Don't sell that firearm unless you need the money

[daniel craig]

At the very least, trade it for something else. Today I reminisce about the 03a3 I sold for $800. It was a beautiful rifle. I used to the money to pay some bills and build savings, but the money was gone virtually in an instant, the rifle could have brought me joy for ages to come.

It's been this way with every gun I've ever sold (except for a Savage axis I got when they first came out. Good riddance to that pos). From wasars to kimbers.

Unless you really need the money, keep it or trade it but don't sell it.


That's my take. Yours?

Edit: you all brought up some really good points. From reducing clutter to sinking tons of money into things you can’t take with you. I appreciate all your opinions, many of you are much more mature than I.

 

[badkarmamib]

Don't sell, just because you need the money. You will always take less than it is worth, out of desperation. Only sell if you truly do not like it, have no need for it, and the value is worth more to you in cash rather than the firearm.

 

[buck460XVR]

I have a few guns that I will never sell(Dad's and Grandpa's). The rest are just tools. IMHO, if times get that bad that I need to sell them, there's going to be a lot of other folks in the same boat. Most of them will get passed on to kids and grandkids. They are just material things. While I am an ardent supporter of the RKBA, I have no real emotional attachment to any of my guns, other than Dad's and Grandpa's. They can be replaced, and there will always be more to be had.

 

[dieselchief]

how boring. in fifty years of shooting I have had at least 250 rifles, 175 handguns and 75 shotguns pass through my hands. (I don't like shotguns as much).
….. don't care about how much money I lost as I didn't buy anybody a house that I didn't live in. (divorce). don't smoke or drink.
….now that my income days are gone I am a has been but not a never was. jmho. dc.

btw nowadays have three rifles, one shotgun and two pistols as that is all I can truly afford.

 

[earlthegoat2]

I find the wisdom to “never sell” guns to be way short sighted and down right bad advice most of the time.

To burden yourself and your family financially just for a thing you won’t be able to take with you in the end is a trait that I wouldn’t think would be too favorable.

I have sold many guns to finance other projects and with very few exceptions, have not regretted it. If I don’t shoot it, I get rid of it. If it doesn’t bring you some other kind of joy if you don’t shoot it then it probably should also go.

Many here mention saving guns for their kids to get later. Well I have news for you. Your kids are going to sell them for the money or to set something they really want.

Gun accumulation is such a sorry disease that I can’t help but pity some of the folks who suffer from it. I know a guy in his 80s with around 150 decent guns. Probably 75,000 dollars worth. He keeps talking about how he needs to get rid of them before he dies. At the last gun show, I saw him with two rifles. I talked to him about them and he said he was trying to sell them. I saw him a bit later and he didn’t have them anymore. I asked if he had sold them. He said he brought them back to his car because he just couldn’t bear to part with them. It made me sad for him.

Add to the fact that sites like this are full of folks who say things like “never sell a gun” “you can never have too many guns” and gun accumulation becomes a contest and some kind of rite of passage once you reach a certain number.

There is a similar saying in woodworking. You can never have too many clamps. I agree with this saying because the more clamps you have, the more money you can make. Money that is a consistent income. I don’t think too many folks can say the same about their gun “collections” since the average index fund makes quite a bit more money than gun appreciation. (Yeah, yeah, I’m aware this may not hold true at this moment). The days that guns are worth more than world economic growth will be a real bad time for all of us though and you can only use one gun at a time.

 

[Waveski]

Don't sell, even if you need the money. You will always take less than it is worth, out of desperation.

A ridiculous statement built on a mountain of assumptions. Keeping a particular firearm just because you are "never" supposed to sell ??? That makes no sense.

The thread title
Don't sell that firearm unless you need the money takes a statement of a value judgement of the OP and issues it as a directive for all.

Me , I aim to reduce some clutter in my safe , thank you. BTW - selling off a firearm or two can be quite liberating.

 

[badkarmamib]

ridiculous statement built on a mountain of assumptions.

I edited my post to reflect what I was trying to say. I have owned 4 times as many firearms as I currently do. I will try something, determine what I do and do not like about it, and search for the next one that has the new criteria. I have no problem with buying, selling, and trading to get what you want, and get rid of what you don't. The problem is, selling a gun simply because you need money. You will almost always lose value, because you need the money now. Firearms can be an investment, but they should not be insurance, IMHO.

 

[bannockburn]

Have a few that are earmarked for the kids but other than that I have no deep rooted attachment to any of my guns. I look back and remember the fun I had in finding a particular gun, taking it to the range, or using it for hunting, and I think to myself: "you've done well and had some great times with your guns; now let someone else enjoy them".

 

[WestKentucky]

I hear the same advice, but sometimes it’s a bit hollow. As a 23ish year old guy I had a closet full of guns. All had been bought or traded for because they were good deals. I have since sold, traded, and gave away several of them and I’m down to about 1/3 of the amassed quantity now, but have far greater quality and I have narrowed my band of interest considerably. There are a few that I disliked but miss now, like the Winchester AE gun in .357 with octagon barrel. It was an anchor, but I really miss the rifle. Sold it with the thought that I would triple my money and then eventually buy a .357 lever that was much lighter and I never did.

The money always runs away. Trades aren’t always as good as they seem. If you can afford to hang onto something, DO IT...for a while... until you either replace it, or are absolutely certain that you would rather liquidate than learn to love. And if a gun isn’t worth a pile, you can get a whole lot more enjoyment from giving it away than by selling it cheap just to get rid of it.

Just remember... all of these deals we see that are crazy cheap, somebody was on the other side of that deal. I’m thrilled with my recent purchases, and I don’t feel bad about them as they were open market auctions and were from businesses, but I would hate to think that a guy trying to make ends meet was missing the bologna on his sammich because I screwed him in a deal, or because I had that one thing he thought he really needed and overspent to get it.

I guess to summarize, take stock in what matters to you. Follow your heart, not your wallet. Your heart is your life and it sticks with you forever and is what you will be judged by in all your days, earthly or otherwise. Your wallet is a deceitful beast that devours all that goes into it and leaves you with little to show for it, and nobody who really cares about you cares how big the piggy bank is.

Don’t worry be happy mon!!!!

 

[chicharrones]

From what I can remember, I've sold a Ruger 10/22, a Beretta 92FS, a Beretta Neos with Carbine Kit, an NAA Guardian, and I have given away a Swedish Mauser. All of them except the Mauser turned into other guns that suited me better.

Regarding the Mauser, I felt that pain for a couple weeks before and after I gave it away, but it was to a really good person that had a better appreciation of it than I did. And I owed them for something else anyway. Considering what I paid for the Mauser, it was definitely a win-win.

Currently I have short term plans to sell off another 10% of what I have without replacing them. In another 20 years, I plan to sell off all but a handful as any gun interest in my family for "heirlooms" from me is virtually nil. Might as well turn that into money for my wife in the hopes she survives me.

 

[1942bull]

I would not sell a firearm unless I simply did not want it any longer. In the past 4 years I ave sold a M&P 22 Compact, a Ruger Lc9s, a Remington RM380. I did not trade them because I can get a better return on a personal sale. Today down only 2 guns: PPS M2 and LCP II. They are SD lineup. and that is all I care about as I walk into my 78th birthday late this month. I would consider selling a gun if I needed money, but I would only sell a gun I did not want any longer.

 

[Shanghai McCoy]

There will be a point when I, or my wife, will be selling mine off as there is no heir to leave them to.
I have some friends that might get in the Will tho...

 

[Elkins45]

I could sell half my guns and still be perfectly happy. There are a handful I have sold that I wish I still had, but I also have a few now I wouldn't miss if I sold them.

 

[Zaydok Allen]

Keeping a particular firearm just because you are "never" supposed to sell ??? That makes no sense.

Me , I aim to reduce some clutter in my safe , thank you. BTW - selling off a firearm or two can be quite liberating.

I agree. The title could easily be changed to "Don't sell your personal belongings unless you need the money." and I would still disagree with the premise. Some folks seem to be under the impression that if they sell a gun, that the one they are selling is the best example of that gun ever, and can not and will not ever be replaceable. I believe that is a false ideology. Guns are just things, and in some cases they will be easily replaceable. Some people are also sentimentally attached to certain guns. I'm not really, but I'd be sad to see some of them go. I really like some of my guns, but I have more or less made the decision that I don't want to go through life with mountains of unused stuff, and I am only able to get out and shoot about twice a month. I don't want to fill my home with clutter, and I'm not bringing five different guns with me when I do go shooting, so having gobs of guns doesn't appeal to me.

Selling off unused stuff, including guns is very liberating, and some folks may just prefer to have the money, or pay off a bill early. I do tend to trade guns for nicer ones I'd prefer to own, and I have shrunk my ownership to a size I feel is manageable and appreciable. All the guns I own now are ones I use for specific tasks, ones I really enjoy, or ones I was given as a gift.

I recently went through this with a slew of knives also. I sold off nine beaters to a pawn shop, and funded a really nice knife I like much more. But if I didn't have another knife I wanted, I'd have happily applied that money to my car insurance, or my mortgage.

At some point I may decide having more money in my account is preferable to more guns to shoot. That's ok.

 

[buck460XVR]

Many here mention saving guns for their kids to get later. Well I have news for you. Your kids are going to sell them for the money or to set something they really want.

Apparently, you don't know my kids.

My kids have already been passed down some of my Granpa's and Dad's guns. They have already inherited some of my wife's Dad's guns. They have already been gifted some of my guns. They have already talked about passing these guns on to their kids. It isn't about guns....it's about family. Family means different things to different folks. To some, blood and memories mean more than steel and wood, more than a little extra cash. How your kids feel about your stuff, probably relates directly to the family values you instilled on them. Still, what my kids do with my stuff when I'm gone, I could care more, but I don't. Because, again, for the most part, guns are just material things. If there is no emotional attachment, why not sell 'em? They still make 'em, and in many instances, better than ever.

 

[psyopspec]

I'm careful to monitor the extent to which I hang onto things that don't have a utility purpose or bring me joy. I'm not really into having stuff for the sake of having it, and that's true of my life in general and gun collecting in particular.

I've spent the last couple of years thinning out my collection, selling guns that I haven't shot in years and no longer have a desire to. I've put some of that money into guitars, and some into savings for when I find another sport or activity I'd like to try.

No regrets.

 

[Zaydok Allen]

There will be a point when I, or my wife, will be selling mine off as there is no heir to leave them to.
I have some friends that might get in the Will tho...

Same here. If my niece and/or nephew don't want them, I'm selling mine and taking a late in life dream vacation.

 

[HB]

Sell it! If you havent shot it in the past year you probably wont shoot it in the next!

$500 is a lot of money for a paperweight tied to a memory.

 

[wanderinwalker]

The idea of never selling a gun (or any possession) is pure malarky in my opinion and experience. The list of guns I've owned and NO LONGER own is quite extensive, a lot longer than the list of what I currently own. And the idea of your heirs wanting the specific guns YOU want them to have might not necessarily jive up. This coming from recent, hard-learned first-hand experience. My grandfather's most valuable firearm was a Winchester Model 12 in 20-ga, in a specific solid-rib Skeet configuration. Guess what? We sold it to help pay for a little of his end of life care, as none of us in the family had any fond memories of time spent with him and that shotgun. Though we did keep multiple less valuable guns, which we do have memories of time spent with Grampy.

I could sell half my guns and still be perfectly happy. There are a handful I have sold that I wish I still had, but I also have a few now I wouldn't miss if I sold them.

This could be very true for many of on here! In fact, in the last year or so, I did almost this. My accumulation, and I use accumulation because "collection" implies some kind of theme or focus, has been thinned significantly. In the process I took the opportunity to snap up a Colt 1903 Pocket Hammerless in .32 ACP, the one in my avatar, and a CZ Scorpion Carbine in 9mm, which I had been wanting to try for a long while, but my total number of owned firearms is still much reduced. Needs, wants and tastes change, life happens, it's OK to change things up.

Also, having spent time in a shop on their side of the buying/trading/selling game, I can assure you, your heirs won't get full-retail value for the collection you amassed over the years, and believe it or not, many of them might just be happy to get rid of the whole lot in one lump-sum and be done with it. It happens very frequently, because the guns are just a small piece of the pile of *stuff* you left behind for them to deal with.

 

[AlexanderA]

The key to this is to buy selectively in the first place. For many years now, I've been buying guns that I wouldn't mind keeping forever. That also has to do with your level of education and experience about guns.

In my younger days, I bought guns that I ended up selling or trading for others. Each one of those was a learning experience. In retrospect, I wish I'd kept many of the guns that I sold. The cash raised by selling the guns turned out to have been a very minor consideration. In nearly every case, I would have been ahead financially if I had kept the guns and sold them later.

 

[Zaydok Allen]

because the guns are just a small piece of the pile of *stuff* you left behind for them to deal with

And that right there is the crux of it for me. I refuse to leave a mess for those that come after me, whether they be friends, family, or a stranger. I want my house in order when I depart. I'd rather be floating around as a ghost seeing my relations happy they have a certain gun or other item, or a big number in their account than see them cursing my name as they sort through decades of crap I amassed. That includes guns.

After my grandparents passed, I watched my dad drive himself crazy trying to figure out what to keep, what to sell, and what to throw away. He also had to do it as quickly as possible because when he inherited their home and all possessions in it, he was paying property tax on it. It drove him crazy, and he was always worried someone would break in. I had to take very decisive action and a tough love stance with him when I spent a week and a half helping him with the final heavy lifting and cleanout of the house to get it on the market. It wasn't fun, but we got it done, and afterward he thanked me.

I see guns the same way. They very well may just pose a problem for my heirs some day. If I see an interest in my relations, when I get old, and my magnum revolvers and 10mms are no fun for me any more, I'll probably start giving them away. But in the mean time, I aim to enjoy them, and then enjoy the money if I decide I've had my fill.

 

[jmr40]

In 1983 when I married my wife I vowed to keep her no matter what. I've kept that vow. I make no such vow when I buy a gun. If it is no longer used or if something better comes along I have no issue dumping it for cash or something better. I've never kept detailed records, but I've owned well over 100 that I no longer have. I had 2nd thoughts about a few of them temporarily, but don't miss a single one. I have fewer now than I've had in years and still have too many.

When I was younger I bought a lot of them just to see if I liked that particular gun. Over 90% were bought used and were sold very close to the price paid. Occasionally at a profit. I found that I liked some and kept them, others were sent down the road.

I'm at the point now where I know what works for me, no need to experiment anymore. In recent years I've gotten rid of a lot of them. I've given quite a few to my kids and have more earmarked for grandkids. The rest are used regularly or sold.

 

[buck460XVR]

Also, having spent time in a shop on their side of the buying/trading/selling game, I can assure you, your heirs won't get full-retail value for the collection you amassed over the years, and believe it or not, many of them might just be happy to get rid of the whole lot in one lump-sum and be done with it. It happens very frequently, because the guns are just a small piece of the pile of *stuff* you left behind for them to deal with.

No where have I said anything about keeping all your guns for your heirs. I just said my kids will have first pick of what's left when I'm gone, and some of them are guns that have been handed down to me. I don't need folks that don't know me or my kids, trying to tell me they know my kids better than I do, and that they know what my kids will do when I die. I've already said twice that guns are just material things and readily replaced. Family legacy and fond memories, not so much. My youngest son regularly shoots his great-grandpa's .32 Special Winchester. Even tho he never had the opportunity to meet him, the gun gives him a sense of what he was. My regular pheasant gun is my grandpa's SxS. Over the years I have bought several newer and fancier pumps/autos/SxSs/O&Us. Still grab Gramp's 16 ga. on the way out the door. Oldest son is the same with his Grandpa's old 870 Wingmaster. He too has a good array of shotguns. Knowing where you come from sometimes helps knowing where you are going. Just like with one's hunting/outdoor heritage, you introduce you kids to it and let them take it from there. If they embrace it, good for them, if not, it's not the end of the world. Most of the time, it's when kids can identify the experience with positive images, it sticks with them forever.

That said, I really don't care what other folks do with their guns. Sell 'em. burn 'em, or give 'em away. Just don't tell me what I should do or shouldn't do, with mine.

 

[Cemetery21]

After my grandparents passed, I watched my dad drive himself crazy trying to figure out what to keep, what to sell, and what to throw away.

My wife and I have had to clean out a few houses after relatives passed. No guns therein, but not a pleasant job. Right now, we have a similar mess (including a pile of gun related items). We feel a responsibility to reduce the burden for our children but it is hard to get started. We planned to have a dumpster delivered last fall, but health issues stopped that. Maybe when the current crisis settles we can get started.
I've sold a few thousand dollars in gun stuff, but it didn't make much of a dent. That stuff isn't going in the dumpster, by the way.

 

[dh1633pm]

Sometimes you have to do what you have to do. Things are things. We don't need most of the stuff we own anyhow. Who is to say what we really need. I will sell things I think are excess. Family comes first and I will sell anything necessary to make sure they are provided for. Good thing is I don't. When I was young things were the opposite. When my son was born I sold a 1917 Enfield and a HK93. Hate selling them, but needed the cash. Yes the cash went out the door just as fast as I received it.