How much does "impulse buying" factor in to your firearms purchases?

Hokkmike said:

..... but sometimes you gotta have what you gotta have.

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Guilty as charged. About 2 years ago I was aimlessly perusing the classifieds of this very forum late at night. (Danger!) I saw this bitty Beretta and immediately thought "Gotta have it!" I have a soft spot for Berettas , thought this one was way too cool , now it's in the herd.
No regrets , though ... a joy to shoot , and folks sure get a kick out of it.

I've purchased more guns on impulse than I care to think about. The owner of my LGS knows me well enough to know what I like and when something comes in he squirrels it away in back. I must read like an open book.

I impulse bought once, and the gun is a turd. Now I research reviews and specs. very carefully. In the reviews I specifically look at the worst ones, for someone that sounds like they know what they're talking about. On this turd gun, just one reviewer mentioned that the trigger is short, and sharp on the end. He really reviewed the gun well, so I felt that his opinion was probably right to some degree, but many others said how great the gun was. I ordered the gun and guess what? The trigger is so sharp that I can shoot avout 20 rounds before I get annoyed. I think 80+% of customer reviews are great because they just bought it, and they don't know any better.

I've bought and sold enough over the years to learn that as long as I'm not stupid with the original purchase, guns hold their value pretty well. So an impulse buy that ends up not floating my boat can be sold again for very near what I paid for it, and in some cases, significantly more. If I lose a few bucks, no big deal, as it was probably a fair price for the experience of shooting it.

Example: I really like my second-hand Charter Arms Bulldog in .44 Spl. I liked it enough to try a second-hand Pitbull in .40 S&W. I liked the idea of a .40 caliber revolver that didn't require moon clips. Compared to the Bulldog, it was meh. There was a lot of tool chatter in the rifling, and it just didn't work right. I sent it back to CA and they replaced the barrel at no charge. I still wasn't happy with it. I broke even when I sold it to a local guy. I told him my experience with the gun and gave him the paperwork on the return to CA; he had plenty of opportunity to examine it. We both walked away happy. So the Pitbull was sort of an impulse based on my positive experience with the Bulldog. It didn't work out, I'm smarter, and I didn't lose anything but my time. I have multiple carry options, so not liking the Pitbull was not a hardship. The learning experience was valuable.

Stupid is over-paying for a gun that I'd have a hard time selling again if I chose to.

So, stopped by a few pawn shops with cash...



425.00, pick it up on Tuesday
Dan Wesson for 4 Bill's, how often does that happen..

Half the fun of "gun shopping" is the impulse buy. Everyone once in a while, OK every couple of weeks, I go to the different gun stores in my area to see what new guns they may have in the case. I only impulse buy on used firearms where I know I can haggle a little bit. Yes, haggling is part of the fun.

I have had a few impulse buys. Most have worked out. I am a gun trader so I will have something that I feel that I can't live with out. A few years later trade it off on the next best thing.

I do have one gun I regret not buying when I saw it. A Remington Model 700 KS custom left hand in 8mm Remington Magnum. What does a deer hunter need with a 8mm Mag? I screwed up it was neat! Craig Boddington turned me onto this cartridge in the gun rags. The ultimate elk gun!!!

It's very rare that I impulse buy something for more than 2 digits between the dollar sign and the dot. One firearm impulse buy I am very happy with is my Extar EP9. Boris the Taurus (my Taurus 2" 606) was out for sale for over a month til it started whispering to me to buy it and it finally seduced me, so I can't quite say that was an impulse.

I generally think through purchases very carefully, but I have had some impulse buys. As stated, they have sometimes worked out to be some of my best acquisitions.

It is funny - Phase One was covering all the "needs". Self defense, plinking, whatever.

After I had the needs covered, it was Phase Two - the "wants". I would set out to get something I felt I wanted and would not be satisfied until I got it.

After wants were largely satisfied, that's when I started doing Phase Three - impulse buys. Needs and wants are covered, and now I'm in a better position financially to do modest impulse buys. This was unthinkable during Phase One, where it would take months to scrape together enough resources to make a purchase. As a lot of people are saying, as long as you don't get a real dog you can generally get your $ back, if you are the selling type.


As storage and older age become more and more of an issue, I anticipate Phase Four - the wind-down. Or "thinning the herd" or however you want to put it. But I'm not quite there yet!

@tubeshooter, that's a good description. I guess I'm between Phase Three and PhaseFour.

For me the only impulse gun I've bought was my second single action revolver. It's a colt reproduction with a bird beak grip and it's not really all that necessary. I'm trying to see if I can trade it in for a Ruger Redhawk or a Taurus Raging Bull but other than that I'm good on impulse gun buying.

I've bought two guns on impulse, and I regret neither.

When I was younger and single (George W era), it was easy to spot something in the LGS and simply pick it up.

Then came Obummer, and ammo went through the roof. I’m way more critical on what I buy as far as firearms to this day. Add a family, and smart decisions have to be made. I’m really not a a huge fan of adding new calibers in the fleet because it’s so darn expensive to get all of the reloading set up with tons of components...if you can find them too. If it has magazines, then you have to stock pile those too...and those can really add up.

Anymore, I invest in reloading components for the calibers I already have.

Most are planned----but the last one was not---had it in my head that I wanted a nice O/U shotgun and I came across a minty used Browning Citori for about $1000 less a new one goes for--so I pounced on it-------put it on lay-a-way and within 3 weeks it was in my grubby little hands.

Owner of the shop where I worked for a while says it’s not about need. It’s about want.
So most of my collection is impulse buy in that regard.

I pretty much have a rule of “if I see it, it’s a great deal, and it fits into my mental list of Guns-I-Really-Would-Love-To-Try, I will buy it and figure out how to afford it later. Assuming it’s less than 1k.” So far, it’s not gotten me into trouble. I figure this is better than kicking myself for the next year for passing up on something. But my interests are pretty narrow and disciplined now so it’s not like I’m buying 3 guns a week either. It averages out to one every few months. In the past when I was buying more guns I had to scrimp and plan more, because my checklist was longer.

I can't really be called impulsive. Old and set in my ways, boring, etc. all apply but not impulsive. After spending around 25 years waiting to run into a bird' head single six with no luck I finally gave in and bought a HHR just o have and shoot a bird's head single action. Don't regret it either as it's a fun gun and that's all I have a need for anymore.

Depends on how much jingle I have in my jeans and if the balance of my happy card is up to date. Regrets? I've had a few, but then again, too few to mention.

"Impulse buying" can be subjective. I collect some types of guns, and know what I want. There have been times I've seen a specific arm and bought it on the spot. It probably looked impulsive, but I've been thinking about 'one of those' for years.

Condition may be somewhat ignored. Some guns I've bought were actually hideous. One I ended up rebarreling and restocking to make a shooting-hunting rifle to use. I bought an 1886 Lebel I'm afraid to shoot, but I didn't have one at all before. It's one of my WWI rifles.

"Impulse Buying"? With respect to firearms, almost none.

In general, I think a gun is just too expensive an item to buy without giving the matter considerable thought. When I buy a gun, I generally intend to keep it for life. My Charter Arms AR-7 was the closest to an "impulse buy" of a gun I have made and I still thought about it for about six weeks. It was $130. I was making $3.65 an hour. I didn't have a credit card. I had enough in savings, but it still represented 35 hours of work so I thought long and hard before parting with the cash.

By the way, I still own that AR-7.

Twice, but both times I would have bought a similar gun at some point in the future. First time (mid 80s) I was getting some work done on a rifle and asked the gunsmith if he ever had guns that people just left with him; never returned to pick up. He said yup, what are you looking for? I said I really wanted a S&W .44 magnum. He says just a minute. Comes back with a model 629, 8 3/8 inch barrel with custom rosewood grips. $499 later it was mine.

Second time at a gun show I bought a S&W 1076 10mm auto. Had a friend with one and I liked shooting it a lot. Brand new in the box $425. Hadn't planned on buying one but couldn't resist that. Since then though, now that I am married with a child, my gun purchases are more thought out. However, as my son likes to shoot a lot, I now buy guns that I say are for him but which I also like to shoot a lot.

I've done a couple impulse buys but I've not been sorry so far. My last that I would call impulse is because I wasn't shopping for a gun on that trip. WE were at Wally World, our son gave me a gift card for Christmas and I had bought a nic knife online at BudK. I was looking for a less expensive knife there and found one. I had been looking at 6.5 Creedmoor for my next long gun purchase for a while, but finances require me to save up the funds first, like many others. While at the sporting goods desk at WM, I looked up and saw a Savage Axis in 6.5 CM for $242. I hadn't seen one for less than $350 any place. I mentioned it to the wife, she said if it's a good deal you should get it. WOW I love this woman! I already havd an Axis in 30-06 and I love it so I bought this one, and there is no remorse.

I know what I want when I go shop. Online or brick and mortar. Gun is thoroughly researched. Except for once. Local Army Navy store. We went for boots. But I always check the gun Dept out. In the used case is a single six. Couldn't read the tag. Looked like $149 or $119. Couldn't tell. Got the older guy behind the counter. He couldn't tell. Got the young girl behind the counter. She said $119. This place gives 10 percent on cash. Wife had cash. She asked me if this was a good buy. I said " oh yeah". Walking gun up to cashier with the older guy from around the counter. He commented:

" You know that you stole that gun?"

" Oh, yeah!". With a big crap eating grin.

Polished blue all steel. Was a limited run in the late '50s. It was from '57 or '59. I ran the numbers a while ago. Read about the model later when American Rifleman did a story on Ruger Single Sixes.

Well, there's my long winded story.

I may have a gun 'jump' out at me, but that generally is as far as it gets until I have taken the time to thoroughly research the gun to determine if it is really something I want to buy.