Downsizing/"Culling"..?

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Shanghai McCoy

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Between the "Hunter or Collector?" thread and the "What happens to the guns when ya die" thread it's got me thinking about the best way to downsize an accumulation/collection?
I'm thinking that if you have duplicates, say two Garands one a Winchester and the other a Springfield sell the more valuable one and keep the other as the shooter...?
I'd also think that selling off the nicer stuff and keeping the more utilitarian guns allows you to reap the benefits as well as knowing they are going to a good home, plus you keep the ones that you probably like to shoot anyway.
Any thoughts..?
 
I’m not at that age yet. But I think your logic is sound. If you’re at the point you don’t use certain firearms and want to avoid leaving your family the hassle of selling your collection, selling the ones you don’t use or have a profound attachment to and using the money for something else makes sense.

But as I stated in my post about passing and leaving your collection behind, we don’t sell guns in our family. If need be, we just buy more and/or bigger safes. Currently I’m at two 24 long gun safes. And I’m due for another. My brother only has one. But it’s enormous.
 
I sold a rifle I did't shoot because I had a better one to fill that use. I bought a scope with the money and have had no regrets. I think it is reasonable to cull the collection, but I plan to keep the proceeds in shooting, fishing and boating. I would regret selling guns to pay bills.
 
Or you keep fewer nicer guns and shoot them. If I could arrange to sell off all of my guns and redo what I have, I would go the route of that thought. I could easily get by with 2 high-end shotguns, 2 rifles and 4 handguns for carry/HD.
 
Started last year. Shoot very little muzzle loading any more so i sold a half dozen rifles. Had two Stevens 22/410s so each son got one for Christmas. Two unused Citoris, one M&P 15 and a Beretta went to a friend from church who needed them more than some cash. Keeping some family guns and collectibles for the kids and grandkids. I'm writing the story behind each and have most complete.
Frustrating as a few good shooters are passe these days, like a bolt action sporter 223 when ARs are the thing. Centerfire rifles in a shotgun state are less moveable, but I'm patient.
Like many, you cull two or three and something pops up you just can't pass up.
 
if, and remember i stated - if, you are a ”shtf” type of individual, the excess firearms would/could be beneficial in assuring your survival by using them for barter exchange, or through the use of different caliber types to sustain defences for you and your loved ones. as i said...if the need arises.

i witnessed my FIL’s semi antique collection languish for 43 years after he experienced a debilitating stroke, yet the MIL refused to allow any family member to fire them yet i dutifully cleaned and lub’d them yearly. until after her death.

then after thorough inspection by my local gunsmith they have been run thru their paces at least twice in the past year.

alas, my offspring have no interest and i have no desire in selling them so they are regaled into the back of some stranger’s safe!

such a quandary...
 
As I age, I expect to further downsize. Having decided to sell something, I generally list on the local boards first, and if it doesn't sell there, I'll post on boards with wider audiences. If I think a piece may have some collector value, I'll post it on Gunbroker and let the market decide. Post retirement, I expect I'll get rid of everything I don't shoot regularly, except for those things I'll keep to introduce grandkids to the shooting sports. My "collection" is modest, and I don't anticipate needing to sell for want of cash. So I'll probably just give some away to friends and family who have interest, too.
 
Luckily, both my boys love to shoot and will ultimately split most of the collection as well as jointly inherit our little deer paradise which they have enthusiastically helped develop. One granddaughter is using, on semipermanent loan, my 20 gauge 1100 for youth league trap. Hoping some of the other six grandkids get interested in shooting.
 
Shanghai McCoy said:
Between the "Hunter or Collector?" thread and the "What happens to the guns when ya die" thread it's got me thinking about the best way to downsize an accumulation/collection?
I'm thinking that if you have duplicates, say two Garands one a Winchester and the other a Springfield sell the more valuable one and keep the other as the shooter...?
I'd also think that selling off the nicer stuff and keeping the more utilitarian guns allows you to reap the benefits as well as knowing they are going to a good home, plus you keep the ones that you probably like to shoot anyway.
Any thoughts..?
Click to expand...

I would keep the shooter. One wonders how long the Garand will be collectible. The population is aging and the thing hasn't been used since the Korean conflict.
 
paulsj said:
I would keep the shooter. One wonders how long the Garand will be collectible. The population is aging and the thing hasn't been used since the Korean conflict.
Click to expand...

I think it all depends on how much you paid for the guns and if you need the money. If you bought garand’s or any other collectible gun back when they were cheap and do not need the money I would hang on to them. They may not continue to climb in value but I doubt they will drop in value much either. Get gun grabbers in office and the prices will climb up again.
 
I went through a round of "downsizing" once, and have regretted it ever since. (The guns I sold included a Thompson SMG, a Winchester BAR, a Mark I M1903 Springfield, and a Remington '03A4 with an M84 scope, as well as numerous M1 carbines. All of these have appreciated tremendously, now being worth many times what I sold them for. And the thing is, I didn't even need the money at the time!) From now on, my heirs can sell the guns and take advantage of the "stepped-up basis" upon my death. I'm going to enjoy them as long as I'm alive.

BTW, this whole concept of "downsizing" applies more to shooters than to collectors. A true collector always adds to his collection. When he stops collecting, he's no longer a collector, or at least he's forfeited a huge chunk of his life. True collectors tend to define themselves in terms of their collections.
 
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I'll be 60 in a few weeks. I started downsizing about 10 years ago. Sold several (8-10) that I didn't use and bought one or 2 better ones. Upgraded some optics and bought a couple of McMillan stocks for the favorites and still put money in the bank. No regrets at all. In fact I still have a few more that I'd let go, or use for trade bait on something better. I gave my son, daughter, and their spouses 5-6 guns each along with a safe to keep them in about 5 years ago.

I have about a dozen Marlin and Winchester lever actions made 1950-1975 that I almost never use. Those will be divided between the grand kids. Currently have 3 ages 4-10 with a 4th due in July. Waiting to see if this is the last and will make a decision on how those will be divided.

Others, such as Glocks that I view more as tools than anything sentimental will eventually be sold and the money used for other things.

Since I had 2 kids many of my firearms purchases over the years were in multiples of 2 similar guns. I had 4 different 1911's. Each kid already has one, they'll get one more later. I only have 3 N frame Smiths, but one of the kids will get the Sig 226 instead. I tracked down 2 Marlin 39M's that will go to the kids one day. One made in 1958, the other 1964.

I don't want to wait till I die for them to get them. I want to see them get to use and enjoy them before I die.
 
The way I look at it, it's OK to sell guns...especially to fund a better gun. This is doubly so if you're a collector. Yes, there are some pieces I won't part with. Quite a few, actually. But there are more that I'll sell or trade in a heartbeat if the price is right. Then put the proceeds into something better.
 
AlexanderA said:
I went through a round of "downsizing" once, and have regretted it ever since.
Click to expand...

Although tomorrow is promised to no one, I don't feel that I'm quite old enough yet to worry about downsizing. I also would not want to regret such a move after the fact.

Most of what I own falls distinctly under the category of "nothing special". The few pieces that I wouldn't want to see let go for a song... well, I'd make good and sure to sell them if I had the chance.


I just can't bring myself to sell something that works perfectly fine for no real reason. Another 20 or 30 years down the road or a sudden serious health issue, and I might feel differently. But for now, I just consider it another form of money in the bank.
 
Shanghai McCoy said:
Between the "Hunter or Collector?" thread and the "What happens to the guns when ya die" thread it's got me thinking about the best way to downsize an accumulation/collection?
I'm thinking that if you have duplicates, say two Garands one a Winchester and the other a Springfield sell the more valuable one and keep the other as the shooter...?
I'd also think that selling off the nicer stuff and keeping the more utilitarian guns allows you to reap the benefits as well as knowing they are going to a good home, plus you keep the ones that you probably like to shoot anyway.
Any thoughts..?
Click to expand...

Thats probably as good of a strategy as any. Mine are willed to go to my family. I started thinning out other stuff a few years ago. Die sets and loading equipment no longer needed, belt buckles, knives, misc parts, holsters, stocks, barrels, ect ect.

Some of the other posters make a point that when you're dead, you're dead. But some of that stuff means something to me and I would like to see it go to a good home. If it brings pleasure to someone that I care for, thats even better! Win-win!
 
Shanghai McCoy said:
Between the "Hunter or Collector?" thread and the "What happens to the guns when ya die" thread it's got me thinking about the best way to downsize an accumulation/collection?
I'm thinking that if you have duplicates, say two Garands one a Winchester and the other a Springfield sell the more valuable one and keep the other as the shooter...?
I'd also think that selling off the nicer stuff and keeping the more utilitarian guns allows you to reap the benefits as well as knowing they are going to a good home, plus you keep the ones that you probably like to shoot anyway.
Any thoughts..?
Click to expand...
In my life I sold 3 guns. One I bought back years later, one I still kick myself for selling, the 3rd was a gun I bought to help a friend out and he didn't want it back so I sold it. I give guns to nieces and nephews when I get bored of them. When my son grows up he can have all the rest.
 
I am in my 30s and have downsized from150ish to about 30. My quality however has skyrocketed. I want to stay below 50 purchased guns. I may add to that by building as my skills and tools grow. I’m back into a mini-mill and I’m already looking at lathes. I have a chop saw too, and my friends and wife know what to do with my homemade stuff that they don’t keep for themselves. My friends will take care of liquidating the purchased guns that are not staying in the family. They don’t know it yet, but whoever does it will be rewarded with something special.
 
I am pushing 60 myself, and I don't remember ever selling a firearm.

I've traded some, for different firearms. I've had some stolen (and got one back years later). But I've never actually sold one.

Which is why my safe is crammed full....
 
I've had to sell quite a few for medical bills over the years, so I try not to get too attached to individual guns, but it's hard with the BREN 805 and the 527M/CSR!!
However, when I take the dirt nap my wife will torch open the safe and sell everything at a loss, no doubt. My son has his GSG STG44 22lr clone and he's happy shooting once a year, so he won't care, either.
 
I own 5 handguns and two rifles in 4 calibers. (9mm .40 S&W .22 .223)

I don't get anything out of owning a particular gun just to own it and certainly not if it's a gun I don't shoot.

I probably sold off at least 30 guns and really with one exception (CZ75B) I don't regret selling them.

My carry gun is a Glock 19 I carry it everywhere I'm legally able and other than that I really don't give a whole lot of thought to my guns.

On the day I die my wife will take them all down to Family Firearms Sales in Colorado Springs and sell them because I know they'll give her a fair price for them. Although I do think she'll probably keep my glock to go with her Glock
 
I have a couple of guns that I rarely shoot but they have very little re-sale value so I end up holding on to them. I keep thinking about selling them on but the market here is saturated with 10/22s and no one wants a .50 calibre flintlock Hawken so I just keep them in the safe...
 
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