Are you a shooter or collector?

Are you a collector or a shooter?

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Both, but if I can't shoot it, I don't need it. Lack of reasonably priced ammo accounts for why I need to get rid of some old .32 revolvers (I don't have the time/inclination to reload).
 
I consider myself a shooter and an accumulator not a collector. Being a collector denotes you have some direction.
 
My handgun and rifle are for shooting.

On the other hand, all my shotguns are for the fun of shooting them and the joy of owning them.

Each is perfect in its own special way:

Model 12 (Washington State Patrol 1959)
High Standard 18-7 (circa 1972)
Stevens 620 (issued to U.S. Army in WWII)
870 Wingmaster (California Highway Patrol)
Model 37 (1956)

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1919 Baker Elite

1927 Ithaca 4E Knick

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Iver Johnson Supertrap (my "Poor Man's Model 21")
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All my collectibles were stolen several years ago.

The weapons I have now all have a different purpose (in my mind) for different types of shooting and hunting.

Actually I may have a couple that might constitute some overlap but I wanted them anyway?
 
Shooter only. I'm trying to get rid of all the firearms I don't really shoot and bought mostly for collecting, like my BHP for example.

I'm even debating whether to keep my three military rifles, even though I mostly shoot my AR15.
 
I am an avid collector of vintage hunting rifles and shotguns and am constantly looking for more. However, every piece that I acquire is slected on its servicablity. I love nothing better than to go out into the field with a vintage Manlicher Schoenauer or Winchester 1897 and putting it back into service. I do have a few more modern guns and when I want to go to the range and pound out 300 or more rounds, I take one of them. These seem to come and go.
 
I voted "shooter" yesterday, but after some thought I guess I am a collector, too, since I have yet to sell any of the guns I have bought. :D
 
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I voted "collector".

I do go out and shoot occasionally, as well as hunt occasionally (occasionally means several times/year)

I have 3 firearms that I've shot, and would again... but they're to important to use regularly. They're my grandpa's Model 12s and my dad's Model 61. Particularly the 61, I've put thousands of rounds through it, but I value it for more than utility and started to worry about wear... So I bought two more to be shooters! (now I'm almost a Model 61 collector...)

I'm not going to go tramping through the swamps with my grandpa's Model 12s, I bought a couple mossbergs for that duty. I don't care if I drop those in the mud and scratch 'em on the barb wire.

Most of the rest of my collection is old military stuff. Some of which I do intend to fire sometime, but the ammo is next super rare (Swiss Vetterli)...

Then there's the whole problem of "which gun do I take to the range?" Why would I take a Finn Mosin out again when I can have more fun banging away with one of my M1s? :D

So yes, I do shoot... but I'm more of a collector.
 
Right now I am more of a collector than a shooter. However this is not by choice. I love guns, and like owning them, reading about them, shooting them, practicing with them, and posting about them, but never really thought about collecting them.

But I guess having 5 guns sit in a safe is more of a collection...but I guess when you have only been home for 8 days in the last 90 it makes it difficult to get out and shoot them!:eek::(:(
 
I am a shooter foremost but when someone else needs to liquidate some firearms for cash I will collect them for my self. I will always give fair value and have been told that I was better than the gunstore or pawn shop here in the area. I think that a good deal is a reason to buy another, don't you?:D

My collection grows:D
 
I voted "shooter", only because I can't afford the luxury of collecting. If I had mounds of cash, I would have one HELLUVA collection!
 
Let's see........ I have more guns that I don't shoot than those that I do, so does that make me a "Collector/Shooter" rather than a "Shooter/Collector"?
I really don't see the sense in shooting guns that won't perform up to those that I do shoot as they all work pretty much the same way. (You pull the trigger, they go bang and a bullet is sent downrange.) However I am still enamoured of all things firearm. Maybe that's why I own very few current production guns and the majority of what I have are pre WW2.( In fact, I just checked my inventory and out of the 30 or so I own, I have only 1 gun that is currently in production and it's the one I shoot the most.)
 
Shooter

I've know some folks who collect and rarely shoot their guns/rifles/shotguns. I myself prefer to enjoy the tactile sense of how the tool works, it's mechanisms, and how it's designed accuracy and efficiency come together. Simply put, I like to see it go boom. I think the best thing for me is to go through a course of fire, a competition, or a range session and see the feedback from that. The ability to take down 40 of 48 steel plates, place 1" groups, winning a shooting stage adds intrinsic value to that particular gun. So when I look at the scratches, slide holster wear marks, the caked up actions, I relish in a job well done. The weapon is cleaned, lubed then stored away for the next session or call of duty. Shooter first then collector as a consequence.
 
I said shooter, although I have bought guns because they were neat and will certainly buy guns just to have in the future. I voted shooter though because I will shoot them all. If I were to buy a brand new, unfired Colt Python or something... I shoot that sucker. They were made for shootin', not sittin'!
 
Definitely a shooter. I sometimes refer to my "collection," but only for convenience.
 
normally shooters, are not concerned with the quantity of guns that they own, but a few that are proven, and that they are trained and very well at using the few that they do have.

Ever heard this quote? (it goes something like this)
"Beware of the man that has only one gun he probably knows how to use it."
 
My FiL is a Collector.
All sorts of firearms that never have/will be fired, very seldom goes to the range, he does CCW but again, practically never practices/trains.
They go into the safe and might come out for a wipe down and oiling once or twice a year. Not even displayed for eye candy.

I just don't understand it, I'm a Shooter.
My guns get used regularly and I practice/train for their intended use, target, hunting & self defense. No safe queens here.
 
I said both. I buy guns to shoot and shoot them a lot when they're new. When the new wears off, I often find they start collecting dust...

I will rarely sell a gun (I have to dislike it for that), so the ones that are gathering dust (figuratively) are part of my "collection" until they are given to my sons.
 
Both, for sure. I own a lot of guns, mostly pistols, that I regularly shoot. I also own many more firearms that I don't shoot and will never shoot, many of which are classified as antiques.
 
I consider myself a shooter and an accumulator not a collector. Being a collector denotes you have some direction.
Click to expand...

This comment probably describes me the best. I have stuff like a desert eagle in 50 cal to a revolver carbine!
 
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