Which manufacturer would you choose...

[Mbrgr1]

I'm wandering back in time lately....

and ended up with a beautiful 9mm pinfire and a 6mm Flobert, interesting items from a craftsman era long gone.

 

[dmar]

To me, Colt, Winchester, and Smith & Wesson are the holy trinity of gun collecting. Hard to go wrong with collecting those 3 brands, and so many subcategories to pursue.

After that, Browning and Marlin. I think older .22lr revolvers and rifles and older Remington hunting rifles are also interesting.

So many more collecting interests, some guys are into military weapons, or old shotguns, or Trap shotguns, or cowboy era revolvers/rifles, or 1911s, or .22lr rifles, or hunting rifles, to name just a few areas. I know guys that collect Glocks, Sigs, and CZs. I have a buddy with an incredible collection of Russian AK 47s, and another with full auto military rifles. I think people just gravitate to what really strikes their fancy.

 

[hivel37]

For me it would be South American military Mauser.
Concentrating on carbines. I have always liked the 7x57
and have had a few. At this age it's silly to
think about it.

 

[lamarw]

My accumulation or assortment follow the lines of S&W Revolvers and either Beretta or Sig Sauer pistols. If you are into revolvers, you might want to go with a Manurhin MR73. I think of it as a high quality piece. Here is a picture of my star.

 

[STORMINORMAN]

Didn't have a 10mm... Had the bullets and the brass, the dies and primers as well.

Bought a HighPoint JXP and just love it!

Cheers!

 

[A10]

High end revolvers, Korth or Manhurin. Long guns, big double rifles and high end double shotguns.

If you want more affordable but really interesting, British revolvers from the 1880s through WW2 are very cool...

 

[dsf]

High Standard pistols - so many models you'll never run out of excuses to buy.

A few odds & ends.

 

[robvious]

These days I find myself attracted to...shall we say...less expensive guns for some reason.

I've sort of halfway got my eye on ... a Phoenix 22.

I doubt I'll act on it... I might be able to justify a Phoenix 22 as an "experiment" one day.

I got a Phoenix 22 because a friend had one.. it only functioned with Remington ammo... but for 125 bucks.. it was a hoot.. and it rocked an 8 inch plate at 25 yards... so I have one, son has one and another friend got one too... is it a target pistol, nope.. is it a fun range toy, yup... now back to our regularly scheduled program..
I am a sucker for 22's.. but have found conversions & replicas to be an interesting niche to collect...

 

[Jdavis]

High Standard Supermatic 107 series .22 target pistols. The Hamden, Connecticut guns in particular. There are many models in this series and they all are superior pistols.

 

[tws3boys]

Colt, S&W, Remington, Browning, Winchester, Stevens, Henry Pretty much all the old American gun makers. Not saying anything wrong with any of the others.
Browning is my gun guru of all time. Hard to own a gun that was not influenced by him in some way.
Winchester is my least Favorite. Not the gun. The person. The way I see it he was just a money man that profited from the failure of others. Rode the backs of others, Henry, Browning and others.
In other words. I don't feel the need to collect more of any certain brand or gun. I like them all. Even some of the cheap lowly.

 

[wood714]

In handguns I have.
S&W
Sig
Ruger
Glock
Charter Arms

Rifles.
Winchester
Marlin
Remington
H&K
Stevens
Cetme
AR's CMMG, DPMS, PSA, Spikes
AK's Polytech, Maadi, Hungarian

Shotguns.
Remington
Winchester

 

[dwever]

Korth and Wilson Combat.

I've already traded/acquired what I have for something else. I no longer use S&W revolvers in favor of Korth, I no longer use S&W and Kimber 1911's in favor of Wilson Combat:

Revolver:
Started with S&W revolvers, found Korth around 2015. Improvement was so dramatic over the S&W's I probably need to sell every S&W revolver I own. I mean for example Korth specs the chamber forcing cone gap at 0.003. I have both a 3" and 4" .357 Korth Mongoose, the former is my EDC.

Semi-Auto:
After active USAF, started with Colt 1911 in the Florida Army National Guard (regular Army was already 9mm Beretta's) then bought a Kimber 1911 and eventually a Melonite PC S&W 1911. Competed with both. Simultaneously using the mandatory Glocks required by the state LE agency I was with. Around 2005 discovered Wilson Combat. A dramatic improvement over the S&W and Kimber for example FTF's fell to almost nothing.
CQB Elite .45
X-Tac 9mm
EDC X9L 9mm

Rifle:
Wilson Combat Protector .223 w/Sig Sauer Tango 6T 1-6X
Wilson Combat Super Sniper 6.5 Creedmoor w/Leupold 3.6-18X
Winchester Model 70 Safari Express DGR .375 H&H (Cerakoted for use in Alaska [ammo is spectacularly expensive]) w/Swarovski 1-8X

 

[inspcalahan]

Putting together a shelf full of all the various Sig P series models could be fun. They are still reasonable but every so often, another model is dropped from the production with some long since cancelled.

There is a die hard following, so they will always be desirable. They are also arguably some of the best fighting pistols ever made.

 

[pharmer]

Close to 40 years ago, when they had gun shows on Disney property, a guy there had 140 specimens of the Browning P35 "HiPower." All neatly labelled with details. I asked him if that was one of every variation and his reply: "No, there's a few very rare ones missing but I'm after 'em." I'm sure that 'ol boy has passed by now but it made a lasting impression. Joe

 

[ISCS Yoda]

.38/.357 originally

My "collecting" as opposed to "accumulating" was aimed (pun intended) at S&W revolvers as noted in the title above. I was especially fond of snub-nosed revolvers. I had a lovely assortment of them, Js, Ks, and even Ls. My 2018 fire ruined one 4" and spoiled (water and foam stains) quite a few of the snubbies but they were still shooters so I liquidated them. After that I kept what was left of my "collection" but I stopped looking for more and focused on acquiring handguns that I'd like to carry. But it is NOT a collection, it is merely an accumulation.

 

[austintexas]

Started collecting Winchesters, transitioned into S&W, 1911 Colts, Astras, Llamas, Stars, M1 Garands, M1 Carbines, U.S. marked .22s, Browning Hi-Powers and Lately Anything that attracts my attention.
SWCA 892

 

[gerhard1]

Probably Colt. I like a little history with my guns. Also probably Springfield. If I have the opportunity and the stars align, a Garand and/or a M-1 30 carbine.

Definitely Colt.

 

[smoothshooter]

Are you talking shotguns or pistols?

 

[dsf]

Close to 40 years ago, when they had gun shows on Disney property, a guy there had 140 specimens of the Browning P35 "HiPower." All neatly labelled with details. I asked him if that was one of every variation and his reply: "No, there's a few very rare ones missing but I'm after 'em." I'm sure that 'ol boy has passed by now but it made a lasting impression. Joe

At a long ago gun show I saw a fellow who collected Winchesters still in the factory sealed box. 22 pumps IIRC. Have to admit, I don't quite get that one.

 

[Moo Moo]

I like collecting revolvers, especially snubbies. After Collecting all the S&Ws I want, I'd like to collect a few Ruger Security Sixes, Police Six, and Service Sixes. 4" and below. Maybe a couple of SP101's too. I also wouldn't mind a Charter Arms Bulldog .44 special and some Undercovers just to mix it up.