to indoor ranges. I would also suggest getting a part time job, I worked 30 hours a week and still had plenty of time to have a ton of fun and had money for beer, pizza and women. I accumulated 5 quality handguns and a full reloading setup by the time I was out of school, 3 years ago, then rewarded myself with my FN SPR and good glass. If I would have done some more research I probably would have bought a SRS but I'm happy gaining skill with what I have now.

Sounds like you already have a good rifle so shoot the hell out of it as you can afford ammo (not coming out of your 2nd account) and remember not to count the situations Thrusty mentioned as emergencies!

 

[Beyschaefer]

Can hardly improve on what's already been said...
Keep the cash.
Stay out of debt (any debt, it's ALL bad).
Get in the habit of saving 10% of every single paycheck you ever get in your entire life. Cash savings, IRA, stocks, CD's, whatever. Just put the money away.
If you do that, then by the time you've graduated, and worked a couple years, you'll have no debt, and more cash for guns than you know what to do with. Well, OK, you'll know what to do with it... just sayin'.

I didn't come to this realization soon enough in life to benefit from it.

 

[xcDave15]

Keep the Remington, I'm entering my Senior year of college and had a similar question 3 years ago when entering my freshman year. But I chose money over guns and kept what I had. As previously stated, keep a separate fund for guns and look at a part time job- college isn't as hard as they say it is, even with tough majors there is a lot of screw around time where you can either get into trouble or get a job and make money. I've been able to buy a gun per year through college and a nice 1911 when I recently turned 21.

I notice you're from PA, if you're going to college in Philly feel free send me a PM and I can share some of my experiences with you, I've lived there for 3 years and have some key insights.

 

[Sniper Uncle]

Nothing wrong with a Remington. I am almost done rebuilding one, and I wouldn't trade it at all. Keep the money, and save for the DTA---no-one says you can't have both if you are patient. Patience is a great thing, and hard won for most of us. Save your money, you might need it for an emergency, and if you don't, you'll have more later to get the DTA. And besides, you have the Remington now, you probably would have to wait for the DTA, so wait a little longer until you can buy it as a second rifle.

Learn to spend wisely now, it will help you no end later.

 

[pinsandpitons]

As if there needs to be another stranger telling you this.... Keep the cash! Do not give in to the want without need. Have fun at school, but work harder than the rest, that will set you apart from the crowd. Just like the guy who can drill 700 yard steel with a factory savage and a 3-9 duplex.

 

[tylerw02]

I don't think Penn requires long gun registration so its not "in your name".

But seriously, keep it. Then this summer, learn to reload and buy some components. That will allow you to continue to shoot through school. That is an investment. Save all you can, can all you save is what my dad would say.

 

[Jedi]

Having an itch you cant scratch will eat some up
If you want the DTA
Go for it
If you run short on cash, well you can sell the DTA

your $$ do as ya plz

 

[Low_drag]

You can spend that $4.5K more wisely. The gun you want is a toy. Guns will come in due time. Invest in your future first.

 

[Defusion]

Having an itch you cant scratch will eat some up
If you want the DTA
Go for it
If you run short on cash, well you can sell the DTA

your $$ do as ya plz

I see this as a kind of "Do as I say, not as I do" situation
I'd do the same as you, and buy whatever I wanted.
However, I would not recommend anyone to do the same.

 

[VJJPunisher]

Keep the remmy, put the money towards natural light and condoms, plus a few bucks stached away for flea dip and penicillin

 

[TRTAC]

To each his own..... if in it were me, I would get through school and get a good job, when buy what ever the F you want cause you can. Thats what I did....

 

[bluto77]

Keep the Rem 700 and save the money. A DTA is a "big-boy" toy (no offense to you). Wait until you have the education and job after graduation to start buying those kinds of toys. Of course, there will be guys in college that have expensive toys. Motorcycles and whatnot. And maybe that guy is overextended or his parents give him a lot of money. You don't want to be overextended in college, because you'll be playing from behind your entire life. If nothing else, resist the temptation to spend that money right now, leave it in your savings account, and see how you feel next year at this time. If the money is still there, and it's still financially feasible, and you still want to do it, then that would be a better time to do so (still not ideal). Even if you wait one semester, at least get a feel for what you're dealing with in college before spending so much of your money.

 

[peaceatwar]

The DTA is a cool rifle. I hated it, no offense to those who like it but its just awkward to me. As someone who graduated college not that long ago. Wait til after college to get the 'DTA' equivelent then. Who knows it might be a 10,000 fps magnetic nail gun.

 

[oldfatguy]

I was planning on living on campus all four years or live in an apartment senior year. My house is about 45 minutes to an hour from the college.

All well and good, but..........you just thought shooting had a never ending string of "buy me's". You will NEVER have too much money while you are going to college. Enjoy the Remmy, at least till you are through your freshman year.

OFG

 

[Rogue111]

Keep the Remington, I promise you'll be glad you kept the $ for college life

 

[sib1948]

At 65 I can purchase almost any rifle I want, but still have to manage finances responsibly. At your age, a good education is paramount to a successful and rewarding life. I learn as much and have as much fun shooting my Rem 700 as I do my Barrett MRAD 338. You learn the most from more practice, since most rifles will shoot much better than the shooter. Ammo is not cheap these days, so that's another expense no matter what you shoot. I praise your father for letting you make the decision. You're not too far away from manhood and having to live a "real life", which is often not easy. My best advice is to always be kind, honest and respect others-even you you don't agree with them. GOOD LUCK and have a happy, productive and prosperous life!

 

[netranger6]

Yeah keep your money, and keep tire kicking on the hide.

 

[ScottVA]

As most have already said....keep the cash and enjoy school. Years from now, you'll look back on your school years as some of the best years of your life. While we all own rifles that we dearly love, I'd guess very few ever refer to owning them as being the best years of our life. Perhaps the best rifles we've ever owned. You have the rest of your life to own the best rifles ever made. JM2C

 

[Randoman5]

Having an itch you cant scratch will eat some up
If you want the DTA
Go for it
If you run short on cash, well you can sell the DTA

your $$ do as ya plz

There's really some logic behind this. For a young person buying something expensive you can sell later is almost as good as a savings account (especially with today's interest rates.) Chances are if he doesn't buy the rifle the money will get blown at bars or for fast food or other things that will be gone and never seen again. When I was in high school I worked full time the last two years to buy a Trans Am. I kept the Trans Am until after law school and then sold it. I didn't get everything I paid for it, but college has a way of decimating savings. If I didn't have that money from my toy car I'd have had no money at all when it was all over.

Do what you want to do. You only live once.

 

[PAGhillie]

I've seen many get rid of a good shooting gun for the latest and greatest,only to find out it ain't so great!

 

[kengel2]

Keep the remmy, put the money towards natural light and condoms, plus a few bucks stached away for flea dip and penicillin

Im voting for this. Pretty much what I spent money on. Shooting took a back seat to school and football games. We did drink a crap ton of 16oz Natty lights, $11.99/case.

 

[samnev]

Man, as much as I would love to have a DTA, and I'm sure you would too...

I don't know anyone who couldn't have used more cash sometime throughout college. I'd hold the money, you have extra now, but part or half way through you won't any more.

JM2C

+1 Been there done that.

 

[105amatt]

Save your money, wear out the 700 then upgrade.

 

[garandman]

Guns are an itch that once you start scratching, there is no end.

Lock down college first.

Get to the point the Rem700 is limiting your proficiency.

Then come back and see if the DTA is still interesting to you. I like the bullpup idea, but the switch barrel seems overblown to me.

 

[netranger6]

Switch barrel is anything but over blown with the DTA. Quite sweet in fact. Beauty of it is buy once on glass, run as many calibers under it as you like. All while keeping your safe thinned out from umpteen different builds.


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[garandman]

Switch barrel is anything but over blown with the DTA. Quite sweet in fact. Beauty of it is buy once on glass, run as many calibers under it as you like. All while keeping your safe thinned out from umpteen different builds.

I like the idea of picking up a rifle that's ready to fire at the distance I sighted it in at. The switch barrel feature means re-adjusting the scope for zero whenever you change calibers.

And there's just no way a change barrel system will hold its zero the way a fixed barrel rifle will.

Its a neat gadget, but doesn't lend itself to the reason I buy a rifle - extreme, exacting repeatable accuracy on the spot.

 

[Frapiscide]

Thanks for the suggestions guys. I decided to just keep the Remington for the time being. Now if only I could store my rifle on campus so going shooting wouldn't involve driving about 90 miles total... (Campus to house to range and back)

 

[netranger6]

I like the idea of picking up a rifle that's ready to fire at the distance I sighted it in at. The switch barrel feature means re-adjusting the scope for zero whenever you change calibers.

And there's just no way a change barrel system will hold its zero the way a fixed barrel rifle will.

Its a neat gadget, but doesn't lend itself to the reason I buy a rifle - extreme, exacting repeatable accuracy on the spot.

Well it's too bad you're not willing to listen to the hundreds of guys running the DTA, as it holds zero between switches. All you have to do is record your zero dope on a good piece of kit with zero stop, say a PR or NF or SB, change calibers, set the zero for that caliber, and roll with it. The dope difference will be negligible at most. Reach up, dial it, run. It really isn't the difficult at all. Gadget it is not. I'd put the DTA up against any single caliber, custom stick. Even my own GAPS and Surgeons...

 

[NevadaZielmeister]

It took me 6 years and working two jobs to get through college. I am so happy I did it way back when. I sure wish I had a few extra dollars, Top Ramen gets really old really quick. Can I hear a "hu-ha!" from the folks that know what I mean?