Define "Collecting."

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It is a simple question with entirely too many variables and word play semantics to ever get a real grasp on subject.

For me it's always been fascinating how logical conclusions about the amount of guns someone owns are often untrue. Having more guns than someone else doesn't make you more of gun enthusiast than someone with less. Having less guns than someone else doesn't make you less of a 2nd Amendment advocate. Hell, having a gun doesn't even make you pro 2A in of itself. Having 100 guns doesn't necessarily make you more "prepared" than someone with 5.

I've got friends with safes full of guns that constantly need help with the most basic gun related task. A friend who claims he's ready for anything with decent bit of guns but probably less than 100 rounds of ammo (not to mention a lack of holsters, slings, magazines etc). I've known people who are pretty anti 2a but had a gun or two for hunting, or home protection.

I guess I say, or ramble rather, all this to no real end. Each gun owner is a pretty unique case and it's interesting to me see what people buy, how they classify themselves, and realistically what level of advocate, collector, prepper, casual owner, accumulator they are comparative to others with the same motives.
 
If it’s your money and you can afford something, you don’t have to justify to me or anyone else what you buy

I tend to think of a collection as something with a definable theme, but you can call it whatever you want

If I own a piece of wet ground, it’s a marsh or wetlands wildlife preserve. If someone else owns it, it’s a swamp.

Perception
 
By my definition a collection has a well defined link between items, EVEN if only in the collectors mind...

An example, I collect cookie jars, MY Defining link is:

The neatest jar for the least about of money possible.

I also have acquired more than a few guns over the years.

I do NOT consider it a collection as the only real link is that most of the time they go bang when loaded, beyond that, its a mix.
 
Per Webster:
collection

noun
col·lec·tion | \ kə-ˈlek-shən \
Definition of collection


1: the act or process of collecting. the collection of data. the collection of taxes
2a: something collected, especially : an accumulation of objects gathered for study, comparison, or exhibition or as a hobby. a collection of poems. a collection of photographs. a baseball card collection
b: GROUP, AGGREGATEa collection of symptoms, such as fatigue, headaches, and joint pain
c: a set of apparel designed for sale usually in a particular season. the designer's spring collection of dresses

I personally do not care what anybody else thinks of my personal "collection" of firearms. All I need to appease is myself. It's my collection for my own wants and needs. Anybody else can just pound sand.
 
"Firearms Collecting - is a Mental Disorder."
- Garandimal -​

Collection - Trivial/Useless Things one collects - like the odd nuts/bolts/screws/washers in the bottom of a tool chest.
Accumulation - Trivial/Useless Things that collect themselves - like lint under a refrigerator.
Acquisition - Useful Things one acquires - like another M1 Garand.

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Think as if you were building a Harem.

:D




GR
 
My lack of focus when it comes to collecting guns has resulted in somewhere around 400 guns in my possession. I'm not a hoarder, I just like guns.
I know that some people believe that one should have a theme for their collection. After thinking about that I can come up with a few themes for my collection.
#1 WWI Collection
#2 WWII Collection
#4 Turkish rifle Collection
#5 Enfield Collection
#6 Mosin Collection
#7 Mauser Collection
#8 US Military Collection
#9 Service/Duty Sidearm Collection
#10 Military Trainer Collection
#11 South American Rifle Collection
#12 22lr Rifle Collection
#13 Single Action Revolver Collection
#14 Double Action Revolver Collection
#15 22lr Handgun Collection
#16 AR Rifle Collection
#17 Finn Rifle Collection
#18 Fun Gun Collection
#19 Project Gun Collection
#20 Italian Rifle Collection
And I could go on. But just remember that your collection is what you make of it
Now some of my guns would fall into a few of these collections, like this one.
It's a German K.K.W.
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I know I'm in the minority here but one of my joys of collecting is experiencing the options, finding my preferences, then narrowing my "collection" to a heavily curated small sample size. Whether it be knives or guns, I've had triple digits of both pass through my mitts to find what I really enjoy then trimmed my focus to examples that fit my picky personal preferences. If I had an unlimited budget, this might not be part of my process but as is it gives me the flexibility to try new things and find what really brings me joy.
 
I wonder if collecting requires some level of interest in preserving or caring for the items. I recently met a young man who fits the "buy to have it" mold. However I don't think he really cared that much about the specific guns since he showed up at the range with a large duffle bag with around 40 handguns thrown in together. No holsters, boxes, padding or anything. Purchased and put in the range bag. Most of them were unfired, none had been cleaned. None of them were cheap. Pull a couple out, load a magazine and shoot a few times, then literally dropped back them into the bag and fished around for another. I have no qualms with how people spend their time or money, just seemed odd. From what I know he doesn't sell any and keeps buying more. He has a bunch of rifles with suppressors and some very nice lever guns I had an opportunity to shoot with him, too. Definitely no theme to any of it other than he saw something that looked cool and bought it.

Personally I have more stuff than I need. Wouldn't call myself a collector either in that I've only ever bought guns to use them. So do we need a "personal interest" and "intended use" qualifier to make the distinction?
 
Many of the items that I have collected were gathered merely to satisfy my curiosity about them, their development and design philosophy and their place in history. This applies to firearms and ammunition, coinage and pre-coinage, armor and helmets, information storage and transmission devices, power generation and transmission systems, vehicle development, construction methods and materials, theoretical physics, and history in general.
-And the history of mankind is the history of weapons - and vice versa.
 
My lack of focus when it comes to collecting guns.....]

Nothing else needs to be said about it....there is a focus....guns. There done.

I collect guns....that is it, it does not need any more focus then that. I also collect junk that interests me....all done again.

Now could that collection have sub groups....sure, I have a thing for stuff that I call "fast movers"....think cartridges that have pretty high FPS numbers. I also like guns that shoot hard to find ammo.....anyone seen any 351 WSL on the shelf at walmart lately?

Like gunny said in a post before, you need to know what you are looking at. That guy I talked about with the lever guns....that is all he knew, but he knew them like the back of his hand....this guy could have done a book....hell he might have. If all you do is lever winchesters it is pretty easy to "know what you are looking at" vs a guy like myself that knows just enough to know he does not know enough without a deep dive into that next thing he is hunting.

To me the hunt is a big part of the fun.....finding my type 99 took almost 2 years to find the one that I wanted....in the shape I wanted. I am still looking for my 99 savage in 22HP...the right one has not come along, the Mark II** ross I am still hunting....found others but not the one I want. If I come across something that is on my "list" then I will have to dust off my brain on it. You can get taken in this hobby just like any others.

This is a good video on this one specific type of Luger...I am sure you guys have seen it already....only someone in the know.....would check for the extra meat in the gun.

 
Like fpgt72 said, the hunt for the gun can be a big part of the fun. To tell the truth, I find the hunt more fun then shooting the gun sometimes.
I have been giving some thought to selling a few guns from my collection, but every time I think about it, I end up buying another gun.
I did have seven Vz 24s but ended up giving one away. I guess you could say that I have a Vz 24 collection.
I don't think it's important to have a Theme or focus in a gun collection.
When my daughter was little she collected stuff animals. They were all different sizes and colors. I was sad the day she decided she was to old for stuff animals and gave them away. Collections will grow and shrink,come and go, all depending on how we feel. If you really need a definition for collecting, just pick the one that suits you and have fun.
 
I am in the category of accidental accumulator. I first purchased to cover the needs of hunting and target shooting. Then a friend was hard against it and offered to sell me a gun. The price was right and then the accumulation bug bit me. I now own a spectrum of arms, some old ones l have duplicates just for if one breaks then l have a spare l like it so much. I even have purchased some just because l ended up with a pile of brass and wanted to learn to reload that caliber.
 
To me, if your primary reason for buying them is something other than shooting or hunting with them, you're probably a collector. If you're buying them due to historical significance, rarity, brand, era, model, serial number, for the sport of finding them, whatever, you're a collector. If you're buying them to shoot, to hunt with or just because you like them, you're an accumulator. I have accumulated well over 100 guns but am not a collector and never will be. No offense to anyone who does, it's just not my thing.
 
Defining "collecting" is important because there could well be a carve-out for collectors in any future antigun legislation.

One definition of "collectable" is something that has value even if rendered inoperable. Then you get into degrees of inoperability. It could range all the way from lead-soldering a plug in the chamber (as in some 1950's-era DEWATS) to milling away the pressure-handling parts (as in current UK regulations).
 
All collecting is a bit odd. Sort of a mild mental disorder, maybe a first cousin of hoarding. But to me ‘collecting’ is more orderly than merely ‘accumulating’ and I’m primarily an accumulator.

If you look in my gun safe it’s obvious I’ve just bought a bunch of guns without much rhyme or reason, the only common denominator being that they appealed to me in some way at the time I acquired them. My guns are really just an accumulation with a couple of exceptions. I have a handful of Winchester model 37 (little lock) shotguns that began with the one my dad gave me. At one time I owned every gauge except 28 so I considered that a collection. The other is my USGI main battle rifles of the 20th century collection. I have a poorly sporterized Krag, 03 Springfield, M1 Garand, M1A, and AR-15. Two of them aren’t even the real thing but it’s close enough for me.
 
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Like fpgt72 said, the hunt for the gun can be a big part of the fun. To tell the truth, I find the hunt more fun then shooting the gun sometimes.
I have been giving some thought to selling a few guns from my collection, but every time I think about it, I end up buying another gun.
I did have seven Vz 24s but ended up giving one away. I guess you could say that I have a Vz 24 collection.
I don't think it's important to have a Theme or focus in a gun collection.
When my daughter was little she collected stuff animals. They were all different sizes and colors. I was sad the day she decided she was to old for stuff animals and gave them away. Collections will grow and shrink,come and go, all depending on how we feel. If you really need a definition for collecting, just pick the one that suits you and have fun.

Yes shooting is really not that big of a deal to me.....I have stuff that has been shot once in the past 20 years.....and ammo ready for it.....now that does not mean I don't fondle it from time to time. And before our area started to get more people I kept a lot of the "odd/expensive/whatever" in a glass case.....that was so nice....I would walk into the den and just set that on the desk....take it apart, a little oil or grease....work it....listen to the clicks as you made the machine work.....I get enjoyment out of that.....and I can stand in my garage and shoot anything you can think of.....that is not the end game for me.

Now I don't own any "never fired" as that has zero interest for me.....I want to shoot it if I feel like it.....I see no point in owning a gun/car/whatever that I can't "use" if the mood hits me.

I get the comment on the animals....and I really feel for my kid when I am gone.....to give you a hint....I still have my animals....in boxes in the attic....plastic boxes with moisture things in them....have not seen them in 30 years but they are there. Like I said before I have sold many of the cars.....it did make me sad, but they are a little different.....they do eat just sitting, insurance, taxes, tags are a one time deal for historic stuff in my state so no worries there....but you get the idea. I sold them off because.....like the same reason gunny's daughter....getting too old for them. Too old to work around a car.....and I have a shop with a lift and AC/heat.....you just get to the point where you just don't want to mess with them anymore....and the cars are like that....there are a few left....4-ish.....and I am working on getting those in shape to leave. I hung new calipers on an 850 Fiat about 4 months ago....still no bleed the brakes.....just no desire to.

As you move through life your interests change......now depending on a great many factors (usually your childhood) you may be borderline hoarder (like me saving a snoopy that I had in 1968) and it can be hard to let stuff go.

And to know thinking about that snoopy (I have not in years)....well there is something in my eye.

Amazing how parents can f*&k you up for 50+ years ain't it.
 
So who else here watches the news and sees the very dangerous man arrested with an “arsenal” of thirty guns shown laid out on the carpet.....and thinks “amateur”…
Our park ranger, back when I was a Boy Scout, was a very interesting character. All I knew him by was Dutch. Later, on Green Acres there was that character who was like the fire marshal, the building inspector, etc. Reminded me of Dutch. He (Dutch) owned a hunting lodge (White Oak Inn in Pike County, Pa.) and in addition to being a hunting guide, etc. with the lodge, he was also the Fish and Game Warden and various other county hats.
Anyway, he had a big collection of guns that actually occasionally went on tours. That said, they were mostly antique SA's. First time I ever got to see a Walker Colt in the flesh. Historically, it was a very cool collection to see. It was not, however, an arsenal unless you were one of the Earps or at the Alamo. Wonder what the news media would call it nowadays.
 
My “collection” consists of any number of “sub-collections”. My main theme is “Guns older than me” (I’m pre-WW2} with the main parts being cartridge guns (i.e. roughly 1870 to 1940). I have a few that fall outside this range, mainly the ones I shoot. (An M1 Garand (anyone over 50 needs a Garand), a 10/22 (my only “assault rifles” per Washington law….) and several modern handguns that I use or carry. It’s the “sub-collections” that keep me busy. I tend to concentrate on one, then lose interest and move to another. I’m like Gunny, if I wanted to take the time I could probably list a couple dozen “sub collections” using the old "three of anything makes a collection".

Currently I’m in a bit of a quandary. Someplace along the line I accumulated a couple of DP rifles (Drill Purpose, De-activated, etc.) One fits my age criteria (A M95 Austrian Mannlicher), the other (an Enfield L59A1) is way too recent (probably 1970’s+). (Hold this thought)

Recently I’ve started concentrating on Rifles with bayonets and find myself in need of a SMLE No.1 Mark III. (WW1 dated). Anyway Century has just imported a batch of No1 Mk III Drill Rifles. Unfortunately they are Ishapores which makes them WW2 or later. However, an Ishapore could somewhat substitute for my WW1 SMLE until I find an actual one…. AND…following the rule that three of anything related can be considered a “collection”, I could have a collection of Drill Rifles…..

I suppose that the ideal way out of my misery would be to find someone with a WW1 SMLE that wants a L59A1 and work out some kind of a trade
 
Part of the driving force in my collecting/accumulating is the simple fact that I couldn't keep anything of my own for the first half of my life. I counted around fifty moves in my first thirty years, and I lost almost everything in each move. Also, most of my relatives had no respect for my possessions. Items that I valued greatly were often taken and sold for cigarette money or to help finance the next move.
I gathered guns anyway. Often, having a gun and ammunition (and fishing gear, etc.) meant that we could eat. Other times, weapons meant physical security during times of upheaval - I got to watch two of the Los Angeles riots from the front row, so to speak. The first one when I was six, and I was alone in the apartment.
Once I got clear of these classic narcissists I felt that I could make up for some of my lost items - and I did. Problem is, I was used to having everything disappear again on a regular basis so I never really learned to sell or otherwise dispose of personal items.
Stuff that I gather with the intent to sell, no problem.
So - I both collect and accumulate firearms and related materials.
 
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