Can you have too many?

[10-Ring]

I know I can stop buying guns whenever I want, so that's not a problem :scrutiny: But I got to thinking...can you have too many? Can you master all those diff't manuals of arms?
Just curious :)

[Geronimo45]

You can never have too many guns.
Not much to any manual of arms. Load gun, level gun, take off safety, pull trigger. Sometimes you take safety off before you load... but that's a side issue.

[Geno]

I was speaking with a gentleman who owns 35ish Colt 1911 pistols. He commented to me about a year ago, that he had more affinity for his pistols than now that he had 35ish. I too feel this way. When II had but one, simple Kimber Series I, I had much more affinity for it, knew it inside and out. Most here will probably disagree with me. AT this point, I think I have about all the pistols and rifles I will buy for quite some time. I have a beautiful collection annd can not fit more in my vault without risking scrathes, etc. Guess maybe "lucky 13" really is lucky, for me anyhow. Besides, it's not the number, it's the quality. I sold my lemons, and kept my peaches. Doens't mean I don't like looking at the gun shows. For now, I'll focus on accessories.

Doc2005

Now that my wife isn't looking over my shoulder...are you nuts?!?!?!?! Asking can you have to many guns??? Are you insane? Heck no! Never!!! Don't put ideas like that inmy wife's head.

The Mods need to close this thread! Psych!

:) :)

Doc2005

[browningguy]

I don't think you can have too many, at least I haven't reached that point.

[learn2shoot]

My father-in-law (who thinks that owning guns is ok but feels they should be stored at a designated range) once asked how many guns I needed, I answered "I only want one more." I bought another gun, so he said "so you won't be buying any more, right?"

My answer - "I only want one more"

[Black Majik]

Too many what? Handguns? Hell I can't even think of having too many 1911s, nevertheless handguns!

Collecting, one platform at a time. ;)

too many handguns? never!

[Kor]

Welll...my current excuse for gun acquisitions is "to acquire a representative sample of each major or significant action/design," so I'm actually trying to be familiar with most MoA's(Manuals-of-Arms), proficient with some, and master of only a few, which I would be actually carrying or using for self-protection. OK, I can also argue that, as a state-approved CCW instructor, I have to be familiar with the guns my students either have already, or might be considering for purchase.

Upon consideration, with the exception of a few isolated, unique designs, there's actually a lot of cross-over between MoA's within similar categories - i.e. DA revolvers work similarly regardless of brand, most popular modern semi-autos have their slide releases and magazine catches in basically the same relative positions, etc. IMO, I believe that as long as you have a strong basic mastery of fundamental marksmanship(sight picture, trigger press, etc.), basic familiarization should be enough for safe handling and informal target practice with just about any firearm.

The (relatively) minor idiosyncrasies that differentiate one brand of gun from another(i.e. cylinder rotation direction, cylinder latch/magazine catch operation, SA/DA/DAO trigger, safety-vs-decocker-vs-decocking safety) are, IMO, only something you should worry about if you intend to attain proficiency with or mastery of that particular design for purposes of self-protection or competitive shooting.

The actions I've chosen to master, and regularly shoot and carry for self-protection, have the simplest MoA's and are the easiest to make fire under pressure - draw-aim-squeeze, no-manual-safety DAO revolvers(S&W Centennials) and DAO semi-autos(Glock, Kahr). I either now have or plan to acquire 2-3 of each of these, so that I can have at least one of each that has been test-fired, sighted-in, cleaned, lubed, and is ready to carry for self-defense at all times.

I try to acquire one example of, and maintain proficiency with, numerically significant designs like the 1911, BHP, SIG, XD/HS2000, Beretta/Taurus 92, S&W 3rd-Gen semi-autos and K/L/N frames, Colt D/I frame, etc. as those are the guns I am most likely to have access to and/or "appropriate under emergency conditions" if I don't happen to have access to the types of guns I have mastered.

I either look for inexpensive examples of other, less-popular designs, or periodically handle examples from friends' collections(e.g. Walther PP, CZ75, Makarov, Steyr M-series, Tokarev, Nagant, NAA, etc.) to maintain familiarity, so that I don't completely forget how each design works.

So, my point is that I'm NOT trying to completely master every single gun that I might want to buy, but that I'm a "jack-of-all-guns, master-of-some." :rolleyes:

[Ditchtiger]

I heard my wife tell a friend that she can't remember which guns I've had for a while and which ones are new. Shure do like the FAL that followed me home,and the .444 Marlin before that, and others. I've got it made!

[Bullet Bob]

I honestly think I have too many. Manual of arms isn't a problem, but space is, and hardly any of them get shot enough - it takes too long to "complete the circuit" so to speak. I keep thinking about selling some off, but I like each and every one of them for various reasons, and I can't seem to bring myself to do it. Every time there's a gun show nearby, I think "I'll just take a couple and see if I can sell them", but then the day of the show comes, and I just can't go. I'm 54 now, maybe in another 20 years I'll start thinning the herd. I only have one son, and he's not interested in shooting.

[Baba Louie]

My dear departed Dad always said, "Baba, you can never have too many guns, knives or fishing poles... just don't tell your Mom. She doesn't understand these things." ;)

As long as you can feed them all, care for them all, never neglecting them or showing too much favor for one or two specific pieces, as long as each of them shoots well for you, I say enjoy what little time we have on this planet in whatever way you can find.

[jjohnson]

Nah, not for me. I haven't run out of space yet. I tell people that shooting is like golfing - for every shot, there is one perfect iron.... so you have to have a bunch of them.

Manual of arms? I don't need one for most stuff. Another .45 M1911 is just another one, another N-frame is just another. Oddball new stuff like my first Glock took a few minutes getting used to, but I shoot a lot, so I got over that quickly.

Or as one guy told me, the best number of anything to have is "just one more." My rule of thumb is my firearms collection count should exceed my age (so I should have more than 50). I don't have the problem of a boundless firearms budget, so I don't have the corresponding storage space problem. I do on occasion trade off the ones that I haven't fired for years so I can get something else that strikes my fancy, but that's part of the thrill of guns shows, huh?:D

[Zero_DgZ]

Is this a trick question or something?

[unspellable]

You have too many when you start planning a 31-30 wildcat to fill the performance gap between your 30-30 and your 32 Special.

[ravencon]

The quantity that is "enough" or "too many" is both personal, subjective and tends to change over time.

Also, do you have anyone to leave them to that will want and appreciate them? It is a depressing thing to be in a gun store when some elderly woman brings in her late husband's collection to sell.

Personally, I've reached the point where is less is more. Quality and utility trumps quantity and novelty.

[Ben Shepherd]

Too many? Not as long as your financial obligations(utilities, grocery, house, insurance, etc.) are met, and you have the desire, have at it.

My current situation is this:

My newlywed wife thinks we need to get a duplicate of all mine for her. PROBLEM:

It took me 20+ years to acquire them, she wants them all now.:uhoh:

Dear wifey- that be heap big money.

I guess I could have worse problems though.:D

[Ed Ames]

If you can't properly store, care for, and account for, everything you own, you have too many.

[Seancass]

for 99% of us guns are just a hobby, with a side effect of being occasionally useful and a for a few, a source of income too. you have too many if you are not covering more important bills as said above. ah, he said it better with "financial obligations" thats what i ment.

[Ghostrider_23]

Every gun collecter should have a safe, so that when your wife ask did you buy a new gun? You say, no hoeny I've had that one for a long time. She never sees the ones you have because she doesn't have the key.:neener: Just make sure you buy a big enough safe for future purchases.:evil: I do think that you can have too many, but that's me. Guns to me are like a fine wine and should be enjoyed and known very well. This being said after I have purchased over 50 guns and now down to 21 that I really enjoy. Remember, it's your collection and not anyone elses. So who cares how many you have as long as you are happy:o

[Superpsy]

no

[1911 guy]

Like has been said, guns are a hobby, except for the minority among us who make their living in the professions of arms. We have our carry guns and our hunting guns. Everything else is icing on the cake. As long as you're not blowing money and time that should be spent elsewhere, keep buying and shooting to your hearts content. Do you hear folks comlpaining about "How many fishing lures does Bill need?" No, but guns are usually more expensive. I say usually because I can get a used .22 cheaper than an original Arbogast Jitterbug.

[doncameron]

Bullet Bob said "I honestly think I have too many. Manual of arms isn't a problem, but space is, and hardly any of them get shot enough - it takes too long to "complete the circuit" so to speak. I keep thinking about selling some off, but I like each and every one of them for various reasons, and I can't seem to bring myself to do it. Every time there's a gun show nearby, I think "I'll just take a couple and see if I can sell them", but then the day of the show comes, and I just can't go. I'm 54 now, maybe in another 20 years I'll start thinning the herd. I only have one son, and he's not interested in shooting."



will you adopt me?????

[nyresq]

no, unless they don't all fit in the safe, then yes.. until you buy another safe:D

[CornCod]

Well, there is an old saying: "Beware of the One Gun Man." Guys like me who shoot with a different handgun nearly every week are placed at a disadvantage with an enemy that has one handgun and practices with it regularly.

[tubeshooter]

Sometimes I wonder about this very question.

There are a few things I would *like* to have one day, but I don't suppose I *need* anything else, all things considered.

I will admit that I feel pressure to go ahead and get whatever it is I really want to get before it gets any tougher to do so, to be honest. And before prices get any higher.


I've found that you get lumped in a certain category regardless by anyone who is mixed-to-negative on guns anyway, once you get past having one or two. So as far as what others think, why worry about it? Just enjoy your hobby and don't let it keep you from taking care of your business, as others have already said.

[MDMadrid]

My plan was to buy as many guns as I could afford (usually one or two a year) but buy them all in the same caliber. (I didn’t want to keep 5 or 6 different kinds of ammo) I choose to go with 9mm and .45. So the plan was to have lots of 9mm and .45 guns, but some where along the line I messed up…I have 22, 30.30, 30.06, and .44 calibers too…I don’t know where I went wrong?
Now I am going to plan “B” own as many guns as my wife has shoes!:D

[Stevie-Ray]

You certainly can. Anybody that thinks not is kidding themselves. A friend of mine has upwards of 200. He's at a point now where he goes digging for a particular gun, finds another and remarks to me, "I forgot I had that!" At that point, you definitely have too many.

I'm absolutely convinced he needs to unload some of them. To me.

[Gixerman1000]

I'm doing my best to find out, if and when I hit the end of the road with adding more to the collection I will be sure to let you guys know.

[arthurcw]

*scratches head* I know what "too many" means. I know what "guns" are. I.... I... Just can't figure out how they go together in a sentence much less as a question. I keep trying but the terms fly apart like two positive poles on magnets.

You certainly can. Anybody that thinks not is kidding themselves. A friend of mine has upwards of 200. He's at a point now where he goes digging for a particular gun, finds another and remarks to me, "I forgot I had that!" At that point, you definitely have too many.

You kiddin' me? There isn't a member on this forum that didn't "take a moment" and smile at the possibilities after reading that.

[jibjab]

Apart from greed if you do it right 21 should be enough :)
No wait maybe 24 would be enough, ya about 24 ?
Now that I've thought about it, I think around 30 sounds about right , I'd say around 30 or so-ish.

[TimboKhan]

This will be my shortest ever answer to a question on THR. Ready?


No.

Good night everyone!

[Bullet Bob]

It used to be you'd buy a gun, and merrily throw away all the crap that came with it, like boxes, factory S&W grips, and itty-bitty screwdrivers. Now, you have to keep all that for resale value; and don't throw them in a dark, dank, basement, they need a temperature controlled environment dontcha know, since the condition of the box is so important. Jeesh. I go through fits where I throw everything away, laughing maniacally.

[Steve 48]

You know you have too many when your thinking about buying a second gun safe when you can't pack all your rifles and handguns into the safe. I guess that's the problem I have now. But I want more!!! Steve 54

[MachIVshooter]

If you have at least two of every model and variantever produced, you might not need any more. ;)