Gun collectors vs. skill collectors.

[Owen Sparks]

What would you think of someone who bragged that his guitar was still in perfect mint condition, still in the box it came in, and had never been played except at the factory for testing?

You might think that this was some guy with nice guitar but you would NEVER think that he was a musician.

Some gun people are just like this, they collect guns but they hardly ever USE them.

Then there are people like my friend who is an accomplished competitive shooter and master hunter. He swaps and trades guns all the time but his guns are strictly tools that are used as an extension of his ability. He could care less if they get a little bit scratched up or the finish is worn as long as they are accurate and dependable. He might even wrap the grip of a pistol with grip tape or spray paint the sights black if it helps him to hit the target any faster. He is totally objective driven and his objective is to be a better shooter and if that means replacing fine English walnut with black plastic that holds up better in the duck blind he will do it. If that means sawing six inches off the barrel of an antique Mauser to make it easier to handle he will do that also. He looks upon people who treat guns as shiny trinkets with disdain because he knows that he can actually USE his tools.

He is a skill collector, not a gun collector. Which are you?

 

[ColtPythonElite]

A little of both.

 

[scythefwd]

Owen - that depends on if he has another one just like it that has a hole worn in the pic guard from use or not I know a lot of people who keep one for show, one for use.

 

[Jorg Nysgerrig]

He looks upon people who treat guns as shiny trinkets with disdain because he knows that he can actually USE his tools.

It's a shame he can't accept that some people choose to enjoy guns in a different way.

Sure, there's a difference between a someone who is an regular shooter and someone who focuses on gun collecting (and there are certainly many who could be considered to do both), but that's one of the neat things about firearms. There are many different ways to enjoy them.

This thread certainly seems to have an antagonistic tone. Perhaps the continuing discussion can be a bit more civil than the first post.

 

[22-rimfire]

He looks upon people who treat guns as shiny trinkets with disdain because he knows that he can actually USE his tools.

There is room for gun collectors, shooters, hunters, and people that do all of these things. None are necessarily exclusive of the other.

 

[Owen Sparks]

I am sure there are people out there with very expensive guitars who don't know how to play them either.

 

[stiletto raggio]

On a scale of 1-10, I am a:

Hunter: 3
Competitive shooter: 4
Practical shooter (training): 7
Recreational shooter (plinker): 8
Gun collector: 3

Right now I am looking to raise my competitive shooting many notches.

Do I have guns that never get shot? Yes. Am I a competent marksman with every type of civilian firearm? Yes. Do I enjoy shooting? Yes. Do I enjoy looking at an handling nice guns? Yes. Do I still see guns as tools, interesting and beautiful as they may be? Yes.

 

[Larry Ashcraft]

What would you think of someone who bragged that his guitar was still in perfect mint condition, still in the box it came in, and had never been played except at the factory for testing?

Same as I would think of someone who has a pristine 1954 Buick with 6,000 miles on it. Cool!

He is a skill collector, not a gun collector. Which are you?

I don't know. I shoot most of my guns, but not all. Is there something wrong with being a gun collector? The inference in your post is that there is something inferior about being a gun collector as opposed to being a "skill collector", whatever that is.

 

[Owen Sparks]

Larry,

There is nothing wrong with being a collector if that is what turns your crank.

I am just asking which camp you gravitate towards. My personal belief is that guns are meant to be shot. I guess some people just like to look at them. This is not exclusive to guns though.

There is a doctor in my town with a VERY nice customized pickup truck with many thousands of dollars worth of custom accessories. He showed it to me one day and one of the first things he did was to uncover the bed and prove that there were no scratches. He claims that he has NEVER put anything in the bed. My reaction was somewhat incredulous. It is a truck that is what it’s for! I have worn out several of them hauling stuff got a lot accomplished doing so including building a house. His idea of using a pickup truck is rubbing it with a diaper and entering it in car shows. To each his own.

 

[kingpin008]

He is a skill collector, not a gun collector. Which are you?

Who cares? I'll accept and defend your right to do either, or both, or none.

 

[El Mariachi]

Google Greg Noll Surfboards for a similar analogy.......

 

[BLACKHAWKNJ]

To each his own. If I were to find an older firearm NIB it would remain that way. Most of my milsurps are safe queens, in some cases the ammo is hard to find, in most cases I bought for the history, not the shooting.

 

[whalerman]

I can certainly understand the spirit of the original post. I'm probably more of a collector than a shooter myself. I did compete a little in my day, but at 57 my eyes aren't what they used to be and serious competition requires time and money for practice. I'm a bit limited in both those areas now. I have so many different types of firearms I'm probably not that great a shot with any in particular. But I sure love to explore the safe now and then. Many of our posters said it very well. There is certainly room for gun people of all interests. Lately, I've even become appreciative of the people who collect gun books. Black powder cannons are very interesting. There is a lot to learn in every niche.

 

[Owen Sparks]

I have a Colt 1911 that was made in 1915 and sold to the Argintine milirary. It has a three digit serial no (1XX) and I am thinking about retiring it as to avoid deteriorating its value, then again I really don't want to sell it so maybe I will continue to only shoot it occasionly. Things that take up space without serving any purpose sort of bother me, then again. holding something as an investment is a purpose. A buddy hase a safe full of Mausers and his reasoning is that Hitler is not going to make any more of them and their value can only go up.

 

[chhodge69]

Going with the guitar analogy... If your buddy put new pickups and a fast neck on a 1956 Telecaster he'd be a rockin' fool. Don't get me wrong I know what you're talking about. Skill >>> equipment right? I once broke a strat knock-off in 3 pieces - glued it back together and kept playing it

Guns are great any way you want them. Have a good time and let others do the same in their own way.

 

[Maple_City_Woodsman]

Yet another attempt to put people into 'boxes'. May I propose the possibility that the habits of other people may not be as apparent as they seem?

I have many guns that I absolutely do baby, because the have a good deal of collector value. Yes I have the original boxes and manuals, but that doesn't mean I wouldn't shoot one or let someone else shoot it.

I also have guns that I use more frequently for target practice and hunting. But they get the royal treatment just the same. I have a few guns now that have been hunted multiple seasons for multiple years, and I'm proud to say they still look excellent.

A gun can be well used, take many animals, bust many targets, be thoroughly enjoyed, and still look great. It just takes a little care and a little common sense.

 

[kayak-man]

When I really started getting.... addicted..... to firearms, I couldn't understand owning a gun and not shooting it. Then, about a year ago, I went to meet a freind of my dad's. He is a WWII vet, and a great guy. He had a small, but by no means modest, gun collection. The flintlock pistol he bought in a castle in Germany just after the war was overflowing with character, and he showed me his never fired, new in box, Colt Single Action Army from the 1890's. Now that I'm..... realy addicted.... to firearms, I understand collecting guns and not shooting some of them.

Right now, I'd say I'm more of a gun collector, but thats only because I haven't been very sucessful at collecting skills

I'd like to be more of a skill collector, but so far, I'm the only person on the internet that can not shoot 3" groups at 25 yards. Now if only there was a Project Appleseed equivelent for handgun shooting....

Chris "the Kayak-Man" Johnson

 

[n5wd]

Maple City Woodsman said: Yet another attempt to put people into 'boxes'.

I think we ALL tend to put OURSELVES into boxes a lot of the time, just to figure out how it all relates to us in our own lives.

Me? I don't have the money, time, patience, or inclination to be a collector - see ya at the range!

 

[jonn5335]

I shoot all my guns although some would'nt. I don't hunt with some but they all see their fair share of lead. some sit in the safe while others lay in the back seat of my truck, different guns for different applications.

 

[splithoof]

If I broke my ancient Fender I would cry! I also own an old friend's old, pre-64 classic Model 70 '06, made years before I was born. It is well used, and has taken many, many game animals of all sorts. When I take it out, it seeps of history from a bygone era, but I still gladly use it in the game fields. However, I do appreciate a NIB classic that has remained so for years.

 

[R.W.Dale]

Don't be so fast to condem the gun collectors if you fancy yourself a skills person. Because the fact of the matter is chances are you'll spend your last hours in an assisted living ctr having never used and remembering none of those "skills" you worked so hard on.

Skills are just like things! They burn up precious time, money and you can't take em with ya when ya go. it's never a good idea to get too focused on either.

To use the OP's analogy what would you think of a guitar player who could put the masters to shame but that never had the chance to show it?

Both are really sad in the end


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- Tapatalk post via IPhone.

 

[TennJed]

I am sorry but I can't imagine someone who only has ONE guitar and it is a pristine collectable. I do know MUSICIANS who have multiple instruments and some are collectables that hardly (if ever) get played.
I say your friend is a shooter not a collector (skill or otherwise). you can be both though. I have multiple ruger single actions that get shot ALOT...but if I somehow came into possession or my income would allow me to obtain a really high end vintage colt I would have no problem putting it up as a "safe queen". By doing that it doesn't take away my ability or desire to shoot my other guns.

 

[Dr.Rob]

I wouldn't use a mint pre-war 38 super Colt tfor IDPA.

Guess that makes me a snob?

I LIKE shooting the guns I own, none is thus far a 'safe queen' but there's ccasional shooting at the range and the rigors of 3 gun.. and they are not the same.

 

[BigN]

I definitely am not a collector. I wouldn't buy a gun that I wouldn't shoot but I understand why some people collect them for looks/$$$ value/history, etc...

 

[evan price]

Why does it matter?

I know guys that spent six figures to rotissierre restore classic cars- we're talking, spent months experimenting to find just the right pattern and color dispersion of spatter paint for the trunk liners, the same sort of crayon markers used by the assembly line inspectors and exactly how and where they made thier marks, etc.- and they have better-than-new classic cars now. Motor's never been turned over, never had gas in the tank. Pushed on and off trailers for the car shows. Seems a waste to me, but I'm told that driving the car would discolor the exhaust system and get dirt in impossible to reach places and drop them points at the concourse shows.


Lots of guys I work with have Harleys. One of them rides his rain or shine, hot or cold. He keeps it maintained but he rides it and washes it with the hose now and then. Another one of them is out there with a chamois and a hair dryer if dew gets on the paint. Won't ride in the rain because it's too hard to get the fins in the motor shiny again.

And that's what's so great about America. To each their own.

I prefer guns that are solid mechanically and cosmetically challenged. I shoot my guns, and the safe queens only have value as long as they are pristine and that won't work for me. Not that I'm that great of a shot but I like to shoot.