If you were going to sell off some guns in your collection....

The disease just won't stop!

*If you were going to sell off some guns in your collection....

2 years ago at age 72, I began selling off some specialty/competition guns that I thought might be hard to find the right buyers for. Then the duplicates! I had 14, 1911's and 14, K, L and N frames! I sold the Colts and an M41 and then began giving some to my son and SIL.

But then came an M60 for my wife, a S&W-JM 625 and a really nice M18-4!

So the score is -10 and + 3!

I suppose once you get the "disease" it just won't stop!

Smiles,
 
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I would usually think "How hard would it be to replace?" but since I live in Kalifornistan and am not overly fond of anything on our "not too unsafe" roster... pretty much all of 'em would be "very hard to impossible" to replace. :(
 
GypsmJim makes a very valid point. What is the goal here? Maximum profit or simply reduce inventory?
Some of you may recall that several years ago I dealt with my late friends collection for his wife. She simply wanted to get rid of them. My goal was to make sure she didn't loose any money.
Fortunately my friend kept very good records. I knew exactly what he had paid for most of them. He was heavily into mil-surps. I found that he was buying Mosins, SKSs and such back when you could get them for less than $100. I sold most of his guns for far more than he paid, yet far enough below current market for a quick sale. We took 103 guns to a gun show and came home with 11. Yet i was still able to more than triple his original investment for her.
Its important to specify your goals. ;)
 
As I've gotten older I have reduced the number of my accumulation. A few years ago I got rid of those I either didn't shoot or that I had no real emotional attachment to. I had no regrets when all was said and done.

Now I'm thinking about a second reduction, where if I don't shoot it I don't need it, period. This round will be a little tougher as there are a couple unfired guns in the mix as well as some I just like but never use, but the more I think about it the more at peace I am with the idea.

I'm thinking of getting down to maybe ten hand guns, almost all S&W, that I've owned from between one to almost fifty years. Maybe I'm at the point in life where quantity becomes secondary to quality/utility.
 
This is something I want to discuss with my two sons in law this weekend when I see them. Health issues have dramatically reduced my shooting time. I would be open to thinning my collection. I already gave each of my daughters two guns. For me, each gun I ever bought was an obsession at the time. Each of my guns has an index card with all pertinent info plus what I feel would be a fair price for. Wy wife will have little to no involvement in disposing of them.
 
I'm currently dumping some foreign milsurp stuff that just takes up room. People are paying crazy prices right now. Seems like a good time to make some room for stuff I actually like.
 
I spent too many years building my collection, and downsized quite a lot after a heart attack. For what's left, I refuse to even think about it. Someone else's problem one day.
 
I'm not selling any of mine ever! I told the wife if I go first have a big estate sale. If the wife goes first then daughters can have a big estate sale. It took me a lifetime to collect them and they will all be sold one Saturday afternoon when I'm dead!
 
double-dipper said:
I'm not selling any of mine ever! I told the wife if I go first have a big estate sale. If the wife goes first then daughters can have a big estate sale. It took me a lifetime to collect them and they will all be sold one Saturday afternoon when I'm dead!
Click to expand...

I had that thought....long ago. Now, in my State it can't be done. Need a 01FFL to handle any transfers.

Ya never know what the future is going to bring. Things may be different no matter where you live.
 
76 come May 5. I'm still buying. I guess I've got it bad. I do have a couple I would sell but I'm not actually trying to sell them. Unless financial troubles come my kids can sort them out when I'm gone.
 
I think your dilemma is one most of us have at times. And it's a person by person decision. I usually sell guns that I've not shot in quite a while, and expect that non shooting to continue. But I have my 1974 deer rifle that I will never sell and I have not shot it in more than 15 years. I will also say that I've sold a few, but not many, that after some time, I sure wish I had not sold them. Your call on what makes sense for you, but if in doubt, don't sell it. That's my thoughts.
 
Gary,

At some point in time this will be a tough question for all of us since we obviously can't take our collection with us. While I do have an emotional attachment to all of the firearms in my collection (some more, some less) I know that our tastes and preferences do change over time. For instance I had five or six Model 25-5s. Reading forum posts and over time I came to the realization that I just did not want to deal with the .45 Colt round. Another forum member sold them all for me. As has already been stated above, that decision provided me with the funds to acquire better revolvers and 1911s.

I do want to fine tune my collection before I pass on and to the greatest extent possible, not leave that burden on my family. This is strictly a personal decision.

The old Western expression "thinning the herd" may help. If I looked at my collection today there's probably three to six (or more) of my firearms that I would sell, going back to the time that I bought them "What was I thinking"? They just don't fit my preferences any more.

This forum is a great place to implement those decisions. Extremely honest members who will usually pay your asking price, and whom you know will take excellent care of them just as you have done.

Just one old codger's opinions.

Now, IF you have a Model 19 "snubby".........................

Bill
 
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I'm kind of in a holding pattern. I was selling stuff, but then fell in love with 3rd Generation pistols. So it was a net zero sum.

I have everything cataloged, with a realistic value. So if I die suddenly, Mrs. QD67 will have a good idea what they're worth.

As for the future, I don't know. We have no children, so no one who would probably want them. One nephew has some of his father's guns, as do I. I don't know if he's interested. I never addressed the issue.

Maybe as I get closer to retirement I'll start selling some off. But that's a decade or so away.

So I'll just enjoy what I have for now.
 
The guys at the auction house and I still have a good laugh thinking about when I brought in a load of guns and ammunition to sell back in 2009 when I lost my job. We get a chuckle remembering how when I drove in the frame of my car (a Mercury Grand Marquis) was almost riding on the axles.
 
I'm in that position in life right now. Everything I have is very collectible and stuff I always dreamed of. The trouble is every time I sell off a few, I end up replacing them. My kids will get most of them.
My wife knows who she can trust to sell my collection when I'm gone. I have several friends who own gun shops that are way younger than I but I hunt, drink, golf and go to Church with them and they are honest people.
Bottom line, I quit worrying about it. It's like my old Grandmother used to say.....XXXX it!
 
Running out of space at my place, I too made a list last week of a few guns that need to go. Prices appear high and the political winds appear to be driving prices even higher, especially with all the crazy prices for ammo. I am headed to our larger gun show this week end and I think a couple of the old S&W will be in the back pack, just in case someone with cash need an older wheel gun. I am getting older and do not desire to leave so much for the kids to deal with after I an not around. Tonight, I agree that these guns are not an excellent investment. I hope just to turn them back into the cash I spent years ago.
 
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S&W forum is where i will offer my guns first. I have sold 3 here & I know they will be appreciated.
Lately I have been thinking of selling my Lew Horton 629 #8 of 205 made.
Arthritis is getting worse in my hands & wrist. I can handle my 4" Mod29 still thou.
Sold my 500 4 years ago due to arthritis and @ the rate I'm going I will probably end up with just my Sig 1911 in .22 caliber . which is a sweet gun BTW.
Rifles don't bother me though.
 
My son lives with me and owns half this little farm. Neither of us are married. (and at 73 years old I ain't gonna try and break in another one) If he ever gets married a little trailer in the back 40 will suit me fine. I don't have to worry about what will happen to my collection. He is very gun smart and has liquidated quite a few estate collections. Plus, he likes the same stuff I like. I have several heirloom guns from me and family members. Many I or his Mom carried on duty over a long period of time. He is familiar with all of them and knows which ones to keep. I also have several that have some interesting history. I "thinned the herd" on some non-heirlooms a few years ago and wound up buying most of them back as I came across them at good prices. My focus is on police and WWI, WWII milspecs. Just happens his focus is also. We have a range on our property and shoot often, except for a few safe queens that I just won't shoot because of their condition. Unless the gun laws become too extreme, I consider a collection as money in the bank. I know some of you guys don't want to leave a burden and we have helped handle the burden for several families. I won't have that problem.
 
I am 66, plan to live another 25 or so...i have identified about a dozen pieces that I don't shoot and to which have no real attachment. Since we are planning to move south, I am seriously thinking about selling those off prior to moving. I would use those funds to purchase fewer pieces that might be more desirable to me.

Robert
 
I understand the "thin the herd" mind set. I'm in my late 70's with a "herd" that has been thinned down to two gun safes (one for rifles and shotguns and one for pistols and revolvers). I took me about 4 or 5 years to get down to the point I'm at now.

My safes contain what I consider the cream of the crop (Had been collecting since the late '50s). I startedthining down by giving each of my children a pick of a rifle or shotgun and revolver or pistol of their choice, and both SIL's a choice of one item. I then prepared a list of what I would sell if the price was right......gave a copy of the list to two of the local gun shops, I had dealt with for over 40 years and a list to my shooting friends and collectors.

I got my price or more on everything but one shotgun that I took a low ball offer from a disabled vet who was starting back into trap shooting. I also sold off the ammunition I had that I had nothing left to shoot it up with stuff like 44-40, 45-90, 25 acp, 380, 30-40 Krag, .257 Roberts, 222, 22 Hornet, etc

When I turn 80, I plan to get down to one safe containing all that I have left (the thinned herd), at that point I'm keeping everything in the safe and will only keep ammo for what is in the safe.
 
A tough nut. Never had enough money to buy a gun "just because" and then sell it out of hand later. They all mean something to me at some level. That said, gotta start saying goodbye to some, and soon. Running out of birthdays.
 
how would you decide what you wanted to keep, and what to sell?

It's simple for me. Always has been.

I buy what I like at the moment. I try to use logic, not emotion.

I attend a variety of shows around Wyoming, and my tables
usually hold just about everything I own. I'm not bashful about
a high price for a nice revolver, but I leave myself some room to
come down -- most show goers at least try to get a better deal.

Just as I'm not emotional when I buy, neither am I when
somebody shows an interest in one of my real favorites.

Lately I've been trying to scare buyers away from my Chiefs and
onto the other stuff because I'm still building the Chiefs herd.
Sometimes it doesn't work -- I sold/traded two Chiefs away last
weekend, one duplicate and one I'll eventually replace.

Having sold/traded four from the "others" pile was a good thing.
The ones I took in trade will be good fodder for trading into or
funding Chiefs in the future.

My long-term goal is to reduce the "others" pile to a few
shooters and a few very special Victory Models.

I do much better with a focus.
 
41 Roadmaster said:
I keep my wife updated on the value of my guns so she might not sell but she won't get taken advantage of. I think this is a good topic for you to talk to your wife about. My wife does not plan to sell the guns, she likes them too. But when the time does come she knows what to do and most importantly not to get in a hurry.
Click to expand...

You wouldn't mind sending that '41 Buick to Pittsburgh, would you? :)
 
G-Mac said:
If you were going to sell off some guns in your collection, how would you decide what you wanted to keep, and what to sell? I don't need cash, I just have a number of guns that I don't shoot. It doesn't mean that I don't like them. I just work a lot and don't have time to use them. If something were to happen to me, I wouldn't want to burden my wife with disposing of them and probably getting taken advantage of.
Click to expand...

Easy. Sell all my autoloaders, keep wheelies.
 
I am at the point of trying to make a decision about what to do with my guns. I have sold several through the local gun store. I research prices and tell the owner what I want to sell it for. she adds 20%. In the end we are both happy. I am thinking of taking some to the next Gun show
 
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