Did you go through a lot of guns in order to figure out what you like?

[breakingcontact]

460Kodiak,
That was a pretty complete account. Thanks.
That's about what I've had to do. Not wasted money though if you learned from it.

 

[tomrkba]

Yes, and I'm still not done. I've pretty much settled on 9x19mm, 45 ACP and 5.56x45mm. Everything else is still up in the air.

Gun rentals only go so far. I usually have to take a gun to at least one defensive course. All the pros and cons will come out during the course. I thought I liked Browning High Powers...until I sliced my fingers open and constantly fumbled speed reloads. Glock 30's were also disappointing with the famous "finger pinch". The G30 was great except for that and I went back to the G21 and SIG P220. I hated my Knights Armament SR-15 E3 with the goofy front sight, high cost, and average performance. All three Bushmasters were trash. A Bravo Company Midlength Mod 0 works just fine at half the price of the KAC. I liked the AK for what it is, but it falls short in ammunition selection (Wolf doesn't do well on steel at 300 yards). The AK needs a good, consistent brass cased ammo at 30-40 cents/shot so a well built gun can consistently do 4 MOA. Optics are another problem, but the SIG 556R addresses that.

Wring out your guns at a course and you'll know by the end whether or not you're going to keep it.

 

[taliv]

yes, i shoot all my guns and expect to gradually improve them over time. every year or two i do new AR and bolt gun builds based on my past experience and guesses at what products or features might work better than what i have. and if they do work better, then i have little use for the old guns. some have so many rounds through that they become a little sentimental, but that usually doesn't keep me from selling them.

i try not to get married to guns, but my latest AR build is so much better than previous ones, it's hard not to. my last bolt gun build was a total trainwreck and i had to go back to my old one

 

[gdcpony]

I can relate to this. I know the smart move financially is to just save and wait to buy what you really want. I have went from just getting something (like a basic model) to trying to wait and get what I'd really like (which is increasingly difficult to do with such limited supplies).



I think this is common in the hobby stage of firearms ownership or of any other pursuit. I like to think that eventually, when it's more of a lifestyle, this will subside. Like with motorcycles, you'll figure out what works for you, but then again, with age, a different motorcycle may fit you better, same with different guns.

The problem is this stage has lasted for decades!

 

[grimjaw]

Yes, I've been through quite a few but I made the mistake of thinking I'd like something better. A grass-is-greener approach, I guess, which I've regretted frequently since I let go of a MKIII Browning Hi-Power that I got for a song compared to today's prices.

 

[Arkansas Paul]

A grass-is-greener approach, I guess, which I've regretted frequently since I let go of a MKIII Browning Hi-Power

Bet you're doing a lot of this. I would love to have a Hi-Power.
:banghead:

 

[Teachu2]

I was lucky enough to work my way into a part-time job with a gunsmith when I was in college. He worked on just about everything, including Class III. I was his range stooge - every repair went to the range for testing, and I was the tester. I got to shoot a wide variety of weapons, and got a feel for what I liked or didn't like.

The only gun I've sold was the LC9 I bought for the wife. She thought she wanted it - until she shot it!

 

[breakingcontact]

Wring out your guns at a course and you'll know by the end whether or not you're going to keep it.

I'd be interested to know how many people go to classes. Seems like from what I read here its hard for a lot of people to get ammo and go to the range let alone a class.

 

[beatledog7]

I purchased my first firearm, a S&W 642 no-lock, after a lot of research but without having actually fired one. My purposes for this gun were concealed carry and home defense (which I wanted to accomplish with just one gun).

Though it is no longer my choice for HD, I still carry that 642 more often than any other gun.

 

[tarosean]

The majority of them are retained, regardless of my varying phases of 'likes/dislikes'.

So I have to ask. Why keep them if dislike them?

 

[huntsman]

I was lucky enough to work my way into a part-time job with a gunsmith when I was in college. He worked on just about everything, including Class III. I was his range stooge - every repair went to the range for testing, and I was the tester. I got to shoot a wide variety of weapons, and got a feel for what I liked or didn't like.

The only gun I've sold was the LC9 I bought for the wife. She thought she wanted it - until she shot it!

I'd be real tempted to work for free

 

[jim243]

So I have to ask. Why keep them if dislike them?

I don't think it's because of dislike (although that does happen), but more of they have reached the end of their usefulness for which they were purchase. Once a gun sits in the gun case or safe for years on end without being taken out, unless you are just collecting rare firearms, why not use the cash for something you will enjoy more or find more usefull? Some, like to collect Mil-Supl arms and will have extensive collections, some are just 1911 fans and will have tons of them, some are collectors of lever actions and single action six shooters and will have many that are not used on a regular basis.

Even as a kid, I never got into collecting base ball cards or football cards or even Pokiman cards (well I did that for a year or two thinking I could make some money on them) but I did get into collecting rifles and pistols untill last year when I said this is silly, I am never going to open a museum of firearms, so why are they just sitting there taking up space and time I could use for something I really want to shoot.

Now collecting firearms is not as bad as collecting paintings, but you will have to talk to my wife about that, she is still buying paintings every time we go out eventhough there is not one inch of wall space in the whole house that is not already covered. They are now stashed under the bed for "when we get a bigger place" (LOL), we been here 10 years now. (LOL)

Good Luck and safe shooting to all.
Jim

 

[Rollis R. Karvellis]

Having just purchased shotworkspro I have been taking a trip down memory lane. One thing I, realized was I, been through a lot of guns over the year's to get my collection to the point it is.

The sad thing is a big chunck was lost to an unnecessary finacel crisis.

 

[45_auto]

So I have to ask. Why keep them if dislike them?

How old are you?

I've been buying guns since the early 70's. My tastes have changed back and forth several times over the decades. Luckily I have never needed the money and had to sell a gun. When you decide you like revolvers again, it's much more enjoyable to pull a pristine S&W out of the back of the safe than it is to buy one back (in worse condition) for 5 or 10 times what you sold yours for.

 

[tarosean]

How old are you?

46, I'm not sure what that has to do with the question though?

I can understand sentimental value or collectors pieces that are not worth a darn to shoot. But if you truly dislike it, I don't see the point of it taking up real estate.

 

[Agsalaska]

I, like a lot of posters, never get rid of guns. In my life I have only sold three guns that I have not somehow had back. THe first gun I ever bought on my own was a Winchester 1300 defender. I lost it in Pawn a few years later because I forgot it was there and never went back to get it. I replaced it with a clone a few weeks later. I gave that one to a friend years later who needed it for personal defense. I picked up a brand new one the next day. I also sold an all steel baby eagle .40 in 2006. I dont really know why I did that. It was actually one of the most well balanced pistols I have ever owned. If I see that guy again I will try to get it back. I suppose the only reason I would ever sell a gun again would be to upgrade the condition of the exact same gun. I have a few 70-80%ers that I wish were 98%ers.

As for your question 'did you go thru a lot of guns, money to figure out what made sense to you.' No not really. I am not really a shooter. I love deer hunting and plinking with the .22. But as long as I have a good pistol, a good deer rifle, and a good .22, I am set for my shooting needs. Everything else has just been additions, and I have shot almost none of them. Half have never been shot at all and will be in unfired condition when I die(although I did break that rule recently with a mid eighties Winchester M70 in 6.5x55. But I will hunt with it for the next decade). I collect guns. So If what works for me includes what satisfies my collection appetite then I guess my answer would be it always evolves. I have been on 121 fieldmaster kicks, post WW2 S&W revolver kicks, lever action kicks, european caliber kicks, etc. Fortunately I have never been, and probably never will, be on a semi auto rifle kick. Anything that would be referred to as a 'platform' is not for me.

 

[Zaydok Allen]

Not wasted money though if you learned from it.

Exactamundo!!!!!

I have three categories of guns that I own. There is the permanent stock, the tentative stock and the likely permanent stock. The permanent stock does have sentimental value and they are guns I know I will keep. Tentatives may get traded in for different guns. But one way or another, as long as I have a job, the tentative stock represents "gun money". That is what the money was invested in, and that's what it will continue to be invested in.

 

[FROGO207]

I am by nature an accumulator and have been in the firearms/reloading hobby stage for 40 years or so. I might be convinced to sell a firearm IF the prospective new owner REALLY likes it and plans on keeping it. I will just get my money back if this is the case------otherwise I do not need to sell anything.