Minimalizing the Gun Collection

[76Too]

For collections: I think one for each year you have been alive.

I guess I’m ahead of the game...does that mean I have to sell some or wait 20 years to catch up?

 

[snapping turtle]

look at it as being ahead of the curve and it is for long life.

I guess I’m ahead of the game...does that mean I have to sell some or wait 20 years to catch up?

 

[medcoxo]

Fixy

... and the rest of us can buy them up when the collection goes up for auction..

 

[Robert Richardson]

I am there with you right now.
My end game is in play so I let it be know. In my circle and everything is gone now.
Kept CKWs pieces and ammo to feed them. It looks odd with just 1 safe. The closet were the overflow ammo and mags is near empty.
I still have 1 AR for HD and a load of loaded mags but the mags need to go as well keep maybe 4 of the 50 or so we still have.
It hurts to liquidate peoples. But it serves us well in these troubled times.

Yes sir, both dealing with the same stuff. Like you I have kept the minimum. I have enough loaded magazines for everything I am keeping and ammo to feed them all for a while, lol. God is good and I will just trust him to take care of us. Stay safe my friend.

 

[STFU]

Wait, are you suggesting that the guns I own can be sold?

I did not know they could be sold.

(At least that's what I have been telling my wife. )

 

[Mongo59]

I have a son and a son in law that both love guns. I try to keep everything in multiples of two. The plan is to have one make the first choice and the other gets to make the next two choices and then alternating until they are all spoken for. I also have some with peoples names on that are dispensed before the lottery...

 

[roscott]

More than you can maintain. More than 50 I would consider as too many.

The first part of this seems like a good summary. If you’re busy and don’t have time to shoot, clean and store properly, 10 could be too many I suppose. But if it’s really your hobby and you enjoy putting the time into maintenance, could be 100!

For me I really enjoy using my firearms. Having them doesn’t do much for me.

 

[Winamac]

All my modern guns have a use and they are the ones that I shoot. If I no longer have a use for it, I tend to move it along.
I also really enjoy collecting military surplus rifles. I never really shoot any of those. I buy and sell them all the time. If something isn't quite right with one and it bugs me, I sell it and look for a better example. And Sometimes you want to refocus your collection, so certain rifles have to be let go. Only so much room...

Yes^^^^^this. I do not collect military surplus, but like you " If something isn't quite right with one and it bugs me, I sell it and look for a better example".

 

[Mongo59]

What happens when you really don't know how many you have? Pulling things out of the safe is like Easter, "oh, I don't remember I had that!"

If you can count them then you don't have enough!

 

[Expat]

I have a son and a son in law that both love guns. I try to keep everything in multiples of two. The plan is to have one make the first choice and the other gets to make the next two choices and then alternating until they are all spoken for. I also have some with peoples names on that are dispensed before the lottery...

I have been thinking about jumping to the grandsons. I have 4 and certain types of guns, I have been getting 4 similar ones (as an example, 2 garands, 1 m1 carbine, and 1 03a3). They can split them up after I assume room temperature, unless I know it is coming and do it before I go.

 

[BugI02]

As a collector i would like to know what people think as in too many guns, just curious

When you can't figure out how to squeeze another safe into the available basement space, you might be approaching too many

 

[Itchytriggerfinger]

This is my New Year's resolution. Between needing another safe to safely store what I have and making the migration to Tennessee in a few years, I've decided it's time.

Not ready to let go of any rifles but I'm paring down to 2 brands for pistols and letting go of at least a dozen shotguns. Some might make it to the classifieds but most will probably end up on consignment just for convenience.

 

[LtScott14]

I have gone through stages of buy, own,and sell.
Basically, I feel like they are tools, and not every daily use requires same tool. Concealed carry is important to be concealed.
A Ruger Blackhawk is a fine revolver, how do you conceal a 7.5 in bbl?
On a hiking trail, a med size semi auto conceals easily. If you are out west, in mountains, would it stop a Black Bear?
Police Officer does traffic stops often. 15 rd capacity handgun makes sense. We did it with 6 shot
revolvers for years. No issues.

Point here is you can cut back your collection, but how active and where do you carry is the question. All tradesman have various tools to do a job, not just one size fits all.
Yes i have sold a few, with remorse later. I got over it, and picked up a different style or model that works better for me. Think it over before you you sell off something.

 

[Franc]

Thoughts on calibers. Like many here I tried to narrow down to as few as possible to simplify logistics and to maintain a meaningful quantity of ammo without spending too much money and storage space. Initially I settled on 22LR for practice, 12GA for sports, and 9mm for personal defense. Later I added 10mm for hunting and hiking. I am happy with my selections but it was hard to stay within the boundary!

 

[700 LTR 223]

Some of the stuff I parted with this year I'll never miss like an old Marlin 1894 44 mag , Ruger 77/357 ,Smith 586 or 39AS. I made enough money on them to buy other guns or gun related items I'll actually use.

 

[Slapstick]

As a collector i would like to know what people think as in too many guns, just curious

I don't know how many is too many, all I know is that I'm not there yet.

 

[jy951]

I got down to 3 total earlier this year. I'm back up to 7. I'll probably get rid of a few I impulse bought and don't use much. In the past I had many many more. I feal much better with less. Having more didnt make my life any better and actually a little more stressful worrying about them.

 

[Smitty117]

I view that guns are one of the few things that the average person can own that appreciate in value. Most real estate does, but it requires a lot of taxes and maintenance. Some vehicles do, but most do not. My parents collected Hummel figurines and plates that they had a boatload of money in, I couldn't hardly give them away. But my Dad's S&W model 10 is worth at least 7 or 8 times what he paid for it.

 

[Dean C.]

Pretty much agree, all of my guns have to have a "purpose" of some kind that is useful to me. This helps keep costs down as I am generally a quality over quantity sort of collector. I also tend to over research any gun I buy, I think the closest I have ever came to a "impulse" buy was a Ruger MK4 pistol. But that is now my pistol trainer and with the rising costs of ammo it has honestly paid for itself many times over.

As with many others here I have standardized on calibers mostly with the usual 22lr, 9mm, 45acp and 5.56 , but with Marlin back up I am really thinking about a 357mag levergun revolver combo for some reason.

 

[ancjr]

I've sold a few that at the time I thought I needed the money. Now, I will trade up with a little added cash but never sell outright.