NIB keep it or shoot it

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Brian Williams

Brian Williams

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What would you do if you found a ????????? NIB. would you shoot it or safe keep it.

I was at a shop monday and asked about S&W 5 screws as a shooter. "oh noooooo!!!!!! you should never shoot something that old, you would never know what was done to it before you got it". This guy was real boneheaded about this.

The name of the place is Classic Arms and they have some nice guns but REAL pricey.

One of the staff was telling about a fox 410 his son had been given NIB from his grandmom, and this guy said to never shoot it. I say WHY????
What a great dove gun, unless he is only going to fund college or a house with it, why not????
 
Shoot it!

Most classics are collectible BECAUSE they were great shooters. I don't buy guns as an investment, I do it so I can shoot them.
 
I can't afford to buy a gun to just look at it, besides I would have a really hard time trying to explain that to the wife.

bottom line for me is that guns were made to be fired. It seems to be a waste not to use them for that.
 
shoot that thing! What is tyhe point of having all of these guns of ya just look at 'em?

I just picked up a LNIB HK91. what was first place I went after my dealer? thats right the range, she's no longer LNIB.
 
Doubt I'd ever put a NIB in safe and not shoot it .... at all!

There is a compromize here tho .......... if a gun is of a type/vintage which makes it uncommon and thus more worthy of preservation etc then - I'd shoot it but not heavily .... meaning not 100's of rounds at a time and also, no loads which were likely to be hard on it.

More of a ''walk round the block'' .... instead of ''marathon''!

Boils down to ''functional TLC'' methinks.:)
 
A former co-worker of mine has a vault full of guns that are never fired. Some are genuine collector's items, some are just modern production guns_albeit some pretty expensive ones. I used to tease him that he was so anal about them that he didn't even know what some of them looked like from both sides because he wouldn't touch them to take them out of the box. One example, he has a field-grade Freedom Arms .454. Not a cheap gun, but still in production. He's not only never fired it, it's never even been turned.
Me? If I ca't shoot it, I don't have an awful lot of interest in owning it.
 
Im like that dude that they were profileing on i think american shooter. he had the czar's dueling pistols and stuff. and they made it a point to say "and he shoots them" well no crap thats what they were made for, to shoot. yea gota treat them with a little more resepct but heck gota make sure they work...

and stuff like that of people collecting still in production guns....blah. like people that buy all those star wars figures now to collect them never opening them. there are so many being produced now that they will likely never be worth alot. thats one reason why old toys are worth alot...they were scarce, few were made.

I have a few rifles and shotguns that mean alot to me, more senamental but im still goign to shoot them. thats half the fun of being a gun owner
 
The only way I'd buy something with the intent of not shooting it is if I found a screaming deal on something and was going to turn around and sell it pretty soon afterwards. Then I'd use the money to buy something that I WOULD shoot.
 
I take it on a case by case basis. Some guns should be shot, but older, more limited guns should be preserved for future generations to see.
 
Unless a gun was a piece of history (Belonged to Wyatt Earp or Teddy Roosevelt or something) I'd shoot it. Even if it was, I'm sure I'd put some rounds through it on occasion if it wouldn't do great harm to the condition or value of the gun.
 
Lightsped - I understand what you are saying, but I'd much rather have a future generation SHOOT an old firearm. For example, I've got a small collection of older shotguns and a few rifles. I use all of them, but on a somewhat limited basis. Since I'm preserving them for my kids (and hopefully their kids, etc...) I don't want to wear them out. I've got current production pieces for high volume shooting and tough field work.

However, I feel better letting the older ones out of the safe to be used once in a while. An old shotgun might go on a hunting trip once or twice per year, while a rifle might just get a trip to the range. Not a lot, but enough for me to be satisfied that they are getting some use.

If my kids want to see a firearm, then they can look in a book or visit a museum. If they want to handle one and fire it, that's what the stuff in the safe is for.
 
I have firearms that haven't been fired and most likely won't be fired by me. Why? Because it's my choice. I choose to set some aside for the future. The museums are full of firearms bought by people like me that allow you to see exactly what they looked like the day they came out the factory. That's my small part in building a legacy for our future generations.
Now I have others that I shoot, but in no way feel compelled to shoot each and every one that I own. We all stick our hands in our own pockets to pay for our firearms and do with them as we please. It's your choice.
 
I have a neighbor who has a fabulous collection of Colt
Peacemakers. All have been shot, most many times, but he
refuses to shoot any of them, All he does is take them out of
the safe, wipe them off and look at them and put them back.

Now I have quite a few handguns myself but no collectors.
If it has a trigger, I'll shoot it. Five screw S&Ws I do have and
do shoot them. At one time not too long ago I had a S&W
K32 in 95% condition. Yes, I shot it before I sold it. It had been
fired when I bought it so why shouldn't I fire it? My son-in-law,
who was a Texas Ranger, talked me into buying one of the
Winchester 94 commeratives that the Rangers sold to finance the Ranger museum. It was No. 52 of 150 and as far as I can remember that was
the only gun I ever owned that I never fired. The action was never
opened and I kept it for several years. Finally got tired of it just taking
up space in my shop and sold it for triple what I paid. If it had been
anything but a 30/30 I might have even fired it.
 
Buy it but not shoot it ???? Get a grab on yourself, man.

If you want to collect, save money by collecting thimbles or spoons from the Cracker Barrel.

For me not to shoot a firearm I'd have to have dropped a few hundred grand on a real collector's item.
 
Would you buy a '57 Nomad and not drive it? Would you date a pretty girl and not kiss her? Would you buy a nice bottle of wine/liqour and not drink it?

Life's too short man. Enjoy it while you're here. Sieze the day! Go to the range and fire that firearm.
 
Some guns should be shot, but older, more limited guns should be preserved for future generations to see.
Click to expand...
Exactly!! However, those need to be in a museum, because I'm likely to shoot it. :D Let's hear it for reproductions!!

Basically, you shoot guns, you look at art. My thinking is that some guns are art. Generally not anything that isn't old or handmade, though.
 
I think it's up to the individual. You make the choice yourself, and whatever choice you make is right for you. That said, I will never buy a gun and not shoot it. If my mother came up to me right now and said "Beetle, I just found this in the attic. It's your father's Garand. The one he had when he was in the army. I don't know how he got it or anything but I think you should have it." Since we are dreaming here, let's add "It is in perfect condition and there are over 1000 rounds on Garand clips in the corner over there." Well, in a situation like that, I would not use it as a beater, but I would make it a point to shoot it on special ocassions and at least twice a year. When the rifle can no longer safely be fired, that is when it gets retired to a museum.
 
Shoot it! Would you buy a banjo and just leave it there?!?!


Yes!

Better still, shoot the banjo!
:D
 
I may be wrong but I was under the impression that a firearm was considered new only if it had not been sold by a gun shop after it had been purchased from the manufacturer. Once it had been sold, it was considered a used gun, and cannot be listed as new for re-sale purposes. Having been fired or not is irrelevant.:confused:
 
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