How do you buy most of your guns:

[SharpDog]

What is your strategy ? What do you like ? Do you go in cold and calculating and fall for the first pretty little curly blond maple that you see ? Tell us in the comments:

 

[Zaydok Allen]

I'm about functionality, durability, and need.

But it can't be a hideous pile. There are two many options to buy ugly guns.

I figure out what I need, then what I want of the options that will fill that need, then I save my pennies.

 

[Fine Figure of a Man]

It depends on the purpose of the gun.

 

[dh1633pm]

Can't vote, you don't have "on a whim". Like today I went to pick up a Mini 30 I ordered. Sitting next to it was a K98 complete with bayonet. For the nice price of $225, exactly what the dealer had in it. SOLD. Like I said, on a whim.

 

[George P]

While form follows function, a nice form makes me smile a lot better than black plastic.

So, 1&4 for me

 

[badkarmamib]

I have an eclectic "collection". Each of my firearms is a tool with a different purpose. Some are inexpensive and simple, some are tricked-out tacticool, some have the best accouterments I could afford. It depends on the job I need each to perform. Therefore, I voted #3.

 

[MidRoad]

Functional,reliable and classic . I picked 4 and 7 .I prefer Revolver, bolt actions , lever guns and pump actions.

But appreciate a good over under, side by side, and semi autos like 1911's ( even though I'm not great at shooting them ).

Good fit and finish is nice but not a priority and I wouldn't want to pay a boatload extra for it. . Like I said funtional,reliable and classic are me preferences. If I can make them fit me by changing a few things,that's even better yet.

I've had a few ar' and Glocks but they all went down the road. I may have another AR one day, but not into the tactical stuff anymore. If I want a semi .223 carbine , I'll prolly pickup a mini 14 honestly.

 

[huntsman]

1&6 or more precisely just what moves me.

 

[SharpDog]

Can't vote, you don't have "on a whim". Like today I went to pick up a Mini 30 I ordered. Sitting next to it was a K98 complete with bayonet. For the nice price of $225, exactly what the dealer had in it. SOLD. Like I said, on a whim.

That just means your rationalization muscles have atrophied. Just buy 5 unnecessary items each month and convince yourself that you need them until the condition improves.

 

[Browning]

[quo

- Practical Tactical and Sentimental Classic guns.

• 
  I like Glock and the Walther PPQ and PPS, but I also like Browning High Powers, 1911's and S&W blued revolvers.
  
  I like AR's, AK's, H&K 91's and the M1A, but I also like Win 70's and Marlin lever actions.

[and why on earth is my font black/bold?]

 

[Sistema1927]

You have to have a reason?

 

[Dibbs]

I'm about functionality, durability, and need.

But it can't be a hideous pile. There are two many options to buy ugly guns.

I figure out what I need, then what I want of the options that will fill that need, then I save my pennies.

I agree, somewhat. If your goal as an owner is shooting and shootability, you prefer things like composite
stocks, and stainless steel, which a collector find distasteful. Scratches and nicks on a hunting rifle with
a composite stock give it character. The same damage on a beautiful wood stock is heartbreaking.

 

[Labguy47]

I prefer wood and steel, my S&W mod 10 will outlive me, also my Ruger 77s are built like tanks. So durability is important. Also being a Veteran I really like H&K or FN products.

 

[ilgac]

I am a gun accumulator. I haven’t met a gun I didn’t like at least a little.

I’ve been buying guns for over 45 years and have accumulated quite a few. Rifles, shotguns, handguns, black powder... I like them all.

There needs to be another selection in the poll; “because it struck my fancy at the time. I just wanted it.”

 

[Stevie-Ray]

Practical tactical and military

Mostly, but there are exceptions

 

[WestKentucky]

Walnut and blued steel. Preferably from the pre-Vietnam era. I don’t care if it’s beat to hell if it still functions. Kinda like those old trucks that just get a coat a clear over the rust and then they slam in a big block... make mine that, but in a revolver.

 

[captain awesome]

Variety is the spice of life. There are a few types I have no love for, plastic frame semiautomatic pistols being the biggest in that group. But I love having wildly different and unique things, and all for different reasons. 80% of my collection are really only used for range fun although almost all of them would fill some kind of hunting or defensive role. I tend to go after 2 camps of thought though; beauty (the fine shiny blueing and nice wood you find on some revolvers and certain rifles are what I consider beautiful) and function..is it durable, powerful, reliable, accurate, and how good/quick am I with it? Looks have nothing to do with my choices in that camp. But I had a hard time picking 2 choices.

 

[Legionnaire]

I don't know if I have a dominant logic. Just in terms of long guns, while I recently acquired a 1980s vintage walnut and blued Remington 700 BDL in .243 Win that's about as classic as they come, I've also built a couple of "Remages" with composite stocks and Cerakoted barrels in such non-standard cartridges as .243 Ackley and .260 Ackley. My disparate tastes run from Ruger's new PCC to Henry's new Single Shot, from Cooper quality to a run-of-the-mill 10/22. And yes, I also have a couple of ARs. Do I fit one of the listed categories?

 

[LoonWulf]

Each purchase, build, or trade has its own (sometimes perverse) logic....

I like tinkering, so RARELY will I purchase a firearm that i have no intention of modifying.
Generally I go with economy and customization.I dont believe i own a single firearm that you could buy over the counter, in its current condition.....wait no, you can get a savage 10 in 6.5CM over the counter, but not for 300 bucks.

I like nice oil finished wood, I like nice bluing...I like being able to take my rifles into a rain storm, and shoot them off with the hose when im done.....I have some of each.

 

[Trunk Monkey]

I voted 3 & 6
I don't consider myself a collector by any means. I see guns as a means to an end not an end in themselves.

My goal is to have the smallest number of guns that I can and still cover the bases that I want to cover. I want to keep my caliber footprint as small as I can. And I want my guns to be as compatible as possible. I really don't ever want to have to stock more than five different types of magazines.

 

[Demi-human]

How I buy them is with cash. Why I buy them is any body's guess.
I have stainless and blue, plastic, composite and wood. Hunters, paper punchers and door kicker-iners. There is no reason, nor rhyme.
I guess I can appreciate any form a firearm may come in. From cheap to guilded, tactical to trashy and classic to techno. I am an individualistic purchaser, for I like them all.

 

[WestKentucky]

My goal is to have the smallest number of guns that I can and still cover the bases

Heresy! Trunk monkey may be a witch, burn him.

Honestly that’s my wife’s goal for me. When she mentions it though I tell her she’s starting to sound like my ex-wife...she don’t appreciate that, probably because she’s my first wife.

So trunk monkey, 357 revolver and a shotgun is pretty much it?

 

[GBExpat]

No vote(s) from me ...

No real method to my madness as the urges (and voices in my head) change over time.

I acquire whatever strikes my fancy at the time so long as I do not feel that the item is over priced, despite what the market may indicate ... which is why I still have 6 SVT40s but no Gewehr43/Karabiner43.

 

[bannockburn]

I prefer the "classics": S&W revolvers, Colt 1911s, and Ruger single action revolvers. I place reliability, accuracy, and durability above most everything else. I do have several polymer frame guns so I'm not adverse to new technology and innovation as well.

 

[jmr40]

Performance trumps aesthetics.