Buy fewer guns - but how?

[YZ]

How do you walk out of a gun shop empty-handed?
If the answer is "easy", please don't bother, it will make me sad.
If, on the contrary, you suffer from pangs, mental cramps, gottahavit's... You are not alone. Please share your creative ways of self restraint.

Z

 

[Texan Scott]

Working poverty.

 

[lpsharp88]

Assuming money isn't an issue? I convince myself I don't really need it. Things like "I already have a 9mm Glock", or "It'll just collect dust", or "I won't be able to find ammo for it"

 

[beatledog7]

I walk in knowing whether I'm just poking around or actually looking to make a purchase. I've only broken that twice (for a really nice A-Bolt Medallion in 7mm RM, and nearly two years later for a matte stainless CZ-75B).

 

[Schwing]

I just balance my check book a couple of times per week... It keeps me on the level.

 

[musicman10_1]

I suffer from this malady too and so I just don't let myself be a frequent visitor to the shops. I do most of my browsing for gear online and when I go to a shop I usually have cash in hand.

 

[C5rider]

Cash in hand

Is VERY good advice. If you're not going to buy something, then don't take the cash. But, if you've got a hole to fill in the safe, bring enough green to fill it and not over-fill it.

I know some guys who buy guns on plastic. To me, that's really not a necessity that merits going that route. And, it can get progressively easier to keep doing so if not checked properly.

I've noted that in each of my "hobbies" I usually cycle through the stages of "Interest, obsession, acquisition, re-assessment, cool-off period. Not saying that I don't still enjoy them, just that the heat of my interest has moved on to other burners on the stove. It'll come back, eventually. That's why I'm living by Cheapshooter's creed of "Never selling".

 

[postalnut25]

Mostly I've been putting my money into dressing up the house and buying & fixing up trucks for each of my kids as they turn 16. Therefore, money for guns just isn't there. Makes it real easy to just browse when the funds just aren't there for a purchase.

 

[Swing]

Its getting easier for me to avoid gun purchases. Sure, there's guns I'd like to have, but I ask two questions:

1.) Do I need this gun? This answer is 99% no because I have carry guns and firearms to dispatch farm pests. The rest are more for enjoyment (hunting, clays, targets, etc.).
2.) Will the amount of cash paid provide said amount of enjoyment? It is rarely a yes.

There used to be a third one that went something about this money would be better invested in stocks, bonds, or mutual funds, but that one making an appearance less and less these days.

I have had buyers remorse more times than I can recall, but savers remorse vanishingly few times. Or heck, maybe I'm just getting old.

 

[Robert]

I pay all the bills first and then buy groceries for the family. I am not saying it is easy, in fact I have had to flat lay it back down on the counter and walk out. At this point in my life I have to plan every major purchase over $100. Otherwise it takes away from my family and I can not afford to do that. So I scrimp and save and every now and then I buy a new firearm.

I bought my last new firearm last June...

 

[Sheepdog1968]

I don't go to gun stores as much and that helps. Also, I now create a fun money fund which is cash and typically comes in the form of holiday and birthday gifts. It's only with that and not family money will I buy guns. As I've gotten older (mid 40s now) its been easier to resist guns and many things in life. When I was in my 20s it was much harder but I was so broke i couldn't afford much.

 

[scythefwd]

I walk in with a lilst of what I'm willing to pay for what. That list includes specific makes and models of guns, with certain features. I will not deviate from that list.

 

[guitarguy314]

Just do what I do...and get a taste for the unusual. Bet your gunshop won't have a Wildey or A Dan Wesson Pistol Pac lying around. XD

 

[Ed Ames]

The classic way is to become an aficionado/expert, and really picky.

You don't want a Glock, you want a gen3 glock27L with blue tritium sights and lion head motif engraved on the slide al la a traditional Turkish cannon. You don't want a 44 magnum revolver, you want a three-screw with fossilized walrus ivory stocks, silver washed screws, a platinum front sight blade, and a 3/4 bobbed bone case hardened hammer . You don't want a desantis holster, you want an IWB holster hand made by Pat Boone's ex-therapist, or maybe of tanned yorkie hide (best holster material in the world, don't even think of arguing unless you have tried it), with a 22.635 degree cant and level VI retention

If you are picky enough you'll never find anything good enough to spend money on and, well, I won't say you'll be happier but you won't spend as much.

Kidding aside, that's kinda what I do without being all fancy about it. I'm not tempted by most of what I see in the average gun store, not because it's bad, but I look for special guns. The last two guns I purchased were on my want/can't find list for an average of 7 years.

 

[YZ]

I don't buy really expensive guns, save for a Colt Python. I also keep the balance in my head,and either resell something or make up working extra. I have bought a few I thought were keepers but really could live without. Ended up selling them to cut the losses. I am committed to keeping a 5 gun safe and a truck box, no more guns than can fit in. Like most compulsive shoppers I wasn't born with a silver spoon, but now need self control not to scatter what I have worked hard to gain.

 

[chicharrones]

Thankfully, I get past most of the "gottahavits" by researching the living crud out of something on the internet over the course of a week or two. By then, I'm usually burned out.

One thing that keeps my money in my pocket while cruising local gun shops is that the prices are almost never what I see at the internet gun stores or what people on the internet say they paid for a gun.

 

[TrailRambler]

In my experience, Bringing the wife along is a surefire way to prevent impulse buying.

 

[788Ham]

I came back from Vegas the 1st of May with some extra folding paper in my pocket..... did good again. I have the extra cash, but I need powder and bullets too, so anymore iron in the safe isn't on the agenda! I want a Henry .22 rifle, the newer one, Frontier octagon bbl. , but with .22 ammo sucking at this juncture in the road... nah, better get the powder and bullets. I've got some .22 stored away, getting the new rifle, I'd just burn it up, then the new rifle'd just sit around looking glum !

 

[YZ]

People tend to brag about or exaggerate their great deals. Particularly being anonymous on the Net. LGS owners who I bought from before readily give me quotes below the price tags. And if there's a small difference left, I'd rather pay them than an unknown vendor plus shipping transfer etc. It's a nice problem to have for sure. When a McDonalds used to be a luxury treat I didn't even think of going to gun shops.

 

[Capt. Ct.]

Just tell yourself that this is going to be your last gun buy. Like tomorrow I'm going shooting and coming home with an M&P Shield. It is going to be my last gun that I ever buy! Just like my Glock 21, Colt officers 1911, S&w revolver, Glock 26, Beretta Nano, oh help me I can't stop.

 

[jim243]

When I go into a lgs, I am looking for a specific fire arm and have only deviated once when I came upon a Hi-Point 4095 that just came in. So it is easy to walk out empty handed if they do not have what I want. I have done that for powder and bullets as well. If they don't have it don't waste your time.

Jim

 

[fanchisimo]

I always know what I want. I've never gone to a gun shop or show and bought on a whim. I also weigh it against serving a function. A hunting rifle, a full size pistol, a CC pistol, a MSR, a 22, and a shotgun are my necessary categories. I recently sold my hunting rifle so now I'm working on refilling it with money from the sale. Overall, you have to figure out what works for you in your situation.

 

[tarosean]

welll its easy!!!! I know you didnt want to hear that.

First thing you have to develop a taste for the premium semi customs. Volquartsen, Larue, Noveske, Kolar, Krieghoff, Wilson Combat, Ed Brown, SV, S & J Customs, etc. etc. Then the mundane everyday guns just wont cut it..

if thats out of reach..

I dislike rails, so that rules out 80-90% of semis in the case. I dislike locks on wheel guns so that rules out another 80-90%. So that basically leaves me with the used/consignment guns. So you will find yourself walking out of the LGS without filing out a 4473... I wont say completely empty handed cause I generally always walk out with ammo, cleaners, etc. etc.

Good Luck in your struggle.

 

[Archaic Weapon]

Standards. Become picky about grip fits and caliber options. I have found that liking hammers on my pistols and manual safeties is starting to go a long way to going home empty handed. Look at whats available against what you actually use, goes a long way towards showing need over curiosity. Bring people who disapprove or don't know enough to make the choices harder on you. Forget your money at home.

 

[happygeek]

How do you walk out of a gun shop empty-handed?
If the answer is "easy", please don't bother, it will make me sad.
If, on the contrary, you suffer from pangs, mental cramps, gottahavit's... You are not alone. Please share your creative ways of self restraint.

Z

Easy, don't go often. I don't make a habit of perusing the local Best Buy, actually it's been quite a while since I went to any electronics store. The wife and I just look for components online every few years when we want to put another computer together, which takes a fair amount of shopping around, comparing, reading up, researching, finding out what's the latest & greatest, etc. For the most part buying computer components is like buying guns in that you never want to buy something that just came out (in the case of computers you'll pay a LOT more for something which will be run of the mill in a year). Of course with computers there's no silly law that says you have to have it shipped to a 01 FCL and pay him to record it in his bound book.