Do you take money into consideration when.....?

As others have said an heirloom gun no. But cost and what I carry is not a big deal.

I really don't take money into consideration. That is not to say that the sky is the limit. What I mean is that there are excellent self-defense handguns that can be had for about $200 (Polish P64 pistols) all the way up to multiple thousands of dollars. There is such a wide range of pistols that are all fully capable of shooting reliably and accurately and saving your life that money is not really a point to be hung up over.

In the same vein, if you're like me, shooting is your passion and favorite hobby and I'm willing to dish out handsome sums of cash for firearms, suppressors, etc simply because they're cool. No limits!

My most expensive handgun is my sig p220 elite. My first 1911 was a sig c3. So here are some sentimental and pricey firearms of mine. Since learning this, i wont carry any of them.

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What is the purpose for said guns if not to carry?

Since my EDC is an LCP I don't have any qualms about "losing" it except I don't have another for a back up yet.

nope.
reliability is #1.. Comfort is #2

No. None whatsoever.

I have a long-standing rule that has served me pretty well:

If I don't (or won't; two entirely different things) carry it or shoot it somewhat regularly, I sell it. That has led me to sell some fairly nice handguns.

Not certain how many more years I have to walk this Earth. I'm too old to fight and too broken-up to run. If I ever need to defend my life with a firearm, and I live to tell about it, it has paid for itself 10x over. As a matter of fact, that cost will likely be a minor concern in comparison to the legal expenses and related heartache.

My current carry guns aren't real expensive, so I'm not too worried about them being locked up if I actually have to use them. Even if they were expensive (some have been in the past), it's the chance I take when I choose to carry it for self defense.

Like several others here, I do have a couple of heirloom guns that I don't really need to carry, so except for range days they stay in the safe. But if push came to shove, my life and my family's lives are more important than any gun, period.

My very first pistol was a Sig P232SL my father gave to me when I got my CCP. That didn't stop me from carrying it at all. I no longer carry it because I have better guns to use (more favorable weight/power ratios) , but I still would carry it.
I wouldn't sell it or trade it off the way I would with some of my others, but I would still carry it.
I'm not going to assign such high importance to an inanimate object that it keeps me from using whatever would work best to save my life.
The only reason it's not in my holster at the moment is because I found a tool I like better for the job.

So to answer the OP most directly, No. Sentimentality and cost to not factor into whoever i would carry a certain gun.
Cost does factor into whether I would buy a certain gun in the first place though.

I should point out there are some guns I would hate to lose to the gubmit because I used them in defense of my home. They were both long guns and one was my primary HD weapon for decades until I gave it to my daughter for the same purpose. It was a 20 ga. shotgun made by Mossberg back in about 1951. My brother bought it for a whopping $5 back in the early 60's. It's a bolt action shotgun with a poly-choke. Great HD weapon really for someone who couldn't afford anything else. Dad sent me home with it when I was newly married and living in a bad neighborhood and had no serious gun for HD. I did pretty much the same thing for my daughter.

The gun came to my brother from my uncle who tried to give it to him when he was like 8 years old but dad said he couldn't give it to him. My brother asked if he had his own money if he could buy it. Dad said a man with his own money gets to do what he wants with it. Dad never dreamed my brother actually had any money. We were pretty poor. But he had $5 of birthday money he had been saving. He offered it to my uncle who said, "Sold," in about half a second. Dad wasn't one to back down form his word but he just made it clear he couldn't buy any ammo for it for a while. My brother already had a .410 shotgun but a 20 ga. was a bit much according to my dad's thinking.

So with a story like that I would just hate to see it go. And it actually got stolen when my house was broken into when my daughter was living there alone. She was at work at the time. My daughter being the talented and dogged person she is tracked the thing down and got it back. She got almost everything back that was stolen actually. She's one smart cookie. The LEO's couldn't figure out how she did it but she did.

I would HATE to lose that shotgun but if it meant using it for HD knowing I might well lose it you can bet I would use it in a heartbeat. My daughter proved you can get stuff back if you try.

Money matters. You can justify it all you want but money matters. I bought my first Glock after my divorce because I could not afford to buy another Sig 226 at the time. I think its ridiculous how much HKs cost. I don't see the value. I'll stick with my Glocks. Quite frankly, there are a ton of decent pistols out there at reasonable prices, value. Rifles are a different story. Up to a point and with some exceptions, I think with rifles you get what you pay for. But any product reaches a point of diminishing returns where marginal increases in performance cost an arm and a leg. You stop getting value for your money.

Money is never a consideration to me. I look at it like this, I bought the gun because I had the disposable cash so I'm sure I could scrape the cash back up again if I had to. As far as sentimental; well if I had a choice of not using my dads gun to defend myself at 03:00 am or keeping an intruder from harming my family? Well I will sure miss that gun!

As far as sentimental; well if I had a choice of not using my dads gun to defend myself at 03:00 am or keeping an intruder from harming my family? Well I will sure miss that gun!

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The thing is for most of us -- probably almost all of us -- no gun we were sentimentally attached to would also be the gun we'd rank as the gun we'd achieved the highest mastery with. We don't have to choose to use Dad's old gun, and in fact that would probably be really the least likely choice in any case!

Grandpa's short-chambered Model 12 is probably not the gun you've shot the most 25/25 rounds of skeet with.

Great Grandma's S&W hand ejector that she used back in 1923 to face down a couple of hold-up men in her father's dry good's store is probably not your best USPSA/IDPA gun or the one you take to defensive training classes.

The old Winchester your dad passed down to you before he died is probably not your go-to hunting or defensive or competition rifle.

And so forth. For most of us, we've built up our skills and found proficiency and mastery with fairly modern guns we picked because they were well enough developed/advanced to give us the benefit of modern features and engineering, and were cheap enough for us to purchase at the time.

The OP's conundrum is a little different in that he's imbued sentimental value, too great to risk losing, on modern guns that he himself used to build and demonstrate his skills. Whereas most of us would look at that Glock or SIG as the gun we've "ridden hard and put away wet" through all those 10s of 1000s of rounds of practice and competition -- and strictly a tool like a magazine or holster to be replaced when worn out or damaged or somehow lost -- the OP sees an heirloom in the making.

So it is a bit of a special case.

My last new pistol was last month, a Glock 19 Gen 3 dark earth.

Before I ever fired a shot through my new DE Gen 3 model 19, I made some changes (CDW4ME edition):
-Removed the finger grooves (protrusions) - there goes the resale value, oh well.
-Installed XS Big Dot sights
-Installed Lone Wolf steel striker
-Installed NY trigger
-Installed Apex extractor and Gen 4 #30274 ejector
The last two items eliminated occasional brass to face (BTF) in my Gen 3 OD 19 that I got in 2010.

I knew what I wanted and I effectively made it, a new defacto Gen 2 Glock 19 with night sights and a NY trigger.

People that are okay with MIM parts or against modifying firearms might say I did not take money into consideration and they would be correct.

(OT... Wait you INSTALLED a NY trigger??? On purpose?... interesting. Sort of like installing a speed limiter in your Mustang, or a flow-restrictor on your beer tap, eh? )

I think with rifles you get what you pay for

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I don't think that's true. I bought a used Savage 110 for $225 and it came with a scope. If you want to know about those guns go read the thread about them in the rifles section. Then there's that early 50's Stevens single shot you run across once in a while at a yard sale or flea market. Sometimes they go for $50 or even less. Those things have outlasted 2 generations and are about to out last a third and they will still be going 300 years from now.

Even new rifles can be bought cheap. A Marlin 60 is a rock solid piece of equipment that is plenty accurate and dependable and under $175. If you like bolt action a Marlin XT can be bought for about the same price. A Savage MkII can be bought even cheaper.

I don't know what you consider a high price for rifles but there are plenty of them around that are excellent for what I think is a low price. Marlin sold a bunch of 795's for $125 with a $25 rebate a couple of years ago. That's $100 for a brand new semi-auto that is both accurate and dependable. People love them. They're great squirrel hunting rifles because they are light, fast and accurate. If $100 is too much for you I don't know what to say. I actually bought a 795 on sale for $100 with a $25 coupon and the $25 rebate and the store owner gave me a discount because the salesman kept lying about having them in stock. After 3 trips to the store finding the salesman had left the building everytime and every time finding there were no guns in the store I complained. I got that 795 for $35. He sold me the one with a scope since that was the only one he had in the store. I could have sold the scope for $15 because it was crap. Actually I turned down that price. I was holding out for $20 because it will make a good scope for some kid's BB gun some day. My grand kids might appreciate it. But do you realize how cheap I got that rifle??

There are lots of solid rifles for not a lot of money. Mossberg makes them. Ruger makes some that are fairly cheap. They might cost a little more than the Mossbergs and Marlins but people like them a lot. There are others too. Henry, Zastava, and several European companies all make inexpensive rifles. Heck even Anschutz sells a rifle for just over $300. Colt sells them. S&W. How much is too much? Nothing I've mentioned costs more than $400. Many are under $200. And we really haven't covered used rifle prices much.

Sam1911 said:

(OT... Wait you INSTALLED a NY trigger??? On purpose?... interesting. Sort of like installing a speed limiter in your Mustang, or a flow-restrictor on your beer tap, eh? )

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The NY trigger keeps me from popping a 2nd shot before I intend to when shooting double taps; my finger gets "heavy" trying to obtain quarter second split times.

Also, I carry appendix IWB; given where the muzzle is pointed, a little more resistance to break the trigger is reassuring (yea, I use a rigid holster, still...)

do I take cost and sentimentality into consideration? Kinda sorta

Sentimentality is kind of a non issue because any of the guns that I have kind of strong feelings about, aren't really apropriate for defensive/combat use. I'm not saying that one couldn't use the 1950 tube fed bolt action 22 to stop a gang of mauraders, just that the AR, AK, or pump shotgun that reside next to it may be a better choice.

As far as cost, I look at it more from the standpoint of "if I spend less on the gun itself, that frees up more money for ammo and training, and if I can afford to own a second gun that could be used for defensive purposes, then if I have to use it and the police take it as evidence, I won't be completely defenseless."

I'm more sentimental about my life. I carry the gun I most believe I can scrap out the bad guys with.

Cost in the range we're are discussing hear, for a one time purchase, is not an issue either.

Once it saves my bacon, if the cops keep it, I'd be likely to get another just like it!

Cost means nada, and as heirlooms go I wouldn't think anything about doing so on occasions. The other day I carried my uncle's 1903 Colt 32 ACP to the range.

I trained with my first gun for almost 6 years before starting to use a smaller one in the same caliber. My general training allowed me to get on target faster and more accurately with the second. Both were used, LNIB and both were about $400. If I ever had to give one to the police I'd still be able to carry the other as I remain proficient by practicing with both.

I've got a Larue rifle with about a grand worth of red dot optic and magnifier that has been sitting in an evidence locker for a couple years now. With any luck I'll get it back in a few months.

I don't regret its cost at all and if I never get it back it did its job and was worth every penny. I'd feel the same if I had used an expensive pistol instead of an expensive rifle.

My life is worth more to me than all the money I will ever make. That being said, I carry a glock, but if I had a high dollar handgun, I would carry it daily.

For me, I wanted a self defense firearm that was reliable and with the exception of sights could be used stock, it felt good (but didn't need to be great), and I shot it well. Fortunately most firearms fit this bill for me. I like the one I've chosen and it is competitively priced. If I found a high end expensive model that really increased my odds I would buy it. However I haven't found it so I mostly just try to practice consistently with what I've chosen.

Reliability is far and away the most important factor I consider. Secondly would be size, ease of use and ability to operate it under stress and without it requiring a lot of fine motor control. Collectability is the least of my concerns for defensive firearms. Accuracy isn't at the top of my list either since I'd be under so much stress and likely at close enough range that any of today's top pistols would be accurate enough.

Do you take money into consideration when.....?

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You bet I do, every day. I ask myself what's my life or the life of a family member is worth? Then I pick the best handgun I've got to protect my family and myself, no-matter what it costs.