Ballancing your gun collection against real life

Kevan said:
Balancing a gun collection against real life is a very interesting topic.
For me reality hit home when I quit working to have surgery and my income consisted of an Old Age Pension checque.
No way would that pay the bills and stretch far enough to feed my many toys.
Time to make some hard decisions and empty some gun safes.
Aside from the working guns / meat-getters, one still has to keep a couple "toys" though..... right ??
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I am coming to terms with this.. It hurts a bit doesn't it? It means that parts of my shooting life is no longer likely to occur again in relation to the dollars I haver invested in XYZ shooting platforms. At least it does for me - and I don't like it... Call it coming to terms with the ageing process? Something we guys hate talking about. Anyhow I'm getting too touchy feely now...
 
Riflechair said:
I am coming to terms with this.. It hurts a bit doesn't it? It means that parts of my shooting life is no longer likely to occur again in relation to the dollars I haver invested in XYZ shooting platforms. At least it does for me - and I don't like it... Call it coming to terms with the ageing process? Something we guys hate talking about. Anyhow I'm getting too touchy feely now...
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That's exactly it :(. So far, thinking back and looking through hunting albums, it's 'been a good ride' but where did the time go?
 
Riflechair said:
I am coming to terms with this.. It hurts a bit doesn't it? It means that parts of my shooting life is no longer likely to occur again in relation to the dollars I haver invested in XYZ shooting platforms. At least it does for me - and I don't like it... Call it coming to terms with the ageing process? Something we guys hate talking about. Anyhow I'm getting too touchy feely now...
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You know what, I got over that about 5 years ago and you will to. You're never too old to shoot until the day you drop. You wouldn't believe the number of old timers 80+ still blasting up the rifle, handgun and skeet/trap ranges at my local gun club.
 
I came to a low point with firearms around 2002 when I moved to the city and didn't have a car (or PAL), I couldn't go to the range or go hunting. My gun literally sat in the closet for like 6 years.

My collection since then has floated between 12 - 30 guns, right now sitting around 20'ish I think, 4 of which I haven't even shot or are still in grease.

I take them out to do load dev, introduce a work mate to the range, or to kill a deer but that's about it. This means I take my guns out of the house maybe 12 times a year, and I shoot them maybe once every 2-3 months.

This may sound fuddy but it doesn't seem to matter what I own or how much I spend on the latest and greatest, I always go back to an Enfield. Right now I'm hoping the Ruger Scout will end the cycle but we'll see once it arrives.
 
I'm a hunter not a collector, but used to be a collector who hunted. Hunting is and always will be #1 for me and the biggest mistake I can make is forgetting that. Now, I've come to the opinion you can take experiences with you to the grave and guns and material things you can't. So, I've started trying to do a dream hunt annually, taken a couple long trips to the dark continent all at the expense of my gun collection. Have given up a prime .455 Colt SAA legal antique, two other legal antique SAA's, two Browning 1919 belt fed non-restricteds, Colt M1911 Canadian contract 1914 vintage, numerous other Colts rifles and more modern Colt handguns, M203 40mm, modern HK collection including 40mm, multiple rare Mauser 98's original factory sporting and military, and a truckload of other things I've forgotten. Looks like I might even give up a Holland & Holland quite dear to me too to get back into hot thornbrush with creatures with bad attitudes too. And every single one I've given up has been worth it. :) I remember the hunts like yesterday, some of the guns I just listed, I had to work to think of good examples of sacrifices and had "Ohhh ya... That one." moments, and there's probably fifty guns I'm neglecting to remember I thought at one time I had to have in the gun room.

I'm now down to a good shotgun, and a couple spare high quality shotguns I'll likely sell, and a half dozen quality rifles, including a few I'll likely sell, one revolver, and a truckload of experiences. Took my brother to Africa for his first time just 6 weeks ago. That time was worth a lot of guns I'll tell ya.
 
This is totally true for me to. Two kids, work and these days I find myself looking at more and more hunting rifles that suit what I am hunting. I have sold my one semi-auto pistol and my S&W 686. I now own a cool Savage in 7X57 and my Tikki 685 in 7mm mag.
Both of these I can handload with little work as I have spent a lot of time before having kids working up good accurate loads. The Savage is light weight and light recoil so I find myself using it for deer and bear more than the Tikka. My .22 I shoot very little and my Dad uses my 12 gauge semi auto more than me as he is retired and goes to Alberta to shoot birds at least once a year. Practical rifles are still on my radar. Maybe a Syn Stainless is next.
 
Ardent said:
Now, I've come to the opinion you can take experiences with you to the grave and guns and material things you can't. And every single one I've given up has been worth it.

I'm now down to a good shotgun, and a couple spare high quality shotguns I'll likely sell, and a half dozen quality rifles. Took my brother to Africa for his first time just 6 weeks ago. That time was worth a lot of guns I'll tell ya.
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Ya Ardent, just hit the big 60, and am hearing you loud and clear.
A 'mobile' retirement looms, but surely a mere half dozen fine firearms can fill a fellow's needs, can't they?. One can only haul just so much stuff down the road, while on a pension, after all.

The hard part is all those guns from departed friends and family. My most poingent connection to
loved ones, now passed. They are not about money, are they. Hopefully the RPAL'd kids will take that pile off my hands. They never knew many of those folks all that well, though.

The thing is, looking back, .... its one's actions, not one's posessions, that define a full and fullfilling existence. Bust an audatious move or two ... there's where the smiles come from.
 
dan belisle said:
Once you guys have been at it for 5 decades or more, get back to me. Need more money for guns? Sell the kids. ;). - dan
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:rockOn: Right on Dan. I've been buying guns since I was 13, just over 50 years. I haven't fallen for the "quantity" business, however you wouldn't know it from looking in my gunroom. There are so many interesting guns, and I don't mind saying I haven't got them all - yet.

Gun collecting is a very personal and private matter. If someone likes the $5000.00 drillings, go for it. If I like old Lee Enfields, Mauser, Mosin Nagants, Carcanos, etc, well that's my business. I can certainly appreciate others' tastes, and hope they can appreciate mine, but it is still a personal matter.

I haven't paid a heck of a lot for some of my stuff, but luck has turned my way a time or two and I now have some rifles that are actually quite "collectible". I probably won't sell those ones. They will go to friends who dig that stuff.

Have at 'er boys and girls. Collecting can be what you want it to be.:)
 
Im just starting lol. Basically for me , i like shooting. Some people like reading and some like boating or whatever. So im willing to buy guns just for shooting , or sometimes just because i like it. Im a hunter first but that doesn't mean i can't have a some guns to pla with. Interms of balancing it with real life, well i paid my tuiton for the next while and had some excess so i bought a used 7600 in 270. Basically as long as i get my other prioritys paid for i will pick up the odd rifle or shotgun on the side because i like to. I still got lots of time (hopefully) to enjoy them so why not.
 
For years my father owned a Browning medalist 22 handgun, a Rem model 10 12ga pump shotgun, WM. Parkhurst 12ga sxs. Savage single shot 22, M44. He used to go skeet shooting on occasion, remove vamints on occasion but other than that the guns sat. I got my licenses and he gave them all to me.
Then I got a reloading press.....Now he has more obscure calibers and guns he's working up loads for than you can shake a stick at! Gotta have a hobby.
 
Owning a collection of different guns and calibers is great fun. They stack away nicely, keep me thinking and educate me. There's certain ones that I use for hunting only, others that I have for sentimental reasons, and some that are just interesting...As long as I can afford another purchase - why not?
 
Sentimental Pa's old stuff, sentimental Pa's old stuff he bought for me.
Stuff I bought for me when I was a kid.
The rest are to learn on.
Some stay, some move on.
One in the mail, Juniors Christmas present.
Just bought one for me and a keeper.....BLR81 358win.
Others in the cabinet will moan.
Thinking of selling the fat little Swede 6.5X55 that only gets used
every so often.
 
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