MacAR
Member
I really can't tell you what you should do, but I can tell you what I've done. My centerfire rifle battery is pretty simple. It consists of:
One 222 Remington (Springfield 840)
One 243 Winchester (Weatherby Vanguard Deluxe)
One 38 Special (Uberti 1866)
One 30-30 Win (Marlin 336)
One 30-06 Sprfld (Remington 700)
From close range whitetails to long range varmints, and most every other game animal and situation in N. America, I have a rifle to handle the task. I enjoy owning every rifle listed, and enjoy shooting and loading for each caliber. But, I have no need or desire to own duplicates in the same caliber, or own ballistic twins to the ones listed (223, 6mm Rem, 270, etc). I also don't feel the need to add any more rifles to it, with the exception of perhaps one or two more lever guns in calibers such as 300 Savage or 32-20, or perhaps 45-70. Of course, every man should have at least one 22lr; I have about a dozen myself, and 17's and 22 mags. Probably should reduce those numbers as well, but I don't think I'm ready to do that just yet.
So, should you reduce and consolidate? Well that's up to you in the end. One one hand, they aren't costing you anything to own just sitting in the safe. On the other, they could be turned into cash to finance other things, and now is the time to turn them if you're of a mind to. Were I in your shoes, I probably would get my collection down to a core of "users" that could take care of just about anything in N. America. After that, I might add back a couple "oddball" or collectibles. Otherwise, I'd invest the money from the sale of the other rifles into optics, ammo, and hunting trips.
Mac
One 222 Remington (Springfield 840)
One 243 Winchester (Weatherby Vanguard Deluxe)
One 38 Special (Uberti 1866)
One 30-30 Win (Marlin 336)
One 30-06 Sprfld (Remington 700)
From close range whitetails to long range varmints, and most every other game animal and situation in N. America, I have a rifle to handle the task. I enjoy owning every rifle listed, and enjoy shooting and loading for each caliber. But, I have no need or desire to own duplicates in the same caliber, or own ballistic twins to the ones listed (223, 6mm Rem, 270, etc). I also don't feel the need to add any more rifles to it, with the exception of perhaps one or two more lever guns in calibers such as 300 Savage or 32-20, or perhaps 45-70. Of course, every man should have at least one 22lr; I have about a dozen myself, and 17's and 22 mags. Probably should reduce those numbers as well, but I don't think I'm ready to do that just yet.
So, should you reduce and consolidate? Well that's up to you in the end. One one hand, they aren't costing you anything to own just sitting in the safe. On the other, they could be turned into cash to finance other things, and now is the time to turn them if you're of a mind to. Were I in your shoes, I probably would get my collection down to a core of "users" that could take care of just about anything in N. America. After that, I might add back a couple "oddball" or collectibles. Otherwise, I'd invest the money from the sale of the other rifles into optics, ammo, and hunting trips.
Mac