“Minimalist” Principles for Guns and Ammo

[Hokkmike]

No, I don't.
I killed a couple deer with rifle, couple with muzzleloader, over two dozen with a bow, and one with a 10mm pistol. That said...
Use to live on 20 wooded acres in KY; before we moved, I quit hunting, I was just done with it, lost my desire.
I sold all bolt action rifles, bows, muzzleloaders, including the 22 mag bolt action I used to dispatch chicken killing varmints. (Wife had pet chickens).

I now live a short walk to the beach and have to go to a indoor range to shoot; I knew that was part of it before I moved here to my 1/5 acre lot.
No desire to hunt, I don't need a big game rifle nor a small game rifle. (I hate to think how hot it would be sitting in a ground blind in FL and the bugs would be bad)
I do have a AR15 (boys killed a deer with it) but it is a safe queen, not been shot in several years.

The seasons of life do change our perspectives. I remember the days when I used to enjoy arguing the merits of this caliber vs. that with friends, or arguing about which brand was the best, and etc. I would have lost interest in hunting but something inside me says, "not to let it go" so easily. Maybe if I ever score a really big buck I might be willing to rest on my laurels and enjoy a late breakfast and coffee on opening day. I would have loved to own 20 acres - and I certainly would love to live by the beach. Good for you !!!!!!

 

[theotherwaldo]

I would have loved to own 20 acres - and I certainly would love to live by the beach.

My Grandpa on my mother's side had a farm, orchard and a couple of oil wells on a couple hundred acres between Downey, California and Signal Hill, on both sides of the Los Angeles River.
It was pretty close to the beach.
Much of it is now known as Compton.
I suppose that the hunting would be pretty interesting now-a-days... .

 

[W.E.G.]

Unless it has great sentimental value, send it down the road.

 

[plainsdrifter]

I'm in no hurry to sell my guns, ammo, reloading gear, components, gold, silver, antiquities, tools, welding gear, kiln, potter's wheel or anything else that is likely to be useful during the coming hard times.
-And there are always oncoming hard times.

Yes that.
I consider myself a minimalist with 14 different calibers and around 20 guns. Heck, one might run out of ammo for one gun, then jump to another or one breaks then you only have one or two back-ups.
Nope, keeping them and all the ammo for each.
I have a price sheet of the cost of every gun when I bought it and update the cost to replace every couple years. So the boys won't be selling any of them for a dime on the dollar.

 

[jmr40]

I've been slowly selling off stuff, or giving it to my kids for several years. Lever gun prices have gone crazy. I had a dozen Marlin and Winchester lever guns in 22, 44 mag, 30-30 and 35 Rem. I've sold 10 of them in the last 2 years. I paid $150-$400 for each of them. Sold them for $500-$2500 each. Got over $1000 for 3 of them. A Winchester 9422 XTR that I paid $200 for sold for $1200. I kept a Marlin and Winchester 30-30, both made in 1958 that I may well sell. Both of those would bring $1000+.

Most of the others didn't really make a profit for me, but I didn't sell any for less than I paid.

I still have quite a few guns, but I'm only keeping stuff with family history that I want to pass down to the grandkids and stuff I actually use.

 

[SwampWolf]

I can't explain why it is but when you've been a gun enthusiast all of your life, it's not a matter of collecting just to accumulate guns but, for many of us, we acquired way more firearms than we ever "needed" because it was in our blood. I never purchased a gun on a whimsy, every one was a much considered prize. I grew up poor and maybe that factor played a role in my having too many guns to "justify" but I don't care. Life is short and I'm not about to apologize for having a "surplus" of guns that have given me such indescribable pleasure over my eighty years of occupying space on this planet.

 

[230RN]

At 80 years old, I made a list of all my firearms and gave it to my two sons with instructions to figure out who gets what when I croak.

That done, I distributed them except for only a few I wanted around the house for fondling purposes, and my carry guns.

My big problem now is sorting through decades of stuff practically from childhood on. My main problem now is books which, given the vast amount of misinformation on the net, are now obsolete. Who needs my 1953 High School copy of the Chemical and Rubber Handbook any more?

So, other stuff. Old clothes no longer perfect, a whole big box of photographs which my father took..

'Taint easy.

Terry, 230RN

 

[SwampWolf]

'Taint easy.

Don't worry about it. It'll all be sorted out in the end. Mistakes will be made but welcome to life-and all of its unpredictable endings.

 

[SDGlock23]

I find it difficult, on the one hand I do like the idea of narrowing it down to just a few calibers but then again, part of me feels like in doing so I'm losing options. I've tried it and it's not bad, but it seems like eventually I just want back the stuff I sold off, so the process repeats.

 

[PzGren]

While I am a friend of decluttering, I enjoy the diversity of my collection way too much to drastically reduce its numbers. Guns that do not get shot for a couple of years, however, will be the first to go and be replaced with something I enjoy more.

Somehow, I do not consider my firearms that are neatly stored in lighted safes as clutter but have started to sell some of my spare parts and magazines.

 

[luzyfuerza]

Guns, in general, are appreciating assets.

Cash, especially today, is a depreciating asset.

Yeah, it takes some effort to care for a physical object. But help me understand why would I want to sell guns and hoard cash!

Get rid of extra soup spoons when you downsize for sure. But guns that are appreciating? Not so fast.

 

[uuolf]

I’ve kicked this around for a while. Wife and I are downsizing and eliminating clutter in our lives and it feels good honestly. We are far from extreme, but getting rid of a lot of extra junk makes it easier to kind stuff I actually need/use.

I’ve been trying to do this with firearms. I have been hanging on to a Win 70 7MM Mag for no real reason…hadn’t shot it in 6-8 years…it was fun to shoot 20 years ago but not so much these days. Sold it and all ammo. No regrets (yet)….

My conundrum is with revolvers and lever guns. I recently began buying a few just to have for fun. And while I’m gonna keep them, I have to adjust my thinking that I don’t need as much .38 ammo as I like to keep in 9MM. Same with the 30-30 or other calibers that are infrequent shooters (once or twice a year max).

So I’m weeding out the stuff slowly but surely…and while I’ll always have more guns that I don’t shoot, I’m gonna get rid of the excess that just doesn’t have any future with me.

Anyone else taking these steps? When I catch myself thinking I may need something I haven’t used in years, I feel like a crazy hoarder person like you see on TV…LOL!

Been there done that recently... I had an 80's colt 6900 AR Sporter and an S&W 1006 I held as religious relics... Right up until my wife wanted a certain car for her 50th... So I sold them and put the money in oil company options at the start of the Ukraine stuff... After a few weeks I realized I no longer missed them... And the options tripled in price... So that helped a lot...... Wife's happy so I'm happy...

 

[huntsman]

“Religious Relics” I like that, I’ve been blessed not to suffer from Relic worship.

So when it’s time to sell there’s no angst, now in hindsight I could have made more money waiting a year or so but that’s the way it goes and I move on.

 

[SwampWolf]

Guns, in general, are appreciating assets.

Cash, especially today, is a depreciating asset.

Yeah, it takes some effort to care for a physical object. But help me understand why would I want to sell guns and hoard cash!

If you use your head when making any gun purchase, you'll likely see it being worth more than what you paid for it; sometimes much more. There are doubtless better ways to invest your money than buying firearms but you can't shoot stamps, coins or gold, nor can you bag a deer or a turkey nor defend your life and loved ones with stocks or certificates of deposit.

 

[Mosin77]

I mean, in theory a man only “needs” a few guns. But the ground between theory and practice can be very, very large.

I don’t shoot a fraction of mine with any regularity. But I don’t have any plans to sell soon, either. Maybe I’ll feel different one day, but not yet.

 

[Hokkmike]

At 80 years old, I made a list of all my firearms and gave it to my two sons with instructions to figure out who gets what when I croak.

That done, I distributed them except for only a few I wanted around the house for fondling purposes, and my carry guns.

My big problem now is sorting through decades of stuff practically from childhood on. My main problem now is books which, given the vast amount of misinformation on the net, are now obsolete. Who needs my 1953 High School copy of the Chemical and Rubber Handbook any more?

So, other stuff. Old clothes no longer perfect, a whole big box of photographs which my father took..

'Taint easy.

Terry, 230RN

My joke is that I have 2 brothers and am going to leave 7 guns to them both to divide.

 

[230RN]

My joke is that I have 2 brothers and am going to leave 7 guns to them both to divide.

That's not just an excuse to buy another gun -- it's a duty!

Terry