"...if you could only keep one..." I'm finding out.

[Triathloncoach]

My preference would be for a 9mm, but you seem comfortable with your 45s.

And looking on the bright side, if you significantly thin the herd, you may regret it. And then you have a built in excuse to buy more cool guns, one of my true joys in life.

 

[Maccabeus]

You're killing me...

... if I could only have one...

The one, for me, is the early production 6-round rail free 4513TSW...

So, I just bought a nice 627 from a member (thanks NotoriousSEG) and planned to pay for it by selling an M65 and a 6rnd pre-rail 4513TSW. Until reading your post. Now I'm thinking, "How can I sell the TSW?!" So much for replenishing the bank account.

 

[rwsmith]

In 20 years time.....

I figure I'm working another 20 years... so my brain cannot comprehend such a question.

I couldn't even get down to just two S&W semi-auto pistols. But if I had to, the choice of which two is easy. (845 and 52-2)

In 20 years time you will be doing things you never said you would do and not doing things that you said you would always do.

 

[Barrie]

Thats my faverite gun of all time the model 627 with the wood grips on it. I have saving for a few years now and still have a ways to go yet. You have good taste in PC guns.

 

[TTSH]

In 20 years time you will be doing things you never said you would do and not doing things that you said you would always do.

Ouch!!! Did any of us realize 20 years ago where we'd be today? Were those thoughts and predictions accurate?

20 years ago (1996 - 10 years before my forced early retirement), this firearms hobby was completely dormant for me... and I was traveling the world and working my butt off for my unappreciative employer. Beyond work, sleep, travel and paying bills I had no life.

It was that forced early retirement plus the election of a certain anti-2A leader that brought my long dormant hobby back to life. Who could have predicted that?

 

[vigil617]

.......and to this day I still blame you for this 3rd gen addiction......thanks

Plus one on that, brother!

 

[4506517]

Congrats on the retirement.

As people change, tastes change.

I wish you were a magistrate in my county.

 

[rattlesnakedaddy]

Congratulations on retirement. I only own 1 3rd gen pistol, a 6906, and don't see myself selling it any time soon. I'm still learning about the 3rd gen series, and in the opposite mode, wanting to add to my collection (leaving my job to work for myself has slowed that down a bit for now).

I do understand wanting to thin things down a bit. I have a few long guns in my safe, that I have been tempted to sell as I don't shoot them much anymore.

RSD

 

[mlk18]

When my Dad retired (former state police) he did the same thing. He kept his beloved S&W 66 and Ithaca 1911, but unless you could hunt with it he let it go. I got a few guns, my brother in law got a few, and the rest were sold off. Pretty soon he was at my house digging through my safes. "Why do you have so many Glock 19's? I better take one with me". "This 638 is a lot different gun than the 36's we used to carry. I am just going to take it for a few months and try it out." "Mossberg 590 makes a pretty good home defense shotgun huh. I see you have 3 of them here, well now you have 2". Pretty soon he ended up with at least a half dozen guns from my house and is now eyeballing my Ruger LCP Custom. So obviously there's another way to have more than just one gun. I could complain but this is the man who taught me to shoot at age 7 and give me a Colt Police Positive Special and Colt Challenger .22lr when I was 10. Seems like the circle of life to me.

 

[BAM-BAM]

MLK18 ......LOL my Dad was a retired Police Capt. in the "burbs of the Burgh"..........a couple years after he retired he and Mom moved to "The Cabin" in the Laurel Highlands of the Allegheny's.....

I'd spend a lot of weekends there.......I took to storing a half dozen guns with my folks rather than transport them back and forth........

His "carry guns" dating from 1939/46/55 went into his safe and Dad "borrowed" a/my 4" 686 and a 640.......... along with a couple of .22 rifles.......oh well he did buy me my first "new" .22 a Remington 511-X Scoremaster.........

 

[Scott in NCal]

I want would keep at minium the 4 I use the most. Glock 19, 1100 Remington 12 Ga, Model 700 in 223 (with Barnes copper bullets it is a capable pig/deer rifle, and I never need to drag anything bigger than that out of the field again) and then a real heartbreaker Either a S&W 66 or a BlackHawk 357/9mm convertable. Only 1 though, the Glock.

 

[JBONES]

I would have no issue selling off all the old paper weights, and investing in another plastic gun some call junk. I"m old enough to been around the older steal and have now come to reaileze the MP plastic is the way to go. Just my thing. Not for everyone. Looking to get a Performance Center 9L soon. Another i would consider when selling the old steal is the SW1911SC.

I'ed never part with my plastic MP's, and my 629-1 and 686-4 are keepers. The LCR in .357 may stay, handy at times.

My Dad kept his model 19 he bought back in 1969, his colt dedective special Mom bought him in 1962ish, and the recent gun club raffle win, a Bodyguard .380. He's 86 now and loves his plastic.

 

[mbliss57]

18DAI...I will take that 3914NL! Mine would have to be 4506-1 followed very closely by the 3914NL (The only one I still need to complete my model 39, 39x and 39xx blue finish collection! Or the 4513TSW no rail or maybe my 457...hmmm it's so hard to choose. I am glad I don't have to!

 

[18DAI]

Mbliss57 the 3914NL just got a face lift. I found a parts kit on the gun auction board for a "3914". It included a very good condition slide. For a 3914NL. When.........if...it goes you have first dibs. Best regards, 18DAI

 

[BAM-BAM]

Mbliss57 the 3914NL just got a face lift. I found a parts kit on the gun auction board for a "3914". It included a very good condition slide. For a 3914NL. When.........if...it goes you have first dibs. Best regards, 18DAI

Dang...... thought about making a run at the 14NL.... but figured it was a waste of time..........


wait....... 18DIA PM me the email of "the widow".... I meant "wife" ....... cus my guess is that's the earliest...... that 3914NL might be available.....

 

[Farmboy 33051]

When my Dad retired (former state police) he did the same thing. He kept his beloved S&W 66 and Ithaca 1911, but unless you could hunt with it he let it go. I got a few guns, my brother in law got a few, and the rest were sold off. Pretty soon he was at my house digging through my safes. "Why do you have so many Glock 19's? I better take one with me". "This 638 is a lot different gun than the 36's we used to carry. I am just going to take it for a few months and try it out." "Mossberg 590 makes a pretty good home defense shotgun huh. I see you have 3 of them here, well now you have 2". Pretty soon he ended up with at least a half dozen guns from my house and is now eyeballing my Ruger LCP Custom. So obviously there's another way to have more than just one gun. I could complain but this is the man who taught me to shoot at age 7 and give me a Colt Police Positive Special and Colt Challenger .22lr when I was 10. Seems like the circle of life to me.

Sounds like a son who loves his dad to me.

 

[greyghost803]

I retired in 2009 due to some health problems. I'm 72 & retired
as Major & Deputy chief. I guess I think differently than most.
I personaly don't think this is the time to be getting rid of
firearms. Have you already or are you planning to sell the
ones you don't want ?? You may have already addressed
this and I just missed it. Thanks !

 

[18DAI]

I had 56 pistols and a dozen long guns Chief. More than I needed. They became a problem to store. I'm downsizing. Not getting out of the game though.

When all is said and done, I'll probably have 7 handguns and 2 or 3 longguns left. All my carry guns are staying. And I have enough spare parts to keep 3 of them up for a couple of decades at least. Especially as they have all gone almost 3 decades without breaking anything.

Thanks for your service and I'll keep a good thought for you. Best regards, 18DAI

 

[mlk18]

All things considered I have less guns today than I did 10-15 years ago, but I do have several higher quality guns than I did back then. I have never stopped being a gun aficionado and shooter, but the depth of my interest has increased and decreased through the course of my life. Besides, life is too short for only one interest and sometimes guns/shooting has to share time (and $) with other interests.

But this is all very subjective. Before retirement my father in law was an occasional shooter who had a few nice guns. When my he retired he went crazy into shooting sports and probably has 20-25 more guns than he did the last day he "worked" for a living. Plus he has probably pulled the trigger more since then than he did all the years he worked. Some people start golfing, he started skeet shooting.

 

[Sundancer2004]

Having retired last year I am embarking on a new life. And there is no room in it for my accumulation of firearms. I have no need for all the "back ups" and duplicates of the same model. All the "investment pieces" are gone. I've no one to leave them to.......so off they go.

I am keeping my three carry guns and two.....maybe three others that I have sentimental attachment to.

So, in winnowing down the herd I have been giving a lot of thought to that old gunboard conversation starter; "..if you could only keep one..".

At first, I thought that "one" would likely be a 4566 or a 4506-1. Nope. Then I thought well a 39XX series gun would pretty much do everything......nah.....but I will keep one.....or two..of those.

I then figured a 4516 would be the one if I could only have one. Turns out it is a close second place.

The one, for me, is the early production 6-round rail free 4513TSW. That little gun gets carried all the time. It has rarely been off my hip since I got it several years back. A joy to carry. Light weight, perfectly sized....well....could be a little thinner through the slide. Easy enough to shoot and get accurate hits with. Fine for a nightstand or truck gun too.

So there you have it. I never thought I'd only own a few guns again. But it is time and I'm good with it. If I reduce down to one gun and one gun only, its not a revolver or ANY of the other models I love. It will be that little 45. The very last gun I'll own. Regards 18DAI

As I read this I think of my favorite 45 I purchased in the early 80's as a carry piece, or the .38 Colt Detective Special I purchased right out of the military as it was the gun assigned to me for my duty.

Then I think of how I sold them.

Then the article in one of the firearms magazines entitled: The guns I sold that I wish I had kept.