OT- What do you do ?too little money too many guns

[foxtrapper]

I know it's a tough deal. You have come into some cash so it's time to tell the safe guns to move over My interests in guns gets larger and larger! I have it narrowed down to a Winchester 1886,Freedom Arms 1997 44 special, S&W 625 Performance Center [tired of chasing brass] Rohrbaugh 9mm , wait for the new Colt Frontier SA .......... you get my drift. Get one now with the cash available or wait and save for the big money ones. How about you

[Mike D.]

I don't know how many levers I have, mostly 1886s, but it's on the high side of 2 dozen. No "BIG MONEY" guns, just decent condition used ones. That's the way I prefer them, so to me a high condition gun serves no purpose. You'd be riddled with guilt packin' a $20K gun around the rocks and brush. Nope, such would be ridin' the safe and only out for fondling once in a while.

[horsesoldier03]

All my guns are a working mans gun and are basic off the shelf guns. All under $500. My most expensive gun is probably a commemorative edition that my wife purchased for me, I have no clue what she paid. I would have never spent the money on myself however that gun will always be a prized possession just as much as the lady that bought it for me.

[jdad]

I enjoy them, for a while, then pass them on when they just start collecting dust. I always like to use "old" money, to buy something "new". I get bored easy, but still have about 6 that I kind of have an attachment to.

[rjohns94]

I know you don't want my answer. lol good luck in your choice.

[Streetstar]

Get them all -- you know you want to anyway

but if thats not in the cards --- look at your collection and fill in the holes (if any) before adding any "duplicates" ---

I would likely spend some cash on a Winchester or Single Action Colt or FA over a Smith or Rohrbaugh ---- but if i already had a nice Guide Gun or something, i might let the 1886 desire simmer a bit while i filled my quiver with single actions, or vice versa.

The Rohrbaugh? I've read the reports , but i went with a Sig 238 instead --- not a cheap firearm by any stretch -- but half what a Rohrbaugh goes for

Nobody on this board will try to talk you out of a Freedom Arms

[olyinaz]

Get something useable now. It doesn't appear as though you have a hole in your heart that needs plugging with something you're pining away for so what the heck!

Oly

[86er]

If you find the right gun, buy it. If it means saving up for it, sacrificing something else or even parting with less desirable guns you own find a way to make it happen. I hunt hard with my 1886 and it is a high grade. I like the way it looks and handles and enjoy using it. Several of my shotguns cost more than a brand new full sized pickup - even two of them. I still use them but care for them the best I can in the field and take care of them afterwards. I'd rather shoot one bird with one of those guns than bust a limit with a gun I have less interest in. You can never go wrong with quality and purpose. It makes you feel whole, where quantity(s) of lesser guns still may leave you wanting. There's nothing wrong with a $100 gun - it's not the price tag per se, it is the best gun that you are attracted to within it's type. The Heritage Arms .22 SA shoots pretty good for under $200. The Ruger Single Six shoots pretty good for under $500. The Colt .22 SA shoots pretty good for under $1000. The Turnbull enhanced new Colt does nothing more performance wise at $2000+. However, I can notice the finely timed action, everything is smooth and crisp where it needs to be and I enjoy pride of ownership. There is no other similar .22 that draws my attention. So - do it right once and get what you want in spite of the price tag. You'll enjoy the overall experience owning, caring for and using those guns more than you would with a "it'll do for now" gun.

[rjohns94]

well said Joe.

[wavetrain75]

The Rohrbaugh? I've read the reports , but i went with a Sig 238 instead --- not a cheap firearm by any stretch -- but half what a Rohrbaugh goes for

The all steel Kahrs are still well thought of and cheap by Rohrbaugh standards.

[Hobie]

I tried answering this any number of ways but it comes down to this. If you are REALLY interested, you have to buy and trade to experience/use all that interests you before your health/age makes it impossible to do so. IOW, time's a'wastin', git er done! Remember your wife and kids LOVE ramen or spaghetti for their one meal every day.

[jnyork]

! Remember your wife and kids LOVE ramen or spaghetti for their one meal every day.

You're my kind of guy, Hobie.

[adirondakjack]

Around here it's called the "hotdog test". If, after buying said gun, ya got enough left over to buy a pound of hotdogs to feed the kids, yer good to go

Now for a rare bit of honesty. I've been there and back on the addiction to buying guns. There was a time when Id rationalize, buy on credit, whatever it took to feed the addiction. Then I stopped. Not cold turkey, mind you, but got back to a more realistic view. Three years ago I bought zero guns. Two years ago I bought one. Last year I bought one and sold one (net zero gain). This year I actually plan on thinning the herd. I'll sit down with my kid and see what he'd REALLY like to have stay in the safe, figure out what I really wanna keep, and the rest are going. Why? Because I have guns I haven't seen, let alone shot in years. The proceeds of the sales will go into a "hidey hole" invisible to the world, that can help subsidize my son's education without showing up on financial aid forms....... At the end of the day, my TOYS are far less important than anything I can do to help him......

[rodeo kid]

I would go for the Freedom Arms 1997. I have never seen or held a finer revolver and the .44 special is a fine choice. It will make you happy. God Bless.

[foxtrapper]

Lots of good advice About filling holes in my collection. I don't have a plan per say. All my gun buying to date were hunting related. Bolt gun with a flat shooting cartridge for out west, levergun in 45/70 for bear hunting shotgun for grouse and so on. Now it's more range and admiring then hunting. So I'm starting to appreciate the finer makers, customs and such. So I decided ....... Freedom Arms Model 97 4 1/4 barrel, adjustable sight 3lb trigger and round butt gripframe. So I'm off to collect empty cans and search under the cushions for change wish me luck!!

[marlinman93]

Guess many of us have similar situations where money is a limiting factor to collecting, so decisions need to be made.
I think it depends on your interests and what you consider a "high end" gun.ome people think a couple thousand is a high end gun, while others feel $20k is high end, and still others think $100k is high end.
As long as it makes you happy, I think that's all that really matters.

[Sixgun]

You want your cake and eat it too??

In order to reach your goal, (first, you need an organized goal ) you need to have all of the knowledge that is there for the type of guns you want.

Anybody with 2 mil to spend can go out and do this unorganized. The rest of us must be educated and methodical in our quest.

If you get excited or buy on impulse, well, your gonna lose. Its OK to get excited but you better have the knowledge to back it up.

I buy every gun with the reasoning, "What can I sell this gun for "any day of the week--easily". This way if you don't like it, you can sell it and get your money back---easily Its called business at the "below wholesale level" so in reality, your a business man at a peon level who operates a few times a year--this way you don't break any laws on dealing in firearms. The ATF told me they don't have a problem with citizens selling a half dozen guns a year. Its a different story if you are retiring and liquidate your guns all at once.

The more knowledgable you are, the less likely you will buy junk or a "problem gun".

Parlay, parlay, parlay. You can't do it in a short period of time. Simplicity at it's finest. Study the hot items, buy low--shoot it--have fun--sell high. Always keep a reserve of cash to buy a gun when you least expect to find that particular gun. Remember, your educated now--so buy low--enjoy--keep it a few years or decades---then sell high and buy three with what you paid for one.

For most individuals, the above does not pertain to "utility guns" or guns you use as tools. Most hunters and shooters buy a few and that keeps 'em happy for the rest of their lives. Me? I won't hunt unless I have a hundred year old+ rifle with a tang sight that calibered in a dash numbered caliber.

The plan You gotta have one ------------Sixgun

[Pete44ru]

Jes' remember, while money DOES talk, the only thing it can say is "GOOD-BYE".

.

[SFRanger7GP]

86er and Hobie, I concur 100%. I have owned just about everything out there or one like it. I work hard for only one reason: to buy whatever my wife and I want. We keep ourselves in check as the only debt we have is our mortgage. We have been very blessed in our lives and it would be an insult to everything we have gone through, and the Good Lord for keeping me alive if we didn't enjoy living. It wasn't always that way. I remember riding my bike to the unit every day so I could buy some beer on the weekend with the gas money saved. I still have the old gun digest annuals (remember those?) with the catalogs in the back that I bought when I was a kid. No one gave me the money, I worked and "wasted" my money on "those old gun books". There are notes in all of them where I marked what I wanted and wrote "...some day".

My tastes have definitely changed over the years. The wife and I are going after red stags and boars next week here in Argentina with a pair of Merkel K3's. I sold a lot of common stuff to buy them and have no regrets on the upgrades. Trust me, these rifles shoot as good as they look.

I am not bragging. I went in the Army the day after I graduated high school because I wanted more out of life. The only thing better than a regular gun is a really beautiful, different gun that you have read and dreamed about and worked hard to get. So, set your goals and go for it. You deserve it!

[BAGTIC]

I can understand the 'Too little money' part but "Too many guns' is an oxymoron.

[El Chivo]

good luck choosing. I believe in thinning the herd, though I'm still experimenting so can't make such decisions yet. I have 7 rifles, 1 shotgun, and 2 airguns, and they all go bang so I would manage ok with 2 or 3. The question is, WHICH 2 or 3?

[El Chivo]

I can understand the 'Too little money' part but "Too many guns' is an oxymoron.

Except that getting good use out of each gun takes time and it can get taxing to figure them all out.

It's fine to collect them or to use them as an investment, but I bought mine to use, and the process of working up loads, setting up sights and scopes, solving little problems like trigger jobs and spare parts, slings, buttstock covers, can all drive you crazy if you overdo it.

I've been going through this the past few years and any more than 6 will just sit in the safe. Keeping up with the half dozen wears me out.

[6pt-sika]

Lets see , when I was in High School I collected about 20 of the old Ruger 77R tang safety rifles . When I married my first wife very shortly there after I wanted a 1914 Frick Steam Traction Engine (I was all of 20 years old) . So I sold all the Rugers and got a small loan for the steamer . Six years after that I was tired of working on the 3 steam engines I had by then and sold them off and bought the Krieghoff K-32 skeet and trap combo I used . When I got tired of shooting competitively I sold off the K-32 and got into Pre 64 Model 70's and Kimber 89BGR Super Grades . After awhile I got tired of carrying those rifles with tremendouse wood out to hunt and scratching them so I converted to 700's in stainless synthetic !

Then I started adding Marlin lever guns !

Got almost to 100 Marlin's before I decided it was time to let them start leaving !
Sold maybe 80 Marlin's and a few other guns that really had no meaning to me . Took the proceeds and bought a few other Marlin's several Contemporary Flintlocks and a few other guns . Then used the rest to fund a 2 month trip and two 3 week trips to the Philippines !

Stuff is great but there comes a time in ones life when ALOT of other things are more important then owning 200-300 guns !

So now my own personal accumulation is down to somewhere in the 50-75 range !

[mohavesam]

Too Little Money. Every working person has that issue.

Start with multi-caliber guns. You absolutely cannot be without a Decent Contender or Encore. A couple hundred bucks thereafter buys you a totally different caliber or shotgun barrel. I have aan Encore frame an barrels from 223 to 30-06 to 300 Win Mag to 480Ruger to 20 gauge rifled to 12 gauge smoothbore. Dozens more out there, and I'm not even mentioning custom chamberings. (and that is all with the same trigger job!)

Ruger's SA Convertible revolvers are great values, and will outlive you and maybe your next generation. 357M/38SPL/9mm. 45Colt/45ACP. 38-40/10mm. 32-20/32Mag. and of course the Single-Six 22LR/22WRFM.

A stout 357 DA revolver is a must to shoot 38 specials and full-power 357M loads.

Multi-caliber/convertible guns are a must. Then get a Collector's FFL and start on milsurps and "C&R" eligible guns...