The purge

[kidneyboy]

A few years ago the private property I had been shooting at for most of my life changed hands and was no longer accessible. I soon realized that most of my firearms were tied to use at that property. This, and a few other things, started the purge. No definitive goal at first. Just move along stuff I wasn't going to use enough to hold on to.
Odd calibers and guns that were to heavy for me went first.
Then most of the competition and precision guns went.
Practical firearms that didn't get much use were next - revolvers, carry guns that were no longer carried, hunting rifles that didn't get any use.
This left me with HD, SD and sentimental favorites. At this point the practical side of me that does reloading took over and I reduced the reloading efforts to only 2 pistol calibers. Everything outside of those 2 calibers moved on, even the sentimental favorites.
I had been hanging on to most of my rimfire stuff up until this point but now most of that has been moved along too.
So at this point I have reduced things down to 2 pistol calibers - 9 and 45acp, 1 rifle caliber - an AR platform, a shotgun and a some rimfires. Things are more organized. Reloading is much simpler. I miss the shooting property but have adapted.
The one gun that has made it through all of this is my Henry H001. Still the most fun gun I own.

 

[NIGHTLORD40K]

I divested myself of all my proprietary milsurp cartridge guns a few years ago- Krag, Mausers, .Mosins, 303, 7.7 Jap, Carcano, etc.- to focus on more practical and supportable guns. Lots of nice pieces went down the road to be replaced by souless ARs, AKs, and 9mms. Dumped .the .32s and .25s as well....

I think Im down to 6 high power rifle and 5 centerfire pistol cartridges.

Still love my .22 rimfires, though.

 

[badkarmamib]

I have gone through something similar over the last couple of years. I have always been rather "purpose-driven", so every firearm had to have a reason, even if the reason was "just because I like it". I finally came to the realization that, having fewer choices, let me decide the kind of shooting I want to do, and grab the appropriate firearm. I am down to a carry pistol, range pistol, defensive/standing rifle, hunting/bench rifle, and a shotgun. Shoot, my 13YO son has more long guns than I do. But, it is also not so overwhelming to keep up with the reloading for so many different purposes. Not a direction I would recommend for others, but when I tried to justify any new purchases, it is always followed with, "but I would ALWAYS rather take this one I already have". My last, a Henry Single Shot in .30-30, was bittersweet, but I told my wife to trade it for something for herself (it has gone the opposite direction plenty of times in the past), and she fell in love with the Shield Plus. Eh, I am rambling now...

 

[Armored farmer]

I have a recurring thought of selling/ trading into a higher quality, less volume theme....
...just the classics.

 

[Speedo66]

I took advantage of the pandemic induced high prices to unload a few guns I felt I no longer needed. Hope the new owners are enjoying them as I did.

Also realized I had no one to hand them down to, so another one or two left.

I feel a little weight has been lifted off me and I can concentrate on the core guns remaining.

 

[kidneyboy]

The plandemic prices certainly helped in some of the decision making. A couple things sold for more than double what I paid for them.

Interesting to me is the 9mm. I actually stopped shooting 9mm some time ago. When I decided on just 2 calibers the 9mm won out over other calibers due to available options.

Also, Getting an AR really change my outlook on the pistol caliber carbines and other rifles I owned.

 

[dh1633pm]

I have a pretty good collection of firearms. My dad is sick and he has given me all of his. Now what do I do? Well I will keep the ones that we shot together. Others I will sell, trade, give away, or keep. I was thinking last night that I would sell or give away half.

 

[FL-NC]

I am planning a purge in the not too distant future. I plan to put the proceeds of said purge into home improvements.

 

[Legionnaire]

Purge is probably too strong a word for me, but I’m definitely starting to downsize. Just sold the first and know what the next two will be. Half of current stock is a reasonable goal.

 

[George Dickel]

I went through a bit of downsizing a couple years back. I was reloading 6 pistol calibers, and 5 rifle calibers. Now it is 2 pistol and 2 rifle. It was just too much stuff to keep track of.

 

[Pew-Pew]

Nothing wrong with consolidation. I just did that myself. Instead of a lot of ok firearms, I sold a lot and bought a handful of good ones

 

[SundownRider]

I did something similar last year. I decided to just get high quality guns instead of several lower quality. I sold my Ubertis and Cimarrons and bought a Colt SAA, sold my rifles to get an original Winchester 1892 made in 1895.
Working on a high quality 9mm and 45acp

 

[LaneP]

I will be downsizing in the next couple years but it's going to be ammo, not guns. When 7.62x39 surplus was cheap and plentiful I amassed 8k rounds, still have between 4 and 5k. I'm going to give my brother a 1400 round case of Russian HP when I visit later this month. I have north of 15k rounds of .22LR, 2k rounds .30-06 M2 surplus and thousands of cast lead .452" bullets, among many other miscellaneous loaded ammo and components.

That might not seem like a lot to some but I believe it's more than I'll ever need in retirement, which is coming in a year. I'm thinking I'll be slowing down a bunch and focusing on quality vs volume.

 

[theotherwaldo]

I'm in no hurry.
It's not like money is getting more valuable or old guns are getting cheaper.

 

[Alte Schule]

Three years ago I decided to sell a few to make room in my safe. I had a tough time deciding which ones went and which one's stayed. Solved the problem by trading a shotgun and pistol for another safe.

 

[FL-NC]

I WAS downsizing- right now, due to multiple factors, I'm really not looking at anything in our out for the foreseeable future (great idea, let's see if I can stick to it). In the mean time, I have a lot of "excess" stuff. Excess in the sense that they are valuable guns that see no use, and mostly live in the safe full time. I don't see these guns going down in value, and at the same time, I don't need the $ this minute. So, I have earmarked a significant quantity of good firearms for a future purge, with a solid plan on how to utilize the funds the purge will generate.

 

[Jeff olson]

I divested myself of all my proprietary milsurp cartridge guns a few years ago- Krag, Mausers, .Mosins, 303, 7.7 Jap, Carcano, etc.- to focus on more practical and supportable guns. Lots of nice pieces went down the road to be replaced by souless ARs, AKs, and 9mms. Dumped .the .32s and .25s as well....

I think Im down to 6 high power rifle and 5 centerfire pistol cartridges.

Still love my .22 rimfires, though.

Don't know why I'm so attracted to the rimfires. Maybe the memories. I will never be without a quality .22. As far as the other ones, the AR10 and the NDM will be the last to go. I'll hang onto an A5 and a model 70 as long as possible as well.

 

[mope540]

Although I have retired and have moved to where I no longer have to go to a range to shoot, I'm 'purging' the Smith & Wesson revolvers. That doesn't make much sense, but It's amazing what people will pay for them.

I am planning a purge in the not too distant future. I plan to put the proceeds of said purge into home improvements.

Good plan, but you might want to wait until 2x4s are less than $10. Today's building material prices are at the same insanity level as ammo was back when a 500 round box of 22LR was $100

 

[LeftyRed]

I did the the same thing when I moved to Ohio. Then again when I’ve excepted my weak hands. Now I’m down to just what I will carry (p355/380 or G42), a couple of full sized 9mms stashed around the house and garage. Like others, I’ve rekindled my love of the 22lr and classics like steel frame j frames and 1911s. So plan on getting a couple of those to shoot and enjoy.

 

[eyeshot]

2-rifles, 1-pistol and 1 shotgun. I don't shoot the shotgun but it has sentimental value.

Easy to reload and become proficient with small numbers.

 

[NIGHTLORD40K]

Although I have retired and have moved to where I no longer have to go to a range to shoot, I'm 'purging' the Smith & Wesson revolvers. That doesn't make much sense, but It's amazing what people will pay for them.

Dont forget, THR's Trading Post is commission free!

 

[Howland937]

I've had guns since I got my first at 12, 2nd at 14 and another for HS graduation. Still have all those.
About 20 years ago, I started shooting more, reloading some and picking up more and more guns. Single without kids and making ok money, there were times I'd buy 6 or more in a month. Then I'd trade some, buy more...couple years later I had around 70 guns.

Couple years after that, I got thinking about how much money was tied up in guns that were sitting around never used...so I sold most of them. Back down to 6. I doubt there's any reason I'd ever own 70 or so guns again, but I could hit 30 pretty easily if I don't watch myself. No longer single and have a kid, so it'll take longer to get there and I may find a reason to get rid of some before then.

 

[tws3b2]

I done got to dang old to enjoy shooting big guns anymore. I'll keep in practice with 9mm and 38spl. But mostly enjoy shooting 22 now. So, most of my guns just sit there most of the time. Get them out now and then for cleaning.
I absolutely refuse to get rid of any. Thinking today about who I will leave them to. But there's nobody I want to have them.
So, I'm just going to take them with me. If I cant. I just ain't going. Simple as that.

 

[wanderinwalker]

Tastes, interests and opportunity change, and it's OK for the accumulation to adjust to fit those circumstances.

I also did a rather impressive downsize 3 years ago, just before the start of the pandemic. I went from 3 CZ 452 rifles down to 1, sold 2 S&W revolvers, a Colt Competition Model in .38 Super, a Remington 700 in .30-06, returned a single-shot .22 rifle to the relative who gave it to me as a gift over 20 years before and there were others not memorable enough for me to recall at this exact moment (probably Rugers). But I did pick up a couple of old .32 automatics and a CZ Scorpion carbine in the same time frame.

After not having immediate access to most of what I did keep for the last 2 years, I'm back to thinking of what else I might be able to part with. The Scorpion is on the "maybe" list, between current 9mm pricing and having an AR carbine that technically does everything the Scorpion does "better". As much as I hate to admit it as a certified gun crank, you really can get by just fine with only a handful of good guns.

However, I've also learned which guns are important to me to keep around, because they're the ones that have ended up near at hand after every move.

 

[Weflyfast]

Wow- I guess we are all different- I have been collecting for 40+ years.....and I can't let any of them go- at least not yet.......seems easier to just keep buying safes!