The decision tree....

[Jessie]

I like most guns. Some more than others, but most are just as good as another, albeit in a different way maybe.
The problem I'm having is deciding which gun to take hunting, carry concealed, home defense, etc.
I have created this problem by accumulating too many, I think.
The old adage of " beware the person who owns only one gun or one golf club" comes to mind.
Maybe I've just arrived at the point of culling to narrow it down to what works best for me and get rid of the rest.
It pains me to even say that but I think it's true.
Has anyone else gone through this? What was your solution if so?

 

[Breakaway500]

Variety really IS the spice of life. I pity the person who has only one gun..

 

[Rustyt1953]

If you meet a man with only one golf club you can bet the other 13 are in the water.

 

[Jessie]

If you meet a man with only one golf club you can bet the other 13 are in the water.

They have boating accidents in golf, too?

 

[BigBoy99]

I like most guns. Some more than others, but most are just as good as another, albeit in a different way maybe.
The problem I'm having is deciding which gun to take hunting, carry concealed, home defense, etc.
I have created this problem by accumulating too many, I think.
The old adage of " beware the person who owns only one gun or one golf club" comes to mind.
Maybe I've just arrived at the point of culling to narrow it down to what works best for me and get rid of the rest.
It pains me to even say that but I think it's true.
Has anyone else gone through this? What was your solution if so?

Problem has been solved for me by age and health reasons. Since there is no one in family which would like to have my guns, I've been selling them off. I don't want the wife to be burdened by someone coming in and giving her pennies on the dollar for them. Practicality has made many of the decisions on what goes and what stays. No more hunting trips or hiking so weapons needed for those events are gone. Bolt action .22 kept so Grand Son can be taught to shoot. Why have more than one milsup rifle as you can only shoot one at a time? I've always like the .45 ACP round so that is caliber of my CC handgun. No other needed.

 

[Mule Packer]

I guess I'm pretty fortunate. I have three sons and a daughter who all hunt or shoot. I also have 15 grandchildren. The older ones seem to be following along those lines as well.

However, that being said, I, too, am thinning the herd, so to speak. There are guns that each of my kids has identified as wanting when I get "called home." Fortunately, they all have different tastes, so there haven't been any arguments as to who gets what.

But, who knows? I may live to be 95 so why not give 'em the guns they want now so they can enjoy them? It's no fun getting your old man's gun when you're seventy.

As a result, I've identified a few of the firearms that I use fairly regularly, or that I still want to hang onto for a few years. The rest, I'm slowly but surely giving them to the kids or grandkids.

 

[rustythread]

I started several years ago giving away duplicates and guns I'm not likely to use in the future. I'd rather see my friends and relatives using them now than wonder whether they'll use them after I'm dead.

 

[Mike SC Hunter]

I never know what I'm gonna tote till I open the safe.

 

[Jessie]

No kids here so that’s not going to help me. I do have a couple of nephews-in-law that would appreciate a few of them, so that helps.
This is the flip side of accumulating.
I will keep my Dads and both Grandfathers guns until the end and then it doesn’t matter because they’re sentimental to ME only I imagine.
Good Winchester’s and a Fox Sterlingworth though, but not high cap or at all tacticool.

 

[Golddollar]

They have boating accidents in golf, too?

Maybe I should get a big magnet and a rope and start trolling for guns?

 

[Peak53]

Pick one or two for self defense purposes and just enjoy shooting the rest under less stressful circumstances.

 

[labworm]

A man with ten guns has ten guns.

A man with no guns may wish he had one gun.

 

[Rastoff]

We've all talked about the "perfect" gun many times. Most of us have not found it; I have.

I've spent a lot of time trying to perfect my shooting. In that process, I've bought and sold a lot of guns searching for that special one. Well, on three occasions I was successful. The first was a shotgun, the second was a pistol and the third was a rifle. In all three, once I got my hands on that particular one, I lost all interest in buying another.

I used to go into a gun store or some on line site and lust over a new gun. Now, I just have a passing interest. Seriously, I can go into a gun store and all the guns in the case, of similar ilk, just don't move me at all.

So, for carry I have my favorite pistol. For Trap, Skeet or Sporting Clays, I grab that one shotgun. For shooting 200 yards and closer, my one rifle just leaps into my hand. Even though there are others I like, I always pick up that one.

Like you Jessie, I like guns. It's likely I will buy others. I will probably sell some too for one reason or another. I still like the others that are in the safe, but only shoot them occasionally. But when I need to do business, I have no trouble, the right one just finds my hand.

I got there by trying a LOT of different guns. Yeah, that's the hard way, but I have no dilemmas now.

 

[hoosierone]

This has been something I am trying to figure out. Two daughters, five grandsons, two sons in law. All into guns to some degree or another. One son in law already asked that my unfired Colt .45 SAA be marked for him.

I plan to give my Beretta to one daughter and a SIG to the other. Gave my 870 to son in law.

As each grandson turned 13 they got a .22 rifle from Grampa. I leaned towards wood and bolt action (for discipline) .

Still have some very nice rifles and two flintlocks and pistols. Wish I could come up with a plan that works for everyone.