collector or accumulator ??? fun question

[TomkinsSP]

Its a sliding scale...

Cats, newspapers=hoarder. Old revolvers=collector.

Poor=crazy. Middle class=colorful. Rich=eccentric.

 

[BAM-BAM]

Lets say you have several handguns; all have a specific purpose to fulfill and all get shot and/or carried. You don't really like revolvers that much and see no use in your life for the .357 ,.41 or .44 magnum calibers.

You wonder into a LGS , and based on the things you've read and learned here..... you see a gun you identify as a Registered Magnum...... it's condition is ANIB...... and is for sale with an asking price of $850 ( cus it's got a long barrel).

Do you buy it or walk away because it's a magnum revolver?

If you buy it, knowing you are never going to shoot it, and don't plan to resell it...and you know you will start a thread here ...... with pictures... does that make you an accumulator or a Collector?


Or just d--- lucky!!!!!

 

[BAM-BAM]

Its a sliding scale...

Cats, newspapers=hoarder. Old revolvers=collector.

Poor=crazy. Middle class=colorful. Rich=eccentric.

Thank God; I'm not a crazy, eccentric hoarder!!!!!!!!

 

[Laketime]

Lets say you have several handguns; all have a specific purpose to fulfill and all get shot and/or carried. You don't really like revolvers that much and see no use in your life for the .357 ,.41 or .44 magnum calibers.

You wonder into a LGS , and based on the things you've read and learned here..... you see a gun you identify as a Registered Magnum...... it's condition is ANIB...... and is for sale with an asking price of $850 ( cus it's got a long barrel).

Do you buy it or walk away because it's a magnum revolver?

If you buy it, knowing you are never going to shoot it, and don't plan to resell it...and you know you will start a thread here ...... with pictures... does that make you an accumulator or a Collector?


Or just d--- lucky!!!!!

This would be a lucky opportunist.

 

[MetalMan]

I shoot all mine so l guess I'm an accumulator
I'd like to be a collector but it's hard not to shoot what you got.

Holy cow!!!!!

Wow!!!!!

What an accumulation!!!!!!

Just WOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[jmr986]

I buy what I like and have purchased 6 guns and a rifle in the last year. So I guess that makes me an accumulator. But, 2 of the purchases were a S&W 27-2 3 1/2 and a Python 4", the rest new. Both were replacements for what I sold 20+ years ago. So that would be a collection of sorts. So I guess I'm a Accumollector

 

[kscharlie]

Hoping not to offend anyone, but I see no difference between a collector vs an accumulator. As far as I am concerned, if you have more than one of anything, it is a collection. There may be vast differences between any two collections, but one persons collection of 65% finish shooters is just as much of a collection as another persons 99.9% finish safe queens. And it doesn't really matter to me. Why should the dollar value of anything be the determining factor of whether or not it is a collection.

Anyone here a coin collector? Works the same way. A complete set of Morgan silver dollars that all grade MS-65 or better may will have a much higher dollar value that a complete set that only grades Fine to Extra Fine, but both sets are collections.

I can and do admire a Model 19 that has been well used and lovingly taken care of just as much as I admire a pristine 5 screw Combat Magnum. I grew up in an era where S&W blue revolvers were the epitome of the gun makers craft, where blue guns with gorgeous wood stocks were put out the door of Winchester. These fine old guns were truly works of art. Craftsmanship which is no longer duplicated today. That art and craftsmanship is just as evident in a well used but taken care of gun as it is in one that is "new in the box".

Like I said, if you have more than one, you have a collection.

 

[Jim NNN]

Collector or Accumulator?

Wow, this is troubling. I hadn't considered "accumulator" as a category of gun owner before, but it seems to fit. I'm disappointed because "Collector" sounded more...respectable.

 

[Laketime]

Wow, this is troubling. I hadn't considered "accumulator" as a category of gun owner before, but it seems to fit. I'm disappointed because "Collector" sounded more...respectable.

The proper term that identifys most of us here is...Gun enthusiast with a gun collection.Im in the Jim Supica camp in viewing the term accumulator or accumulation of guns as a degrading term originating from a very small group of serious gun collectors .

 

[ExcitableBoy]

It appears that I don't fall into either category. I suppose I'd call myself a "shooter-opportunist-upgrader", meaning that I have particular guns to fill a real need, be it hunting, self-defense, home-defense or just something that pleases me to shoot for fun.

If I find a good deal on something that doesn't particularly fill a "need", I often buy it to use as trade-bait, or equity, toward an upgrade. Once I've upgraded a certain revolver, pistol, rifle or shotgun, I usually sell or trade the lesser of the breed.

I only have a few guns that I purchased way back when I was still young, like a gorgeous K-22 Masterpiece (1947 vintage) that I use on squirrels when shotgunning, and a beautifully blued and polished Ruger M77 Bicentennial (1976 buy) in .270, that I use for distance shooting on deer. I sold an Erma .22 Luger look-alike and a Colt New Frontier .22 and replaced them with the K-22. The Ruger replaced a Savage 110 in 7mm Rem. Mag. Just upgrading. There are some that I wish I still had (HK 91, AR-180, 2 S&W 28s, S&W 49, American Eagle Luger, Savage 29B, Mossberg 144 Target, and many more...), but they didn't fit the need at various times.

So... not a collector and not an accumulator. Kinda like the old kid's game "What Am I?"

 

[1-1917]

It appears that I don't fall into either category. I suppose I'd call myself a "shooter-opportunist-upgrader", meaning that I have particular guns to fill a real need, be it hunting, self-defense, home-defense or just something that pleases me to shoot for fun.

If I find a good deal on something that doesn't particularly fill a "need", I often buy it to use as trade-bait, or equity, toward an upgrade. Once I've upgraded a certain revolver, pistol, rifle or shotgun, I usually sell or trade the lesser of the breed.

I only have a few guns that I purchased way back when I was still young, like a gorgeous K-22 Masterpiece (1947 vintage) that I use on squirrels when shotgunning, and a beautifully blued and polished Ruger M77 Bicentennial (1976 buy) in .270, that I use for distance shooting on deer. I sold an Erma .22 Luger look-alike and a Colt New Frontier .22 and replaced them with the K-22. The Ruger replaced a Savage 110 in 7mm Rem. Mag. Just upgrading. There are some that I wish I still had (HK 91, AR-180, 2 S&W 28s, S&W 49, American Eagle Luger, Savage 29B, Mossberg 144 Target, and many more...), but they didn't fit the need at various times.

So... not a collector and not an accumulator. Kinda like the old kid's game "What Am I?"

I think you fit the "enthusiast" category I mentioned earlier
perfectly.

 

[1-1917]

Wow, this is troubling. I hadn't considered "accumulator" as a category of gun owner before, but it seems to fit. I'm disappointed because "Collector" sounded more...respectable.

Don't forget the enthusiast category. Kind of like the upper class men. We mostly start as freshmen, learn a bit and get humbled a few times, get smarter and then eventually we become upper class men/grad students (the enthusiast). A rare few go on to work on their PHD, the real "collectors" in my opinion. The collectors are a resource we accumulators and enthusiasts constantly learn from but they are still the teachers. If you are a constant resource to others, consider yourself a "collector".. (-:}

 

[TTSH]

The proper term that identifys most of us here is...Gun enthusiast with a gun collection.Im in the Jim Supica camp in viewing the term accumulator or accumulation of guns as a degrading term originating from a very small group of serious gun collectors .

Is that how this whole thing started? I always suspected there was some "history" behind the whole silly forum debate of "collector vs. accumulator" and why so many folks with very respectable gun collections still insist on being called "accumulators."

 

[Laketime]

Is that how this whole thing started? I always suspected there was some "history" behind the whole silly forum debate of "collector vs. accumulator" and why so many folks with very respectable gun collections still insist on being called "accumulators."

I think here the members who are not collectors take it upon themself to call their collection accumulations ,out of respect for the collectors.One poster here with a registered magnum calls his an accumulation.I would give the collectors more credit here in that they are not secretly meeting discussing the use of term gun collection.

 

[1-1917]

I think here the members who are not collectors take it upon themself to call their collection accumulations ,out of respect for the collectors.One poster here with a registered magnum calls his an accumulation.I would give the collectors more credit here in that they are not secretly meeting discussing the use of term gun collection.

I have a registered magnum. I've had two of them over the years but that sure doesn't make me a S&W collector in my book.

 

[TTSH]

I think here the members who are not collectors take it upon themselves to call their collection accumulations out of respect for the collectors. One poster here with a registered magnum calls his an accumulation. I would give the collectors more credit here in that they are not secretly meeting discussing the use of term gun collection.

How do you know the SWCA members aren't secretly meeting behind their private forum firewall discussing the very same issue? Just kidding.

So this is really all about "respect" for the real gun collectors? The serious gun collectors? The elite among us with a whole lot of money to spend?

I admit that I still don't get it. But please don't tell my good wife that I am not a proper, respectable gun collector. If she finds out that I'm just a mere low-class "accumulator" she may throw me out of the house.

 

[crazyphil]

Collector or Accumulator? I think it has more to do with the supposed
expectation of the use of the gun or guns. If you are a pragmatist and
buy guns for a particular intended use, as I do, then I would say you are
an accumulator if you end up with more than one.
On the other hand, I think collectors are more interested in the historical
importance and the condition of their acquisitions.
There is a very fine line between collector and accumulator. Anyone
can be either one whichever they choose.
I think of myself as an accumulator of pistols and revolvers. I only
have about a dozen now. I think of myself as a collector of holsters.
I have about a dozen dozen.

 

[Telecaster]

I do both, collect and accumulate. If I decide I like Model Y better than Model X, but they're basically the same (e.g. 6-round revolver in .357) I may keep Model X because it's a great gun. Or if I bought a Plastico 9000 thinking it would be the ultimate carry gun, but later decide I prefer my Shield, and the Plastico 9000 isn't very popular on the used gun market, then; well, I have accumulated another gun.

 

[Laketime]

I have a registered magnum. I've haddock two of them over the years but that sure doesn't make me a S&W collector in my book.

Never said it did,but you have a gun collection.

 

[BAM-BAM]

How do you know the SWCA members aren't secretly meeting behind their private forum firewall discussing the very same issue? Just kidding.

(

Those guys drop by here when they need a good laugh!!!!

I got it.............

Collectors are the guys with the large jar of..... "Renaissance Wax"

Accumulators have the small jars.......................

Shooters have.............Hoppe's



Just funnin.....