Ever feel like reducing down to just a few firearms?

Yes, especially now. Why have them if you can’t shoot them due to ammo availability. Might as well trim down to a pistol, a rifle, and a shotgun.

I would maybe feel that way if I had 107 guns! As it is there are still a fair number I'd like to add to the collection. There aren't too many I have that I don't use. Guess I haven't fired my Ruger MkI in several years but it's not worth selling. If I won the lottery I'd probably buy a hundred more guns but honestly another 20 would be plenty for life.

Yeah I really should get rid of some of these rifles and handguns. Oh and then I won't need all this ammo, powder, primers and bullets.

H3NT3 said:

Yes!

I got a long gun on Armslist now. Another may be posted as well. Thinking of reducing myself to just two 22LR rifles.

Ideally I’d sell the shotguns first. Then the reloading components after.
Might even part with all of my reloading gear!

But strangely Armslist is very quiet!

I’ve been purging a lot of things from my life lately. Part of this selling is me being realistic of what I really have time for... I don’t have time to turkey hunt. I don’t have time to properly deer hunt. But I can make time for squirrels due to generous season lengths.

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So what shotguns do you have? PM if you prefer

Thought about it, did it.

I’m trying this trend in the rest of my life too, narrowing down my stuff to what I need and one or two things I might not need but just like. Trying to get away from consumer culture in a big way.

Finding more happiness in less as opposed to more happiness in more; has been a good exercise for me.

If we all did that, imagine how this society might turn out...........the instant gratification spoiled unicorn snowflakes would be lost

George P said:

If we all did that, imagine how this society might turn out...........the instant gratification spoiled unicorn snowflakes would be lost

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I just don’t want to end up like the people who can’t park their cars in their garages because they have too much stuff.

ApacheCoTodd said:

Yup. A couple of years ago I was in the market for yet another safe and as I was looking, I realized that I did not have too few safes but rather, too many firearms.

These days, I'm slowly whittling down as others find their way to me. I don't want to leave my wife with having to deal with it when I kick.

Had a rather epic DA revolver culling a little over a year ago. Only regret maybe two being gone and even then - not too much.

Todd.

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This made me think of a late friend of mine. He had probably 50-75 guns and probably 50-100k rounds of ammo if not more. He was also a prepper and had a ton of machetes, knives, swords, etc. Sadly he passed away a few weeks ago at the age of 65. No wife, a son who he made seem like really didnt come around or have a good relationship with. I got to wondering last week what will happen to all his stuff. I used to joke with him when he would tell me how he ordered another 5k rounds online and purchased another gun that he doesnt even shoot them and should come to the club and shoot with me or give me some of the ammo and i will put it to use. He said he just likes collecting and he's saving all his ammo. He would only shoot once or twice a year. His son wasn't a gun person so its going to be rough on them getting rid of everything.

daniel craig said:

Thought about it, did it.

I’m trying this trend in the rest of my life too, narrowing down my stuff to what I need and one or two things I might not need but just like. Trying to get away from consumer culture in a big way.

Finding more happiness in less as opposed to more happiness in more; has been a good exercise for me.

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I consider myself a minimalist striving to keep it simple measuring every new acquisition by degree of need.

But this ammo shortage may be the wrong time to condense down when it comes to SD guns, if only because ammo availability seems to be spotty and focusing on one caliber could leave one in a bind.

Or worse forced into overpriced ammo, I’m frugal also

I have a similar thought quite often, but then remind myself that it's taken 15 years to build my "collection" into what it is today. Honestly, I don't have a lot of "cheap" guns anymore; but I don't have a lot of guns anymore, either. Consolidation of many cheap-o's into a few "quality" pieces was the goal a couple years ago, and I've accomplished it. I'm happy with what I have, really don't have a desire to add anymore right now with the exception of a Colt 1911 and no hurry on that one. I have enough ammo to be comfortable for a couple years, at the rate I shoot/hunt. Especially for the '06. Hopefully in the coming weeks/months/years I'll be able to replenish my rimfire stock. No hurry though. Just gonna be patient and wait for some good deals.

Mac

Reality: I really only need a handgun (self-defense), big game rifle (food), shotgun (food/self-defense); so anyone who has more than the above mentioned firearms is past the point of need, and isn't living a minimalist lifestyle (IMHO).

I'll keep some of my monetary investment in durable goods, especially in the times we are in. And firearms are one such location to keep some asset values. Just in this recent "firearm related material" crisis I've seen guns, powder, primers and brass become a currency on the private market. If anything I'm transferring more $'s into tangible assets, life efficiencies and collectables; just look at the quantity of money printing that is going on not only here in the US but elsewhere in the world and tell me we aren't heading for a correction in fiat currency actual values (I'm not getting any further into this topic as it is off-topic past this point in how it relates to my decision).

So in light of recent events and my stage in life I'm not interested in pairing down firearms for the sake of having less. Do I sell firearms that I really don't care to own anymore? Sure. But guns that are fun to own, interesting designs or collectable firearms, I will not be getting rid of, in fact they will be getting added to.

I look forward to the day when I'm seasoned in stage of life/age and can appropriate the firearms I've collected over the years to kids, grandkids, close friends, etc. That connection is a big part of what keeps the 2A alive and well in this country.

I would consolidate, but if I sell 2 I would need to replace them with 1. Right now, I can’t find much available to replace them.
I don’t keep any handguns for the sake of future monetary value. Politics will determine if my handguns are basically worthless or not in the next 25 years. However, an argument can be made that the type of handguns I buy are somewhat worthless to begin with.

daniel craig said:

I just don’t want to end up like the people who can’t park their cars in their garages because they have too much stuff.

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By too much stuff You mean Crap / Junk that probably hasn’t been used in years

MacAR said:

I have a similar thought quite often, but then remind myself that it's taken 15 years to build my "collection" into what it is today. Honestly, I don't have a lot of "cheap" guns anymore; but I don't have a lot of guns anymore, either. Consolidation of many cheap-o's into a few "quality" pieces was the goal a couple years ago, and I've accomplished it. I'm happy with what I have, really don't have a desire to add anymore right now with the exception of a Colt 1911 and no hurry on that one. I have enough ammo to be comfortable for a couple years, at the rate I shoot/hunt. Especially for the '06. Hopefully in the coming weeks/months/years I'll be able to replenish my rimfire stock. No hurry though. Just gonna be patient and wait for some good deals.

Mac

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Same goal for me as well

BreechFace said:

Reality: I really only need a handgun (self-defense), big game rifle (food), shotgun (food/self-defense); so anyone who has more than the above mentioned firearms is past the point of need, and isn't living a minimalist lifestyle (IMHO).

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I disagree; in your scenario a shotgun would do it all. My shotguns, however, are for enjoyment, not utilitarian use; just as important to take care of one's mental health as well as your physical one.

I think I need a intervention. I never sell anything. I should. Or else trade for something I want instead of just buying it. I just bought a arex rex zero one because it seems awesome for the price but really didn't need another 9mm.

George P said:

I disagree; in your scenario a shotgun would do it all. My shotguns, however, are for enjoyment, not utilitarian use; just as important to take care of one's mental health as well as your physical one.

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Agreed, but to ask on a gun forum to go down to one firearm is likely cause for account disablement.

"No" seems to be a relatively common answer here, but I will at least suggest that I'm considering doing my part to reduce caliber proliferation. I've got some firearms in certain calibers that appear, size wise, to be similar enough to one another where the elimination of one from a group of 3 handgun calibers, and the and the removal of several guns from the safe would help streamline the machine. In one particular caliber, the elimination of the entire caliber would reduce the inventory by three handguns.

That said, it may also provide for additional room to go deeper into the remaining calibers.....

The struggle is real.

At my age (66) I've only begun to ADD once again to my collection. Twenty plus years ago I had to sell my hand guns due to a move and I've regretted it ever since. Should've just had friends hold onto them for me yet on the other hand (hindsight being 20/20 and all) I didn't think that I'd be moving again, would have the funds available and the renewed enthusiasm. Helluva time to get enthused again that's for sure, but hey, you only go around once.

BigBore44 said:

No. The firearms I own will go to my brother, nephew, or close friends when I pass.

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Some of mine already have gone to friends and relatives, and I'm nowhere near to "passing" (I hope). A few years back, I gave a Browning 30-06 auto (that was given to me by a brother-in-law in the first place) to a friend, and I gave a pair of Colt Frontier Scouts and their holster set that once belonged to my dad to my oldest nephew.
For that matter, my wife didn't exactly "give" her two 7mm-08s to our oldest daughter and our oldest grandson - it just worked out that way. Our daughter kind of laid claim to my wife's Winchester 70 Featherweight 7mm-08, and our grandson did the same to my wife's old Ruger 77, 7mm-08. My wife shoots a customized Winchester 70, 7mm Rem Mag for big game nowadays, but we load it to what is more like 7mm-08 +P, or 280 Remington levels anyway.
Most of our guns are tools, and we use them - even if that "use" is only fun. Though we do have a few guns (very few) that have sentimental value to us. I guess the guns we keep around only because of their sentimental values will be passed on one of these days. I'm not worried about it. I'm sure not going to "reduce down" to a few firearms I really need - whatever "need" is.

I have around 15 guns give or take these days. I still wheel and deal to try out new things but I don't have a large accumulation anymore. About a year ago, I decided I wanted a place of my own to hunt. At the same time, I started a side business to make a bit more money. $10000 dollars was freed up from gun sales to fund landscaping equipment for my business venture and further a down payment on 30 acres in one of the best deer hunting counties in GA. The landscape business has netted much more than the guns ever would have and land is not being made anymore. Plus the hunting and timber investment. I only sold 12 guns too. Got minutely more than I paid for them but did not beat inflation on that appreciation.

Guns are a fools errand if you hope to make any money. They tie up resources that could be used to fund better appreciating assets. I am not saying to get rid of them all but some of these collections are ridiculous. Most people's kids dont care about guns or hunting and plus that value in a trust fund would go a longer way towards anyone's heir's future. Just something to think about. I have battled with gun hoarding myself and was able to free myself from the addiction through nothing more than cold pragmatism. This was around a decade ago.

When I realized my real passion was hunting and guns were just a carry along part of that, I decided to focus on hunting more and a very few good hunting guns. I don't know about you all but I am off to hunt.

BreechFace said:

Agreed, but to ask on a gun forum to go down to one firearm is likely cause for account disablement.

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LOL; and yet we have the old adage : "Beware the man who shoots one gun for he probably shoots it very well" Or something close to that. 100 years ago, those that had a gun most often only had one - might have been a shotgun, a rifle, a musket.........shooting for sport and fun was only for the rich; guns were tools no more respected than a hammer (and often as not neglected like one left in the rain). I have friends with a LOT of guns; one gent on particular has 3 Browning 52 gun safe FULL and more on display because he is out of room. Hos African safari days are long past, yet he has all of those rifles; his bird hunting days are long gone, yet he has dozens of shotguns; when he did do some shooting at the local clays club, it was the same Browning 525, even though he could afford the best in the world. His wife is going to have a helluva an ordeal trying to get rid of 150+ guns

My point in this exercise is when I get to that point, I have one nice shotgun to go to the club a few times per week, a handgun for SD/HD and maybe a .22lr or .22 air rifle for some plinking fun, because by then. I'll be too damn old to care about much else

Uh, no.

I feel like it more today than I did three weeks ago when I first replied to this thread. We might quibble over what constitutes "a few," but I'm considering a serious culling.

"Ever feel like reducing down to just a few firearms?"

I do.

But then I realize all that empty space would be sitting there, begging me to fill it up again.

Which means it's pointless for me cut my firearms down. Too expensive.