Does anyone keep a gun log??

Not weird at all.

From the time I got my first firearm I have kept a three ring binder with exactly the kind of information you have mentioned. I have all of my receipts for firearms, and a data sheet on each gun consisting of serial number, model no., place and date of purchase, caliber, condition at time or purchase (new or used & any unusual/distinctive markings), and a photo of each. I ALWAYS keep the original box the gun came in and any accesories just in case I might ever want to sell or trade it away.

All of this helps me keep track of the many guns that I now own or have come through my hands over the years. In case of theft or loss, like fire or other disaster, I have this info for the authorities and insurance claims. I now keep this info on a disc and in a secure place.

A gun log is worth keeping, if only for insurance purposes. Someday, someone may well inherit them, and will likely value them more highly for knowing more about them.

In the last years of his life, my father went through boxes and boxes of old photographs, and painstakingly identified most of the people in them, figured out dates and places, and organized everything in albums. It's fascinating stuff, and would be more fascinating if anyone had ever bothered to write down more than dates and places and names.

History isn't over.

The old receipts are part of your family history. Save them.

I have a receipt for a gun bought the first year my wife and I married. That was in 1961. Spent more than a month's wages on the thing even though we were as poor as church mice. Still have the gun...and wife too.

Rafter-S

Gun Tracker

I use soem software called Gun Tracker. It will do all of that and more. You can input photos etc.... Then store it on CD-ROM

I keep al that plus dates of range trips, number of rounds thruand type of ammo, etc., any FTF/FTE, other anomalies, and repairs, enhancements, etc. I use Excel.

Mike in VA beat me to it. I also track rounds, type, number. I also take a target and have the range master/safety master sign and file one target per session.
Some think it's extreme, but I want a paper trail of range times and numbers just in case, so no one can say he was not trained or did not know how to use the firearm.
RTFM

I keep a spreadsheet with all the essential information on my collection, and save it in several different places.

You bet. And another vote for GunTracker here. The program allows you to keep all the pertinent stats in one place along with photos. It also permits the entry of free-form text, a feature I use to record whatever history I know about each gun. I periodically burn a copy of my database for storage off-site.

The log makes interesting reading as the brain doesn't retain as much as it used to... also good to have for insurance purposes (hopefully never needed in that capacity), and to inform my heirs of what they've inherited (an inevitability).

Any good share wares out there for this.
If not I'll just make a excel spreadsheet and save my money for ammo.

It's a good idea. I keep a log on a excel spreadsheet.

Digital media is a good long term back-up, but there's something to having a good well-worn book in hand to log info about your shootin-irons.

I use cheap composition books, which I take into the field/range with me. Nothing beats being able to enter info as it happens. You can also use a log book to draw sketches of field conditions as well as shot placement info, I draw shotgun patterning results. Also useful for entering sighting information on scopes under different conditions.

Do it if you can!

I started my record log before I got my first gun.

And haven't used it since.

I *want* to use it, I just never get around to actually doing so. I stuck the receipts in there, but haven't actually listed anything else. No photos yet.

Sigh. I'd be president of Procrastinators International by now, but I keep putting off sending in my application.

You might be a gun fanatic if...

You take your guns to a professional photographer for a "family portrait."

You carry photos of your favorite guns in your wallet to show friends.

Spreadsheet here.

Only problem you may encounter is keeping the (cardboard) boxes. I've found that its OK for the first few but after that, they just take up a lot of valuable space. With the boxes, I just cut out the label that states make/model/SN/etc. and toss the rest out.

i keep the hard boxes. like the platic ones but i toss the cardboard. i keep a green notebook with different categories

Rifle
Pistol
Acc

an write down Serial # Model # Make an caliber

i then store the reciept away too. i also kept the bill of sale from private party transactions too.

I was all jazzed when I bought my 1911 and thought it would be neat to keep a record of shots fired, ammo used, times cleaned, etc. But then I found myself shooting the daylights out of it and not keeping track. So, I just buy ammo in bulk form now and practice, practice, and practice. If it goes bang, cool. If it doesn't, I get it fixed. But so far it hasn't burped once during the last 2,100 rounds of 230 grain FMJ.

I do. I have all the reciepts from the original purchase and then for whatever stuff I've bought for each one. I keep a round count on each one, too, along with a written account of each gun and what I've done to each one.

i had hoped to keep one with my sw99 when I bought it new. but dang it im lazy . i had started working up a cool little app to do all this too. May get back on it in my spare time. something for all us gun nuts to use . Keep a log of rounds fired, weather conditions, targets, any special notes...that sorta thing, and for each gun you own. but sometimes its best left to an old ledger pad like grandpa used to do

For the past few years, every time I shoot up a box of ammo, I cut the end flap off (w/type and number of rounds) and toss it in the bottom of the ammo can. Allows me to keep a round count without taking time to log everything.

I also keep a few targets--best ones, ones I learned a lot from, and first ones with a particular gun.

You carry photos of your favorite guns in your wallet to show friends.

Click to expand...

I used to do that. Actually it was an insurance pic I carried around in case the house burned. When my gun totin friends asked about mine, I showed them the pic. Usually I got something like: "Most people have pics of their kids." I replied: "These are my kids!"

I keep a log of the date of purchase and every time i clean or shoot a firearm
that way i know how well it shot, if it malfunctioned, and with which ammo did it malfunction
i can see which ammo functions better or is more accurate if i keep good notes
and i can tell when it is time to do a deep cleaning on a gun and take it all the way apart instead of doing a regular post shooting cleaning
i suppose it wouldnt be bad to add a page with serial numbers ...... mmmmm
BSR

Gun Tracker

I found my Gun Tracker software on Ebay or maybe it was gunbroker.com
Hope this helps.

I have a log of gun purchase, also keep a log of reloading, parts purchase, trips to the range and results. Interesting reading a year later of fun times had by all.

Many a cold winter day spent loading a few rounds or doing a repair to a rifle project, saved for just such a winter day. At the end of the day all is written down and the record of other days at the reloading bench or at the range are read and enjoyed.

Giant