Are you a light weight or heavy weight?

[shooter429]

Hard to say either way, though I have

spent more than a few bucks on my hobby over the years. I have seen private collections easily worth 6 figures, but I don't think that is really very common. I also know people with 1 Marlin or Ruger .22 . I guess I will call myself a light weight. I never have been much for the BAR scene.
Sorry, couldn't resist.

Shooter429

 

[ReadyontheRight]

wrong measuring stick....

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I'd say a guy who has a $100 K-31 and has put 10,000 rounds of mil. surp. or home rolled bullets through it developing true rifleman skills is a heavy weight.

and....

Mr. Armchair quarter back who has money to burn, but hasn't invested the hard work required to develop real skills is a lightweight.

money's got very little to do with it.....

I agree with SSN Vet -- to a distinct point.

The "why do you need so many guns?" argument is often used as just another end-around to justify things like waiting periods for purchase, gun registration, arbitrary ownership limits and eventually storing your ONE rifle, ONE shotgun and (if we're lucky) ONE pistol down at the federally-regulated local public armory.

You can check them out for hunting season -- because the Second Amendment is all about hunting.

Believe me..this is EXACTLY what many politicians mean when they say "I support the Second Amendment".

I definitely agree that shooting practice and mastery of a gun platform is great (I happen to kick butt with the K31 and the Garand - at least compared to my "mastery" of trap shooting), but don't confuse your "armchair quarterbacks" with the many, many folks who want to outlaw our version of football.

More gun owners help us all.

 

[BlindJustice]

It's not about the money...

I don't think that guaging whether a gun enthusiast is a lightweight
or a heavyweight can be measured in terms of total dollars put into an
individual assortment. It's more about heck the title of this forum
THe HIgh Road. The fact that you sign up here and stick around
whether or not you are a first gun buyer or a grizzled veteran, it's listening
to others opinions and asking whether your'r old or young or a grasshopper
or a master - old wives tales and myths are easily blown away on this forum, because in the long run of a thread they are in the minority and those who aspire to The HIgh ROad but oughta sit back and listen are identified.

As an example I will mention Jay Leno. He doesn't mix his
enthusiasm as a car collectoor and motorcycle collector to his
audiaence on THe Tonight Show. A bike magazine writer once
was given a tour by Jay of the warehouse of bikes he has,. It's full
of great bikes through out the 20th century. Jay has taste. At
entrance, is a Honda Bentley touring bike of only 150cc with crap
suspension and plastic fenders A throw away bike you hardly
ever see. THe writer noted it but didn't ask until after seeing the rest
of his world class collection. As they were walking out
the writer pointed to the Bentley and asked Jay why is that POS
in this cllection. Jay looked at it. he said "We all
start somewhere" He did the same thing with an
early 1950s Buick Roadmaster - the car you see in Rain Man.
After he took on THe Tonight SHow he took the BUick which had
been sitting in his Mom's driveway for 18 years and it has a
500 cu. in. Chevy engine with Corvette suspension front and
rear and you don't want to tangle with it in the curvy roads.

Heavyweight can be a person taking the first steps upon the journey
of the High ROad, or many others who have been on the same
path We'll wait for you at way stations, or be happy to talk about
the pursuit of the journey.

 

[igpoobah]

Thanks a lot, I had no idea I was that far up there. I would have guessed about half of what I just came up with....:banghead:

 

[2RCO]

It's all relative, I know guys that have a couple million in guns, I know guys that can't afford any that have considerable skill and knowledge. I have a considerable amount of cash tied up in guns I never shoot. When I was earning the cash to buy like crazy I never had time to shoot or do alot of other things. When I was in College I shot quite a bit but had no cash and my gun collection consisted of 1 gun a .22 Remington pump the rest were all my dad's except for the Anschutz I was issued on the rifle team.

It doesn't matter how much you have in your bank account how many guns you have or what kind of car you drive--you can't take it with you and lately I've learned that when someone you care about is terminally ill all the money and the power in the world can be totally useless and faith trumps it all. I doubt God would be very impressed if I showed him my Pre-Production Superposed. Don't get me wrong I still like my guns and am not going Brady Bunch any time soon but there is more to life.

 

[ReadyontheRight]

BlindJustice - That is awesome and on the money. Thanks!

 

[frankcostanza]

if we're talking guns im somewhere in the 1k range. if ammo and accessories are included, well...ammo aint cheap

 

[Officers'Wife]

Since all but one where either given to me or inherited I have to say less than a 1000. Considering who it was that died for me to inherit them I would have to place the value far far higher.

Selena

 

[strambo]

Enough votes to see a clear pattern now. I am one standard deviation on the light side at 2-4K 'o guns. I need to at least hit the median of 4-8K, better get on it!

 

[cwmcgu2]

While I get your point of the question as to evaluate classifications on the level of commitment to the hobby by means of economic analysis of the financial investment of the members here, the one question survey is not a good indicator.

What you need is a multivariate analysis which asks a number of things:
1- Amount of $ spent on guns owned.
2- Period of time in which the investment took place. ($5K in 20 years compared to $5K in 2 years)
3- Average income during the time period in question. ($5K out $20K a year income compared to $5K out of $100K a year)
4- Number of dependants, past or present, and time period in which they were dependent. ($5K from a person with 5 kids compared to $5K from a single guy with no kids).
5. So on and so on...

 

[ColinthePilot]

I've only been buying guns since my sophomore year in college, and college was a no-money time for me. By graduation, I had spent about $500 just on the weapons themselves; a Yugo SKS and a 9mm Taurus PT111 Millennium Pro for carry (cuz it was cheap). I just doubled my gun investment with a Garand. So I'm just over $1000 in about 3 years. That will rapidly escalate now. The only tangible thing I can say I've invested more in in my 22 years is my Pilot License(s) and my truck.

 

[Correia]

Personally, I'm a feather weight. Professionally, which is invested in by my own money, I'm a super heavy weight sumo wrestler.

 

[whited]

.

(like a 3rd Reich stamped matching-numbers Mauser 98 I got from an anti-gunner for $50)

 

[chris in va]

Well see, the poll can be skewed somewhat according to timeline.

For example, I've been shooting for about 5 years. I'm not rich, and tend to keep my spending down to one firearm every few months or less, and even then they're only around $300 or less.

But if I were to keep up this pace for YEARS, it could push into the 'heavyweight' category just from the amount amassed over 30 years. Even then some get sold off and bought according to whatever works or doesn't.

 

[bsf]

I am not interested in adding mine up, but I am clearly a “light-weight” as defined by the poll. That is ok. I do not foresee much in the way of additional firearm purchases in the near future for me unless something happens to allow me to legally purchase new production full-auto stuff. I have more invested in ammo than I do in guns, and that is the way it should be for me. I am more concerned w/ improving proficiency with what I have than acquiring more of what I will not make time to use. “Lean & Mean” is becoming an attraction for me as I age.

 

[ReadyontheRight]

I think you cross over into "heavyweight" when you stop counting your ammo by number of rounds you order and shoot every month and move to cubic feet.

 

[XD-40 Shooter]

Right now, I'm at $2300. That's about all I can afford right now.

 

[M1 Shooter]

I'm in the $2001-$4000 category not including ammo and accessories. If I add into it all the ammo, accessories, reloading gear, and other firearm related stuff, I'm in the $4001-$8000 category, but just barely. I consider myself a lightweight, but some people may consider me a heavyweight. It all depends on who you ask, and what your own definition of "lightweight" and "heavyweight" is. I consider a heavyweight to have a collection of firearms valued well into 5 figures at least, not including all the stuff that goes along with them.

 

[Noxx]

I have to make sure my wife doesn't see this poll, apparently I've dumped over 6K on guns this year. My investment in previous years has been pretty light however, still under 10k total.

 

[rampage841512]

I have between 4k and 8k in firearms, probably another k in accessories and ammo. I think it's relative too. Some guns can do as much damage with a bolt action rifle as a squad of marines can with M4s and M16s.

 

[littlegator]

I only have one gun I purchased ($530), and my Win 94-32 was inherited. I am a flyweight with superheavy weight ambitions.

 

[Ala Dan]

Neither

$10K-20K, so I'm right in the middle~!

 

[MSgt B]

(I hate doing math in public)
I barely broke the 4k mark, but I've got my eye on a good deer rifle. I'll try to bring my numbers up.

I like the post by Blind Justice (Re: Jay Leno)
I started with a used Ruger 22/45 for $150. It still gets plenty of range time.

 

[iamkris]

Value at around $35K. I figure that is no more than many guys spend on a sports car for their mid life crisis...and mine will hold its value.

 

[WSM MAGNUM]

I guess I`m a lightweight. I have around $4000 in firearms.