Keeping track of your firearms...

[rust collector]

My records are in a cigar box pressed into card file duty. Basic info and disposition on face of each card.

 

[GBExpat]

Cigar box ... that brings back a lot of good memories.

 

[jag22]

Can’t imagine not having one. I keep one list in chronological order, one list by manufacture ( just Colt, S&W, and Win) and then a small loose leaf binder with a page for each gun with all the pertinent info, in alphabetical order by manufacturer.

 

[chicharrones]

Yes. Written in excel, converted to pdf for printability. Printed copy kept for wife. Digital backup on personal backup drive.

 

[wiscoaster]

Do any of you guys (non FFL) keep a detailed ledger of every firearm that comes into your hands, for the purpose of keeping track of everything? I think it's a good idea, for me anyways. I wish I had been doing it all along.....

Yes. Currently done in a spreadsheet, but thinking of redoing it in a MySQL database this winter. Easier to sort and search. And my need to code is beginning to itch.

 

[buba68]

Excel spreadsheet for mine too. Make, model, caliber, serial number, how gun is equipped. Different sheet for each make.

 

[Goofball84]

I also keep a spreadsheet. Make, model, caliber, serial number, purchase price, where bought, where sold. I need to get everything cataloged with photos. I figured it would be a good thing to have if I ever had a break-in and guns get stolen or for insurance if anything happened to the house.

 

[Jimbo80]

Don't forget to log magazines too.

 

[DustyGmt]

Yikes, I'm really slacking. To hear so many of you guys keeping such detailed records pretty much settles it, it's smart and makes sense. I better get on it. I have been thinking about this more and more and I need to just go ahead and do it.....

 

[FROGO207]

Yep hand written log with all the particulars intered in as they are acquired. Also several pictures of each with a pix of serial number. Then pictures of the log book pages. Update as needed and all on thumb drives in three different locations. As well as the paper log.

 

[12Bravo20]

I use a spreadsheet too. I would love to use a better data base so that it is easier to add photos and perform searches. Alas my skills with Microsoft Access is way out dated and I haven't found an easy to use alternative for MacOS.

 

[DTL]

I have for years. All guns photographed and sales records scanned to file on a external HD. Original hard copies of the records in our Safety deposit box with deeds, wills, insurance policies.

 

[daniel craig]

I can’t imagine having so many guns I need to keep a written record.

 

[12Bravo20]

I can’t imagine having so many guns I need to keep a written record.

It doesn't matter if you own 5, 50, or 500 firearms, you should keep some type of record on them. And multiple reasons have been stated on why such as; if stolen, lost in a fire, settling an estate after the owner passes.

Now the less you have the less fancy your records need to be.

 

[mstreddy]

Yes, an Excel spreadsheet serves that purpose for me.

Another Excel user here. I have one sheet for my inventory of guns, and another for the ones I sold. And, I have a binder with the receipts for all the bought/sold guns.

 

[wiscoaster]

.... have a binder with the receipts for all the bought/sold guns.

... and I also scan the paper receipt so there's a digital copy on my computer (which automatically gets backed up to two backups - one onsite and one offsite).

 

[entropy]

I have always done this. Paper in the old days and Excel now, along with a photo of the receipt.
The ATF has pushed personal firearms records for decades.

Wonder why that is? Were I to have one, it would not be stored on a computer, tablet or a phone.

 

[mstreddy]

I use a spreadsheet too. I would love to use a better data base so that it is easier to add photos and perform searches. Alas my skills with Microsoft Access is way out dated and I haven't found an easy to use alternative for MacOS.

Have you looked at Filemaker for the Mac?

 

[wiscoaster]

Have you looked at Filemaker for the Mac?

NeoOffice has a database mode, though I haven't tried it. NeoOffice is basically an open-source Microsoft Offce work-alike available from the Apple App Store, and in my experience, it works really good for spreadsheeting and word processing, so I'd guess its database also works well enough.

 

[12Bravo20]

@mstreddy and @wiscoaster thank you for the suggestions. I have just started looking for an easy to setup and use database program. My last experiences were with MS Access and Libre Office Base. Access is not available for Mac and it has been so long since I used it anyway. I tried Libre Office Base but was never very impressed with it. I will check out your suggestions.

 

[Cowhide Cliff]

I use a spreadsheet. It’s fairly basic but works.
Make
Model
Caliber
Where purchased
Amount
Serial #
When it was made
General Notes.

I also started keeping track of the number of rounds fired for each gun on a separate tab. Once it’s all setup electronically it’s pretty easy to update after a range visit.

I would not want that info on my computer, especially if it's one tied to internet.

 

[wiscoaster]

.... I tried Libre Office Base but was never very impressed with it. ....

NeoOffice is a MacOS version of LibreOffice, if I'm not mistaken, so its database functionality is probably the same or at least similar to what you've already tried.

 

[12Bravo20]

For those that do not want any of this information saved onto a computer, I have just one question for you.

Have you ever posted any photos of your firearms on any forum or other type of website?

Because if you have, then it is all out in the cloud and searchable as is. Plus just being members on any gun forum puts your information and the fact that you are a gun owner out there too.

And another thing to think about, most smart phone will back up all of your photos to the cloud automatically unless you shut that feature off. So unless you do not have any type of backup turned on, then any photos you have taken with you smart phone or tablet is out in the cloud. And at minimum they were transferred to your computer anytime you plug your phone/tablet into it.

 

[chicharrones]

For those that do not want any of this information saved onto a computer, I have just one question for you.

Have you ever posted any photos of your firearms on any forum or other type of website?

Because if you have, then it is all out in the cloud and searchable as is. Plus just being members on any gun forum puts your information and the fact that you are a gun owner out there too.

And another thing to think about, most smart phone will back up all of your photos to the cloud automatically unless you shut that feature off. So unless you do not have any type of backup turned on, then any photos you have taken with you smart phone or tablet is out in the cloud. And at minimum they were transferred to your computer anytime you plug your phone/tablet into it.

China knows everything I'm doing. So do the tech companies HQ'd here in the USA. I think I thought I had internet privacy back in the 1990s and early 2000s, but that isn't true either. Not to mention these dang smart phones that always tell me how far away home is, even if I've never marked where home is.

 

[12Bravo20]

China knows everything I'm doing. So do the tech companies HQ'd here in the USA. I think I thought I had internet privacy back in the 1990s and early 2000s, but that isn't true either. Not to mention these dang smart phones that always tell me how far away home is, even if I've never marked where home is.

My point exactly.

How many of us use our phones to take photos of our firearms? And most phones will automatically upload the photos to the cloud.