Guns in one's collection that have yet to be tested/fired...

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YankeeIronSights

New member
Scenario:

You visit your LGS and find a used firearm that you have been considering / reading about for a long time. The price is excellent and the gun looks like new. You buy it and store it in the safe. The following week, you find another great deal and decide to make the additional investment. You establish that the bargain price could not be ignored. With this philosophy, your collection grows and you realize that you have guns you have never tested because ammo and range money is being used to take advantage of the great gun bargains... Furthermore, your schedule gets complicated and you find little time to spare at the range...

How many of you have experienced this situation? How many guns have you failed to test and are still stored in your safe? How about guns you bought and later traded without even testing them?

I am curious to know if this is a common practice among gun collectors.
 
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Yes

Not by intention but for lack of time or access to a place to shoot.
Here's one I've had for a month but have yet to fire:
Late 90's Smith and Wesson 6906 9mm New Old Stock - never fired.
 

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Went to a gun shop about four years ago with a buddy who was picking up some ammo he ordered, and I bought a Wasr 10 AK-47. for five hundred bucks.
It's still leaning againt the wall waiting to be shot.

I go to a indoor range with my handguns, and just have'nt had the time to go to a rifle range to shoot it.

My bad, I know.
 
I've been very lucky....and I'm at the point in my life where I'm semi-retired/still work 3 1/2 days a week..more or less....kids are raised, house is paid for...bills are paid....so time, money, etc are not a problem...

so no, there is nothing in my safe, I have not fired ....and continue to fire once in a while ....even on guns that were made in the 60's or 70's that were new and unfired in a box when I bought them - they've all been fired.

But I'm more of a shooter / collector ...than a pure collector ( with about 50 handguns, about 25 shotguns, and a few rifles )...
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Last gun I bought new was about 18 months ago....

http://thefiringline.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=82010&d=1339790943

single action, Freedom Arms, 4 3/4", full action job with trigger set at about 3.5 lbs, in .357 Mag....it was a special order gun, I had it made for my 62nd birthday...../ and I shoot it a lot. It'll shoot a 1" group at 25 yds...its a solid piece of craftsmanship...very nice gun / I love it....
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I have buddies that do as you describe ...buy guns, put them away, don't fire them at all ....may not ever intend to fire them...

different strokes for different folks.....shooting them, is what is fun for me.
 
Get a C&R and this is a common problem.

I just picked up a nice Brit 303 and have not even cleaned it or looked at it since I brought it home.
To many other projects in the que ahead of it.
 
I have been thinking of buying an Enfield in 303 for some time. Perhaps I should follow your steps and apply for a c&r license... Finding time and money to test all the future firearms would then become a big problem... Sounds like a fun problem. Hahaha
 
Guns in ones collection

There is a very short list of things, I have no use for. I guess I am getting more like my father as time passes. He would laugh at me or give me a hard time, were he to know I've said it. Firearms: There are zero virgin weapons in my home. If the weapon was so rare, fragile, or valuable, that it could not be fired, I would not have it! Dad said use them for what they were designed for..Waste: When I go to the range, it takes quite some time to load the equipment, all the equipment/ammo, we deem necessary to shoot. I often have several hundred rounds for each weapon I want to fire..After setting up, and shooting for effect, I will shoot a three, five, or even ten shot group. If the group is touching, tight and where I want it, I'm through...No sense in wasting ammo...Antlers: My son has a really nice deer lease in West Texas, with a three bedroom house on it. He and the family go up, the year round, to shoot, fish, ride ATV's, cook, or just hang out. Son has not shot a deer in three years..Oh, he shows me all the photos from the many digital stealth cams, he has at the place, but each deer he shoots must be larger, more magnificent than the last..Son is looking at the "horns", but when I look through the scope I can only see backstrap, and smoked sausage. Where did I go wrong with that boy? Never had a chicken fried horn sandwich, but it doesn't sound too appetizing! Guess there is no hope for Old School folks, like me! Unfired weapons, Waste, and Antlers, a pretty short list, al in all!
 
I have two, but both were purchased new.
This one:
image_zps5e5d75b9.jpg

Bought from a dealer at a gun show. Got it home, cut the zip tie, and there was something very wrong with the action. Back to Fredericksburg. When I got it back, I was in the middle of buying a house and prepping to move to a new town. Been too busy to take it out.:(

Then there is this one:
7C69F3E9-A130-49C3-BB64-396140938D37-6548-0000045B6F1E58AE_zps296f63f5.jpg

Ordered from Midway right before the move. Slowly picking up supplies for it piecemeal. Have wads, Goex, caps and a mold. Don't have lead, balls, measure, flask/spout for powder can or nipple wrench. One of these days...
 
I have many that I haven't gotten around to yet myself. I mean the ones that I intend to fire, because I do buy some that I don't intend to fire for various reasons.

The two at the top of my list now are a Colt Anaconda that I got in Feb IIRC and a S&W pre 27 from about 1955 that I got a few weeks ago. I just got around to shooting my Xmas present from my wife, a pre 27 from 1951.

My dad takes the cake on this topic, IMO. He bought a repro Winchester made 52 sporter around 1990, and never took it out to shoot. Never put a scope on it or anything. He is not a collector either, and doesn't follow what guns bring, and has little idea of its value today. He has the original box and papers as well. I beg him to sell it to me, he won't. I ask him to go shoot it with me (I have a pre A 52 myself, one of my favorites), he won't because he says he lost interest in the sport. Some guy he is :rolleyes:
 
With us, they typically get shot within a few days of purchase. Whether it be handgun or rifle. It just goes against our "religion" not too..
 
I have 2 Steyr Maadis and a CZ Pro Tek that haven't been shot. Not sure if the AKs will be shot, but who knows. Just haven't had time to take the Pro Tek out. Been shooting a ton of IDPA with an M&P9.
 
Dirty Dan said:
There is a very short list of things, I have no use for. I guess I am getting more like my father as time passes. He would laugh at me or give me a hard time, were he to know I've said it. Firearms: There are zero virgin weapons in my home. If the weapon was so rare, fragile, or valuable, that it could not be fired, I would not have it! Dad said use them for what they were designed for..Waste: When I go to the range, it takes quite some time to load the equipment, all the equipment/ammo, we deem necessary to shoot. I often have several hundred rounds for each weapon I want to fire..After setting up, and shooting for effect, I will shoot a three, five, or even ten shot group. If the group is touching, tight and where I want it, I'm through...No sense in wasting ammo...Antlers: My son has a really nice deer lease in West Texas, with a three bedroom house on it. He and the family go up, the year round, to shoot, fish, ride ATV's, cook, or just hang out. Son has not shot a deer in three years..Oh, he shows me all the photos from the many digital stealth cams, he has at the place, but each deer he shoots must be larger, more magnificent than the last..Son is looking at the "horns", but when I look through the scope I can only see backstrap, and smoked sausage. Where did I go wrong with that boy? Never had a chicken fried horn sandwich, but it doesn't sound too appetizing! Guess there is no hope for Old School folks, like me! Unfired weapons, Waste, and Antlers, a pretty short list, al in all!
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I think you may have misunderstood his question. He is not asking about safe queens that will never get shot. He is talking about not having a chance to shoot what you got.

Most of the guns I get are shot within a week or 2, but occasionally things come up. I got a sks over two months ago. I haven't gotten out to shoot it yet. It is pretty hot this time of year so I go to the indoor pistol range most of the time
 
About a year ago, I picked up a Henry lever action .22 that I'm keeping for my grandson when he gets a little older. Cleaned it but haven't shot it.
 
If you're too busy to shoot a new gun, you're too busy!

If I buy a new gun, it gets shot that day, or within a day or so.

Bob Wright
 
When I go to the range, it takes quite some time to load the equipment, all the equipment/ammo, we deem necessary to shoot. I often have several hundred rounds for each weapon I want to fire..After setting up, and shooting for effect, I will shoot a three, five, or even ten shot group. If the group is touching, tight and where I want it, I'm through...No sense in wasting ammo...
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I would hate to have that outlook on shooting. When I shoot I do practice fundamentals, but 90% of me shooting is for the enjoyment of it.
 
If you're too busy to shoot a new gun, you're too busy!
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+1

I don't think I've ever bought a gun that made it inside the house without being shot.

I have to save money, think and dream a long time between guns so firing a new, or "new to me", gun is a long awaited and much anticipated event.
 
i would go absolutely bat poo crazy if i bought a gun and didnt shoot it withing a few days. i had to wait 2.5 weeks for ammo for my 5.45 AK i bought a few years ago...i would sit on my deck and just rub an oily rag on the action and whisper sweet nothings to her. the girlfriend got very jealous :D
 
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