Collection or Arsenal?

D

DarthVader

New member
In light of the recent news stories about people having "arsenals" the guys at work have been discussing who has collections and who has arsenals, and what those words mean - what do you think?

Guy #1 - Glock 17, DPMS 308 Rifle, Colt 1873 SAA, Bushmaster M4, Winchester Trapper 30-30, Winchester M94, Ruger 10/22, Remington 870, Ruger SR9, and a Ruger Vaquero.

Guy #2 - S&W Model 629, XDM 40, Sig P228, GSG-5, Ruger MKII, Ruger MKIII, Ruger GP100, Sig 556, AK47, Colt M4, Colt A3, Remington Bolt Action 30-06, Browning Bolt Action 30-06, Henry Golden Boy 22, Winchester M94 in 30-30, Thompson Triumph, M1 Garand, Pardner 410 shotgun, Remington 1100, Browning Citori, Ruger 10/22, Benelli Nova, Ruger LCP, Colt 1911, Mossberg 590A1, and a Marlin 336.

Guy #3 - Bushmaster M4, Colt M4, Romanian AK47, Marlin 336SS, Glock 20, Glock 17, Browning Auto 5, Beretta 92, Sig P238, Walther P22, and a Taurus PT1911.

As for me, I haven't been able to get any guns after learning that boating insurance doesn't cover firearms that were lost overboard. But how would you describe what these dudes own?

DV
 
Guy #1 - Glock 17, DPMS 308 Rifle, Colt 1873 SAA, Bushmaster M4, Winchester Trapper 30-30, Winchester M94, Ruger 10/22, Remington 870, Ruger SR9, and a Ruger Vaquero.

Guy #2 - S&W Model 629, XDM 40, Sig P228, GSG-5, Ruger MKII, Ruger MKIII, Ruger GP100, Sig 556, AK47, Colt M4, Colt A3, Remington Bolt Action 30-06, Browning Bolt Action 30-06, Henry Golden Boy 22, Winchester M94 in 30-30, Thompson Triumph, M1 Garand, Pardner 410 shotgun, Remington 1100, Browning Citori, Ruger 10/22, Benelli Nova, Ruger LCP, Colt 1911, Mossberg 590A1, and a Marlin 336.

Guy #3 - Bushmaster M4, Colt M4, Romanian AK47, Marlin 336SS, Glock 20, Glock 17, Browning Auto 5, Beretta 92, Sig P238, Walther P22, and a Taurus PT1911.
Click to expand...
None of them appear to be an "arsenal," and IMHO none of them qualify as a "collection." More like "assortment," I'd say.

Guy #1 has 1 centerfire semi-auto, 1 rimfire semi-auto, 1 double action revolver, 2 single action revolvers, 1 shotgun, 2 lever action carbines, and an AR-10 style rifle. There's no rhyme or reason to what he has, so it certainly isn't a collection. And if you check the definition of "arsenal," you'll find that certain buildings may BE arsenals, but a pile of guns is not an arsenal.

Guy #2 has a few more firearms than Guy #1, but still a motley assortment, without any common thread to suggest that it's a "collection."

Guy #3 ... ditto.

Just three guys, each of whom owns a few guns.
 
They are all evil and need to sent to my house for safe keeping...:D

Arsenal from my understanding was a large set of guns of one type say #10 ar15 etc. Mostly the word arsenal is used to say a building that makes or rebuilds guns. It just the wording to get people hipped up over no bid deal.
 
Arsenal

noun
1. a place of storage or a magazine containing arms and military equipment for land or naval service.
2. a government establishment where military equipment or munitions are manufactured.
3. a collection or supply of weapons or munitions.

Collection

noun
1. the act of collecting.
2. something that is collected; a group of objects or an amount of material accumulated in one location, especially for some purpose or as a result of some process: a stamp collection; a collection of unclaimed hats in the checkroom; a collection of books on Churchill.
3. the works of art constituting the holdings of an art museum: a history of the museum and of the collection.

Therefore, they are all collections and they are all arsenals.

A collection of firearms can be defined as an arsenal.
A group of firearms is defined as a collection, there is no requirement for any order, rhyme or reason.
 
O.k., so if a dude has a Springfield 1903, a Trapdoor, a M1 Garand, a M1 Carbine, a Mauser, and a Mosin, then it looks closer to a collection (i.e., military arms).

If another dude has 6 different single action armys and 3 lever actions, he may have a collection (cowboy stuff).

I guess an arsenal is 7 ARs (the same model and same caliber). I've never seen anyone with that (no variety seems kinda boring). In any case, I suppose some in the media would describe anything more than, say, two firearms as an evil "arsenal."

DV
 
Mr Griffiths is correct. It is all a mater of personal prospective. To anyone who shoots or hunts all three of you people have nice collections of fun and usable firearms. However to any of the anti-gun type they will see another mass murder in the making. Most of the people in this class will see even a single gun with enough ammunition to load it as an arsenal and the owner as a badly deranged person in need of a prison cell to keep decent folks like themselves safe.
 
Exactly - I have an "assortment", and I don't think that they're all geared toward any particular purpose or function:

Remington 870 20-gauge
Bushmaster AR
Ruger 10/22

S&W Pre-Model 10
Walther P22
Walther PPK
Springfield EMP .40
Ruger MK III 22/45
Beretta 84BB .380
Remington R1 .45 ACP

I know a lot of non-enthusiasts would think "ten guns?!?!? What's he prepping for, the apocalypse?" But I really don't think there's a lot of overlap or duplication of function.
 
All I know is that if something happened and they cracked my safe, I'd be mentioned as crazy, hoarding ammo (think lots of .380 from the lean days), hiding an arsenal with "exotic" weapons. You know, like an old CZ-52, a Winchester pump 22, a pre-war S&W 38.
Watch out! He's a menace!
 
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To me an arsenal is a group of guns set aside for the use of fighting with them. A collection is a group of guns that are similar in some way.

I have neither, just have alot of guns.
 
I would say if your firearms have a purpose, (hunting, HD, SHTF police-work, ect.) I see it as an arsenal.

If you have 12 old Winchesters and 6 SAAs it's a collection.
 
It depends, it is an arsenal if NBC is reporting it and a collection if Fox is reporting it. Personally, I just look at it as a list of the guns they own. Neither seem to be a collection or an arsenal in my opinion.
 
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I had fun coming up with the 3 assortments (although in hindsight, none of them have any common themes).

Guy #1 was suppose to be a western/cowboy type, with a semi-auto 308 thrown in for some modern hunting and some others for fun. I should have not included the rifles and added more revolvers.

Guy #2 was suppose to have a larger assortment - trying to cover a little bit of everything. He was suppose to have more than Guy #3 (although much smaller than some of the members here:). I guess I should have added 10 more rifles, 10 more hand guns, and 10 more shottys (probably still would not have been enough:D).

Guy#3 was also suppose to have an assortment, but on a smaller scale.

Now I understand its not just the quanity, and look forward to discussing on Monday at lunch!

DV
 
Off topic but...

OP- "As for me, I haven't been able to get any guns after learning that boating insurance doesn't cover firearms that were lost overboard. But how would you describe what these dudes own?"

Call your homeowners insurance company and ask for an "inland marine" policy more commonly known as a "floater"
 
Colletion at best !!!

Collection and possibly, an investment. All depends on how these guy view what they have. Hardly an arsenal as that denotes a military connection and /or action. ... ;)

Be Safe !!!
 
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