"Never sell a gun"

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I've had many in the past that I've had to sell for various financial reasons, and I still grieve for every one of them. Hurts to try and remember them all to make a list.

Now I need a drink.....
 
I usually research mine enough or have a certain role for them in mind that I hope to keep each one, barring some unforseen dire need.

I say "Sell ammo, not guns!" But then again, buy low sell high at need. Don't confuse possessor/possession...
 
I've been getting rid of a lot of guns lately. Just taking up room in the safe and I know I would never enjoy them like the new owners will. Sold them to friends.

I've just kept a few that I regulalry use. No regrets.
 
If possessions no longer fits one's life circumstances, they should be disposed of ... why tie up money and physic energy in unproductive assets?
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I've sold a bunch of my personal collection and never regretted it.
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Warriors will have an intangible bond with their weapons and are loathe to trade them away.

That said, I have some guns that are "trading stock", but will never trade away my personal weapons.

I've left instructions with my family that, if my dead body is in suitable condition for a viewing, one of my weapons is to be placed in my hands. Just before the lid of the casket is closed, someone is to pry it from my cold dead fingers.

(Nothing like ending my story with a cliche!)
 
For the most part, I still own every gun that I bought, traded for or inherited.
However, I have a traded one or two that I didn't need and wound up with something ELSE that I didn't need.
 
I have sold off several non shooters that where brand spankin new. Kept some old ones that where still tac drivers, but most importantly found the ones I really like. I think the 23 I have will be good enough to last me a lifetime. I may add one or two but really I am content.
 
OurSafeHome.net said:
... I've left instructions with my family that, if my dead body is in suitable condition for a viewing, one of my weapons is to be placed in my hands. Just before the lid of the casket is closed, someone is to pry it from my cold dead fingers...
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I knew an old man here who, per his explicit instructions, was buried with a gun in one hand and a knife in the other. (Before you ask, I know the family placed them there and asked that they remain -- I have no personal knowledge whether or not the funeral home staff removed them at some point.)

A family member explained to me that he'd made his wishes known to all of them, stated on many occasions, "I know I've been too mean to ever get near Heaven, so if I'm bound for Hell I at least want a chance to fight my way back out."

:uhoh:

(I am not joking in the least...)
 
I've sold guns to finance different ventures. Some I have regreted but I've also regreted selling my 58 Buick Limited and other things.
 
Warriors will have an intangible bond with their weapons and are loathe to trade them away.
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I'd certainly not classify myself as a warrior.

I once had 10 5" 1911s. After a few years I noticed I brought 2 of them to the range on a regular basis. Although in no dire need of money, I sold the other 8 for more than I paid for them. I did the same with my ARs (7 down to 2), AKs (4 down to zero), O/U 20 gauges (4 down to 1), etc. A lot of this money went to reloading supplies and suppressors, and a lot of it went into Bank of America stock when it got down around $3.50. I'm pretty happy with my decision to downsize. Having 20 guns I shoot often is more enjoyable to me than when I had 45 I didn't shoot much. Cut down on my insurance premiums too.

I could currently buy any of the same models, but likely won't, as getting rid of all of them has not hindered my enjoyment of shooting. I've never been getting ready to head to the range and thought, "man, I wish I could bring my 20" AR. Wish I hadn't sold it."
 
I had bought a lot of guns in my younger day, but a few years ago I did a major downsizing. I got got rid of the guns I hadn't been using, and kept just a couple of handguns, and a couple of rifles. I gave my hunting rifle to my son, since I gave up hunting over 20 years ago, and sold off the tactical stuff that had built up from reading too many gun magazines. I just didn't want all that stuff in my life anymore. I downsized in other areas as well, sold off extra tools and toys, motorcycles and so on.

Now with a couple of guns I end up shooting a lot, my shooting has gotten better, and I'm enjoying the trips to the range more. Have to keep less of a variaty of ammo on hand as well.

Sometimes less is more. I don't miss the sold off guns at all. Got rid of the now empty gun safe, and hid the few guns in very unlikley spots. Now when the wife and I take off on a trip, I don't worry about them. The wify did a major downsizing as well when she retired. Now our home is nice and spacious, and I can find anything in a minute.

Life is wonderful when simple.
 
I put 11 guns on consignment in a gun store and then moved out of the country. One was a Ruger Super Blackhawk which I new I would never have any use for again and the rest various junk rifles I had. Only the Ruger and a Mark 4 Lee Enfeild got sold and the rest will probbably just sit there untill the store closes down or what ever. There were a couple single shot Cooey shot guns and a 1889 Schmidt Rubin that were much use to anyone but somebody has to want them to sell them.
The only gun I regret selling was a Model 600 remington in 308. I wish I still had it today after I learned 308 was plenty of gun for any deer I will ever meet.
 
KenWP said:
... The only gun I regret selling was a Model 600 remington in 308. I wish I still had it today after I learned 308 was plenty of gun for any deer I will ever meet.
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I had a "Mohawk" 600 in .308 and those were nifty little stalking rifles.

I don't regret selling it... but I sold it back to the guy I originally bought it from and I know where it is if I ever want it back bad enough to buy/trade him back out of it. ;)
 
I've sold four guns when in dire need. I've pawned a few others in times of trouble or when the cheap POS belonged in a pawn shop. I've traded a few guns or gun-like relics for other guns or gun-related services.

Overall, though, I do not sell a complete and functional firearm.

I guess it's because of the way that I was brought up. Dear Dad disposed of any firearm that I got, if given a chance. I guess it's because he couldn't legally own one.

As far as he was concerned it was like finding money.
 
Warriors will have an intangible bond with their weapons and are loathe to trade them away.
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Today's warriors are issued their weapons by their respective militaries, generally (though not always) on a rather temporary basis: weapons are handed in when one completes a patrol, tour of duty, etc. Neither retaining nor trading away is an option.

I had bought a lot of guns in my younger day, but a few years ago I did a major downsizing. I got got rid of the guns I hadn't been using, and kept just a couple of handguns, and a couple of rifles.... I just didn't want all that stuff in my life anymore. I downsized in other areas as well, sold off extra tools and toys, motorcycles and so on.... Sometimes less is more.... The wify did a major downsizing as well when she retired. Now our home is nice and spacious, and I can find anything in a minute. Life is wonderful when simple.
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There is a lot to be said for this approach (see further here).
 
The only guns I have ever sold is the ones I wanted to sell. With that being said. If I would ever regret selling a certain type of gun that I only had one copy of, I'll buy another. Unless they have sentimental or historic value, it's only a gun and can be replaced.
 
I look back at every gun i've sold or traded and kick myself. Of those only my AMT .380 backup and Phillipine .22 AR wannabe clone do I not regret getting rid of.
 
FWIW:
In families like mine, men are born smelling of gun oil amid a forest of firearms. The family home, a huge old clapboard farmhouse, was stuffed with guns, maybe thirty in all. There were 10-, 12-, 14- and 20- gauge shotguns, pump guns, over-and-unders, and deer rifles of every imaginable sort from classic Winchester 94 modes to 30-ought-sixes, and even an old set of dueling pistols that had been in my family since the 1700s.

No hillbilly ever threw a gun away even when it could no longer be repaired. And until they stopped working completely, guns were endlessly cared for and patched back together. Otherwise they weren't to be parted with except under the direst circumstances, either on your deathbed or because you were so broke your cheque bounced.

For example, there is one ancestral gun that my brother Mike did not inherit - my father's prized old Ivers and Johnson double-barrel shotgun, which had been in the family since the turn of the twentieth century. An out-of-work trucker at Christmastime, Daddy sold it to buy us kids the standard assortment of Christmas junk so we would not feel disappointed. I remember a Robert the Robot for me, a tin stove for my sister, a little red wheelbarrow for my brother, and of course toy guns and holsters. That was in 1952. We still have the photographs, and we still lament the loss of that fine old Ivers and Johnson.
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Joe Bageant, Deer Hunting with Jesus (2007), page 121.
 
Until today i sold 3 guns, and im glad i did it. Walther GSP,K98 and a double barreled Baikal shotgun. The GSP was replaced by a Beretta87, the K98 by an K31 and the Baikal will some day through a Browning Over and Under shotgun.
 
I have regretted most of the firearms I sold, but I have never regretted any of the ones I gave away.
 
I wish I had my two Browning T-bolts back. A grade 1 and a Grade 2. Also my Browning .22 Semi-Automatic, Belgian made. Should have known that someday they would be worth four times what I gave for 'em. I was young and didn't know better. I traded them just because I didn't use them much, and that is one of the worst reasons to sell or trade a gun that I can think of.
 
No real regrets, most all of them were replaceable if I had wanted to. Of course, I've been buying, selling, and trading for a bit over 30 years now also.

I have, however, sold a few a bit too soon.
 
I regret selling every gun I have ever sold even the guns I have sold that didn't act right. But I sold em to fund "better" guns. Now if I want a new gun I just save up for it no matter how long it takes instead of selling a less used gun to fun the new one.
 
Sold One, Gave One

I sold my first pistol. It was a 5-shot, 2-inch, gritty-triggered, barn-missing .38 special revolver that hurt my hand when I shot it.

I think that selling a gun you can't shoot worth beans is a righteous thing to do.

I gave a Belgian BAR in .308 to my son-in-law. He loves it to death, and shoots it better than I ever could (his eyes are 20 years younger than mine).

No regrets.

I don't count the ones I've given to my wife and son. Those are still very much "in the family."

The only way I'd sell another would be if I couldn't shoot it usefully.

I don't buy what I don't need -- that is to say, I'm not a collector.

If I have it, I have it for a reason.

Come back and ask me again after I get wealthy. - :D - When money is no longer a factor, I might actually buy something "just to try it out."

 
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