I'm gonna shoot a gun I bought for collecting?

C

Country Boy

New member
(Take a trip in the "Way-Back Machine" about 2 years.)
I heard Colt was no longer going to be making handguns, so I decided to rush out an buy one before they were all snatched up by other like-minded people. There weren't any full-sized Colt 1911's, but they did have some Compact models (Officer's size). So I shelled out my hard earned cash for a stainless Colt 1991-A1 Compact handgun. This, I believed, was to be a non-shooter, and a grand investment for the future.

(Back to the present.)

I WANT TO SHOOT THIS GUN! I realize that the value will not skyrocket, so I may as well get my money's worth out of it. It would be a dandy gun for when I can't carry my Government size.

So...
Has anybody else ever felt like shooting a gun that they originally bought as a collector? And then have you actually shot it? Or is this just a disease native to young whippersnappes?
 
RIGHT NOW! Shut of your computer...grab your gun...get in the car...go to you're favorite range or shotin' spot...burn through a couple boxes of ammo...come back home...clean gun...wipe stupid grin off your face :)
 
Yes, I currently have a Colt 1991A1. Just a basic black government model which was made in the mid 90s. Anyways, I haven't shot it yet, and am kind of hesitant to do so. I also have a Cobray PreBan M-12 380 which is in the same boat as my Colt 1991A1. I know both the 1991A1 and M-12 are pretty plentiful now, but who knows what the future will bring.....

The way I see it, as I have plenty other guns to shoot so I will probally just keep these two NIB. If I only had one gun that would be different, but I got plenty others.....
 
Guns are made for shooting, and that's what I do with them, even the NIB *&* PC-13 I bought at a gun show a few weeks back. It's one of 300, and it was unfired, but it's a bad-ass combat wheelgun, and I could not own a gun like that without using it for its intended purpose.
 
I've seen a few guns that would decline in value SIGNIFICANTLY if shot. But there are rare collector pieces, or guns that are so fantastically engraved they're really pieces art, not guns...

Your Colt's value isn't likely to be affected much. (The general decline in Colt quality over the past couple of decades have done more to harm their long-term value than any shooting you might do...)

Shoot it. Enjoy it.
 
I was like you once. To go further, for the guns I really liked but wanted to keep in NIB condition, I tried to buy another to shoot with while the other sat in a box or case unfired.

As I grow older, however, I've come to realize that since I would probably never sell those guns, what use are they just sitting collecting dust? I could sell then off and maybe make a profit out of the sales but I like them too much.

In short, you won't be here forever and you can't take your guns with you in the end. Enjoy them while your here.
 
I'm in an opposite position. Last January I bought a 70's vintage nickel Python. It had been fired, but I have yet to fire it. It's not the idea of ruining it's value that keeps me from shooting it (it's fired, so the value's already affected). It's the idea of cleaning it that deters me. With my blued 586 I just soak the whole thing in Hoppes overnight and everything comes out easy. Can't do that with a nickel gun. And I really hate scrubbing cylinders and bores on revolvers.

So, I either take the 586 or a 1911 to the range, and just look at the Python. And that can be fun, too.
 
If you don't want to shoot it, send it to me and I'll shoot it for you. I'll even send it back to you dirty so that you know it was fired and you can enjoy cleaning your new used gun. ;) :D
 
Monkeyleg:

Shoot that Python!

I had one just like it, and found that the small treated cloths used to remove lead do a great job of getting the mess off the front of the cylinders, etc. (Lead Away, etc.) Just get a larger sheet and cut off little pieces as you need it. Keep it in the plastic bag in the meantime.

You'll find that clean up is much, much quicker.
 
Monkeyleg
Ballistol Cleaner/Lube. Works great on all 5 of the Nickel guns I shoot. I swab it our real good and let em sit fairly wet for a while, then clean as normal. For the faces of the cylinder and really stubborn spots, I do like Walt and use a Lead Away. After I'm done with that, I use wax for a final coating for storage. (I'm too lazy to look up which one I use since it's stored in the cleaning can, but it was one I bought at the gunstore)
 
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