New gun

Welcomed a new addition to the small (but growing) family today, a Ruger 10/22. Just jumped off the rack at the local shooting range when I was there today putting some rounds downrange with Patrick from my Carbine and a long slide XD in .40. Pics will be a possibility later in the week, right now I'm in the process of getting moved back to Ames for the year. The gun is hardwood (not walnut, probably birch or beech) stock, standard length barrel, open sights. Looks like it's gonna be a lot of fun.

I justified it in two ways: one, I'll use the Wally World gift cards to "offset" the purchase, and two, I actually saved myself money because by purchasing this relatively inexpensive gun now I saved myself the trouble of being forced into buying a more expensive rifle or handgun in a few months.

Not to say there won't be a purchase in a few months, just that I won't be forced into it.

Besides, you should never need an excuse to buy a gun. Like I told Patrick, some of my best purchases have been prefaced with the sentence, "Ah, what the hell...I'll buy it." In any case, I'm looking forward to putting some rounds downrange that are pennies on the dollar compared to my .30 Carbine rounds. Put another way, for less than the cost of 500 rounds of .30 Carbine I can buy 5000 quality rounds of .22 LR.