Engine 49 guy, you said it all! The forum makes me better enjoy what I already have w/o even wanting to buy more....but I will.
S&W Collecting Question
- Thread starter fyimo
- Start date
Engine 49 guy, you said it all! The forum makes me better enjoy what I already have w/o even wanting to buy more....but I will.
tall gunner
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About a year ago I began selling single actions and semi autos so I could concentrate on Smith revolvers. Most recently my arthrtic hands have found the most pleasure shooting .22 with the latest (picking up tomorrow) a 351c in 22 mag. Also my recently acquired C&R has opened up new avenues of interest.
M3Stuart
Member
fyimo, are you asking is it an addiction? Weelllll, only the addict can say!
I started 7 months ago. Here's what I've got so far (see pic). There's a 6" 686, a 4" 64, a 3" 10 (cheapest AND my favorite to shoot - a 'Bud's Special') and a 2" 36. I had two snub revolvers decades ago but quickly sold them. So after shooting 22s, 12 gauges (all gone now) and a 9mm for some decades, you could say I caught the revolver bug. I'll add that, from a 'practical' perspective the beat up 36 is my carry rig. The rest are car or range guns.
But I have to say, right now, all I want is a solid 22 revolver with a 4" barrel. But what happens? I run across a pristine Colt Det Spec .38 with a 3" barrel for cheap. Turns out they're rare. So what is my plan? Tomorrow I'm going to go to the gun show and try to trade my Colt (the 'book' says the value is $630 95%-98%, no box, but, as we all know, the book is always low these days) and try to trade it for a 22 revolver...
I agree with everyone who said the new ones are outrageously priced. If you look long enough, you can find a good gun at the right price.
I also agree with everyone that said 'shoot it til it falls apart'. All of my guns, even the ones that came with serialized diamond wood grips, wear goodyears for shooting.
I started 7 months ago. Here's what I've got so far (see pic). There's a 6" 686, a 4" 64, a 3" 10 (cheapest AND my favorite to shoot - a 'Bud's Special') and a 2" 36. I had two snub revolvers decades ago but quickly sold them. So after shooting 22s, 12 gauges (all gone now) and a 9mm for some decades, you could say I caught the revolver bug. I'll add that, from a 'practical' perspective the beat up 36 is my carry rig. The rest are car or range guns.
But I have to say, right now, all I want is a solid 22 revolver with a 4" barrel. But what happens? I run across a pristine Colt Det Spec .38 with a 3" barrel for cheap. Turns out they're rare. So what is my plan? Tomorrow I'm going to go to the gun show and try to trade my Colt (the 'book' says the value is $630 95%-98%, no box, but, as we all know, the book is always low these days) and try to trade it for a 22 revolver...
I agree with everyone who said the new ones are outrageously priced. If you look long enough, you can find a good gun at the right price.
I also agree with everyone that said 'shoot it til it falls apart'. All of my guns, even the ones that came with serialized diamond wood grips, wear goodyears for shooting.
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M3Stuart
Member
Another thought (which almost died of loneliness
); whenever one of my friends tells me they're going to buy a boat or a motorcycle I always tell them to just borrow mine for awhile. Free of course. Just take it home, let it sit in your garage for as long as you want, use it all you want. All they have to do is maintain it - tags, repairs, etc. I'd let them not do any of that stuff but then I would deprive them of the 'full experience'. So, I do the same thing with guns. If you think you might like whatever, just use mine for awhile. If the person is 'into' it, they'll buy their own. But most of the time they just need to get it out of their system for a few months. I mean really, what do I care? Like somebody else said, the thing is just sitting there waiting to be bequeathed to a kid who most likely has different interests.
); whenever one of my friends tells me they're going to buy a boat or a motorcycle I always tell them to just borrow mine for awhile. Free of course. Just take it home, let it sit in your garage for as long as you want, use it all you want. All they have to do is maintain it - tags, repairs, etc. I'd let them not do any of that stuff but then I would deprive them of the 'full experience'. So, I do the same thing with guns. If you think you might like whatever, just use mine for awhile. If the person is 'into' it, they'll buy their own. But most of the time they just need to get it out of their system for a few months. I mean really, what do I care? Like somebody else said, the thing is just sitting there waiting to be bequeathed to a kid who most likely has different interests.
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semperfi71
US Veteran
M3, true comment.
I have collected all of the guns I own and rarely, even retired, have been able to shoot all of them in one years time or more.
I pull them out, fondle them, and put them away. That does give me pleasure BUT, they rarely get shot. So their ACTUAL purpose is left behind.
As such, I guess me/we are indeed saving such items for a time when someone else will want them, or they go to someone who could care less, or lastly an overbearing government just seizes them.
But...I like 'em so I keep buying them. I guess it is truly an addiction.
I have collected all of the guns I own and rarely, even retired, have been able to shoot all of them in one years time or more.
I pull them out, fondle them, and put them away. That does give me pleasure BUT, they rarely get shot. So their ACTUAL purpose is left behind.
As such, I guess me/we are indeed saving such items for a time when someone else will want them, or they go to someone who could care less, or lastly an overbearing government just seizes them.
But...I like 'em so I keep buying them. I guess it is truly an addiction.
Ashlander
Member
I started with buying a practical carry gun -- a Model 60 in .357 Magnum (2 inch plus a fraction barrel).
Then I saw a cop trade in Model 65-3 with a three inch barrel. That was the baddest looking gun I had ever seen -- just plain mean looking. Heavy barrel and no frills. Had to have it. The store had 2 of them. I bought one, then after I shot it -- I went back and bought the other. One for carry and the other in the glove compartment. My wife thought I had snapped.
I got a lefty holster for the Model 60. What the hey, I'd carry a 65 and the 60.
Then I saw a nice nickel 19-3. Recessed and pinned. Nice Target grips. Decent price. 4 inch barrel looked good with the adjustable sights. Can't carry it concealed but it's a good shooter at the range.
By then I was in love with K-frame magnums -- especially since S&W doesn't make them anymore. They just had a elegance to them that I don't quite see in the L-frames (though certainly great guns).
My latest is an aussie cop trade-in 66-7 with a 2 1/2 inch barrel. While it has adjustible sights which probably are not necessary on a short barrel gun -- it is a totally bad looking handgun. Looks like my Model 60 on steroids. Mernickle is making me a holster as I write.
The wife is convinced I am nuts, but many of us probably have a similar problem -- but hopefully not all with my wife.
Then I saw a cop trade in Model 65-3 with a three inch barrel. That was the baddest looking gun I had ever seen -- just plain mean looking. Heavy barrel and no frills. Had to have it. The store had 2 of them. I bought one, then after I shot it -- I went back and bought the other. One for carry and the other in the glove compartment. My wife thought I had snapped.
I got a lefty holster for the Model 60. What the hey, I'd carry a 65 and the 60.
Then I saw a nice nickel 19-3. Recessed and pinned. Nice Target grips. Decent price. 4 inch barrel looked good with the adjustable sights. Can't carry it concealed but it's a good shooter at the range.
By then I was in love with K-frame magnums -- especially since S&W doesn't make them anymore. They just had a elegance to them that I don't quite see in the L-frames (though certainly great guns).
My latest is an aussie cop trade-in 66-7 with a 2 1/2 inch barrel. While it has adjustible sights which probably are not necessary on a short barrel gun -- it is a totally bad looking handgun. Looks like my Model 60 on steroids. Mernickle is making me a holster as I write.
The wife is convinced I am nuts, but many of us probably have a similar problem -- but hopefully not all with my wife.
Just being honest...as far as my own interests are concerned I think there is a genuine desire to learn about and own firearms that have historical or other kinds of significance. Unfortunately I also have materialistic desire to own far more than I need. Several years ago I picked up an Outdoorsman. I was not really familiar with those nor the HD. It didn't take long before I had the longing to own a HD. I finally got one. A blue 4" post war. But I wont feel whole until I get another variation or two. Fortunately as someone just indicated, at least they have a value that will hold or appreciate.
Well there's no doubt that I'm addicted and that I have spent a lot of money on my guns. The good news is that I enjoy them a lot more when I'm looking at them then I do when looking at my reports from my 401K. They are a decent investment not designed to make big money returns but they rarely ever go down in value if properly cared for.
I have way more guns then I could ever shoot so I must like maintaining them and shooting the ones that aren't safe queens.
My question was pretty much answered and that is that most of us have changed course many times while collecting guns but the one constant is that we kept collecting.
Yup, concur.
I have found that interests shift a bit with time, but that often reflects catch-up collecting that comes into play when I finally learn something about the models involved. I wasn't much interested in 1905s and Pre-10s until I learned a bit about them, and now I have a few nice long-action specimens (prewar, Victoriy models, early postwar) that i once would have walked right past.
Seems like I will always turn my attention to prewar .22/32 Kit guns and .32 target revolvers on any frame, but I'm not averse to novelty. A lot of guns in my collection are there because I made a "seems like I ought to have one of those" decision on the spur of the moment.
But a couple of encompassing general principles remain: I like revolvers a whole lot better than I like semi-autos (though I have a couple of old semi-autos), and I like guns without model numbers a lot better than I like post-1957 production (though again, I have a few more recent ones).
And to go to an earlier point, discussing anybody's new acquisitions here on this forum is a great pleasure and a major part of the collecting experience.
Shooting4life
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I started with the gun a month n frames of the 80's and early 90's. Nothing like thinking of a combination you want then looking on line finding thy actually made that exact combination. Then moved on to the slightly different guns like fixed sight n frames. Still in that faze and also starting my k22 collection.
