Have you ever felt like you have too many firearms?

[1911 guy]

The answer is, of course, highly subjective and personal. Take another piece of machinery for example, cars. Five cars would be too much for me and my wife. Purchase price, insurance, maintenance, etc. would eat us alive. However, someone with more driving family members, more diversity in vehicle needs and more income to devote to vehicles would be just fine with five cars.

Same with guns. Someone with narrower interest and less disposable income will find X number of guns to be excessive, while someone with wider interest (perhaps collecting variants or multiple disciplines/sports) and the money to support it will find need for the same number the first person found excessive.

I guess that's the beauty of the shooting sports and firearms in general. Sports and purposes are so diverse as to lend distinct individuality to one persons collection, tastes and purposes versus another's. My own collection suits my perceived needs well, others find it too large, many here would find it too small. Some would question why the variety when they are interested in collecting variants of a model, others would see too much commonality.

I own two action types of rifles, bolt guns and ARs. I own one action type of shotgun, pumps. I own one type of handgun, 1911s. There are variations in my collection, but some would find the lack of diversity boring while others could say I should consolidate to all autoloaders.

Personal preference.

 

[silicosys4]

it's a way to keep an amount of equity that you can enjoy without devaluing it, if you buy and sell properly...and you can never have too much equity.
Guns, gold, and property. No such thing as too much.

I'm sure at some point a large amount of mine will be turned into another investment, but for now I will keep purchasing them when they come up at a good price.

 

[jcwit]

You are joking, right?

I'm 71 and still buying, not sure if I'll reach 4 digits tho.

 

[BigBL87]

To answer the OP, no. My wife's opinion differs from mine though. And for the record all I have is a 22 rifle, an AR15, a 12 gauge, and two 9mm handguns. Only the AR cost more than $400, and even that just cost $590 (PSA Premium M4).

 

[Zaydok Allen]

I definately have more than I need, but I really enjoy shooting firearms. So I definately don't have as many as I want.

My collection may get down sized in the future.

 

[Rollis R. Karvellis]

Every gun I, have ever bought was the one that I, was going to be buried with, well I, just did a purge in December because of women trouble.

This time around the collection will be built with an eye toward having each gun set up, and a retirement hoard in place before starting on the next piece.

That is unless a really good deal comes around.

 

[Zaydok Allen]

Every gun I, have ever bought was the one that I, was going to be buried with, well I, just did a purge in December because of women trouble.

I assume you mean to pay for settlements and legal fees, and not to get rid of evidence?

 

[Inebriated]

I have satisfied all the practical roles I've so-far needed to fill.

Fun guns are free to come and go, but it's rare that I buy a gun just because it's cool. So I wouldn't say I have too many, nor would I say I don't have enough. I have as many as I find practical to my needs.

 

[cfullgraf]

I am in the "the one who dies with the most guns wins" camp.

Trouble is, Charleton Heston will be hard to beat

Virtually every thing I buy for hobbies, I keep. I tend to circle back around to it at some point in time. It sure is nice to have the items on hand and not have to buy them again.

 

[JSH1]

There is a reoccurring theme here of "having something you aren't actively/regularly using is waste". And every time I see it, I want to say something snarky. Since that is fairly unproductive I have instead been thinking about why that view doesn't satisfy me.

Here's what I have come up with:
I see guns as tools, no different than wrenches. Different jobs benefit from different tools, and having the right tools in your kit is empowering/enabling.

I can't imagine buying a 19mm wrench, using it, and trying to sell it off because I no longer have an immediate need for that exact tool at the moment. For that matter I have a TIG welding rig that cost more than any of my guns. I keep it even though months (or longer) can go by without me having a need to TIG weld anything. Having that welder tucked away, ready for anything from laying practice beads to building an airplane frame, makes me happy because it makes me more capable.

I also have a workshop full of tools, some that I rarely use and some that haven't been used in years. The tools I have in my workshop were needs. They were acquired because they were needed to do a job. Acquiring the tools and the knowledge to use that tool saved me tens of thousands of dollars over the decades I have owned them. They have helped the family's financial balance sheet.

However, to me, guns are not tools. I don't need a gun. I like guns, I enjoy hunting, I enjoy shooting. Guns have never saved me money. They cost money to purchase and cost money to shoot. Even when used for hunting I spend more on the hunt than the meat is worth.

For more than 20 years the only gun I owned was a 12ga Mossberg 500 that I purchased when I was 14. That one gun did everything I needed a gun to do. In the past 3 years I have gone from that one gun to 9 guns. From that perspective it is easy to see why I might think 9 guns is too many when 1 was enough for decades.

 

[Ed Ames]

That's consistent. We have different concepts of what makes something a tool, resulting in a different categorization of certain objects (guns, probably other things). The differences in our attitudes follow from that.

To me a tool isn't about saving money, and jobs often don't need to be done. I gave the example of a TIG welder. I have never needed to use that tool. When repairing, I always had the option of buying replacements. When building, I always had the option of doing without. I can't say that a TIG welder saved me a dime when it was part of huge unnecessary expenses like building parts of airplanes. What tools do for me is expand my powers. They enable. They help me realize wants. They help me self actualize.

Guns, welders, compilers, and drain snakes all enable me to do things otherwise beyond my physical limits, and help me reach my full potential. Sad as that is.

 

[ol' scratch]

I've never thought I had too many guns. I do collect them, however. I shoot the snot out of my ar rifles, my mutt FAL and one of my garands. My 92fs, Hi Power, and Kimber see lots of use. I am even considering picking up a Nambu pistol because I have a hole in my collection. I have no plans of shooting it.

 

[Sheepdog1968]

The only good news is that I have been starting to get into woodworking. I am going to be very careful to not get too many tools that do the same job. I also mostly want hand tools. What I dislike about how my gun collection has grown will impact the future tool collection. I've been reading lots before buying, one book I have does a great job outlining what a professional woodworker had 100-200 years ago in terms of hand tools. If it was good enough for them, I really shouldn't need much more. It comes out to about 45 or so tools.

 

[Aragon]

Yep. A few months after I graduated from college I was offered the opportunity to purchase a long gun (mostly shotguns) collection from a family friend -- our two families go back generations and he didn't want the collection to be broken up. 121 guns for $10K.

A great, great, great deal but $10K could have been 10 million for me for such a purchase. When the seller offered a 5 year no interest loan I went for it. For the first couple of years that little payment each month wasn't exactly trivial.

Add to the fact that I lived in an apartment in Los Angeles at the time and those guns resided on racks in my bedroom which tended to overwhelm some visitors...

 

[mgmorden]

No. My family (who aren't anti-gun but none of them own more than a half-dozen of them) often tell me I have too many guns, but to me guns themselves are a hobby. I do hunt and such, but I truly enjoy owning and firing DIFFERENT types of guns.

If I stopped buying then eventually I wouldn't have anything different to shoot.

I do tend to go through phases though. 12 years ago I was all about buying up milsurps (probably because my budget was limited and they were dirt cheap). 8 years ago I was more into more modern bolt action rifles. 6 years ago - handguns. I've mostly stuck with handguns since then though.

I have thought about selling off the milsurps at this point. They've gone up in value and I personally hold no interest in them anymore. If I did though the money would just fund more guns .

 

[aarondhgraham]

I'll be honest and admit it,,,

I'll be honest and admit to it,,,
I have too many firearms.

I have to make a huge effort to ensure,,,
That they all get fired at least once a year.

It doesn't mean that I will stop buying ones that catch my eye,,,
But I have way more than I need and more than I can use.

Fortunately they don't cost me anything to keep them,,,
Upkeep on a firearm is simply space in my cabinet,,,
And a good oil wipe two or three times a year.

Aarond

.

 

[giggitygiggity]

I cannot help myself, especially when I see a great deal. Also, because I have a C&R FFL03, I feel obligated to buy C&Rs any time AIMSurplus or one of the other big sellers gets new items in. The C&Rs are only going up in price. Mosin Nagants that I bought 1.5 years ago for $130 each are now $180 if you can find them. Yugo M57s are difficult to find. CZ-82s are nearly impossible to find. SKS rifles are difficult to find and sell for $300 for beat up Chinese ones with cracked stocks. Romanian TT-C pistols that I bought for $180 each about nine months ago are now $225-250. It's as though if I have any inkling that I might want a particular gun in the future and it's a decent price, I buy it.

I have no more safe space left and literally have guns under my bed, in drawers, in corners, etc. I need to get a house with a bunker in it. Not trying to derail the thread, but does anyone have a bunker as part of their house to keep their guns and valuables?

 

[entropy]

SIlly question, that.

I have, however, felt like I haven't enough safes.

 

[Black Knight]

The way I look at it is I don't have as many as I would like. I also don't have the amount of ammo I would like. One day I might have enough ammo but that will be a long time coming.

 

[javelinablanco]

A few years ago I was all about getting my hands on whatever I could. But as I started to grow and my likes became more refined I started thinning my collection based on usage. Also I started reloading so my interests have changed. Now I fear no caliber and buy with a plan in mind for every purchase.
I have less now then I did a few years ago but now I am more comfortable with my collection and feel more rounded. My two cents.

 

[anothernewb]

I've looked in my safe and said. "holy crap" more than once. and I feel like I've spent too much money.


Then I look on gunbroker and the feeling goes away.

 

[Arkansas Paul]

Have you ever felt like you have too many firearms?

 

[Mad Dawg]

My wife would say yes; I would say no..

However, a good indication might be when you buy a 2nd safe, a 24 gun safe, and a month later, you're considering another safe because the new one is smack full

Oh, don't go dinging me about filling a 24 gun safe; from what I can tell, you're lucky if you ever get 1/2 as many guns in it as the safe is sold as being.

 

[coloradokevin]

In some ways I occasionally feel like I've purchased too many, if only because some of them are mostly serving as "safe queens" these days. I've enjoyed shooting all of my guns over the years, and usually can't bring myself to part with them. But, as my needs, interests, and shooting style has evolved over the years, some guns don't always get the attention that they used to.

But, I'll never regret owning them

 

[texgunner]

With 50+ firearms it can be challenging to keep track of.