I need some help here, fellas; I need to be talked back away from the edge. I've been working on my Occasional Year-End Inventory of Guns & Stuff for the past few days and I've come to the realization that...well, to put it mildly: I must be nuts. It's true, my wife has been telling me this for years now and I've steadfastly rejected such unprofessional insinuations. Love being the triumph of imagination over intelligence that it is, somehow we've stayed together for over 37 years. However, I'm beginning to be afraid that I'm starting to see her point.
I've read with great interest most of the sage advice on this very forum concerning how to create a satisfying and coherent S&W collection. There's been a lot of good advice given and I've sat here and vigorously nodded my head in agreement with most of the recommendations for establishing objectives and limitations; on being selective and responsible. Well, I've been analyzing my seemingly comparatively meager S&W accumulation and I can find very little logic or reason in the decisions that I've made on what to keep and what to release (…or not).
Sixteen (16, count 'em) S&W 22 LR revolvers? Thirty (30) S&W 38 specials of one form or another? Dozens more S&W 357 Magnums? (Not the old ones, unfortunately.) I will not bore you with the final tallies of my other calibers of choice, but suffice it to say that it's a big number; more than I care to admit, and something that Mrs.Speedo will hopefully never learn of in total. Now, I know that to some here this sort of thing is no big deal; just getting started; mere "pikerville" to many. (Probably my imagination, but I think that I'm hearing Roseanne Cash sing "This is How We Make a Broken Heart" in the background.) But when I see those things all listed out and categorized, priced and value estimated; man, something just appears to be out of whack. So, O' Great Ones; those of you with gun safes the size of small town savings and loans; how can this madness be justified? How do you look your better halves in the eyes and explain such avarice? And better yet, how do you achieve nirvana with less than 2-dozen (or so) S&W revolvers?
It's obvious that I've missed the lessons on releasing my acquisitions back into the market. It wouldn't be too from the truth to say that I've attempted to keep just about every gun that I've ever owned. Aside from earlier youthful stupidity and the occasional "fire sale" to replenish my poker fund, I find that I just can't stand to sell a gun. But this just isn't going to work anymore. My gun safe is overburdened; my closets are stuffed with paraphernalia, grips and boxes; and my kids are a bit worried about bringing over the grandchildren. I'm finding guns that I acquired years ago tucked away in strange places. I discover guns buried in the safe that I've never even shot that I had every intention of shooting. And most of mine aren't even safe queens 'cause I'm generally a cheap person. Yet more are on the way; two comparatively big-ticket items are on my pusher's lay away shelf even as I write this. We jokingly write about how addictive these things are, but there's a bit of truth in that humor.
Maybe I'm just going stir crazy, but I'm giving serious consideration to just dumping the whole mess and starting over. I know that what I probably need to do is go out to the range and blow some things up. But it's too damned cold outside to shoot comfortably; and shooting indoors is a PITA. Ammo is too damned expensive and reloading is another PITA. The market prices on some of those old clunkers are pretty attractive. The wife has been making noises about remodeling the kitchen and master bathroom; big expenditures as we're nearing retirement. The stars are stating to align…come on guys, talk me out of this liquidation madness. Or prepare for a minor glut of nondescript, but otherwise nice revolvers to hit the market soon. I feel like I'm on the edge; guess that I got 'dem low-down, gun smugglers', packrat blues. –S2
I've read with great interest most of the sage advice on this very forum concerning how to create a satisfying and coherent S&W collection. There's been a lot of good advice given and I've sat here and vigorously nodded my head in agreement with most of the recommendations for establishing objectives and limitations; on being selective and responsible. Well, I've been analyzing my seemingly comparatively meager S&W accumulation and I can find very little logic or reason in the decisions that I've made on what to keep and what to release (…or not).
Sixteen (16, count 'em) S&W 22 LR revolvers? Thirty (30) S&W 38 specials of one form or another? Dozens more S&W 357 Magnums? (Not the old ones, unfortunately.) I will not bore you with the final tallies of my other calibers of choice, but suffice it to say that it's a big number; more than I care to admit, and something that Mrs.Speedo will hopefully never learn of in total. Now, I know that to some here this sort of thing is no big deal; just getting started; mere "pikerville" to many. (Probably my imagination, but I think that I'm hearing Roseanne Cash sing "This is How We Make a Broken Heart" in the background.) But when I see those things all listed out and categorized, priced and value estimated; man, something just appears to be out of whack. So, O' Great Ones; those of you with gun safes the size of small town savings and loans; how can this madness be justified? How do you look your better halves in the eyes and explain such avarice? And better yet, how do you achieve nirvana with less than 2-dozen (or so) S&W revolvers?
It's obvious that I've missed the lessons on releasing my acquisitions back into the market. It wouldn't be too from the truth to say that I've attempted to keep just about every gun that I've ever owned. Aside from earlier youthful stupidity and the occasional "fire sale" to replenish my poker fund, I find that I just can't stand to sell a gun. But this just isn't going to work anymore. My gun safe is overburdened; my closets are stuffed with paraphernalia, grips and boxes; and my kids are a bit worried about bringing over the grandchildren. I'm finding guns that I acquired years ago tucked away in strange places. I discover guns buried in the safe that I've never even shot that I had every intention of shooting. And most of mine aren't even safe queens 'cause I'm generally a cheap person. Yet more are on the way; two comparatively big-ticket items are on my pusher's lay away shelf even as I write this. We jokingly write about how addictive these things are, but there's a bit of truth in that humor.
Maybe I'm just going stir crazy, but I'm giving serious consideration to just dumping the whole mess and starting over. I know that what I probably need to do is go out to the range and blow some things up. But it's too damned cold outside to shoot comfortably; and shooting indoors is a PITA. Ammo is too damned expensive and reloading is another PITA. The market prices on some of those old clunkers are pretty attractive. The wife has been making noises about remodeling the kitchen and master bathroom; big expenditures as we're nearing retirement. The stars are stating to align…come on guys, talk me out of this liquidation madness. Or prepare for a minor glut of nondescript, but otherwise nice revolvers to hit the market soon. I feel like I'm on the edge; guess that I got 'dem low-down, gun smugglers', packrat blues. –S2
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Think of these guns as a very solid investment. Sure beats a 401(201)k. You could have worse "addictions" with no return, i.e. fishing boat and gear, some sort of auto racing, or any number of things. You can't give in to the "logic". If you fall, then any of us can fall
