Handgun accumulation profile / balance

S

spacecoast

New member
If you think this is too much analysis, you are probably right, but I'm a numbers/charts guy and I like doing this kind of stuff. I've been able to accumulate a fair assortment of handguns and decided to break them down in a number of dimensions to see what I might need to fill in any holes. The obvious ones that I see:

  • No single action or black powder revolvers. Working to address this.
  • Nothing made in the 30s, 40s or 50s. Also have a lead on plugging this gap.
  • Only one 9mm and one .357. Don't see this as an issue right now.
  • Only one nickeled gun. This one doesn't bother me too much, nice nickeled guns are a pain to keep clean. My car gun is nickeled, but it's a shooter, not a looker.

handgunanalysis_zpse550b2bb.jpg
 
Last edited:
Maybe you can separate the double action revolvers from the single action.
Click to expand...

There are no true "Single Action" revolvers in my accumulation, just those that are capable of either, hence Single/Double Action. Come to think of it, I do have a Model 60 with a bobbed hammer, so one of those should be a DAO revolver. Chart fixed. :)

What is your ultimate goal?
Click to expand...

To help answer the question... "Are you diversified?" (this will mean something if you've seen Jim Kramer on CNBC). It's along the lines of those threads that list the OP's holdings and ask "What do I need to get next?"
 
Last edited:
I kind of do stuff like that... but only in my head. :p

I wouldn't say that I use the results to help me decide what I might chase next, though. Much like your idea to list the "decade made" and perhaps address those holes, I suppose I did look at what "holes" I had and generated ideas of how to address them.

But I realized somewhere along the line that there's little reward for attempting to "complete" some kind of collection...especially when it led me to buying or chasing some guns that I simply did -NOT- have any desire to own.

So, are you simply showing off the neat pie charts & bar graphs? Or are you also soliciting opinions, ideas and suggestions?

It seems like the most obvious thing to me in the four visuals is that caliber seems to be a curiosity. If it's simply a report as to what's in the cache, it makes sense. But I can't help to see what is listed, and what is missing. Or to put the argument another way... I see that .25 Auto & .380 Auto are listed, and it makes me wonder how .32 Long, .40 S&W, .41 Magnum or .45 Colt don't make the cut. ;)
 
I only wish the time you spent charting I had so I could be re-loading
Click to expand...

Honestly, these charts are very easy using Microsoft Excel, very little time invested. With a modest accumulation like mine, getting the data together is also pretty quick as I already capture the date of manufacture when I put the gun into my asset register.

So, are you simply showing off the neat pie charts & bar graphs? Or are you also soliciting opinions, ideas and suggestions?
Click to expand...

Comments and suggestions are always welcome. The latest hole I have plugged is the 1911 hole (not captured well on these charts) with the Range Officer (my second 1911 after the GSG 1911-22).

it makes me wonder how .32 Long, .40 S&W, .41 Magnum or .45 Colt don't make the cut.
Click to expand...

The latter 3 are easy, the .44 Mag more than adequately covers the category of gun addressed by the .41 Mag and .45 Colt (in DA revolvers, anyway). Same for the .40 S&W, it fills a gap between 9mm and .45 ACP, but that gap is too small for me to make it a priority and I don't see much point to a 9mm on steroids when I already have the .45s.

The .32 Long is an interesting observation, a small caliber centerfire revolver would indeed be interesting, but I fairly recently divested myself of all my collected .32 S&W Long brass. :(
 
Last edited:
Honestly, these charts are very easy using Microsoft Excel, very little time invested. With a modest accumulation like mine, getting the data together is also pretty quick as I already capture the date of manufacture when I put the gun into my asset register.

kinda just funna ua here....if time meant that much than why here am I typing instead of at the bench?

as for ...modest accumulation, it bespeaks a mind set above " just a bunch" and on your way to a collection. good to keep track now as it may snowball later. (don't ask me)
i'm now thinking about relocating in a year or 2 and rather than looking at them hanging, or leaning & laying about, i am listing them for gifting to my daughter, selling and keeping. one may accumulate much over 5 score...

as an aside -- 32's have always been a favorite for me. fun to buy original 1880's items and be able to play with them.
anyone want a papered Colt 1917 32 Long Colt Target in NRA 98%?
 
Interesting way to look at a collection..../ but my suggestions:

1. within each caliber / I'd consider adding barrel length and frame size....
( K frame S&W mod 19 in a 4" / a N frame mod 27 in a 4" are both chambered in .357 Mag )....but there is a big difference in my mind between a K, L and N frame...even in the same caliber.../ what you prefer is up to you.../ same thing in .44 Mag ...S&W 629's and 29's are all N frames but what do you like in a 3", 4", 6", 8 3/8" barrel .....

2. finish is interesting.....Nickel, stainless, blued...might want to add that as a "category"...

3. 1911's .... different calibers ( at least a 9mm and a .45 acp )....but same issue on barrel length, 3", 4" or 5"....or steel or alloy frames....


So, in my revolvers....I'd want to view my K frames, L frames and N frames separately ...by caliber, by finish, by barrel length.../ so I tend to start with caliber, then Frame, then barrel length, then finish....in evaluating my DA - SA revolvers...( I would also keep the S&W's apart from Colt or whatever other mfg's I wanted to collect ) ...if I wanted more than one mfg.

something like this( using my own preferences on S&W revolvers):
.......Barrel Lengths.........
.357 Mag..... 2 1/2" 4" 6" 8 3/8"
----------------
K frame 1(in 2 1/2") 2( in 4") 1 (in 6" ) 0 (in 8 3/8")
model 66(2 1/2") 66(4") 66(6") --
model -- 19N(4") -- -- ( use N for Nickel / B for blued)

L Frame -- --- 1 ---
model -- --- 686 --

N Frame --- 1(4") 2(6") 0 (8 3/8")
model NA(2 1/2") 27 N(4") 27 N(6") ---
model NA -- 28 B(6") --

Totals 1(2 1/2") 3(4") 4(6") 0( 8 3/8")

then graph it / or whatever....see the holes you might want to fill .. ???
a. do you like a .357 mag S&W in 8 3/8" ...or is it a hole you don't care about ??
b. models starting with a 6 ( are all stainless ) ...in S&W.../so no extra notes on those models ( but you know that).
c. you could add year mfg'd...or engineering dash number...( like a 27-2 N) just by widening the column a little....or 27-2-N- 1962 ....
d. you could add every barrel length available...like model 27's ...were made in 3 1/2", 4", 5", 6", 6 1/2" and 8 3/8"

just depends on how much detail you want at a glance....

Note: when I edit ....columns are all lined up / when I close it ...they all run together....but you get my drift probably....add some other info, to catch your eye....give yourself something to think about....
 
Last edited:
next guns

guns/calibers that seem "missing"
45 Long Colt (e.g. Colt or Ruger single action army revolver)
40 SW (e.g. Sig, S&W SA/DA pistols)
Another category is "quality" brands and country of origin, e.g.
USA- Colt, Smith, Ruger, Kimber...
Europe - Beretta, Sig, HK...
 
Another category is "quality" brands and country of origin
Click to expand...

Great point. I like to buy American, but brand would certainly be another dimension to explore. I wouldn't add a new brand just to be buying it, if it duplicated another firearm's capability, but it's certainly chartable. :)
 
I've been guilty of just the same sort of looking back. Being of an older generation, pie charts and graphs are a little beyond my intelligence. But I have looked back on the number of guns I've owned over the years, and the number of rounds fired by caliber. This on a cold winter's night when the guns are cleaned and all the ammo is loaded and stored away, and its too dark to shoot.

But many of the guns I've been through were for some program of study at the time. For example, chronographing .44 Magnum loads from a 4" and a 6" barreled Smith & Sesson. Or comparing powders such as Winchester 296 vs. Alliant 2400. (It was Hercules 2400 when I was testing.) Or comparing heavy .45 Colt vs. .44 Magnum loads. And, how fast can I drive this bullet.

Also compared DA shooting Colt vs. Smith & Wesson, Python vs. Model 586. That sort of thing.

Bob Wright
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top