How many firearms do you own?

How many guns do you own right now?

  • 0-4

    Votes: 23 10.9%

  • 5-9

    Votes: 29 13.7%

  • 10-14

    Votes: 39 18.5%

  • 15-19

    Votes: 31 14.7%

  • 20-24

    Votes: 20 9.5%

  • 25-29

    Votes: 8 3.8%

  • 30-39

    Votes: 14 6.6%

  • 40-49

    Votes: 8 3.8%

  • 50 +

    Votes: 39 18.5%
  • Total voters
    211
  • Poll closed .
Guns are like golf clubs. you need a different one for every situation. You must allways search for the perfect one after the one your current one has screwed up and caused you to miss "Hartford" or what ever the local monster buck is named.
 
One more.

A guy walked up to the counter yesterday and asked if we took trades. I told him we dealt in new guns only, but "whaddy got?"
Turns out it was a Marlin 1895 Cowboy, slightly used, JM marked, with a crappy old scope on top.
"Whaddy looking to get out of it?"
"Oh... $500?"
"How about you keep your scope, base, & rings, and I give you $450 cash?"
"OK"
:)
 
I gotta disagree with that comment. My parents bought me a Remington 1100 back when I turned 16. I bought my first handgun for myself on my 21st birthday back in 1982. Been buying guns ever since. I don't think I own a single gun that I couldn't sell for more money than I paid for it. I shoot my guns but I keep them in perfect condition. I would say most of them appreciate steadily at around 5% a year. More for some models or during an election year when everybody panics. Compare that to stocks for the last 12 years. If I had put $100,000 into an index fund 12 years ago, today it would be worth $100,000. Zero growth for over twelve years. And it wasn't even fun to own during that time!

If you had purchased $100,000 worth of just generally high quality S&W's and Colts and HK's twelve years ago, they would be worth.... more.... depends on what models.... but they would sure as heck be worth more than 100k today! Just look at what has happened to S&W N and K frames in the last decade. I used to be able to buy S&W M28's every day for $250-$275. Now you are hard pressed to find any decent older N frame for less than $500. And something like my first year production M58? Oh my! Or my 1969 Colt Python? And, as I said, I really prefer an investment I can keep at my house and enjoy during my years of ownership. Much as I enjoy owning Apple stock, I don't get to take it out in my pasture and enjoy shooting it. Or use it to kill a deer, etc.
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Run your 5% number vs inflation and you will find that your "investment" did not really yield as much as you think it did. Yes prices go up but that does not tell the entire story.

There are some guns that will go uo in value but the vast majority of guns sold in this country are worth less now than they were when they were purchased. Look at what sells these days. Glocks and other forms of fantastic plastic are the majority of sales. I cannot see anyone paying more for a Gen 1 Glock than a NIB Gen 3 or even 4.
 
Run your 5% number vs inflation and you will find that your "investment" did not really yield as much as you think it did. Yes prices go up but that does not tell the entire story.
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Yes, but notice I compared it to the much vaunted stock market where we have our 401k's. You go back over 12 years now and the average comes out to 0%. 0% a year is a HECK of a lot less than 5% a year. And that's an average and for mostly middle of the road guns. If you have been involved in guns your whole life, you can make some pretty fair predictions on what will appreciate faster. Low production, high quality.

In my case, I was mainly thinking of guns as an investment versus gold or silver. And realize I do buy gold and silver. Especially silver. We've seen a big run-up in the last couple of years but it seems like a good idea to average it out over 15-20 years. IMO, buying gold as an investment is much the same as buying quality guns. You aren't buying it hoping it will "go up" like a stock. You are thinking it will instead hold its value. If you made an ounce of gold for a certain type of work in 1975, you will probably make about an ounce of gold for it today. The dollar amount has changed but that's just the fiat currency in action. It would take about the same amount of labor today to buy a Colt Python as back in the 60's. So I buy them in the expectation that they have "inherent value" which they will hold over time. Basically cancel out inflation.

And much as I enjoy buying silver, it is actually a lot more rewarding to buy a Python and own it for 20 years. Shooting it a couple times a year. Showing it to friends who visit. That's what I mean about an investment that you can actually enjoy owning. It's like you get to own quality guns for years and years _for free_. You just have to make the initial investment up front!

Hey, if you want to buy equities, don't let me stop you. But those scenes of massive riots in Greece don't give me the warm fuzzies on where this market is likely to end up!

Gregg
 
Yes, but notice I compared it to the much vaunted stock market where we have our 401k's. You go back over 12 years now and the average comes out to 0%. 0% a year is a HECK of a lot less than 5% a year. And that's an average and for mostly middle of the road guns. If you have been involved in guns your whole life, you can make some pretty fair predictions on what will appreciate faster. Low production, high quality.
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Sorry but you are skewing the facts. If you are buying stock via a 401K then you are dollar cost avg. If you have any brains your dividends are being reinvested. You are gaining via compounding interest. You can pick this point or that point to run your actualized rate of return to skew the numbers in your favor or against it.

Enjoy your guns but they are poor investments over the long haul.

Hey, if you want to buy equities, don't let me stop you. But those scenes of massive riots in Greece don't give me the warm fuzzies on where this market is likely to end up!
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And if it all goes that route what do you think your guns, your gold and your silver will be worth? You going to shave gold off a coin to pay for loaf of bread? Are you going to brake out the scales, barter and trade your guns for what? Seriously ..... ?
 
Sometimes I own too many, sometimes I don't own enough. One of my best friends owned a gunshop and I used to play employee and there would always be some gun hating yuppie whose dad would die and they hated guns but wanted to sell dads collection asap. Some of the guns should have been keepsakes. What will happen to your gun collection when you die? We all will die I guarantee it.
 
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I currently own 7, and find myself constantly looking at other ones I want to get but don't have money for.:)
 
I was going to count them, but put them all in the boat, along one side, it capsized in deep water.....just before the heavy surf pounded them against the rocks for a week. Anyone else have this happen?
 
Boating accident or whatever... kind of cute, but it's better not to post at all. But I have to admit that I have said essentially the same thing one time or another, but it adds nothing to the thread.

My firearm buying goes in spurts. One year I'll buy ten, and the next year zero. I think the most I have ever purchased in a calendar year was about 30. But those days are over. I wanted to play the gunshow game. Not worth the trouble for a person like me. Have sold quite a few after I finally settled into what really appeals to me. Never have gotten into the surplus stuff.

It is not a race. You buy what you can afford and what you like.

But yes, some people here will literally own hundreds of firearms. But that is certainly not close to the norm. The trick is to have a good job and buy steadily over the years and not sell to finance the next gun or pay the rent unless you simply don't like the gun.
 
Boating accident or whatever... kind of cute, but it's better not to post at all. But I have to admit that I have said essentially the same thing one time or another, but it adds nothing to the thread.
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Just trying to remind people that listing the number and types of guns you have on a open forum is akin to displaying them openly in your house to everybody that shows up at your front door. It isn't a real good idea.
 
:rolleyes:

It's no different than driving a nice car or wearing an expensive watch. So people know you have a few things. Big deal. Who's going to go to the effort of figuring out who you are, finding your house, traveling across state or country to find you and robbing you because you said on a public forum that you own a few guns?
The local thugs that see you with what you own are far more likely to be a threat, and that's minimal.

The governments going to come get all the guns you listed on TFL.
Someone's going to copy the visible serial number in your gun photos.
They're going to come rob you because you said you own some guns on a public forum.

Really people? Paranoid much?
 
No problem talking about a particular gun for a specific topic but there is just no way anybody needs to know how many or what kind. I have a few favorites I post about but what else is or isn't in my possession is none of anybody's business. I don't think it's paranoid to not flash a big wad of cash in a diner near Crime blvd and Drug Avenue and I don't think it's paranoid to not list your entire inventory every time somebody asks how many guns you have and what kind are they.
 
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