Caliber Chaos....

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Cellar Hound

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They say that the first step to recovery is admitting that you have a problem......

I have a problem.

When I started my journey with the joy of shooting, I got myself a nice 9mm.

Then a .40. Followed by a .357. Then .380, .44, .38, .32.... and please don't make me discus +P....

I have ammo cans piled up that are labeled with duct tape that have the calibers written in black Sharpie. I've tried to address my caliber problem by considering the sale of some guns to narrow my caliber inventory. But when I open my little orphanage of a gun safe, the residents all seem to belong. I doesn't feel right throwing one of them out of the family because their caliber doesn't fit the new rules of the safe.

For now, I will learn to live with my caliber chaos as I do not have the courage to do otherwise. Have any of you tried to narrow your caliber collection or do you just maintain your stock of every type of ammo under the sun?
 
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If you have ammo for all of the guns you have, it sounds like you're all set.
There's been times when .40 or 10mm is all I can find. Enough that it's tempting to buy a .40 cal gun just for that reason.

I personally don't buy things for which I don't currently have ammo stocked. But I started somewhere!
 
Cellar Hound,

I read your post several times but you never said what your problem is.

My preferred method of storage is also using surplus military 30 and 50 caliber ammo cans. They are virtually indestructible, air tight with good seals and stack well. Easy to store a lot of different ammunition. I put labels of the front so it is easy to identify the contents without opening the can. Of course I also have ammo on shelves.

My biggest problem is I cannot stand having a empty ammo can which means spending money to fill it with either ammunition or magazines and other gun stuff.

IMHO life is too short to only own a few different caliber firearms.
 
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I think he's just sayin' that he's got a bunch of guns in a bunch of calibers. He's thought about selling some of the outliers to consolidate his ammo selection, but can't bring himself to do so. I'm the same way . . .
 
Muss Muggins said:
I think he's just sayin' that he's got a bunch of guns in a bunch of calibers. He's thought about selling some of the outliers to consolidate his ammo selection, but can't bring himself to do so. I'm the same way . . .
Click to expand...

Muss is right. I like shooting all different calibers. However, maintaining adequate quantities of ammo, including FMJ and SD ammo for each can be an expensive venture. Not to mention, trying to keep track of my inventory so I don't run out of a particular ammo at the wrong time.

As a side note, I forgot .45 ACP in my list above......

My problem is worse than I thought...
 
Muss Muggins said:
I think he's just sayin' that he's got a bunch of guns in a bunch of calibers. He's thought about selling some of the outliers to consolidate his ammo selection, but can't bring himself to do so. I'm the same way . . .
Click to expand...

But why owning a bunch of guns in a bunch of different calibers a problem?

Isn't variety suppose to be the spice of life? I am seeing the need for serious group intervention here.
 
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petepeterson said:
If you have ammo for all of the guns you have, it sounds like you're all set.
There's been times when .40 or 10mm is all I can find. Enough that it's tempting to buy a .40 cal gun just for that reason.

I personally don't buy things for which I don't currently have ammo stocked. But I started somewhere!
Click to expand...

Although I don't like stocking a lot of different calibers, I agree with your thought here. During the summer, when ammo began to evaporate, I was able to find a lot of .40 FMJ and JHP at reasonable prices. Everything else was either out of stock or priced through the roof....
 
While the different caliber ammo and component storage muddle has not made me sell any firearms, it has been a deciding factor in not branching into something new like buying .45 cal 1911s. My safes and loading bench are all packed and organized very tight. For any new caliber, suddenly I need a set of new dies, gauges, shell holders, more containers for clean and dirty brass, space on the shelf for all those reloads, and factory ammo (if and when we ever see that again). My OCD spins out of control and life quickly becomes like that children's book, "If You Give a Mouse Cookie". That's how Caliber Chaos affects me...
 
Oh the humanity....

BSA1 said:
Cellar Hound,

I read your post several times but you never said what your problem is.

My preferred method of storage is also using surplus military 30 and 50 caliber ammo cans. They are virtually indestructible, air tight with good seals and stack well. Easy to store a lot of different ammunition. I put labels of the front so it is easy to identify the contents without opening the can. Of course I also have ammo on shelves.

My biggest problem is I cannot stand having a empty ammo can which means spending money to fill it with either ammunition or magazines and other gun stuff.

IMHO life is too short to only own a few different caliber firearms.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the feedback.....

I just hope my condition doesn't degrade at some point and I go on Gunbroker and buy a .357 Sig, a 10mm, and a .45 LC.....
 
Boudiepitbull said:
While the different caliber ammo and component storage muddle has not made me sell any firearms, it has been a deciding factor in not branching into something new like buying .45 cal 1911s. My safes and loading bench are all packed and organized very tight. For any new caliber, suddenly I need a set of new dies, gauges, shell holders, more containers for clean and dirty brass, space on the shelf for all those reloads, and factory ammo (if and when we ever see that again). My OCD spins out of control and life quickly becomes like that children's book, "If You Give a Mouse Cookie". That's how Caliber Chaos affects me...
Click to expand...

Nice summary.......

I just walked down the .45 road..... the 1911 people were so friendly.......they said it was beautiful.......and it was...

Now, .45 is indelibly written into my family tree.....

It can happen that quick!!
 
At one point I had hand guns in 22LR, 22 magnum, .380, 9mm, 45 ACP, 10mm and 44. And long guns in 17 Mach 2, 22LR, .223/5.56, .243, .308, .338 Win mag and 12 gauge. It got to be too much and I sold every gun I had not taken to the range in a couple of years which reduced the chaos quite a bit.

Now my ammo stash is down to 22 LR, 9mm, 44, 5.56, 308 and 12 gauge which makes it easier to keep a good stockpile around. Having enough ammo in the calibers you prefer to make it through a shortage is better than owning a gun in every caliber known to man so if ammo does show up you will have a gun for it.

I quit reloading too which also makes shooting simpler. I sold most my handgun components and dies but hung on to my press, rifle dies and components "just in case" something it happened and I want to start reloading again. Its 2020 and I still don't want to reload so it safe to assume I will never want to reload. As soon as I get around to cataloging everything I am going to sell it.

Nothing wrong with having a bunch of different calibers. At the time I was buying everything and reloading I enjoyed it a lot. If that is you keep doing it. But if it starts to feel like burden instead of a pleasure shed some guns and calibers. I enjoy shooting my remaining guns more after thinning the herd. While I have a few core guns that serve a purpose and I am not planning to sell others come and go which keeps it interesting without having to keep buying more safes.

BTW, with as many calibers as you have you might consider reloading. I got tired of it but if you enjoy trying and experimenting with new guns and calibers you will likely enjoy trying new bullets and powder for the calibers you have. It can be a hobby in itself. And it does cut costs.
 
Calibers

We have all been thru this. I have expanded and contracted my calibers a dozen times in 27 years. There were times when i said i would only own guns for 1 caliber, next thing i knew i was back up to 5 or 6. I have finally settled on 9mm, 10mm, .45, and .38.
I kind of just settled into these because the handguns i really enjoy shooting just happen to be one of these. Now if i saw a .32 mag, or a .22, or pistol or rifle i really liked then who knows what would happen !!!
 
I thought I was headed towards simplicity last year when I sold my only .40 S&W and gave away the dies and components. Then the .38 Super bug bit. I think it's hopeless.
 
Cellar Hound said:
...
I have a problem.

When I started my journey with the joy of shooting, I got myself a nice 9mm.

Then a .40. Followed by a .357. Then .380, .44, .38, .32....

Have any of you tried to narrow your caliber collection...
Click to expand...
Variety is the spice of life!

You do have a problem though. I notice a conspicuous absence of .22 LR, .22 Mag, .25 Auto, 5.7, .45 ACP and .45 Colt.
 
What Problem !

A wise man once said " Variety is the spice of life"... How dull and uninteresting if we had to live our lives devoid of "Spice" .
Enjoy the variety of your gun safe ... one gun would be so boring !
Gary
 
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