Do you lose interest shortly after...

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stubbicatt

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... You buy a new to you firearm?

I cannot count the number of times I have been on the hunt for some particular example of a vintage gun of some sort, or even a newly manufactured one. I search, and compare and wait and then... I pounce!

I get my new acquisition on home, I am so happy. I take it down, examine it, clean it, lube it, shoot it a few times, and then... Meh.

Sigh.

It's just another old rifle that doesn't really mean all that much anymore. It goes to the back of the safe to be eventually sold down the river for another new and exciting acquisition.

I especially feel this way about SVD's here lately. I thought they were the coolest rifles ever, until I owned a couple. Now? Not so much. Just expensive and pretty staid once you get used to them. So my focus for many years has been a particular example of SVT40, which I have found. Still very excited about this rifle, it is a very elegant design. I reckon maybe 6 months and it will lose its lustre.

Anybody?
 
Nope. I adore most of my firearms, the magic never wear off when you have an endless supply of powder/charge/primer/bullet/brass combinations to try :) While I am always looking at what's new on the market I still love my old ones. Only willing to part with them for close friends and family except the Browning which has been a less then spectacular shooter despite my best efforts, the only rifle I have ever loaded for that I could not keep below MOA with anything.
 
Nope there all for sale and never buy one I cant make a buck on. BANK ACCOUNT THAT'S IT
 
Yes.
I know the feeling.

There is always the "grail" gun.
And then I get it.

And study it, it's history, it's inner workings, and it's performance & accuracy.
And then when there are no more questions I can learn from it?

There is another Grail gun I start looking for in a few months, or less.

And I never ever sell or trade any of them.

Gonna be a heck of an estate sale when I am gone I betcha!

rc
 
I understand what you're saying. I still enjoy all of the firearms that I've acquired but do agree that doing the research and finding that perfect example is a lot of the fun. Sometimes it seems like once you get it the mystery and challenge is gone and it's on to the next search.
 
^And that^ is why I've only purchased three new guns, the others being olde, olde shooters that I enjoy playing around, repairing, shooting...and just to look at. New guns to me are just really boring. Especially those the color of Model T's, and bereft of wood....
 
I think there is something in our DNA that makes men that way, the thrill of the hunt, not the kill or capture. Same way with women, cars, guns, jobs etc. And then there is that time when we all settle down, maybe it's just as you get older your testorne levels get lower and move a bit slower and a good cold beer while sitting in the recliner watching the sunday game, just tastes better. Or you pick up your fathfull companion for over 20 years, that Winchester 74 and shoot your buck from the front porch and just go back for another beer, will make you happy. Well the "grail" gun was purchses and sold, just too heavy to carry around and I find myself not drooling over the new ones, but purchasing for specific purpose and not getting too attached to any of them.

Maybe I am just getting older or smarter, either way I am on my way to the recliner, I think there is still some cold ones in the refrigerator.

Good shooting to you all.
Jim
 
These days I only buy stuff that is unique or something I can tinker with. I sold off everything pedestrian and constantly upgrade my handful of rifles to keep it interesting.
 
Sometimes the process is more important than the event, the process is normally long, drawn out and full of intreague, learning and romance yet the event is the cold exchange of money.

Ask any dog how he feel when he catches the car :D.
 
mljdeckard said:
To have a thing is not so nice as to want. It is illogical, but often true. That's from Trek, pretty deep, huh?

It's not so much that I fall out of love with them as I run out of money to shoot them as much as I want to.
Click to expand...
I can't help but add an older...and more profound version.

"There is wanting the unobtainable, and there is the obtaining of desire. The greatest of these is the wanting, especially since the object of desire usually turns out to exist in some alternate universe, to be mocked by actuality."

-James Blish- "Cities in Flight"
 
It used to be that way with me and women,at least when I was younger.But never,ever with guns!I have a bunch that don't get taken out and shot as much as others,but that doesn't mean I've lost interest.Whenever I go out to shoot,I try and dig to the back of the safe and bring a neglected child with me.
 
I have a bunch of guns I haven't shot.

I'm still interested in them.

The last mystery is "how does it shoot?"

I found that a firearm will hold my interest a lot longer if I don't know. :)
 
I used to be that way, but recently I have discovered that I have reached a sort of plateau. I have enough rifles for my safe to be completely full, but that is enough. Recently, I picked up an LRB M14 with TRW parts. I bought it pre-panic. For new, expensive acquisitions, I always sell something off to justify the purchase. The only thing I had that I was willing to sell was my Federal Ordnance M14 (with Winchester parts) and a Sino-Albanian SKS. That was it. I had to save a bit to get the LRB because the Fed Ord and SKS combined values did not reach the necessary threshold.

Recently, I considered another purchase. I opened the safe and considered what could be sold...nothing. There was nothing I was willing to sell. The hunt did not exceed the collection. I have some nice, difficult or impossible to replace arms, and none of them would I consider selling. Not even my Savage 720 Shotgun or Ruger Mini 14 GB (made during the 1st ban). I have discovered that I have all that I want. Even my ammo stash is currently fine (good enough that I don't feel more than marginally tempted to buy at current rates).

So, the hunt has become less interesting (I peruse Gunbroker just as often, of course). There is nothing out there that would make me want to sell what I already have.

That, my friends, is a nice feeling.
 
Know how you feel, but this usually happens only when I buy cheap guns(Armscor, Taurus, etc). The Ruger 10/22 still manages to keep my interest. Also why I've been holding out on buying an AR-15 at current prices. Save up until you can get something you REALLY want, and you will never experience this problem. I learned a lot from my past mistakes.
 
If it's a production rifle, it must shoot 1MOA at 100 yards to earn a spot in the safe,(with the exception of some WWII heirlooms). I will do my best to get a rifle to shoot that way by bedding, trigger and load development ect. But if I can't get it under MOA, it gets traded or sold.. As for pistols, I just can't seem to keep a pistol around for very long no matter how good they shoot. Seems like I've traded three times as many handguns off as I have long guns.
 
Never.

My biggest problem is choosing which gun to take to the range. And all are in the running - sure sometimes the newest lovely is first choice, just because it needs breaking in. But it evens out with time.

There is this double barrel SXS 12ga coach gun that is not all that pleasurable to shoot.....:neener:
 
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I love the "tinker" factor. I have guns that will never be sold except as pure last result and I have guns that I would sell/trade.

I really enjoy the "new" gun excitement. Find a make and model I haven't had before. Trade/buy it, bring it home, clean it up, shoot it, fiddle with it, sell it to a friend or trade it for the next.

I have gotten many rolled eyes and sighs from the wife over this practice. Most of them deserved. I find it fun and relaxing and have played with everything from .338 win mags to .22 shorts. Mill-surps to fudd guns. I like them all.
 
All of the above is true...

Except for my Marlin 39.

The very first rifle I ever fired was a Marlin 39. I have been hooked ever since.

I'm not really sure why, but I never seem to get tired of the little lever action and always take one along no matter where or what I'm shooting.

I have two of them, an iron sighted old one (1950) and a scoped new one (2001).

I'm not really looking to buy more. (O.K., I wouldn't mind grabbing a mountie)

Sure, all the other stuff pretty much comes and goes, but the Marlin 39 is a constant.

Something about them just makes me smile.
 
I don't know that I ever develop the "meh" feeling after acquisition, but yeah, the search and initial acquisition is definitely more exciting, and the luster does wear down a bit shortly thereafter. I think this becomes more true over the years, after you've bought dozens or even hundreds of guns.

I have only truly lost interest in a few of them, and sold those. Most notably are AK pattern guns; I've lusted after and purchased 4 different ones, only to be reminded each time that the platform is not for me.

At the same time, whenever I pick up the very first rifle I bought myself - a Remington 700 BDL .25-06 - it takes me back to the morning of my 18th birthday, and the trip to get it with a now-departed friend and mentor. It's similar with many others; I can relive the moments or days surrounding the hunt and the find, which are often fond memories of family, friends, women I've loved, etc. I have lucid memories of the circumstances surrounding each and every firearm I've bought.
 
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