How do you folks consider this issue: When is "enough?"
I love seeking out good guns and getting a deal, or even paying a fair price....it's a lot of fun. But I'm running out of things to look for, caught between the pleasure of buying and the common financial sense of asking, "Do I really need this and could I just buy more ammo, or new grips, or night sights."
I'm not bragging or anything but I seem to have accumulated a bunch of pistols: 4 for carry (Shield, Walther P5, Sig 320, and P6), 3 for Home Defense (Sig SP2022 and S&W 5906 and .357 model 19) and a bunch I just like (4 Berettas, BHP and Browing BDM, Colt Gov't 9mm, a P38/P1 and a few more Smiths and Sigs.)
There isn't a category I don't have covered in essentially quality guns -- Carry, Home Defense, Range/Plinking, and semi-collectibles) and frankly, there's only one gun on my wish list right now, a Walther P4, the 4" version of the P1. When I consider Ruger or Taurus or Springfield, I think I've got anything they could offer in really quality stuff....and I have no interest in them. And I don't have the income for true collectibles such as Colt, S&W or things like Sig 210s or P88s. And I simply don't shoot .45.
I accumulated most of these by buying "good" guns, like first and second generation Smiths, and selling them for a bit (or a bunch) more than I paid for them, always trading up in terms of quality. I ain't saying I've not invested a bunch of money in our hobby....but it was money I could afford without short-changing anyone in the family.
So now I'm trying to figure out what's next. I've got good long guns, all milsurps, that I did the same thing with. My Swiss rifles, Swedish Mausers, Enfields and, yes, one evil black assault rifle (a S&W). Wondering if there's something new to collect. Rolex watches? Jaguars? Depression glass? Quilts? Debt?
When you run out of safe space and run out of space to put a new safe then you have enough.
You can always collect first editions, but that might cut into your ammo storage space. YOu can also collect old VWs, they are relatively cheap, relatively easy to locate and you can store them outdoors without feeling bad.
How do you folks consider this issue: When is "enough?"
I love seeking out good guns and getting a deal, or even paying a fair price....it's a lot of fun. But I'm running out of things to look for, caught between the pleasure of buying and the common financial sense of asking, "Do I really need this and could I just buy more ammo, or new grips, or night sights."
I'm not bragging or anything but I seem to have accumulated a bunch of pistols: 4 for carry (Shield, Walther P5, Sig 320, and P6), 3 for Home Defense (Sig SP2022 and S&W 5906 and .357 model 19) and a bunch I just like (4 Berettas, BHP and Browing BDM, Colt Gov't 9mm, a P38/P1 and a few more Smiths and Sigs.)
There isn't a category I don't have covered in essentially quality guns -- Carry, Home Defense, Range/Plinking, and semi-collectibles) and frankly, there's only one gun on my wish list right now, a Walther P4, the 4" version of the P1. When I consider Ruger or Taurus or Springfield, I think I've got anything they could offer in really quality stuff....and I have no interest in them. And I don't have the income for true collectibles such as Colt, S&W or things like Sig 210s or P88s. And I simply don't shoot .45.
I accumulated most of these by buying "good" guns, like first and second generation Smiths, and selling them for a bit (or a bunch) more than I paid for them, always trading up in terms of quality. I ain't saying I've not invested a bunch of money in our hobby....but it was money I could afford without short-changing anyone in the family.
So now I'm trying to figure out what's next. I've got good long guns, all milsurps, that I did the same thing with. My Swiss rifles, Swedish Mausers, Enfields and, yes, one evil black assault rifle (a S&W). Wondering if there's something new to collect. Rolex watches? Jaguars? Depression glass? Quilts? Debt?
How do you folks handle this?
Based on what you wrote you could start a ammo collection.
So many possibles there that it would keep you very busy! Best part compared to guns and some other things it would not require as much storage space. Heck many ammo collection hang on walls.
Many people concentrate/focus on a particular collecting niche after too much "accumulating", and that takes care of a lot of extra guns that don't fit the desired collection. You may not be someone who can or wants to do this...don't ask me how I know .
I am pretty much in the same boat you're in, Redcoat. I always tell myself I have enough guns, especially revolvers in .38/.357 (I have 7 of them right now). But what do I do? I still look---for the screaming bargains, even in .38. I always find myself browsing GB all the time, but screaming bargains are hard to find there. I can't afford the high-dollar Smiths I lust after (a 3" 24-3, a 3" 696 or a 3-1/2" model 27 are just guns that I will never own), so I resort to looking, admittedly, for older Taurus guns or Rugers that for me are more affordable. I'm concentrating on 3" 441's or 3" 431's in .44 special right now but haven't hit the right price point. Then there's the stainless Ruger P95 that I wish I never sold back in 2003. Someday if I find one at the right price I'll buy another. Do I need any of these, no, but the thrill of the quest is always cool.
As of the first of the year I started selling anything I hadn't shot or carried. It was a attempt to just clean out my safe. My goal was to get down to my EDC plus one 22 to fool around with at the range. Some how after selling them all and reaching my goal I'm somehow back up to 6. I'm not quite sure how that happened.
It is a great time to be a gun collector. Lots of used police firearms on the market, new pistols and rifles are cheaper than ever, firearms from all over the world make it to our shores, and there are tons of aftermarket **** to buy for just about everything. The only negative is that classic S&W revolvers are getting pricier, but they are available.
How do you folks consider this issue: When is "enough?"
I love seeking out good guns and getting a deal, or even paying a fair price....it's a lot of fun. But I'm running out of things to look for, caught between the pleasure of buying and the common financial sense of asking, "Do I really need this and could I just buy more ammo, or new grips, or night sights."
I'm not bragging or anything but I seem to have accumulated a bunch of pistols:
So now I'm trying to figure out what's next.
How do you folks handle this?
Not trying to be rude but methinks that you have no idea
what a bunch of pistols is :-) A friend, now gone, was fond
of 1911 .45s. Some years before he died he told me he had
well over 100 of them. I'm sure that many of us on here
who like S&W revolvers and aren't real collectors, just
accumulators, have at least 50 of them :-) You're trying to
figure out what's next? Anything. A female friend told me
some years ago that she liked dolls. At that time she had
over 200, now ??? A friend showing me around his new
house took me down to the basement and showed me the
racks he had for his collection of ball caps. I wouldn't have
wanted to have to count them. What's next? Anything you
want it to be.
For me, each purchase was made with a specific purpose in mind: Carry, home defense, and a few just because I like them. The total tops out at 10....and won't be going any higher.
A friend has 125 handguns, and his wife finally said - ENOUGH!!!
So I guess the answer to your question is "when the wife says so!"
How do you folks consider this issue: When is "enough?"
I love seeking out good guns and getting a deal, or even paying a fair price....it's a lot of fun. But I'm running out of things to look for, caught between the pleasure of buying and the common financial sense of asking, "Do I really need this and could I just buy more ammo, or new grips, or night sights."
I'm not bragging or anything but I seem to have accumulated a bunch of pistols: 4 for carry (Shield, Walther P5, Sig 320, and P6), 3 for Home Defense (Sig SP2022 and S&W 5906 and .357 model 19) and a bunch I just like (4 Berettas, BHP and Browing BDM, Colt Gov't 9mm, a P38/P1 and a few more Smiths and Sigs.)
There isn't a category I don't have covered in essentially quality guns -- Carry, Home Defense, Range/Plinking, and semi-collectibles) and frankly, there's only one gun on my wish list right now, a Walther P4, the 4" version of the P1. When I consider Ruger or Taurus or Springfield, I think I've got anything they could offer in really quality stuff....and I have no interest in them. And I don't have the income for true collectibles such as Colt, S&W or things like Sig 210s or P88s. And I simply don't shoot .45.
I accumulated most of these by buying "good" guns, like first and second generation Smiths, and selling them for a bit (or a bunch) more than I paid for them, always trading up in terms of quality. I ain't saying I've not invested a bunch of money in our hobby....but it was money I could afford without short-changing anyone in the family.
So now I'm trying to figure out what's next. I've got good long guns, all milsurps, that I did the same thing with. My Swiss rifles, Swedish Mausers, Enfields and, yes, one evil black assault rifle (a S&W). Wondering if there's something new to collect. Rolex watches? Jaguars? Depression glass? Quilts? Debt?
How do you folks handle this?
I'm about there. There isn't too much that I want or that I can even think off of the top of my head. There are wishful thinking guns of course, kind of like wanting to drive a Ferrari for a day, but obviously not doable. Otherwise it really has to jump out at me and I'm not even sure what that would be. Maybe a mint W. German Sig 226 for $300! Or a very good 4 inch highway patrolman for the same price!! . Or something like an old M&P 38 that's well used but perfectly functional for 2 bills.
Aside from that I have all calibers and sizes covered in defensive guns. Sub compact single stack Glocks to full size HK and 1911. The only thing I'm always always low on is ammo so I'm sticking to buying that
I find myself in a similar fix.
I've been very fortunate to be able to accumulate some desired hardware over the last 40 years. And, my two 'retirement jobs' of working p/t at a couple of busy LGS's certainly enhanced that.
Have most of what I really like.
Now, if funds were not an issue, I'd like to branch out into classic Winchesters, such as M12's, M21's, and all the lever guns.
A case could sure be made for jumping into Colts also.
Parker shotguns have always spoken to me, but alas, I have none.
Much like our beloved S&W's - this is stuff that has no modern counterpart. None.
Funny - I have a Brit friend who's a fire engine nut. He collects die-cast models of them. Has over 800.
If numbers count I should consider myself a golf ball collector.
I have over 700 in my garage and they didn't cost me a penny.
I live about 220 yards from the tee on the 3rd hole. If you have a good drive with a slight hook, I probably have one of yours in my collection. Identify it and I will happily return it. (Right after we discuss a couple of broken windows....)
My gun collection is nowhere near that extensive. Anybody know where I can trade Golf Balls for Guns??? (And I promise not to keep them in the garage...)
I've always heard that if you have more than two of something, you could be considered a collector.
(I guess my next step is becoming a collector of safes....If I can figure out where to put another one.)
I just realized, I am a safe collector! I already have 3. I overlooked the one in the garage because it doesn't have guns in it, just ammunition, reloading tools and supplies.
About 4 or 5 years ago I passed on a nice 3913 for IIRC a little under $400........... I counted my 3913s, 14s and NLs..... figured my carry gun and five backups would cover my "needs" well into my 80s.
Obviously there is some overlap in some categories.
As for safes, methinks the best solution is a bunch of small to medium size safes. There are guns in the back of my large safe not shot for ages because it's a royal pain to empty the safe out to get to them. Like a puzzle to get them all back in.
I've also become somewhat jaded. Guns I wudda jumped on years ago get passed up because... meh. Or BTDT.
Last edited by Brian in Oregon; 08-01-2016 at 02:49 PM.
I now....have all I need! Looking I see I have 4ea.22 plinkers.....why...I only need one!I found one I forgot I had.I only want to get this next...one....then I'm done.(not a .22lr) & not a S&W!!
I will know when I handle it IF I want it.....who knows...I may not like it! I 've done that before....sure saved me $$$$!
Jim
My safe is full, so I traded some lesser used ones for quality stuff, a 1959 and a 1966 Colt National Match 1911's. Traded my last ever 25-06 and brought home an FN in 300 Win Mag. Found a bunch of 300 mag ammo on close out at Wally world, in the Federal deer zombie what ever in 150 grain. I have 7 boxes for the price of 3 regular and found 2 boxes of NOS Win 150 grainers at a gun show for ten bucks a box. It is going to be a coyote-deer toy if I can get all the fence built, the new house done, get the barn electric inspected, build a garden, whoops next year on that one, buy a few cows, get the horses shod, work with them, wait a minute what was I going to do? Shoot a gun? coyote. I am retired, there is something seriously wrong here....
. Wondering if there's something new to collect. Rolex watches? Jaguars? Depression glass? Quilts? Debt?
How do you folks handle this?
Redcoat, I can sympathize with you on that. Your list is more comprehensive than mine, but not by a huge margin it sounds. I, too, am finding a dearth of guns I would want, at a price I would accept.
Here's a question, and suggestion: do you take pictures of your guns? Some of the posts I see online, the photos look like art. You can tell the pictures were taken by a camera, instead of a phone.
Which leads to a suggestion, and a bit of a confession on my part. Cameras, like firearms, have evolved. What used to be a well-crafted and solid device made by Canon or Minolta (or many other, often defunct companies), is now a hunk of plastic with a chip in it, much like what used to be a well-crafted steel pistol is now a Glock with a polymer frame. Both are disposable tools now.
Note- if the chambering is correct, you can still use the same ammo from the Glock as you do with the BHP or Walther.
AND, the analogy- with the correct adapter (available at ebay for around $30), you can still use old, manual lenses made for completely mechanical SLRs on a digital camera (namely, a Sony Nex or an Olympus m4/3 frame camera).
I have an "old" Olympus EPL-1, a series of adapters for various lens mounts (Minolta Rokkor, Konica Hexanon, Canon FD, and others)... lenses for cameras that are obsolete.
Older Pentax and Nikon lenses are still expensive, because the precision optics developed by the early 60's are still great- and Nikon and Pentax never changed their mounts. People want the old lenses, because the glass is just as sharp, and the construction is far superior. They just focus manually on their target.
But Canon changed theirs, Minolta changed theirs before selling out to Sony, and a whole bunch just faded away. These lenses were selling for under $30 a lot of the time, while their modern counterparts are priced upwards of $1000 apiece. And despite marketing boasts about new lens coatings etc, the fact remains- the only thing you lose is autofocus (well, not entirely true, an $1800 lens now might give you maybe 1% better extremely fine detail vs a $25 Rokkor, if you can squeeze it out. However, the GOOD old lenses will shame most lenses you can buy for under $300 new, and you DON'T need to be a great photographer to see that once you figure it out). And to be blunt, most of the best pictures, you are manually focusing, because AF might not lock on exactly where you want.
Photography can be a fun hobby (especially with some nice subjects like a vintage handgun), and it really isn't hard to figure out how to shoot manually. And if you're fine with photos and not movies, you can get a great used digital camera body from around 2010 that will far exceed your needs, for around $100 or so. And then- pick a lens series (like the Rokkor Prime lenses), splurge on, say $100 worth of lenses, and you will have 3-5 fantastic, metal-framed, precision optical devices capable of the sharpest images you've ever seen.... go check Best Buy and see what $150 gets you in comparison.
Just a suggestion, but be careful. The quest for 50mm f1.4 lenses gets as addictive as the hunt for old S&W revolvers, although for pennies in comparison- and unlike firearms, you can shoot as much as you like. I have probably 30 or more total lenses, in maybe 5 different mounts, and some overlap.
Sounds like 22's may in your future.
Various models of the Winchester 52a,52b,52c and 52d.
Various models of Remington 37's.
BSA martinis.
H&R model 12's as issued to the armed forces.
Single shot 22's.
And the list could go on.
Frank
How about when you have 35 long guns stuffed into a space in the safe that was designed for 15-16? Or your handguns are stacked like pancakes on the shelves? Or you buy a second bigger safe and by the time you migrate from the other your new safe is almost full? Or your newest safe that was almost full is now full and your back to stacking? Or you've bought so many borestores you feel like you should own part of the company, borestores work marvelously for protection against storage dings when you are stacking them in there. Or you have re-arranged so many times that there is just no way that anything else is gonna fit and you have 2 more on layaway and you have absolutely no room for another safe? I hate to say it, but that, my friend, is getting close to enough. One good thing about it though is you can spend a weekend going through and looking at them, it's like going to a gun show and not leaving the house. Plus, if you are getting older and maybe the memory is not what it used to be you'll run across something you had forgotten about, that's almost like getting a new gun!
When is "enough?"
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