No (Safe) Guns

Rambling thoughts...
I've never yet regretted hanging onto a gun, but I sure as hell have regretted selling some.
Any time I'm tempted to sell or trade off a gun, I ask my wife, who always replies with "why in the world would you do that?"
I'm at a point in life when it's pretty certain I have guns I'll never fire again, and I'm fine with that.
The old-school survivalist who lingers in my subconscious continually whispers "but what if you need them?"
I have guns of not immodest value in my collection that may or may not continue to appreciate in value. I'm not going to constantly monitor the market, waiting for that perfect moment to sell. They'll be worth what they're worth when the time comes. Meanwhile, if I sell a gun I'll just have money, and money gets spent rather easily.
If the time comes to raise some revenue for important reasons, the guns will go, but unless things get dire, there are a few I'll keep till the bitter end.
My heirs will have a certain appreciation for the guns I leave them, but I do not entertain any fantasies about keeping the collection intact for future generations. They'll keep some and sell some. With luck I'll be able to anticipate that and do what's in their best interests before they have to make those decisions.
 
A home with a range in the backyard, will most likely have the shooters, out of the safe, more often.

Two decades ago, our kids said,
"If you give us a gun every year, you'll get the enjoyment of seeing us use them, before you die."
Most of the guns, they bought, are safe queens, in our home.
Who doesn't love cleaning/maintenance for other people's firearms. 😻

That Colt, bought new in '80, is the only unfired gun, in the house.

IMG_2869.jpeg
 
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Rocketmedic40 said:
I'd sell most and do travel/bucket list things. Sports team pilgrimage, etc.

That and if I don't have obvious or qualified heirs someone on the Internet will get a nifty prize for free.
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hmm, could be. I'm financially quite well off, have traveled the US on my Goldwing and used to travel all around with my family in the 60's. Had NY Jets season tickets for 6 years in the 90's and the NFL Sunday Ticket since 1995. I've got no heirs. I do have a lot of time to think about though because I'm only 69 and have another 31 more years to go.

Rick
 
Grimjaws said:
Well you can always give them away to your forum friends

(waves)

Hi friend 😁

On a serious note you could always list them here knowing they will go to people who appreciate S&Ws
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I also have an outstandingly large collection of NY Jets stuff that will be in the same boat. I'd hate to see most of it get tossed when there must be someone out there that would enjoy it. But once again I have a lot of time.......

Rick
 
Rocketmedic40 said:
So, I have a question. I was looking through my collection and there's a few pistols and rifles that I haven't shot in a very long time, and that I am unlikely to shoot in the future. I'm absolutely sure I'm not alone in that, we all have our favorites and economics kicks in hard, especially when we start talking about obscure ammunition. But within the limits of sanity and our collections, how do you look at your collection, and how do you deal with the urge to optimize, and what criteria do you have when it comes to Guns you haven't fired in a while, or don't carry often, or just plain don't use much?

For me as much as I enjoy the hobby and the collectors value, at the end of the day, I try and maintain a collection that's mostly usable in a lot of circumstances. Some of the guns that I really liked from a collector standpoint, I found were more difficult to live with as carry pieces, or duplicated another pistols role to the point where it made more sense to replace it. A perfect example was my model 19. It had a beautiful blue finish and nice custom wood grips, but those adjustable sights made it much more difficult to carry IWB, it was slower and heavier than my other pistols, and it was just too big and bulky to carry as opposed to the model 10 or 64. Eventually, I found myself tempted by a model 65, and I took the opportunity to combine my collection a little bit by selling the 19 and 64 (which I already miss because it was objectively a pretty great revolver), but intellectually I know the 65 is a fantastic and adaptable combat- proven pistol that will serve quite well and combine both roles into a platform that I am much more likely to be carrying.

Then, there's the J frames. I have three snubnose .38s and enjoy them all, but I am tempted by a 3 inch barrel. Intellectually, I know the differences are minimal, but something like a 3 inch model 36 is still tempting. I'm not going to buy one, but it is tempting.

Adding to this, I've also got some sentimental firearms that I don't want to part with (and won't) and some semi automatics that are not currently in Vogue, but that I can very easily see myself becoming reacquainted with when wheel fever fades. Once again, I'm sure we're all familiar with that feeling. Do you pare down or just shrug and build?

What I don't want to do is fall victim to the no sell only buy mentality. I know I'll lose a little money, but I don't want my hobby to take over my man cave entirely, and at some point, I like to enjoy what I've collected by using it instead of having a gigantic safe full of stuff I don't know about. Rifles like my Trapdoor fall in this area, it's cool, but not that cool.

Tying this to carry, I'd like to get to carrying mostly the same thing most of the time, but with a consistent manual of arms being the priority.
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As a teen I traded a savage .22RF over .410 for a 12 ga.. a few years later I traded a .44 mag Blackhawk for a 336 Marlin and about 150 once fired cases. Today I wished I would have kept them both. I guess I'll just buy another gun safe.
 
I've always been of the mindset that guns are like money in the bank.
Unless I overpaid when I bought them (which has happened a few times, but not very many), as long as I don't abuse or damage them, if I ever need to, I should be able to sell them for more than I paid for them.
At this point I don't anticipate ever NEEDING to sell my eclectic assortment of firearms, but if I ever do, I should be able to sell them and at least get my money back out of them...
 
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hdfinder47 said:
Rick - hoping that's not going to be an issue for a very long time. But I have 4 grandsons that would be happy to help you out! Ed
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Well thanks Ed! As I said earlier I'm 69 now and have 31 more years to go so I've got plenty of time to figure it out. lol

Rick
 
Kanewpadle said:
This may or may not help, but I only keep guns that I enjoy shooting. No safe queens here.

I understand collecting. I get it. But I know people that collect guns just so they can say "I got that one too". And they never shoot them. Don't make sense.
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I have shot every gun I own. I won't own a gun just to have it in my collection, but afraid to shoot it. I DO have a few collectables that were NIB, but those are the ones I shoot the **** out of.

That said, I try to rotate them. Years ago I put a spreadsheet together that shows date(s) fired. I have a few that have not been fired in years, probably because I tend to shoot the latest acquisitions first. But they are on the to-do list.

I see no need to thin the herd now. When the time comes they can be liquidated and I'm sure they will bring no less that what I paid originally.
 
I completly understand, where you are coming from. Although, as I have told everyone its my intention to live to 108. I decided to be a good Boyscout and be prepared in case high powers veto my plans. A couple of heart surgeries woke me up to that fact 10 yrs ago. That and burying two very close friends unexpectedly and helping their wifes clean out. The worst of which was my long time dealer facilitator, who worked outta his home.
My plan started with basics. Keep 1 gun for each caliber and action style (bolt,lever, semi auto, revolver da, revolver sa over under SxS or pump) that I reloaded for which was 40 at the time. I also said thin the herd by 50% over 5 yrs. Now the hard part, choosing. Gifts and inherited guns went on the cannot sell pile. Then was the pass ons to kids and grandkids and future gifts to same. Some of this crossed over per plan.
Then the really hard part started, for shotguns I ran a contest which ever gun shot best in 10 rounds of trap narrowed trap guns to one. Did the same with sporting clays for my hunting guns, got down to 3 12's, 3 20"s and one 28 and dumped both of my 410 O/U.
Next came the centerfire rifles one per caliber, with only exceptions being 06,308,223. I also sold rifles, I knew I would never use again, and got rid of brass and dies so no temptations. Rimfires are still a major challange.
Then the hardest part culling the handgun groups. All non Smith and Wessons Double actions with the exception of one Colt went. Then any Smiths that were collector grade unfired and duplicates went. That removed over 50% of my Double actions that were left.
As for Single actions well only Colts and one Ruger remain it was inherited.
Semi autos anything without a thumb safety and that operated similar to my 1911, gone, with one exception a steyr 9mm. I made my goals. It took more then 5 yrs. because picking and choosing, after all the years collecting, was hard. I was lucky to have a friend, whose son is a dealer. He handled disposal on consignment.
I have set new goals and i will tell you it ain't gettin any easier but not fair to leave it to my wife and kids, although my oldest boy knows what has to be done and thru whom.
I hope this helps, its just one persons way of doing a painful process.
 
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This is a very interesting question.

I would be extremely reluctant to sell any gun with sentimental value. You can always replace a non-sentimental gun with a similar one if you wanted to, but if you part with the sentimental one and regret it, you are stuck.

The ones I definitely keep are the ones I like to shoot. Even if only occasionally.

If I don't shoot them much, I will still keep them if they are interesting and hard to find. For example, I have an unaltered Norwegian Krag in 6.5 Swede. I don't shoot it a lot, but I enjoy just admiring the design and manipulating the bolt.

The next group are the guns that piss me off. I'm talking about the guns that for whatever reason don't shoot well for me. Or are unpleasant to shoot. Or have something not quite right in the trigger feel. Or eject their brass into the next county. Or have broken some part or otherwise let me down. Or a gun I bought because I thought I would like it, but when given a fair trial, I just never came to like. A gun that reminds me of my ex-wife. Etc. I will ruthlessly sell or trade those for some other gun that doesn't piss me off.

I also suggest making a detailed list of all your guns, with clear indications of what you think their value is. But also include details about what, if anything, it means to you. I've had several friends die with large collections, and a list like that would have been very helpful.

For example, I have an old S&W K-38 that has seen a lot of use. A stranger would not value that gun much. But I've noted on my list that this is probably my all time favorite gun, so please take due care for its disposition. I've got other guns in nice condition but my list might indicate I never really cared that much about it, and only have it because I got it cheap.
 
I think about this kind of thing a lot. I'm an only child (48 y/o), divorced and no kids. All my friends that I consider to be "brothers from another mother" ie people that I would want to leave a gun(s) to, are either my age or 10-20 years older.

I guess I need to start making some younger friends.
 
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