Do I sell my guns?

[chef1231]

For years I’ve sold guns that I didn’t really use that much in order to buy others. Mostly because I needed to in order to afford the newer gun. I’ve told myself not to do it anymore. Yet, here I am. I do not need to sell them for the money to buy other guns but.. since I really don’t take them to the range, should I sell them? I recently picked up the P229 Legion and well, love it. Do I start replacing the Springfields with Sigs? I can’t be the only one battling this.

 

[Farmerjon]

What is this you speak of, selling guns?

 

[Nugget]

What is this you speak of, selling guns?

Most of the guns I have were bought from people, not stores, so I know there are people out there who sell guns. I'm not one of those people.

That being said OP, I think selling a modern / black plastic handgun to buy a different modern / black plastic handgun is probably acceptable. Same goes for ARs.

 

[chef1231]

Yeah. I’ve sold some I regret but not many. They always get replaced with something. I think it might be different in I was selling them just to pay bills or something like that. There is still a guy in here with my Cmmg mutant mk47. That one I miss ( a little )

 

[Route 45]

Do I start replacing the Springfields with Sigs?

Springfield XDs? Yeah, definitely.
Springfield 1911s? Your call.

I've got a use or potential use for every one of my guns. Occasionally I will have one that loses its usefulness to me because something better has hit the market and I switched over. Like my old single stack Shield when the Shield Plus came out. At that point, I really have no reason to keep it. Off it goes, sold or traded.

 

[actaeon277]

It's not like food. If they sit in the safe a bit, they're not gonna go bad.

On the other hand, if you think you're never going to need it, then, what the heck

 

[Sigblitz]

What you got.

 

[bwframe]

I'm often a bit relieved when I sell. Either the investment has helped me to advance in other directions or sometimes pay the bills in slow times. Pairing down helps to keep the working guns working, rather than collecting dust or losing value laying in the safe.

 

[Usmccookie]

What you got.

 

[Ballstater98]

I have quite a few I don't shoot often. I get in moods on range days. Like, I can't tell you the last time the Type 99 came along with me. Of course that ammo is not cheap. I have a couple I've never fired and do have the ammo. Again, a mood thing and/or I'm taking a new shooter out. All the firearms get a deep cleaning once a year usually when everyone is hunkered down during winter.

To each their own. I tend to aquire. Others tend to upgrade and/or both. If you find you have no use for them or have distanced yourself from some, treat yourself to what you have evolved into.

I have a friend that is a WW11 collector and has a M95 Styer. It's a thumper and ammo is expensive. I've only seen him shoot it twice. It sits in the back of a safe. I could see him selling it down the road to upgrade because he doesn't enjoy shooting it.

 

[700 LTR 223]

Plus the ones you sell are usually way more expensive to buy the second time around! Took 6 guns to be sold on consignment last year and on the ride home I knew one I should have not left behind. I ended up buying a newer model again earlier this year. Some of the guns I was extremely happy to be rid of!

Some guns I am hanging on to simply because they are worth less than what I paid for them. I'll probably go through another round of gun selling again with guns that are not fired very often.

 

[chef1231]

Yeah. I just don’t really shoot them. You will most likely see them in the Classys here in the next few weeks. I most likely will wait till after Xmas or might even look at trading with my lgs. Will see.

Xdm 4.5 9mm that Springfield custom did some carry package to when I first bought it. Also have a full size Xdm 10mm with milled slide from powder customs. Never really shot that one, maybe 20 rounds or so. Have a shield 2.0 but pretty sure that won’t fetch enough to be worth it.

Big question is do I buy the Legion in 10mm or just dump the gun and the ammo at once.

 

[Cameramonkey]

It depends. Tread lightly.

I have sold some to finance other purchases. Some I regret, others I do not. YMMV.

 

[MCgrease08]

Here is a good exercise I use to decide this type of thing.

Let's say a gun is worth $500. I ask myself, "self, if I had $500 in cash in the middle of my kitchen table, would I go out and buy that gun again or is there something else I would use the money for?"

If the answer is "no" that means I likely won't regret selling it. Everyday I don't sell it, I'm essentially buying it again.

 

[BigRed]

For years I’ve sold guns that I didn’t really use that much in order to buy others. Mostly because I needed to in order to afford the newer gun. I’ve told myself not to do it anymore. Yet, here I am. I do not need to sell them for the money to buy other guns but.. since I really don’t take them to the range, should I sell them? I recently picked up the P229 Legion and well, love it. Do I start replacing the Springfields with Sigs? I can’t be the only one battling this.

Gun market finally got hot enough for me to sell what I bought when that obammy clown was running its mouth for 87% of what I paid.

Too crazy for me.

Just glad I have what I do....a shotgun for squirrels and such.

 

[marvin02]

@chef1231 - we need to get to the range.

Some guns lose value so much you might as well keep them, unless you just need the room.

Some guns may have more utility than others.

I've purchased some guns because they were interesting and wanted to try them. Some were disappointing or didn't fill the niche I thought they would. The disappointing ones got moved in pretty quick so I could try something else.

Which ones will you miss when you open the safe? Keepers.

If you do an inventory are there any you don't even remember? Possible sale items.

Many folks hang into guns for sentimental reasons or because of their history.

It's a very personal choice. I Iiked the suggestion by @MCgrease08, nice way to evaluate the value to YOU that a gun has NOW.

If you do sell some, I think folks who have enriched your professional life should get dibs.

 

[Basher]

Some good advice in here.

If it doesn’t serve a purpose, have a meaningful history to you, or really grab your interest, then it isn’t doing you any favors sitting in a safe. It isn’t “going bad” like @actaeon277 mentions, but there ARE funds tied up in useless items. So you have to weigh whether that matters to you.

I’ve bought and sold a LOT over the years. I miss most of them because, well, I like guns and think I have good taste lol. Some I miss a lot more than others (I’d give my left nut to have my AIAT back, along with several others), but at the end of the day they’re just things, the vast majority of which I can replace.

The ones I’ll inherit some day will never be sold, nor will the custom 1911 I have that a departed friend built for me. But everything else is fair game at this point. Lots of guns out there to try, and I can’t afford to own them all at the same time!

 

[92FSTech]

I'm a shooter not a collector. Guns you don't shoot are just "stuff". If it doesn't serve a purpose (and that purpose doesn't have to be practical, it might just be sheer enjoyment), then it's just taking up space that could be filled by something else....or at the very least make it easier to get the stuff I actually shoot in and out of my overcrowded safe!

I've sold quite a few over the years...most I don't miss at all. There are a couple that I liked, but they just had to go for various reasons. My Glock 26 was an awesome gun, but the grip angle was so different from my P320s that it was messing with my presentation when I shot it, and it ended up collecting dust so I sold it to a buddy who's a Glock guy to fund a P250. I had an emotional attachment to that gun as I carried it for 10 years, but it wasn't working for me anymore and I'm glad it found a good home. Same goes for my Ruger SP101 3" in .357 Mag. Awesome gun, but I've kinda standardized around J-Frames for carry revolvers, and when I found a 3" Model 60 I just had to buy it. I couldn't justify keeping both, so I sold the SP101 to my brother...once again, at least it found a good home.

Then there are the guns that I was attached to the idea of, but they just didn't live up to the hype in reality. I had a beautiful Mini-14 Ranch Rifle that I really wanted to love. It had a gorgeous wood stock, was light and handy, and had that sweet Garand-style action. But it couldn't keep 5 rounds on a paper plate at 100 yards. I didn't expect MOA accuracy, but it ought to be able to at least outshoot a 120 year-old Krag with a rusty bore. I sold the Mini and the gap is easily filled by my ARs. I still kinda miss the idea of that rifle...but the gun itself not so much.

 

[88E30M50]

I'm a shooter not a collector. Guns you don't shoot are just "stuff". If it doesn't serve a purpose (and that purpose doesn't have to be practical, it might just be sheer enjoyment), then it's just taking up space that could be filled by something else....or at the very least make it easier to get the stuff I actually shoot in and out of my overcrowded safe!

I've sold quite a few over the years...most I don't miss at all. There are a couple that I liked, but they just had to go for various reasons. My Glock 26 was an awesome gun, but the grip angle was so different from my P320s that it was messing with my presentation when I shot it, and it ended up collecting dust so I sold it to a buddy who's a Glock guy to fund a P250. I had an emotional attachment to that gun as I carried it for 10 years, but it wasn't working for me anymore and I'm glad it found a good home. Same goes for my Ruger SP101 3" in .357 Mag. Awesome gun, but I've kinda standardized around J-Frames for carry revolvers, and when I found a 3" Model 60 I just had to buy it. I couldn't justify keeping both, so I sold the SP101 to my brother...once again, at least it found a good home.

Then there are the guns that I was attached to the idea of, but they just didn't live up to the hype in reality. I had a beautiful Mini-14 Ranch Rifle that I really wanted to love. It had a gorgeous wood stock, was light and handy, and had that sweet Garand-style action. But it couldn't keep 5 rounds on a paper plate at 100 yards. I didn't expect MOA accuracy, but it ought to be able to at least outshoot a 120 year-old Krag with a rusty bore. I sold the Mini and the gap is easily filled by my ARs. I still kinda miss the idea of that rifle...but the gun itself not so much.

This is pretty much exactly my thoughts too. Change the names of the guns and you have my story. I did sell off a bunch of lower grade guns to fund better ones over the years and have sold better grade guns to fund other guns that fit me better.

Everything that I have gets shot and if I don’t like shooting it or if it doesn’t work well for me, I let someone else enjoy it. For a while, I really liked AKs but found that I shoot ARs so much better that I sold all of the AKs. Guns that I wish that I still had are few, but there are no real regrets. Not even with the Ed Brown Exec Carry I sold. That was a great gun by any measure but I just didn’t shoot it well.

 

[Snapdragon]

For years I’ve sold guns that I didn’t really use that much in order to buy others. Mostly because I needed to in order to afford the newer gun. I’ve told myself not to do it anymore. Yet, here I am. I do not need to sell them for the money to buy other guns but.. since I really don’t take them to the range, should I sell them? I recently picked up the P229 Legion and well, love it. Do I start replacing the Springfields with Sigs? I can’t be the only one battling this.

I know what you mean. I am rarely able to get out and shoot, so I have been wondering if I should sell those I don't need for actual defense of myself or my home. I decided that, like you, I don't really need the money as badly now as I did in the past, so I will just hang on to them and think of them as an investment that I can liquidate pretty easily if necessary. I used to feel like if I bought a new one I had to justify it by selling an older one, but screw it. I don't owe anyone an explanation.