[fabsroman]

I use ALL of my guns, but the pretty ones are used exclusively at the range to break clay. Those are the ones with nicely grained wood stocks and engraving on them. All of my hunting guns are plain vanilla with black stocks on them, and the rifles are usually stainless steel. I'm not much for safe queens either; however, I don't want to drop a $20,000 Beretta o/i (not that I own one) over the side of a boat and cry for 5 years afterward. The $1,300 Benelli will hurt a little less. Same goes for using it as a boat paddle or whatever else.

Like you said, to each their own. I'm not rich enough to scratch up a $5,000+ gun and not care about it because I can easily replace it. When I am filthy rich, I might take an expensive, finely crafted gun out into the field, but maybe not even then. Kind of like my bicycles. I own carbon fiber frames made in Italy that cost $3,000+, but I race on aluminum frames made in Taiwan that cost $650. The first reason being one of cost and the second being one of passion. I could throw a POS made in Taiwan frame in the dumpster without a second thought, but throwing a hand painted made in Italy frame in the dumpster would bring me to tears, and not because of the money involved.