I think there's something wrong

I have a few antiques that I never intended to shoot and haven't. Everything else gets shot although it may be a couple of years between outings for some.

Big_Al said:

I think it's an old age thing, I have several Pistols, rifles & shotguns that I bought but haven't shot. Nothing fancy or collectable, just ones I got a craving for & purchased . Some I've had for 2 or 3 years. It never happened in my younger days, course I didn't have the extra cash back then. Took a sig 365xl out today that I've had for a year, shoots nice.

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Now that you have the extra cash, I'd assume you're also retired, so maybe you'll find the extra time now and go shoot those new ones.

I'm sort of in the same boat. I retired 5 years ago and have accumulated most of my handguns in that time and have been collecting (accumulating) for over 15 years. I'm at the point now I have enough that it's difficult to shoot all of them with any regularity; I have two that are strictly safe queens, but that leaves 28 or so total firearms that are "eligible" for range days. Of course, you find that you have favorites among the guns you wanted enough to buy an example of, so they get more range time and the others get less, or none at all. I have actually made myself take some of my less used guns rather than the favorites. I have plenty of ammo for any of them (I reload) so it isn't a matter of saying "I only have xxx amount for such-and-such a gun, so I won't take that one this time". I get on jags where I prefer shooting handguns, so I don't take the rifles or shotguns, or would rather shoot clays for a while, so the rifles and handguns get ignored, and so it goes. I have a few I haven't shot in a couple of years, but I will get around to them.

Big_Al said:

I think it's an old age thing, I have several Pistols, rifles & shotguns that I bought but haven't shot. Nothing fancy or collectable, just ones I got a craving for & purchased . Some I've had for 2 or 3 years. It never happened in my younger days, course I didn't have the extra cash back then. Took a sig 365xl out today that I've had for a year, shoots nice.

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Your situation is more common than you might think. I've attended many estate auctions that featured many unfired firearms. The survivors end up with lots of cash because these never-fired guns often sell well above retail.

Big_Al said:

I think it's an old age thing, I have several Pistols, rifles & shotguns that I bought but haven't shot. Nothing fancy or collectable, just ones I got a craving for & purchased . Some I've had for 2 or 3 years. It never happened in my younger days, course I didn't have the extra cash back then. Took a sig 365xl out today that I've had for a year, shoots nice.

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Guilty here as well.

While I'm with bangswitch on this, one's home range also can play a part. Mine has two flights worth of stairs from the parking lot to firing line. That's no problem with a few handguns, but not so nice on the old knees when you have a heavy loadout of rifles. The fifty caliber rifles make it MUCH worse.

I used to buy guns just for the sake of collecting, if I had the cash in my pocket I'd buy it, then buy ammo for it if I didn't have it and on shooting days I'd haul all my guns and ammo out and spread it all out on a table and shoot all my guns. That used to be fun for me.

Now, there's guns I haven't shot in many years and I typically just shoot my carry guns and a couple rifles/pistols. No more hauling out 12+ guns to shoot. Lots of my guns sit neglected, but not forgotten. This thread kind of makes me want to shoot some of my old colts. The only gun I had that I never really shot was my NEF 12ga, I bought it in like 2008 and shot less than a box of shells through it and sat in my safe for 12 years before I gifted it to my brother.

I'm more of a tool guy. I buy my guns for a purpose, and I use them for that purpose. A couple of collectables have been in the mix over the years, but they were not safe queens. And I sold them when I had no more use for them.

But it's all good. I know some collector types, and enjoy looking at their guns.

CapnMac said:

No, that's actually pretty normal.

When you get to a place in life where you can "comfortably" buy guns that catch your fancy, you likely have all manner of responsibilities (read "time sucks") that get in the way of taking the new treasures to the range. Even worse, you are generally comfortable with all those other things that occupy your time, too. So, they get first "dibs" on your attention.

It "feels" all weird, as you have noticed. But, like as not, it's a sign you are "doing it right."

Another thing you may notice is that you have a stockpile of ammo, but have no idea if it's "too much" or "too little" (and that you are likely 'feeding' a box or two at a time when you see a good price; or you ran off a hundred or so after getting a decent deal on primers *).

_________________________________
*Another sign is if you have more brass waiting to be decapped and tumbled than you have loaded.

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Just wait until you decide to move..doing that now and had NO IDEA of how much ammo and accumulated over the years. Stuff movers won't move and we won't even go into the gun part. I should have retired when my back and knees were in better shape.

JEBruns said:

I'm more of a tool guy. I buy my guns for a purpose, and I use them for that purpose.

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I resemble that. Way back my extra money went to Snap on. Mac. Cornwell ect. Then cattle and twins. Had a .22 marlin , partner 12 and a Walmart mini 14. A purpose for each.

Then OLD took over and pep and energy slipped away. Mowing ,hunting , reloading , casting , is easy on wore out knees.

After 2000 when scrap got so high I sold rusty metal and bought new guns I thought I always needed and wanted. Some with a purpose and some with a pretend purpose. Self and farm defense is pretend out here.

Cow boy , military, types of hunting, protection, too much. Thinned down to a small pile. There's been a lot of been there done that in my life.
So I resemble your comment and others combined.

I love it that this forum is both an incredible information source and a personal therapy site at the same time! Nearly always go away feeling better!

When you get to a place in life where you can "comfortably" buy guns that catch your fancy, you likely have all manner of responsibilities (read "time sucks") that get in the way of taking the new treasures to the range

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Yep....that's what I'm looking forward to in retirement...time to do what I really want to do which is piddle.....

Some collect & some don't. I sell guns I no longer use or like. Nothing wrong with collecting either

berettaprofessor said:

I love it that this forum is both an incredible information source and a personal therapy site at the same time! Nearly always go away feeling better!



Yep....that's what I'm looking forward to in ponseretirement...time to do what I really want to do which is piddle.....

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Excellent response, Professor!

Thank you, Big Al, for this thread. I now feel a bit more normal with my half dozen unfired rifles. But time waits for no man and at my mid 70's I am now content to just look at and fondle my favorites.

dogkinkead said:

Just wait until you decide to move.

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I grew up military. I have moved all too many times in my life. It's a loathsome experience at best. Some one thing is always lost never to be seen again; and something is found that was either never known to be possessed, or to be lost at all. Or as our French friends say, "C'est la vie."

I do this, probably more than I realize. I'll find something I really want, sometimes just something to have and then neglect to shoot it. Not saving them for anybody, just haven't got around to shooting them.

I've bought guns, shot one magazine or cylinder through them, enjoyed the experience, put them away, then sold them years later.
I've also bought guns, never shot them, and sold them months or even years later.
In most cases I've made a little money. In some cases I've made more than a little.
In most cases I would have made more money investing in something else. I probably should have. But I've also found a lot of "diamond in the rough" guns and gotten them out of general circulation and into the collectors market where they are better kept and appreciated, and I've spent many hours researching guns and building real knowledge instead of playing Call of Duty.

I'm also learning to appreciate and enjoy guns that I buy without any intention of shooting, either for antiquity, condition, or rarity. I'm currently paying for a gun that I know I will never shoot and will eventually sell in the same NiB condition I receive it in.

Me too. A problem I know all too well. The problem is time, money, places to shoot, and folks to go with (it's no fun by yourself). All my old shooting buddies have moved on (trying to recruit new ones, but they have the same problems -- no time, no money). I've got a lot of guns, and admittedly, some of them are more for collecting than shooting (that said, it's on my bucket list to eventually shoot every gun I have at least once -- like I said, I've got a lot...).

Well, let's not wait around on time passing, friends. Got an email this week from the guy who did my concealed carry training....nice guy, 2nd advocate and ham radio enthusiast. After several responded that we were glad he's still around, he confessed that in the intervening 20 years he's lost sight entirely in his dominant eye, the other is diminished, and he has no depth perception so he sold all his firearms, gave up soldering ham radio parts, and can't even see to mow his grass since he can't tell what's tall and what's not. Makes me sad to think I've got maybe only 20 years of shooting left....and only then if I'm lucky.