Collections?

All right to start with, this is not the normal "how many guns do you own?" thread.

A comment in another thread got me to thinking. How many guns qualify as a collection to you?

Wyman

ETA-I'll start. For me it all depends on the guns. A mix and match group of 25 guns is not a collection. But a group of 5 guns, all similar but with different traits, is a collection. IOW 5 S&W K-frames of different models is a collection.

Im just wondering where people draw the line on "arsenal" and "collection"?

"collection" is objective to the one who is collecting, IMO.

My dad has a "collection" of T/C Hawkens.


He's got two.:)

A mix and match group of 25 guns is not a collection. But a group of 5 guns, all similar but with different traits, is a collection.
Folks with a WWII collection would be inclined to disagree.

I think the Aberdeen Proving Grounds, in Maryland, has a proper "collection" :D

I'm not sure of what to call my hodge-podge of a couple dozen pieces, as there are a few guns I bought for the purpose of collecting, and many I did not.

Maybe the answer, in terms of terminology, is to add a descriptor of purpose, and say "hunting collection", "historical collection", "defensive collection", etc.

I, being an @$$hat, try to sound cool and use the word "arsenal" when referring to my own guns. :o

Rock Island Arsenaol, Rock Island , IL has a fantastic collection. Tens of Thousands of small arms...http://riamwr.com/MuseumHist.htm
I only have around 150. Mine are all displayed in my room with tags, spread sheet ..just like a museum..then i am touched too.

If you don't have more than 50, you aren't even scratching the surface; you are only getting warmed up a bit. For amny types of guns and/or models and/or manufacturers, 50 won't even get you through all of the variables. I'd put true collector status at a hundred or more, but that's just me.

Folks with a WWII collection would be inclined to disagree.

I'll qualify my statement. Guns that have nothing bonding them in similarity, do not make a collection.

I too have a milsurp collection, many of which are WWII era. But with them being WWII, that is their bonding trait.

I meant that a group of guns such as AR, Garand, Winchester 94 (produced after the depression), Colt SAA 1st Gen., Benelli SBE, Uberti Scholfield, etc. does not constitue a collection in my mind. Like I said, a mix and matchgroup. In my "collection", I have what I consider several different collections. Then I also have a few mix and match thrown in just because they peaked my interest.

Wyman

I don't know, JWFIII. Some folks collect minor variations on a particular theme, such as you described.

I collect examples of each basic type. I don't need to collect 50 Winchester 94s, I'm satisfied with one old saddle-ring carbine and one long gun. Likewise, one 1911 type, one AK, one SKS, one AR (with a lot of conversion parts), one SBH, one Ruger old army, et cetra.

I've wound up with a few multiples, like Tokarevs from four different countries. Hey, they were cheap (one was free) and I like to shoot them.

Bottom line: I bought these guns so I could shoot them, "Collecting" or "investing" are way down the list.

What if one is in the process of collecting, and as such only has a few firearms?

Reading the responses, it seems that a collection depends on the person buying. However they direct their buying determines their collection..

If you looked into my safe, you would say I have no compass!

yep...its that bad!

Mark

When you need to retain a curator, you have a collection.

I myself, have a jumble of firearms that I like to shoot from time to time.

To me, "collection" implies that value comes from the organizational theme or principle.

A single gun, straight off the factory floor, is worth whatever that make/model is worth.

That same gun, when it gains some attribute which can appeal to a collector, becomes a collector gun. Examples might include ownership by a famous person or association with a famous event, having a particular serial number, or whatever else.

Now combine that gun with other items which share a similar characteristic; other gun models from the same manufacturer with the same serial number, other items owned by the same person or associated with the same event, or what have you...now you have a collection. It doesn't have to be all of a kind... a collection doesn't need to be all guns for example...but it does have to gain value from the organization.

The original gun might be worth $250. The Collector versions might be worth $250 each. The collection is worth the individual values PLUS. A collection of five $250 guns might be worth $1,255 or $185,000 depending on how the unifying theme is valued (the value of a collection of S&W sigmas all manufactured in the same factory might be hard to measure... a collection of handguns owned by US presidents going back to Washington would be worth millions more than the individual firearms).

If the unifying theme has something to do with guns I'd say 2 is the minimum. If it is incidental to guns (e.g. it is WWII) then you could have a single gun as part of your collection and legitimately be a collector/have a collection, it just wouldn't be a gun collection.

Im just wondering where people draw the line on "arsenal" and "collection"?I second the motion.

"...a group of 5 guns, all similar but with different traits, is a collection..." Any number of firearms, similar or not, is a collection.
"...arsenal..." That'd be a place firearms were made or stored by the military. Has nothing to do with how many. Except in the media. Three firearms with ammo is an "arsenal" to the media.

I really not sure how to answer the poll. My friends say I am a collector because of the number of guns I own. I consider myself just a gun enthusiast. I tend to go on different tangents when buying. Currently I am on a kick with 22's. Have multiple 22's but not a lot of commonality. Does that take me out of true collector status? How about 1911's? I have 14 of them. But to a purist I am not a collector because I don't have a single one that has Colt marked on it.

I don't think there is any fixed number.

The Museum in Cody Wyoming has a budding collection, as does the NRA.

I realized several years ago that I don't really collect, I accumulate. So, I guess I started accumulating after the 1st one :D I would think a collection starts when it starts to follow some kind of rhyme or reason.

A collection is 3 or more of the same piece. Joe

WOW to the 51+ votes :eek:

To have THAT many guns has got to take dedication, patience and impulsive money spending! Well I guess patience has a little bit to do with HOW you spend the money but...You guys with 51+ guns MUST invest a pretty penny!

Im just wondering where people draw the line on "arsenal" and "collection"?

An "arsenal" is any "collection" that can be pressed into community service.

I only have around 150. Mine are all displayed in my room with tags, spread sheet ..just like a museum..then i am touched too.
__________________
My Goal is to do the same thing--I have over a 150 different guns of all types --Im an acumulator who collects anything that passes by at the right price ..

An individual with 5 WWII 1911s has a "collection" as much as the person with every make/model of WWII rifles does as much as someone with 4 dozen Colts does.

I kinda depends upon whether you're collecting or just acquiring.

A mix and match group of 25 guns is not a collection. But a group of 5 guns, all similar but with different traits, is a collection. IOW 5 S&W K-frames of different models is a collection.

Why such a narrow description?

If I collected guns designed by John Browning it isn't a collection because they're not the same brand?

Instead of arsenal I prefer battery.

An arsenal is a collection of arms stored for use, or the place where they are stored.

A battery is a grouping of artillery which is directed as a unit (as in 20 cannon all given the same firing orders), or the stage of a gun's action where it is ready to fire (or a host of other things mostly centering around hitting).

I've already opined that a collection is a grouping whose organization of items with a value greater than the sum of the values of the items in the collection -- that could be a monetary value or information, desirability, whatever.

An arsenal is a collection of arms stored for use, or the place where they are stored.

A battery is a grouping of artillery which is directed as a unit (as in 20 cannon all given the same firing orders), or the stage of a gun's action where it is ready to fire (or a host of other things mostly centering around hitting).


Or #4

battery (plural batteries)

1. A device that produces electricity by a chemical reaction between two substances.

2. (law) The crime or tort of intentionally striking another person.

3. A coordinated group of artillery.

4. An array of similar things.
Schoolchildren take a battery of standard tests to measure their progress.

5. A set of small cages where hens are kept for the purpose of farming their eggs.

6. (baseball) The catcher and the pitcher together

7. (chess) Two or more major pieces on the same rank, file, or diagonal

http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/battery

Oh, no doubt there are plenty of meanings for both words. Arsenal can also mean an establishment for developing, repairing, testing, and manufacturing weapons.

You could call it a Magazine as well. Magazines are "stores for equipment, provisions, arms, and ammunition" per the dictionary.

It's just that some words have well defined gun (if not small arm) related meanings... if you start saying "I have a Daisy in my battery" or "Crossman in my magazine" it sounds like you are embarrassed by, or don't know, the correct word. Plus battery throws in that whole "hitting things"/"causing harm" connotation. "Arsenal" is not a crime, "Battery" is.

I believe it becomes a collection when you have firearms that do not fill a NEED, but rather a WANT. I have lots of wants for firearms, but very little need.

I am not a devout hunter so anything beyond a single hunting rifle, bird gun, 22 rifle, full size handgun and compact/concealable handgun would constitute a collection. Just so I am not a hypocrite, some type of "repeating" rifle... AR,AK... et cetera.

Of course, I think any collection needs at least one Garand, 1903, AR (M-16 style), AR (M-4 style), one each lever pump single semi 22 lr, one each 9mm glock sig hk, one each 45 glock sig hk colt springfield... you get the point.

Don't we all collect?

I have a minor collection of .25 Cal. pistols that includes four Mauser 1910's and four Colt 1908's.

I have Springfield Armory Garand rifles made in 1940, '41, 42, '43, 44, and 45 that I consider to be another minor collection, but it is included in a collection of U.S. WW2 infantry weapons that also includes a Remington 1903a3 and two Remington 1903a4's, 1911a1's from Colt, Remington Rand, and Ithaca. These no longer include my carbines which I've gradually been selling off but I had one from each of the major contractors. I still have the Inland, the Winchester, and the Postal Machine.

I also have a minor collection of Colt Gold Cups or National Match pistols that include models made in 1962, 1968, 1972, and 1979 along with a Gold Cup Trophy of recent manufacture.

I have three colt Challenger pistols and four S&W K22 revolvers along with both styles of S&W M41. These are of course, all .22 Caliber. Oops, I guess I collect .22's.

Do you begin to see the trend?

I realized the other day that I have five pistols in .380 and five others in 9x18mm Makarov. I had to acknowledge that I'd somehow started a collection of 9mm short weapons or I'd gotten two new collections.. Hmmm. What'll I be forced to think if I count up all of the REAL 9mm guns?

The above is by no means all of the firearms that I own, in fact it's less than a quarter of all of my guns. It's when they begin to form into groupings that they become parts of a collection instead of merely being things that I possess.


OMG! Where do these fit?? http://i130.photobucket.com/albums/p263/twagger/guns/M4M97-1.jpg

Collections?? Naw..........collages!

http://i130.photobucket.com/albums/p263/twagger/guns/CollageofTupperware.jpg :D

A collection denotes a direction "I collect M1s, S&Ws, Winchesters, etc". 2 or more can be a collection. I would think most of the people on this forum are "accumulators" not "collectors".

A collection of firearms would be any grouping of guns that an individual or group has amassed, that is not required for any specific purpose. A lot of people would call this accumulating, but I disagree.

Look at Jay Leno. He has amassed or accumulated a large number of vehicles of all types. Steam powered, electric, luxury, motorcycles, exotics, sports cruisers hot rods etc. The only commonality among many of them is that they have a powerplant and wheels and are considered cars. He needs none of them, yet has spent a lot of cash on obtaining, maintaining, storing and restoring them. By any definition, Jay Leno is a car collector and has a collection.

My paltry assemblage of firearms includes some military, hunting, personal defence, LE, plinking, sporting etc. Although they are not rare or priceless, I have sacrificed to purchase them, as has my family. I have invested in a place to store them, I maintain them and I enjoy them. I only "need one or two, the rest I have because I wanted them. They give me pleasure. They are a collection.

Hello I'm Bob. I am a gun addict.

Yes, a "collection of guns" could equate to a "collection of cars" though I tend to think of it as more directed than that.

For example, the history of WW2 is an ongoing interest of mine and has been for many years. To amass artifacts from that period is, I think, a natural outgrowth of the larger interest. I have items that relate to the war which are not firearms also and value them as highly on an item by item basis as I do any particular firearm.

I used to have a much larger collection of war related things but was forced to allow much of it to be sold as part of a divorce settlement in 1986.

My parents, and my wife's parents all experienced that wartime and for all of my life and my wife's as well the effects of it influenced much of what followed in their lives and through them in our lives.

(My father was a marine who was gutted by a mortar round (he thought) on Tarawa in 1942 - one of the first assaults in the pacific campaign, and I would trade some of my Garands for the 1903a3 he carried ashore there -- who am I kidding? I'd trade half of my fortune for that rifle if it were ever found and would that rifle not then be a collection in and of itself?).

So, to me a collection is a reminder or a physical artifact of a time that interests me but that I cannot otherwise experience.

Or a collection is some things that are representative of another interest I have, or have had. I'll be the first to admit that my attention does wander from time to time.

One man's firearm collection is another man's firearm accumulation. This is true, but not enitrely. There has to be some unifying characteristic within a "collection". The fact that they are all firearms does not unify the accumulation into a collection. Maybe that won't be true in 100 years.

A group of First Generation Colt Single actions in 1915 would probably only be an accumulation. But in 2009, they constitute a collection.

At what point a firearm accumulation becomes a collection is debatable. I don't know if it happens at 5 guns or 25 guns or the guns are 50 years old and no longer made, but it happens and there is certainly unifying characteristics.

Example: If you own 100 firearms that are all 22 rimfires, that is an accumulation. But if you have 50 individual Colt firearms within the accumulation that are 22 rimfire, that is a collection. In addition to the unifying characteristics of 22 rimfire and Colt, there is a difficulty factor involved in building the collection.

With time, an accumlation of pre-lock Smith revolvers will likely become a collection. Right now, I'm not so sure the term would apply. But if they were all in 38 caliber or one frame size, then it becomes a collection.

I consider mine firearms to be more of an assortment than a collection.

To me a collection has some theme.

A friend of mine has 100+ Lugers. Thats a collection. He also has an assortment of other firearms.

100+ Lugers

That's a collection! In 1935, they would likely been considered an assortment of Lugers or an accumulation of German handguns.

Pretty hard to put together a credible Luger collection these days.