Reducing Calibers?

R

RatBikeRod

Inactive
I have a pretty decent mix of guns but as far as rounds go they tend to be either 9mm, Sig 357 or 45 ACP. I have a few others, but for the sake of this thread lets stick to these.

I typically carry 9mm, but will at times switch between the other calibers. However, I prefer 9mm for my carry due to capacity. I do, from time to time, like to carry a 1911.

As I get older I find that I don’t shoot my 45’s as well as I do the others. I can still get a good grouping at combat ranges with any of them.

Of late I have been thinking about reducing to just 9mm and Sig 357, and realistically shooting mostly 9mm. I like keeping a few guns in Sig 357 because, well, I just really like the round. My EDC (Sig P320) I can carry 9mm, Sig 357 or .40.

So I really dont have a lot of heartburn over getting rid of my 45’s, except when it comes to my 1911’s. Like I said, I still like the 1911 at both the range and to carry from time to time. I could, of course, just buy a 9mm 1911 as I already have a Sig Nightmare 1911 in 357.

So I wanted to get you guys input on this topic. If I went this route I could also maximize my ammo storage and purchases.

Is anyone else doing/done this and if so did you regret it?

Even if I do this, I will keep two 45 Long Colt/45 ACP wheel guns I have. So if I started feeling really 45’ish I could grab one of them and go to the range.

Would value your thoughts around the matter.
 
I have tried this before in the past and for me it never last long. I now look at it like this, they don't cost me any thing to let them sit in the safe and when I come back around to them I can just pull them out and shoot them. Unless you need the money or just don't like the guns I would not be in a hurry to get rid of them, I seem to go through phases where I really like my revolvers and this may go on for weeks or months and then one day I pull out a semi and carry it for a while. If your going to keep the ammo for the wheel guns in 45C/45acp why not keep a few guns for them? Good luck with your decision.
 
Yes, I have reduced my collection ...and given a number of guns away to my adult sons to start their collections / and cut down on some guns in some calibers -- and no I don't regret it. ( I still shoot 8 - 10 boxes of handgun ammo a week / 90% of it in 9mm and some in .357 Mag ). I shoot very little in .45 acp, .40 S&W, .44 Mag...
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I've trimmed most of my guns in .40 S&W -- Sig 226's, etc...

As more arthritis has developed in my hands, etc. -- my every day carry went from a full sized 5" 1911 in .45 acp / to a full sized Wilson Combat 5" 1911 in 9mm. I'm keeping the .45 acp because its a Wilson Combat ( but I have given my other 1911's in .45 acp away Kimber, Springfield, Ed Brown / and a couple in 9mm a Les Baer and a Kimber to the kids). It leaves the pair of Wilsons in .45 acp and 9mm as my primary semi-autos.

I have kept a few other semi's ...Sig 239's and one Sig 226 and a Sig X-Five L1 model some in .40 and some in 9mm. ( Not sure why, just didn't want to let them go yet ).

I am preparing to get rid of 7 S&W revolvers in .44 Mag...because a friend has made me a generous offer on them. I have not shot them in 2 or 3 yrs.

I'm keeping a dozen or so revolvers in .357 Mag...in S&W because they are guns I love ( K, L and N frames )...but I may give up or sell one here and there.
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What I have realized is 90% of the time, I shoot the same guns :
a. Wilson 5" 1911 in 9mm
b. S&W model 27-2 4" Nickel in .357 mag
c. Freedom Arms, 4 3/4" octagonal barrel, single action, large frame in .357 Mag.

and I don't miss not shooting the rest...just hanging onto them for awhile ( but I'm only in my late 60's ) so not in a hurry yet to completely get rid of them .
 
I've never had the budget to go buying something in a new caliber, just to get it in a new caliber. As a result, I've just never had pistols in a wide variety of calibers. I don't see a problem with having a limited number of calibers. I've only ever had pistols in .22LR, .357/.38, 9mm and .45. There are many fine calibers, but I don't need to complicate my ammo purchases and storage with more calibers. The ones I have will do anything I need for them to do.
 
I am not sure I could ever get down to a singular caliber, nor would I necessarily want to. However, to Spats point, there is an economy in limiting calibers to be sure.

As it is today, I tend to buy 9mm and build pretty much everything else. I don’t shoot as much of the others and, aside from the Sig 357, they are typically easy to reload.

That is the other side of this process; reloading. I have a host of reloading gear in every imaginable caliber I have owned over the years. Components abound and now much of it sits and just collects dust. I want to reload, but I rarely find time to do so. So I tend to shoot 9mm most because I can get it cheap and I don’t feel guilty about not reloading that caliber. I could, I have the components. I just dont.

I am not sure I will really every step totally away from 45’s. I still like them, and I find that I continue to go back to them on a pretty regular basis. Maybe when I get a bit older (55 now) I will not want to deal with them as much.
 
I would not and I am 67 I prefer the .45 acp myself and still carry a full size 1911a1 daily. That said the 9mm, and the 45 acp are very common where the sig 357 is not.
 
Granted, the Sig 357 is not nearly as common and never really caught on. I do enjoy shooting it. The fact that it packs such a punch in a size that hits between the 9mm and 45 you would think it would have been more popular. I sure never feel under-gunned when I am carrying it and it is a very flat shooting round.
 
I have handguns chambered in 22lr, 38 Special, 9x19mm, 357 SIG, 357 Magnum, 40 S&W, and 45 ACP and enjoy shooting them all.

The only real advantage I can see to paring down to one or two calibers is the economy of buying case lots of ammunition on-line. But mostly I shoot 9 mm Para, 40 S&W, and 45 ACP and the other calibers only on occasion. So buying a limited quantity of ammo for those other calibers is really not that much of a burden.

If forced to I would give up 357 SIG before 45 ACP.
 
I have learned the hard way to never get rid of a gun that I like.

I have handguns in a dozen or more calibers and enjoy all of them.

Variety is the spice of life.
 
My BIL did just what the OP was intending to do.

The only thing he kept was a Colt SAA in 45 Colt. The only reason he kept that was because my sister wouldn't let him sell it. She can shoot a gnat's ass at 25 yds with that gun.

I looked at him like he was stoopid when he would tell me about getting rid of another one.

Yeah, he wishes he had some back and says "I shouldn't have gotten rid of that one." He also sold all of his reloading stuff....all of it. He has a son that could have used it, but the BIL ain't that way.

Me, I have only sold one gun since 1962. I have given some away.

All my 45 ACPs are some form of Colt 1911s and I will not do anything other than keep them. They are in my will as to who gets what. If they want to sell them, I will never know about it and that's ok for now.
 
I never expanded mine. No .357 SIG, 40 S&W, 10MM Auto, 9x23, 38 Super in my semiauto armory. I like variety, but investing in a new handgun and caliber is not like trying a new flavor of soda.
 
Too many interesting calibers to load for, work up loads for, and to become proficient with...from a lifetime of shooting, I'd have become bored long ago it I was limited to one or two calibers, or operating types. YMMV, Rod
 
I was at the range today exercising a few of the guns I was considering getting rid of.

Note to self; Never go shoot a gun you forgot if you liked or disliked...I like them all!

Guess I will be sticking with what I have...oh, and I bought another 1911.

I have a sickness. At lest it was a 9mm 1911 for a change...
 
I don’t need more than .380 and .40 for CC, .45acp and .45C for hunting and woods carry. No need to complicate my life further.


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I thinned my heard by 2. I had a .32 ACP Bernadelli model 60, and a Charter Arms Bulldog in .44 Spcl. They are no longer mine. The wife took them as her own. I get to see them daily, and clean them weekly. I even feed them still. Though they are not mine. They are her's.:p
 
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