Must be getting old since I am thinking of reducing my small collection of handguns

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Vito, use said, "But I find that I am thinking about selling off several of my guns because I hardly if ever shoot them. I have 3 that I use for concealed carry (different clothes calls for different guns and holsters), . . ."

How is it that different clothes calls for different guns and holsters? When you have your skimpiest clothing on and you've chosen a c/c gun for that, why wouldn't that same gun for heavy clothing?

Most people seem to have different guns for different modes of dress and different climates, so you are obviously with the majority. But if your light dress gun works with some clothing, it should also work with other clothing. I mean if you are selling down to only what you need, maybe you only need one c/c gun. Personally, I carry just one year round no matter what I'm wearing or what the weather is or what other people are wearing.

I can see why a person wouldn't want to take is blue steel expensive 1911 out in the rain or into very humid conditions when he's wearing a t shirt and shorts. But if choses his 5 shot .38 in stainless steel, and he considers that sufficient, why is not sufficient in dry and cold conditions?
 
I wanted a couple of guns this past year and had no way to buy them, so I sold some of those guns I hadn't shot in 20 years. Russian Makarov, Ruger MkII, a couple of Mosin-Nagants and traded a Star Firestar at the LGS when I bought my XDS45. I made money on all but the Firestar - I was hoping for $200 in trade but got $175.

I don't mind selling stuff I haven't used in a long time, IF it's to buy something I AM going to shoot. Recently the wife had me sell her Ruger MkII and it just went for food and stuff because we had the three grandkids and feeding them was breaking us.
 
I'm not old but I'm doing similar. I used to be of the "I'll never sell em" mindset, but I was looking in the safe one day and realized there are guns in there that I haven't shot in years. These particular ones don't have sentimental value, were inexpensive, and are not rare. Also, I'm trying to reduce the number of calibers I have laying around (bye .40 S&W, good but not my favorite).

Why not get a few $ out of them and get em to a user that might let them see the light of day.

That and they funded my new CCW piece, so there's that.
 
Hi...

I recently turned 60 years old and I don't even consider selling off any of my guns. Even after two bouts with cancer, a couple of strokes and more radiation treatments than I like to think about.

I still go hunting and even with 50+ firearms laying about the estate, I still find time to shoot them and still contemplate purchasing some more.

I just turned down a deal on a Ruger Super RedHawk...not because I didn't want it but because i already have at least 4 .44magnums and don't really need another.

I am starting to save up for a couple of Uberti 1873 Cattleman SAA revolvers. I haven't decided what caliber....part of me wants to order them in .44Special, but the LGS has them on hand in .45Colt and .357Mag. Price tag is $409...not bad at all.

I don't really need any more SA fixed sight .45Colts...already have a matched set of Ruger Vaqueros in that caliber.

Tough decisions...one thing is certain...I ain't looking to downsize.

And I don't need to worry about what happens to all my firearms when I die...my son already thinks of them as his anyway. On a lot of our range trips, he shoots them more than I do, so he is probably right about that.
 
I'm 71 and I started selling some of my guns a while back, but most of the sales have given me sellers' remorse. On the other hand, I'm starting to lose sleep wondering what to do with all the stuff I've assembled over the last 50 years or so. Like the saying goes, you can't take it with you. My problem is that If you could, my casket would weigh a ton.
 
I’m not getting old, I am. But every time I walk into a gun shop, gun show, or pawn shop and my ears start to wiggle, I end up walking out with a heavier pocket and a lighter bank account. When will it ever stop? :banghead:

A while back, my daughter gave me a dirty look when I commented that when I die, I hope you enjoy yourself trying to find them all. :neener:
 
I gave my daughter her favorite pistol of mine, my Ruger Mark III fluted hunter, as a college graduation present.

She loved it.
 
Looks like all those "one gun" threads may have been relevant after all. ;) My handgun total is now at 6, don't desire any more and could live with less.
 
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Like others I've accumulated far more stuff than I ever needed or could use, and I've spent more time maintaining it than I could easily spare. But I've enjoyed owning and using nearly all of it.

Much of this stuff can and should be gifted, donated, sold off, or scrapped.

However....not the guns (or reserve ammo for them). They will not be sold or otherwise discarded, even those left unused for many many years.

They exist in a separate class of utility/value, plus the possibility, high or low depending on your outlook, that guns will someday be unavailable. Mine will be preserved to minimize maintenance and passed along - preferably within the family.

Perhaps someday someone will appreciate the foresight. Meantime, when I see another good one I'll buy it!
 
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Yeah, it's a strange thing. My Father in Law's prize revolver was a 1970's built 3 screw Ruger Blackhawk in .357 Mag. He shot it some...when he passed it ended up in my hands. No one else in the family wanted it or cared about it other than he had thought it was a special treasure. Sure is a nice gun...I have pistols I feel the same way about but no one to really leave them to and the thought of them being sold by folks who don't know what they are hurts worse than maybe letting them go to folks who would drool over them.

Like my FiL's Blackhawk. Nice gun - I'll never shoot it. No one in the Family even remembers it was his 3 years later...no one asks about it. It was just something he cherished and I feel close to him keeping it oiled and in the box for him. But he's not coming back for it and it's worth maybe $800.

I dunno what to do with them when I'm done with them. They should be in the hands of folks who really want and love them and kept safe and cherished I think. I'm gonna try and move most of them along when it's time and put the money where it will help someone...maybe a family member of even just a worthy stranger. Or maybe just some really good Scotch?

Hopefully I don't have to worry bout it for another 25 years or so. But I'd hate for them to perish or end up at a pawn shop or estate sale.

VooDoo
 
Hopefully I don't have to worry bout it for another 25 years or so. But I'd hate for them to perish or end up at a pawn shop or estate sale.
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I think this is what bothers many of us. But you know what?

The older I get, the less it bothers me.


I just have to accept that the vast majority of my family wouldn't give a hoot about my collection. Sad as that may be. Hopefully some people will get them that will care - preferably family. But if that doesn't happen... I'm gone anyway, and I won't know.

I also accept that my health and vision will probably not allow me to enjoy shooting most (or maybe even all) of my collection if I live long enough.


I'm at a weird place where I enjoy talking about guns and shooting what little I can, but have nothing on the radar to buy. Sometimes I think about thinning things out a bit, but I have read about people who have done that and then got back into the hobby and tried to buy their way back where they were. I don't want to be that guy. So they will stay for the forseeable future. Besides, I put a lot of time, effort and $ into drumming it all up!
 
I am 58, and still am in the acquiring mode. I plan to start thinning them out in about 10 years or so...maybe a bit more depending on how I feel. I have told my wife to have one of my 2 brothers-in-law dispose of them should something happen before then. I have an up to date list of all items in my safe, with the specific bequests to son, niece and nephew. I happen to have acquired one item with some history (used in the 1919 Inter-Allied Games in Paris), and I think I may donate it to the CMP, even though it is the most valuable item I own. I collect mostly S&W revolvers from the teens thru 30s, and am sure I will offer them to other S&W collectors - I am more interested in them finding a good "home" than getting the most dollars.
 
I also accept that my health and vision will probably not allow me to enjoy shooting most (or maybe even all) of my collection if I live long enough
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.

My father is 93 and was at Pearl Harbor on Dec. 7th, 1941 He wasn't in the military then but was working in the shipyard and was there when it was bombed. He was drafted later.
He never had a lot of guns, just a few older pistols and some shotguns, but he has really gotten to enjoy my collection over the past few years. He normally shoots the 22's more than anything (I have close to 50) and has taken over my first KT PMR-30. Lots of bang and virtually no recoil and he has no idea how hard it is to keep him in ammunition these days. I try to steer him to the 22 LR but he always wants that WMR. I may have to cut him off before long but he would scream if he knew how much that ammo costs.
I have all his guns and I am thankful he can still enjoy the sport. Very few live to his age and even fewer are mentally and physically able to shoot guns.
 
Reply to Sarge 13(Post24) and Vito(post 1) Vito when you say old, How old? I am not sure how to word this but don't take offense. I just turned 60 last May my father lived to be 87 and my mother 84. I am in good health with just a touch of high blood pressure. I hope to be around for a while. Unless you need the money or think you are not going to be around very long, keep them. I have never lost money on any gun I sold. When I was 18 I had a hard time putting some money in the bank. I never had a hard time buying a gun.
Granted a gun in 99-100% is going to bring the highest price there is always a market for firearms.
Reply to Sarge13
I too have collector guns and shooting guns. The collector guns are for my retirement when SS takes a dump. The shooting guns are for when SS takes a dump.
Do search for the James Julia auction ( last two or three) the prices will blow your mind.
1911 Colt commercial mint $47,000 Winchester trench gun $13,000
 
This is actually a topic I’ve given a lot of thought to. When I first started buying guns I bought whatever caught my eye (that I could afford) and I didn’t give a whole lot of thought to how useful the gun might be or how easy it might be to find ammunition or accessories for it and I ended up wasting a lot of money on useless guns.

Over the last year or so my attitude towards firearms has changed dramatically. I use firearms but I don’t have any special attachment to any of them.

I’ve come to the conclusion that I’d rather have 1 gun, 10 magazines for it and a thousand rounds of ammunition than 5 different guns with 2 magazines and 200 rounds of different ammunition each.

I got rid of all the oddball calibers and I’m weeding out the guns that I know I’ll never carry. I have 2 3rd Gen S&Ws that I like that I’d like to keep for range guns but once I decided that they were off the carry rotation they became expendable.

Ideally I would like to get down to 2 9mm Shields (one for me and one for my wife) 1 M&P 9mm for me and my 4006.
 
As far as guns are concerned, I'm in the "I'll keep 'em" camp. Whether i shoot them or not, I enjoy looking at my firearms from time to time.

And tools, you'd have to pry those from my cold, dead hands. i have been accumulating them for decades and each one I use periodically and I am thankful that I still have the special ones on hand.

Even though I'll start collecting social security this year, i still work on cars, airplanes, and do some machining and welding.
 
It's Time.

I'm 73 and just inventoried my collection. I don't shoot much any more and have a couple of favorite CCW's. So far I've found 110 guns (there may be more scattered about). So I decided to sell most of them. But I keep coming back to the question of "why do I have so many?". The answer is that I have always appreciated fine workmanship in guns, so I would hunt down and find exactly what suited me at that time. Then it became the hunt that I enjoyed most. Even now, I still hunt down and get more, today it was a 5 screw K22, last week was a Winchester 1906. But it will be easier to distribute money among my heirs than guns. So, now I'm going to start selling, but at the same time keep hunting. Sounds stupid don't it? My goal is to sell faster than I can find something I don't have. In the end maybe I'll break even.....Now about that Springfield Trapdoor........
 
Heirs will appreciate "dad's pistol" or "grandpa's shotgun" more than the $400 or so they garner, which will be spent immediately on a new TV and forgotten in a few years.

If they get a firearm and pawn it, then that's on them.

I'm still in the keep them camp
 
So, now I'm going to start selling, but at the same time keep hunting. Sounds stupid don't it?
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Not to me. 110 guns is a lot, and I can understand why you'd want to reduce that number. Just don't go overboard, because this....
Heirs will appreciate "dad's pistol" or "grandpa's shotgun" more than the $400 or so they garner, which will be spent immediately on a new TV and forgotten in a few years.
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is very true. No one in my family is interested in firearms, and only a few of my close friends are. None, the, less, I intend to leave my favorite guns to particular people, and for specific reasons. I think they will appreciate a thing from me in conjunction with some money a lot more than money alone. The folks that don't really care about guns will just get some money.

I'm only 33 but think about this fairly often. My job is relatively dangerous compared to some, and accidental death is a possibility. I plan to have a will drawn up in the next year or so to insure my assets are distributed as I wish in an unfortunate scenario.
 
But when I think about how little I am likely to get for some of these guns, like my Browning Buckmark that a LGS would only offer me $125 on a trade-in, I put it back in my safe.
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Well...don't take it to the LGS. Post it here and get 90% of its value, instead of 50%.

Yeah, I am in that boat too. we have no kids, and my wife will never know what to do with my stuff if I pop off unexpectedly. Someone will probably offer her $5k for $20k worth of guns and reloading stuff.

Someone else will offer her $500 for $5k worth of tools.

Someone else will offer her $5k for $30k worth of motorcycles and parts.

And so on.
 
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