Guns you will never shoot, what % of your collection?

I have dozens of guns. The ones that I know that I will never shoot make up at least ten percent of the collection. I have a number of pre-USRAC Model 94 Winchesters that I didn't buy to shoot. I want my grandsons to have them; they can shoot them if they want to. But I might sell them; I have plenty of guns for those boys.

I have a couple of pretty old .25 ACP pistols that I'll never shoot. I have a S&W 5903 SSV that is NIB that I'll never shoot, either.

There are a number of shotguns that I can't be bothered to shoot - including the ones that I leave loaded around the house. If I have to shoot those there's a serious social problem occurring.

I could get the number up to 20% if I include the ones I'm unlikely to shoot! Some .22s, rifles and handguns, and some other antiques That I can't be bothered with.

Yep, plenty of non-shooters lying around.

***GRJ***
 
I have a few that probably won't be shot. I have a just about perfect 18-3 that I have shot once. I like it but I have a high mileage 17-3 that covers that niche. I have a NIB 5906, I carry a 6906 so these are favorite guns. I have other 9mm double stacks I shoot that do the same thing. I have a Colt Magpul version 6920 that I bought last year (at about $250 more than they are now), probably won't get shot because I have an earlier version that does get shot once in awhile. I have a 3 1/2" 27-2 that I got from a local member in Ocala that is just so nice and I have a 4" 28 that has lots of miles so why not leave it be. I am not saving these guns for my son, he'll sell them as soon as I reach room temperature so there's no real reason for this. Lots of things I do or don't do for no explainable reason. Joe
 
Last year I did what you are doing. I sold all but a few that I won't routinely shoot, but have to keep for sentimental reasons. My Dad's Model 11 shotgun, my 597BDL, and my 1100.
 
Interesting question that required some thought. I have guns I haven't shot, but can't say I never will. If I exclude them, then only about 12% - half a dozen Lugers that stay locked up except for when I check on them once a year.
 
Eh. I own more than enough guns. I've discovered I own plenty that I have no plans on ever shooting. Particularly the engraved guns. And then we move to the rare ones. There was a time, long ago, that I owned 36 K22s. Three dozen of the things, and I just didn't need that many. The prewar boxed guns just don't get fired, ever. Too nice and too valuable. In my headlng rush to sell of the hoard of K22s, I only kept one that I'd fired. Its the ratty old K155. I'll shoot it until it stops working, and then I'll fix it and make it run again. If it actually dies before I do, I'll just move up to K166 ( a much nicer example) and shoot it till one of us dies.

Some of the guns I own weren't bought to be shot. Its just that simple. Even the ones I bought intending to sometimes just haven't come up in the rotation. I have a Colt 32 in 32 Colt caliber. I know, you don't own one, nor do you have any ammo in that caliber. The tiny little bullets are only .299, sigificantly smaller than 32 S&W Longs every one owns. But my younger son demanded I go shooting with him a while back. Really he wanted to fire my P210 and P238. So I also took along the 32 Colt. The P210 is the only 9mm I still own, and I've shot it a bunch, including with the 22 kit. I've never shot that one with the .30 Luger barrel and spring. Ammo is too dear.

But the 32 got its initiation. And its a nice little gun. We date it to the 19-teens, maybe. And while I don't have a bunch of ammo, its a sweet little shooter. Much like a 22 with low velocity ammo. No recoil and no blast at all. Can be compared to a pellet gun. It'll get shot more now. A pleasant surprise, and its about time I shoot it having owned it for a few years now.

I tell this sordid tale because its not often I go shooting only to test a gun I haven't fired before. Usually its to shoot one specific gun. I've got enough really good ones I like to risk wasting a day shooting an unknown.

Other confessions: I've not currently got a .41 that I've fired! I've got a factory engraved M57 and a M357. If I can find and buy another nice M57, I'll take it shooting. But I don't really want to fire some of my guns. So I won't.

My inventory sheet (notice it doesn't contain numbers, and I really don't know how many guns I own) used to have a column for "S" or "NS" for shot or not shot. I dropped that for some reason. I also dropped my habit of taking a hands on physical inventory. I used to do that once a year, but just neglect it these days. I do need to start over because even a bagged gun, slathered in CLP Collector can have a problem. Oh, that an I've got 2 lost guns at this time. I haven't seen them since before Christmas 2009. I'd like to find them and sell them. I think I can remember firing one off the back porch. Like 5 years ago.
 
I have one model 12 factory fired only with correct box and papers that I haven't fired but never say never . . .
 
I have 3 black powder pistols that I don't shoot, specifically because I don't like cleaning them. They are wall decorations that could be pressed into service if need be, but for the time being, just a decoration.

All the rest, I shoot.

I can understand having a gun you don't shoot, if it was purchased with the idea it's an actual investment.

What I don't get, and maybe someone can explain the logic behind it, is having a gun you don't shoot, with the idea you'll never sell it.

The only possible explanation I can see is that it's something your wife or other loved ones can sell to offset some bills.

If someone has a beautiful old triple lock (just for example) that he's not shooting or selling, he'd better realize the fact that someday someone will enjoy shooting it.

We're just temporary custodians of our guns, after all. Life is too short to not have some fun with them.
 
My TLs are treasured works of art and never shot. For competition, 3" 66 and 3" 686. For carry,2 1/2" 19.

Chris
 
I have a number of guns that I probably won't shoot, but could because they aren't NIB. I figured 27% of my guns are for sure unfired, so I probably will leave them that way. I'm not including any of my S&Ws because I can't be certain that they weren't fired (I didn't buy any of them new). A number of them are supposed to be unfired.
 
I have one that is an heirloom given to me by a 96 year old friend just before he died in 2010. It is not safe to fire and there is no ammo available for it. It is a Rossi side by side double-barrel derringer in .32 Rossi caliber made around 1900. It has a long history. Every other gun I own gets shot.
 
Guns you will never shoot, what % of your collection?
Click to expand...

ZERO! I've never even owned a safe queen. If I find I haven't shot something in two years or so it always got traded on something I would shoot. Since I haven't been buying many guns lately the collection is gradually narrowing down to the shooters I really like.

Besides, I don't want my wife to be one of those widows I see in gun shops getting ripped off by some guy behind the counter with dollar signs in his eyes as he under values every gun her husband left her.

Dave
 
I am more of a collector than shooter, so would say probably 60% of the guns I have aren't destined to be shot (and value could plummet drastically if a part gets broken on a 1925 Simson Luger ;))
So have shooters and have collector pieces - when I was young I believed that every gun I owned should be a shooter or capable of it - still believe in the capable part, but don't 'have to' shoot it :)
 
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