Ever feel like the inventory is getting too much?

B

Backwood

Inactive
I'm at that stage where I feel like I am gathering too many guns again....

Seems when I get around the 30 mark I start to think I need to reduce the collection a bit to keep things sensible. I did a count the other night and realized I had gotten up to 38 & ended up selling two recently. I tend to keep the older & limited firearms & sell the ones that are easy to find so I don't have any regrets later on.

Anyone else here have this problem or should I just convert the gun room wall into rack space & see how far I can go with it?
 
I don't feel like my inventory is too much and I don't intend to part with what I have. I would say if you like them keep them if not sell them. Nothing wrong with having a few too many firearms.
 
Buy a new house or convert your bedroom into a gun vault and move your bed to the garage. :)
 
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I no longer have the time available that I once did.
I have a very hard time keeping up with maintenance, cleaning, repairs, and reloading for everything. It doesn't help that, at any given time, I have a dozen or more projects in work, as well.

To make matters worse, I started a new project just last week and bought the parts for upgrades to three other rifles (nothing major, but time consuming work).

Some people never learn.

But...
Look at it like self-flagellation.
Be happy that you're "drowning" in what you have now, as you look back at the days when you had next to nothing and were collecting change from the couch cushions to try to come up with the funds for the next purchase.
 
I've lost count how many guns I have, I think it's nearing 30, but the crux of that is I have 12 chamberings, so almost all my guns have a backup.

Those that don't, .25, .380, don't need one.

Having lots of different calibers is cool and all, but the common calibers will get you far enough.
 
Yeah, I felt that way around 30......then 60......and I'm sure it will hit again at 90......nope, didn't even notice this time!
 
I am not a collector of any type and am fairly new 'returneee' to gun ownership but I keep what I shoot, and shoot often(about 2-3 times per month, about 300 rounds per outting). If I get a gun that doesn't fill a need or is not fun to shoot..I sell it or trade for one that is FunToShoot and fulfills a 'need', like CCW or going to the range or both.Just sold and old shotgun and LCP..neither were much fun...
 
Accounting for and maintaining a large gun collection can be a pain. Something older collectors need to think about: What happens to your large gun collection when you're gone?

Last year at age 79 i tired of maintaining 200 guns, many unfired for decades. The spectre of gun sharks swarming my widow with low ball offers also haunted me. Decided to reduce the collection to 20-40.

The inventory is quickly diminishing. Last week the 11 Japanese milsurp rifles went to one buyer.
 
The OP explained it in the tread starter. It is the way he feels, and I respect his emotions. Do what is right by you. I will not judge another person's feeling or emotions. Now if he said the way the thinks, I might discuss his rationale. Many people buy and sell to upgrade their collection.

Then there are those of us who just accumulate and continue to buy and buy, We hardly ever part with anything.
 
lamarw said:
Then there are those of us who just accumulate and continue to buy and buy, We hardly ever part with anything.
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At only 65, that about sums up my mindset with my gun collection right now. I exceeded 80 guns with my last purchase, 37 different calibers, but with absolutely zero regret for having to many. I've never sold a gun, and at least for the next 20 or so years IF I make it there, probably won't. This is obviously all very relative to your stage in life, your pocketbook and in many cases the room to safely house and maintain so many weapons. One can put a lot of handguns in even a small safe, but having enough safes for 42 rifles is another story. There is a point, and I'm reaching it, where you're duplicating multiple times (there was a thread about that recently). Except for my Garand's and WW1 and 2 milsurps, of which one can never have enough of as their supply continues to dwindle, that's where I say to myself ENOUGH! Not sure what age the OP is, he just said he is at that "stage where he is accumulating to many guns again". The "again" in his post begs other questions, but I'm not one to pry!
 
I know I have too many guns,,,

I know I have too many guns,,,
Because I must make a special effort to shoot them all at least once a year.

As an exercise prompted by a similar thread,,,
I made a short list of what I felt I absolutely needed to own.

I knocked 65 guns down to 13 guns,,,
That was four or five years ago,,,
I still have 65 guns. :p

The way I look at it though,,,
They don't cost me a penny to keep.

Perhaps we should all watch Marie Kondo's TV show about Tidying Up,,,
Here's what she says is her basic tenet:

It all comes down to one over-arching question: Does your stuff make you happy — or in Kondo's words, spark joy? “If it does, keep it,” she writes. “If not, dispose of it.”

I find that even though I may not have fired the rifle in 3-4 years,,,
Just owning that K98 Mauser and doing it's yearly cleaning/oiling "sparks joy".

I think I'll just keep them all. :D

Aarond

.
 
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I don’t seek pleasure in stuff and it doesn’t really matter how many I own, my pleasure comes from shooting and hunting with firearms not in the possession.

It doesn’t need to be anymore complicated than that.


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I had a solid feeling I wasn't alone, lol.

In regards to my age, I'm 36 & have had sold guns off 3 or 4 times before to bring me down in the low 20's. I've always admired the thing about the guy that can get buy with just 1-5 firearms & have thought long and hard at which ones I could live with if limited to that amount. I just can't narrow the list down to that size. I guess it has to do with me being a admirer to the firearms industry & it's history.

I have two sons, one is 3 & the other being born this March so I'm fairly sure that even if I keel over one day they will be happy to take them over. Even now I wonder what guns I should get for them.

I know when I move out West I'll be sure to have a complete room dedicated to firearms. The current gun room situation is loaded with all sorts of things which I think is partly why I tend to think I should start selling.
 
6 years ago I bought a Liberty safe with the assumption it would hold my collection, plus my Dads when he passed his collection on to me. Plenty of room right? In those 6 years I've outgrown my safe to the point I have long guns sitting in sleeves off to the side. I could still find room for pistols, but long guns are past maximum.

Now, the dilema is when I try to discipline myself to save for a nice 64 long gun safe, whenever I get close I see another I can't live without.

I've sold 2 guns in my life. A Smith 686 years ago for $300, and a Near mint Colt HBAR with box for $900. Obviously, I regret them both. Dad told me a long time ago, never sell a good dog or a gun. I shouldn't listened.
 
We are a minority.

There are only about 3% of gun owners who have more that half a dozen guns. I never thought of myself as a "gun nut" until I read that stat. With about two dozen in hand I guess I qualify. If I had kept all the guns I've ever owned I'd have about four dozen. It's like any other hobby. Some of us are in deep.

Life is good.
Prof Young
 
There are only about 3% of gun owners who have more that half a dozen guns.
Click to expand...

I'd be cautious about using that statistic, or accepting it as a real and valid number.

First, because of the error potential built in to all "studies" and "surveys". First, they all rely on voluntary answers for their data, and they assume those answers ARE reality. (this is one of the biggest error factors and nearly always "overlooked" or not mentioned, the simple fact that no matter what the subject, a percentage of the people are going to lie when answering. And, when it comes to people telling complete strangers about their guns, most of the folks I know aren't going to tell these anonymous poll takers the truth. Just say'n..:D)

Second, there is always the issue of what size sample and how representative of the whole it is.

Survey people in NYC or Chicago, and you'll very likely get much different results than surveying the same number of people in rural America.

And, third, while I don't know exactly how it was developed, the "data" about only a small percentage of gun owners owning the majority of guns was USED by anti-gunners to "legitimize" their claims that gun control only affects a tiny percentage of the US population, and therefore they need not pay attention to such a small number of people.

And, lastly, why does it even matter? The "fact" being claimed is irrelevant, as far as I can see.
 
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