Buying new guns: Addiction? Wise? Fantasy?

[stonebuster]

I'm wrestling with buying a duplicate of a like new 40 year old revolver I bought a month ago. It's in such great shape I figure I need a "shooter" now and can use for parts since the manufacturer doesn't support this model anymore. These are robust revolvers that ,at 70, I'm very unlikely to wear to the point of needing repair. I think I'm starting to believe the rationalizations I tell my wife.

 

[crestoncowboy]

In my experience, the hunt is often more satisfying than the meal. Getting excited about a new gun, researching it, shopping for it,

Back before the internet that was certainly the case. Me and a couple buddies spent many an hour driving many a mile looking for certain guns. Stores found in the yellow pages and auctions. And very rarely found the particular gun. Lol. Those buddies are all either gone/ changed paths/ or moved away. The memories from not finding those guns are worth more than the guns would have been to me. Some of those trips were nothing short of miserable at the time, but fond memories now.

 

[memtb]

I’ve never bought a firearm as an “collector”......however, most are a good investment. My purchases are generally bought for a specific purpose at the time.....though the specifics have changed over the years!

My problem at this stage of my life is.....my next and likely last purposeful purchase is probably not wise. I’m a little late in life to justify the purchase! memtb

 

[1942bull]

I might be collecting a specific gun soon. I’m have come to really like my Ruger Security 9 Compact. I think the Security 9 could become a series of pistols because it is such a good pistol. I expect it to push the Ruger American into a less prominent choice. I am going to buy one in the standard size for open carry hiking. I am considering purchasing the Pro model. I am also looking at the variety of Exclusive Distributor options. So I might become a Security 9 collector. It all depends upon how well received the gun is over months to come.

 

[Sniper66]

Several reasons for continuous buying come to mind. A co-worker once said, when I asked her why she buys so many books, "I buy books that I hope someday I'll have time to read." Guns for me are much the same. I buy them for hunts I hope to take and shooting I plan to do. Other reasons...I want to compare the performance of other guns of the same caliber. I have owned four 17HMRs and have another on order. There are others I want/plan to buy. Each one has some feature that the others don't have. When I get ready to hunt squirrels, I choose one of the 6 "squirrel rifles" (4 .22s, a 17Mach2, and a 17HMR) I own. I love this dilemma. Same with shotguns. Which shotgun for turkeys, clay targets, pheasants??
And thank God, my enthusiasm for these endeavors never wanes. I'm upgrading scopes on rifles, researching new rifles and shotguns, cleaning guns, reloading rifle cartridges, tracking down ammo sources, networking with others about their needs and mine, I never stop searching for new places to hunt/shoot or new guns to buy. I'll quit when they shovel dirt over me.

 

[375supermag]

I have small "accumulation" of firearms...but I doubt it qualifies as a collection.
There are subsets of my "accumulation" that could possibly be referred to as a collection because I have accumulated more than a few Ruger Blackhawks, Dan Wesson revolvers, S&W double action revolvers and Uberti single action clone revolvers.

No intention of stopping accumulating examples of firearms if I find something shiny that strikes my fancy.

 

[John_R]

I wish I was addicted to working out and eating healthy, lol.

What? That's crazy talk!

 

[crestoncowboy]

What? That's crazy talk!

Believe it or not.... it happens. Can be very unhealthy to try to be so healthy....There is a 10-15 year period of my life that I could show you a food diary. Every gram of protein/ carbs/ fat is perfectly chosen for a good macro split. The beginning was done on paper too. Before apps like myfitnesspal. (Before apps...When a cell phone required a bag and a car battery... and resembled a phone. Because all they did was make calls, sometimes....If you was lucky... and parked on the right hill) In that period of time i didn't miss a workout. If a bone was broke, I would work something else. If I was sick I at
Least half arsed it in my home gym.

And in all honesty it was probably the least healthy period of my life. Lol. The mental side and the slamming back pre- workout/ post- workout/ intra- workout/ protein/ glutamine/ creatine/ bcaa/ amminos etc etc etc. Pills drinks etc etc. Lots of the things we bought at gnc have been banned for years now. Bulking, cutting, going from 10-12% fat down into single digits when needed.

I still lift. Still eat better than 99%. Still in good shape. But those 10-15 years of "healthy" broke me down worse than my lazy partying drinking smoking job hopping friends. Lol. Disk issues. Torn muscles. Hernias and hemorrhoids are the best kept secrets in any real gym. (Steroids don't count, they aren't really kept secret. And if you think guns are expensive, research steroid cycles. One could buy a couple new cars a year for what those guys use up. I know, I've seen it) Or at least it seems that they feel better than I do. Maybe they feel as bad as I do. Idk. But sometimes I wonder.

And my gun collection/ accumulation/ arsenal/ or whatever we are going with at the moment would be 4 or 5x what it is now too, had I not been there. Of course I might have taken up drinking if I hadn't been so caught up in health. Might have got obese who knows. Could have even less than I have. Hard to say

As far as accumulation vs collection. I feel like if you start buying duplicates of an object that realistically won't wear out in 3 lifetimes, your probably collecting. Same for any one class of gun. Maybe you "accumulate" 2-3 shotguns. One 18 inch HD version. One long hunting version. One double for wing shooting with your buddies who smoke pipes and wear funny hats.... but when you have 10 or 20 shotguns, you my friend, are a collector. At least in my opinion.

It is just like everything else. Each person latches on to different things. We buy a gun we want another. We see gym progress. We have to be the biggest or strongest. We drive a quick car, we want 4 fast cars. Buy a timex want Elgin and Rolex

 

[md7]

I buy guns to shoot. I buy duplicates of the same gun in case the primary goes down I will always have another one ready.

Eg, two Glock 19’s, two Beretta 92’s, two AR’s etc. I have a few more spares to get. Not many, but a few.

The rest of my purchases go to equip, extra mags, ammo, cleaning supplies, etc.

I lived through the AWB and I’ve seen supplies dry up in panics. Never again for me. Get ahead…. Stay ahead

 

[SimonRL]

Once a gun collection is reasonably developed, do you ever get the idea that buying more guns is really a way of wishing we had more time to spend with the guns we already owned?

I think in America we have this fantasy of an easy way out of the time traps we are in that we can get out by buying more things.
I think this may be an illusion and buying new guns maybe a way of self-medicating out of the aspects of American life that are not free. Work, wives, yard work social media or the lack thereof.

I mean once you've got 50 good guns that run the gamut from revolvers to decent semi auto pistols, numerous various shotguns, hunting rifles in 5 calibers, and semi-automatic war machines in 3 calibers or more, that you don't really have time to shoot to the degree desired, then is buying more guns really just a cry for help for the world to give you more time ?
but since you can't get more time you just buy stuff?

I think guns are like guitars. You’re always searching for that one guitar/gun that has that something-something and sometimes you spend a lot and you realize it’s just not there and sometimes you buy that cheap brand that everyone craps on and you are connected from day one. But then you think, man I’d like - fill in the blank - and the quest starts all over. And then someone asks which one would you keep if you could only have one and although you know deep down which one it is you fear speaking it into reality. The voyage of discovery is a wonderful thing and hopefully, never ending.

 

[GRIZ22]

I didn't read all the posts so if I repeat what someone else has said understand.

You need to come to grip with some terms. "Collection" denotes a direction. You collect SA Colts, you collect S&Ws, you collect M1s, you collect guns to fit every role from personal defense to hunting African dangerous game.

I, as many of this forum, am an "accumulator". I've bought many guns to fill specific roles. I've bought many more because I've wanted them or couldn't pass up a good deal. Same goes for ammo. I have some ammo I reloaded back in 1978. Shot some. Still performed as they did when they were fresh.

As I've gotten older I've realized my heirs don't have the interest in guns I do. Yeah, they like to shoot, are far from anti-gun, but don't have a need to have all I own. To leave them with all these guns would be a burden. I'm culling my accumulation to ease that for them. Recently sold guns and ammo off to fund a trip to Disney for the whole family. Used the money to fund something the everyone can enjoy.

 

[Old Dog]

"Collection" denotes a direction.

I'd kinda respectfully disagree here. My "collection" has little direction (other than I've long favored any 1911s, older S&W and Colt revolvers, SIG classic P-series pistols, Winchester rifles, other than those, I'm all over the map) but if you buy guns to fill specific roles, you are a collector.

As I've gotten older I've realized my heirs don't have the interest in guns I do. Yeah, they like to shoot, are far from anti-gun, but don't have a need to have all I own. To leave them with all these guns would be a burden. I'm culling my accumulation to ease that for them.

I've actually talked with my kids about this. They both know that I (and the boss lady) have a lot invested in firearms; what they don't want to keep, they've indicated they are willing to sell (explicit directions, preferred dealer and auction house, as well as current values are well-documented for them). Let's just say that my grand-kids can have a lot of college tuition paid if my children sell some of the collection. They're telling me it's a "burden" they're willing to shoulder.

To get back to the OP, I'd just hope that no one here gets skittish about the thought of collecting firearms -- since guns are PC -- when it's totally okay and acceptable to collect almost every other type of material item. Heck, I know someone who collects old ("classic") typewriters and my own father collects antique fishing reels. Addiction? Sort of... wrong or worrisome? Not in the slightest...

 

[Ignition Override]

Huntolive:
Reasons for More guns: Yes, yes and yes. And yes.

It might be all of that plus “the grass is always greener”, which makes anything different have more interest.

For me it’s partly to have varieties of ergonomics and internal mechanisms, ie three imported AKMs plus a true Czech-assembled VZ-58 etc.

If people inherit guns for which They have little sentimental value, if any, I would be surprised if they were

truly honest when describing what they would keep. Especially discussing it with the original gun owner.

Easy money won in a casino has —little value— and is usually gambled away …why would an inherited gun automatically have true value?
Cash Is King and young people tend to Party.

Let’s be frank: For young people who can legally (or not) and easily Buy Weed, or nice liguor , it’s gonna add up really quick .

 

[JCooperfan1911]

There is no such thing as a gun addiction.

Also no such thing as too many guns. Buy as many as you can afford, same for ammo. As long as you can keep a roof over your head and your wife and kids fed, again no such thing as spending too much on guns IMHO.

And he shall judge among the nations, and shall rebuke many people: and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruninghooks: nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more. (Isaiah 2:4).

Then said he to them, But now, he that has a purse, let him take it, and likewise his money: and he that has no sword, let him sell his garment, and buy one.

 

[flightsimmer]

Once a gun collection is reasonably developed, do you ever get the idea that buying more guns is really a way of wishing we had more time to spend with the guns we already owned?

I think in America we have this fantasy of an easy way out of the time traps we are in that we can get out by buying more things.
I think this may be an illusion and buying new guns maybe a way of self-medicating out of the aspects of American life that are not free. Work, wives, yard work social media or the lack thereof.

I mean once you've got 50 good guns that run the gamut from revolvers to decent semi auto pistols, numerous various shotguns, hunting rifles in 5 calibers, and semi-automatic war machines in 3 calibers or more, that you don't really have time to shoot to the degree desired, then is buying more guns really just a cry for help for the world to give you more time ?
but since you can't get more time you just buy stuff?

This sounds a lot like me. I have a wide interest in rifles, shotguns, handguns, both auto and revolver, military and civilian but you could lay down a few dozen firearms in front of me and I might not be interested in any of them, it's hard to say what trips my trigger so to speak. But I do know that once my trigger is tripped I will go all out to insure that I have an excellent example of that firearm, no malfunctions or problems of any kind are tolerated. Once this is achieved I tend to loose interest fairly quickly and then I'm off looking for the next thing that interest me.

This interest (or addiction) has cost me 10's of thousands of dollars but the satisfaction I receive is indescribable. I also loved flying but it was even more costly. Aww, such is life.

 

[wiscoaster]

.... I also loved flying but it was even more costly. Aww, such is life.

Guns don't come anywhere close to airplanes, but I'm glad you've found a second love, as have I.

Oh! I have slipped the surly bonds of Earth
And danced the skies on laughter-silvered wings;
Sunward I've climbed, and joined the tumbling mirth
of sun-split clouds,-and done a hundred things
You have not dreamed of-wheeled and soared and swung
High in the sunlit silence. Hov'ring there,
I've chased the shouting wind along, and flung
My eager craft through footless halls of air....
Up, up the long, delirious, burning blue
I've topped the wind-swept heights with easy grace
Where never lark nor ever eagle flew-
And, while with silent lifting mind I've trod
The high untrespassed sanctity of space,
Put out my hand, and touched the face of God

 

[.308 Norma]

The applicable meaning of the word according to Webster is “an accumulation of objects gathered for study, comparison, or exhibition or as a hobby.” Therefore a “collection” is different from just accumulating guns. Collectors have a purpose and a plan.

That's good to know. Tomorrow morning when my wife and I get to church, and my wife starts griping about how much Ruger hair (our cocker spaniel's hair) her skirt and blouse "collected," I'll tell her that her skirt and blouse didn't "collect" the Ruger hair, they "accumulated" it. Or maybe not.

 

[FROGO207]

Safe to say most on here are collectors in the sense that we all collect a tool that spits lead out the end. What we take for direction after is highly personal. As said above I am quite happy I don't collect prop airplanes! Airplane and boat maintenance are in a league all their own. Speaking from experience.

 

[BigBL87]

For me, I think it's a combination of want and need. Most of my firearms I bought with a specific purpose in mind, but a few I've bought just because I wanted them to have them. My 1911 is probably the best example of that, don't have a specific purpose and don't intend to carry it but I just wanted a 1911 because I think they're cool. My CZ-75 is kind of similar, though it did shortly serve as my bedside gun until I got my CZ P-07. Then there's my Savage Axis in .243, I only bought that because it was $54 with a $50 rebate (who WOULDN'T buy that), but even that has found a purpose with a night vision scope as a nighttime coyote rifle. I guess that's more of a want I found a niche for.

 

[sparkyv]

I have all I need, but there are still a few I want. My # is <<50. I sent a few down the road kinda because I wasn't shooting them much anymore and kinda to make way for the couple three I still want. I'm not a collector, I shoot and utilize all of my firearms. In the main, I'm done buying and am spending more time shooting and dailing in my reloads, and finding favorite fodder for my various 22LRs.

 

[Scrod314]

To kind of get a "gun fix" without buying a gun, I clean them and replace springs... Little stuff that isn't expensive and keeps me from running out and buying something impulsively. It helps.
On a different note... I was replacing springs over at my folks house (they have a great work table I built for my Dad years ago with a magnified light), my Dad asked me what I was doing. I said replacing springs on this old .40 He asked me when I got it, as he didn't know I had it. He worries I buy too many guns. I just said, "Uhhh... I've had for years."

 

[.308 Norma]

For me, I think it's a combination of want and need.

I'm kind of the same way, except that whenever I've had a "want" for something, I've almost always been able to dream up a "need" for it - and that includes most of the guns I've accumulated over the years.

 

[BigBL87]

I'm kind of the same way, except that whenever I've had a "want" for something, I've almost always been able to dream up a "need" for it - and that includes most of the guns I've accumulated over the years.

Oh, absolutely! I've come up with a reason to explain each purchase to my wife.

The 1911 was just one word: 'Merica.