I think I'm ruined...

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I suspect a part of it is being in the Chicagoland area where shooting ranges are indoor affairs or long drives to Indiana public, Wisconsin public, or Buffalo Rock for outdoor fun (within limited distance and usually crowded). Plus the snow has returned. I was feeling that myself for a while before I moved 5 years ago. Only good break was deer season in October with archery in Des Plaines and November gun seasons downstate with the occasional trips out to Colorado for elk and mulies. It's hard to keep up enthusiasm when you are busy, the available facilities are boring, and the local stores are, well, cookie-cutter aisles of stuff after you had experienced shooting freedoms in more accessible ans friendly locales.
 
Its normal interests change with age.
Im not interested in much anymore myself.
I have a 2 year old like you and it seems like Im buying gun stuff for him now.
Well if your fortunate he will grow up and be a gun guy and you can share.
My oldest ,53, is a gun guy, with a non guy wife. So he keeps his modest collection, three rifles, a shotgun and numerous hand guns in my safe.
Guns in my safe are subject to my use on occasion, especially that really nice Uberti Cattleman with interchangeable cylinders. :rofl:
 
Like I used to tell my kids when they wouldn't eat their vegetables, "as you get older your tastes will change". Actually applies to almost everything.

I similarly have gone through a few phases of gun interest, sadly, I sold a few that I now covet and are valued at more than I wish to spend.

As long as you still have an interest in guns, regardless of type, it's all good.
 
Time to start reloading, if you don’t already. If you do, time for some reloading equipment upgrades.
 
Hey all,
It's a friday in the month of November and work is slow. .

I think at points along this journey we become very aware of time passing and ennui rears its unpleasant head. You write well. It is a gift. Explore the solitude of that.

As for guns and collecting; I started late, as well. I've had ups and downs and many lessons and starts and stops and much reading here and there and opinions on this and opinions on that. All I ever really wanted was a gun to make me feel more secure as I went about this business of day to day. I hardly considered that I would have to learn so very much and in fact, never stop learning.

Placement is my new obsession.

Godspeed, Obturation.
 
Time to start reloading, if you don’t already. If you do, time for some reloading equipment upgrades.
I steadily reload, usually 1 night per week. Upgrades? Yeah, i could certainly use a few.
I only load 357mag/38 sp, 45 colt/454 casull, 45-70, 30-30 and on occasion 338 lapua. I just slow and steady use a single stage press and hand weigh each charge (with the help of a powder measure and i trickle to desired weight). Its slow but more of a relaxation time than anything, plus i get ammo at the end. Everything else i just buy but mainly shoot 357 & 45 colt or 454 casull & a lot of 22s.
 
It may be time for a nice target .22 auto to rekindle the interest in precision. I stumbled into a LGS a couple of years ago and bought a Mk II Government Target Model. :thumbup:

I almost always look for .22 LR ammo when I’m in a gun store, if I see some brand/bullet style I don’t have on my shelf I buy some boxes to give them a try.

I’ve spent many hours since trying a variety of ammo to find which will shoot tiny groups. By focusing on breathing, trigger, follow through, etc. I’ve improved my shooting of both autos and revolvers immensely.

You’ll phase in and out of having an interest in different stuff over the next 20-odd years. I’m 52 and Just over the past two years I’ve gone from wanting/buying/shooting Browning BPS shotguns (3) to SW revolvers (4) to bolt action hunting rifles (3) etc. I’m sure in the next month or two I’ll get a hankering for something else...:)j

Stay safe.
 
Yeah, I'm kinda with you. I have what I like and 99% of the shelves in a gun store are either a "I have that" or a "tried it and it's not for me" at this point.

I'm saving for a semi custom 1911 that will excited for a while, but I've shot plenty of them and ultimately it will just be an upgrade to my current carry gun.

I recently have started delving into the red dot pistol game and it's an interesting process, but last week proved that simply picking up my Valkyrie CCO yielded faster, more accurate, results at every range. Still, it's a new skill to work on so there it goes.

The one gun that does interest me coming out next year is the Dan Wesson DWX Compact, a CZ 75 compact with a proper safety and 1911 trigger will be a welcome addition, but the pure research-oggle-anticipate I had for, say, my first Hi Power is just not there these days.

So I get it. Still love to shoot and work to shoot better, but the whole "I can spend a whole day oggling guns at the shop" seem to be gone for me.
 
As the years rolled on i found that i gained no pleasure from my carry guns (all glock) , nothing at all from shooting the ar15s I've owned (currently just one, a daniel defense ddm4v5), the 1911s i've had and sold, nothing from bolt actions and little from shooting shotgun. My joy was with revolvers, lever actions and single shot firearms. I've known that for years and purchase accordingly. I'm a 22lr and big bore fanatic and not much else.

.... Looking through case after case of modern polymer and steel semi autos i can't find one single gun that i desire more than a passing interest ..... Ar's, ak's , precision bolt guns and the whole array of wonderful offerings from countless makers are very hum drum. .... I spend my evenings researching ballistics, looking at masterpieces of steel and walnut , dreaming about my next revolver and reloading ammo.

....The only guns that get me excited are ones not common in the modern gun store. Revolvers chambered in rounds most people never heard of that have no practical use beyond shooting clear through a buffalo. Lever actions chambered for cartridges that were developed well over 100 years ago. Odd things from a by gone era.

As Shane put it, "a gun is a tool, Marian". But that was in a different context.

I carry a 9mm semi-auto. I do not get exited about it at all. It is a tool.

Not like the .45 SAA I once owned years ago. And not like the Colt and Smith & Wesson DA revolvers, blue, sometimes with stag grips and sometimes engraved, that I looked at hour after hour in my then new 1953 Stoeger's Shooter's Bible. The last semiautomatic pistol I liked to look at was the Colt Woodsman.
 
Balance. When one aspect of life seems uninteresting anymore, there are other aspects that have been neglected. Shooting is a hobby. Guns are material objects. Neither are part of the big picture. Mid 30s is when I noticed that when I started achieving the material goals that previously consumed me, they didn’t come with a bucket of satisfaction. Start asking the big questions and follow where they lead.
Don’t sell any guns or reloading equipment. You will still find enjoyment in them. Maybe for different reasons than before.
 
Don’t sell any guns or reloading equipment. You will still find enjoyment in them. Maybe for different reasons than before.

This is good advice that I regretfully ignored over the years. I am a slow learner I guess. When I look at the political landscape these days I kick myself for not keeping some revolvers over the years. My goal now is to add some double action revolvers (K, L, N Pre-lock S&W’s and Ruger) as the availability of them is shrinking and prices getting higher as States like California ban semi-autos. I am trying to get more even though I have hardly shot my double action revolvers over the last few years.

I brought a good, used S&W Model 64 last month for what I consider was fair price and have been feeling as goofy as if it was the first handgun I ever brought. I am hoping my good luck continues into the next year.
 
I was back in the Chicago burbs for a business meeting last May. I stopped by GAT guns to check out my old stomping grounds. Bought a lot of guns from them in the 90s.

I think the problem you have there is no decent place to go shoot. Indoor ranges are okay but outdoor is a lot more fun, especially if you have some reactive targets.

Maybe it is time you get some friends together, put that money toward some land, and get out and shoot more :cool:
 
My polymer pistols, my pump shotguns and my semi-auto rifles are my practical, boring defensive tools.

Everything else is for fun; my 1911, my scout rifle and such are to see if can I master them and have fun learning them. I bought a old Beretta O/U shotgun just to see what the fuss is all about. I certainly don't need anything else and I don't want much of anything. If I do get anything it will be something I find interesting to learn to shoot well or try to shoot well.

If nothing firearms related floats your boat anymore, downsize. Fund something you enjoy, life is short do what you want to do with your money and your time.
 
If nothing firearms related floats your boat anymore, downsize.
Whoa. Never said that. Was talking about mainly most semi auto pistols, most shotguns and the whole array of semi auto rifles - not that i'm disliking them but i just didn't see anything in those catagories that i found very interesting or desireable. I'm still plenty gun obsessed, just have lost interest in quiet a few guns that really used to turn my crank.

I was back in the Chicago burbs for a business meeting last May. I stopped by GAT guns to check out my old stomping grounds. Bought a lot of guns from them in the 90s.

I think the problem you have there is no decent place to go shoot. Indoor ranges are okay but outdoor is a lot more fun, especially if you have some reactive targets.
Oh man, you're from here?!? Thats terrible. Nobody should be from here (lived here all but 2 years of my life). You are spot on, i don't get to get out and shoot outside of the range often, but i surely don't shoot at GAT. I can shoot at a buddys parents cabin in galena whenever, whenever i can justify a 3 hour drive each way (rarely). But mainly shoot in delevan , wi at an outdoor shooting club. I do plan to leave this state eventually but its going to be a few years. When i do relocate i'll certainly make sure i can shoot at a home range.
 
Oh man, you're from here?!? Thats terrible. Nobody should be from here (lived here all but 2 years of my life). You are spot on, i don't get to get out and shoot outside of the range often, but i surely don't shoot at GAT. I can shoot at a buddys parents cabin in galena whenever, whenever i can justify a 3 hour drive each way (rarely). But mainly shoot in delevan , wi at an outdoor shooting club. I do plan to leave this state eventually but its going to be a few years. When i do relocate i'll certainly make sure i can shoot at a home range.

I spent 20 years in Dupage county. The people are great, and the food in the Chicago restaurants are fantastic but the weather and politics are awful. I miss Portillos and Rosatis Pizza!

My friends and I would pack all our stuff in my Pathfinder and drive down to Buffalo Rock for the day. Back then the place was pretty laid back but I guess the rules have gotten stricter.

Here in Utah I drive 30 minutes to a range that I help run. It only goes to 100 yards but we have steel targets for pistol and carbine fun, and can bring a thrower for shotgun.

30 minutes north of me is a 1000 yard range with all kinds of steel targets.
 
I spent 20 years in Dupage county. The people are great, and the food in the Chicago restaurants are fantastic but the weather and politics are awful. I miss Portillos and Rosatis Pizza!

My friends and I would pack all our stuff in my Pathfinder and drive down to Buffalo Rock for the day. Back then the place was pretty laid back but I guess the rules have gotten stricter.

Here in Utah I drive 30 minutes to a range that I help run. It only goes to 100 yards but we have steel targets for pistol and carbine fun, and can bring a thrower for shotgun.

30 minutes north of me is a 1000 yard range with all kinds of steel targets.
Yep, great food around here. It's gross what passes for pizza in the rest of the country. Never heard of buffalo rock, i'll check it out. I generally feel like the closer to chicago you get the less gun friendly it is. Don't know if you heard about crook countys 5 cent per bullet tax (1 cent per bullet if its rimfire). I keep clear of cook county all together, i live in mchenry co. And work in kane co.
I would like to see the west, heard utah is beautiful.
 
Obturation I know how you feel. I get more enjoyment shooting my Marlin 1894 and my S&W 63 than my semi autos. I enjoy working the actions and feeling the cylinder move.

I need a 357 revolver to match up With the 1894. A Taurus 692 will probably be my choice, although I want other SA and DA models as well.

I need to get an AR as well at some point, but I wonder if I'd be happier with a Ruger American Ranch in 223 or 7.62×39?
 
Is something wrong with me? Maybe.

Nothing wrong with you, you just incorrectly viewed a tool, the gun, in a fetish sort of light. They are nice, they are interesting, but at the end of the day it's either a tool (boring), collectible (more boring), or a decoration that hopefully your wife is cool with, lol. Yeah we all got guns we stake our existence on, but few count the gun as a way to make a living so basically it's a tool that you either carry a lot, which makes it slightly more interesting than a box cutter, or it's a tool that mostly sits idle, which makes it slightly better on a day-to-day basis than your average dust collector.
 
Become a trigger snob and take up hobby gun smithing. Then set out on the quest for the perfect trigger pull.

Best part.... you can do it at night after the kids go to bed.
 
So I get it. Still love to shoot and work to shoot better, but the whole "I can spend a whole day oggling guns at the shop" seem to be gone for me.
Working in a gun selling pawn shop there's not a lot of attraction for me to go to shops on my day off. That said, I used to like going to gun shows back in the day but not so much anymore. Used to be you could amble by the snack bar, grab a cup of what loosely passed for coffee and shoot the breeze with some other gun folks. Last couple of shows I've been to there was no snack bar and all the oddball little items people dragged out to sell at the show were't there. Mostly black rifles and some way overpriced fancy guns. Not sure if it's my jaded eye or just nostalgia but there's little interest in that stuff anymore as a day filling entertainment jaunt.
 
I get it. I think in most cases, gun collecting is an evolution, and while I really like some of the first guns I have acquired, I cringe at the very thought of having acquired a lot of the others. And as I have matured, in firearms ownership, I find my want list narrowing considerably. I can easily go to 12 pawn shops and gun stores in a day, wading through all the polymer, black, and glitz, and really see nothing which catches my eye.

From time to time tho, like right now, I stop to upgrade, (no bubba-ing, usually just minor changes to sights and mag releases), to ease firearms accuracy and carry.
 
Obturation,
I have gone through a few iterations of your “dilemma”. It’s actually not a dilemma. I think it’s a natural course. It just seems odd when it happens.
I had a thing for WW2 firearms. That passed.
I had a thing for 1911s. That passed.
I got into Cowboy Action Shooting. That passed and 10 years later I got back into it.
One day I woke up and didn’t want my Glocks any more. I sold them and some of my CAS guns to buy S&W revolvers. My interest in them has only grown.
Last year I got back into Glocks again. I like them and enjoy shooting them and I regretted getting rid of my first Glocks.

Phases, I think we all go through shooting phases, gun phases, types of shooting phases, etc.

One thing I have learned. Before selling a gun or guns, leave them in the safe a while and think about why they must go. Also, if all of a sudden you wish to try a different shop sport or type of firearm reflect on the reasons why you wish to do this. But most of all, do whatever you want to make yourself happy. No one else really matters in this regard.
 
One thing I have learned. Before selling a gun or guns, leave them in the safe a while and think about why they must go.

I had to sell a lot of guns when I lost my job in 2004, and even though it had to be done I still regret it. Some more than others of course and I've started getting some of them back, like my Marlin 1894. Some will be harder to find again like my Birdshead old Vaquero in 45 Colt or my 3913LS. Others are just to expensive now like the Super Single Six and 340PD.

I have promised myself never to sell another gun. Even if it sits in the safe for years I'd rather have it gather dust than selling it.

Given the current political climate it might get hard to make purchases in the future, so it doesn't make sense to part with anything right now
 
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