Downsizing

[JCooperfan1911]

Yesterday, I sold 7 out of my 14 long guns, bringing the total to just these 7:



My three beloved Remington Nylon rifles, my Smith’s patent breechloading carbine, my Kalashnikov automatic rifle, a CZ double barrel, and my U.S. caliber .30 carbine, M1.

The guns I sold were some Nagant rifles, a few cheap .22s, and a single shot shotgun.

Figured I never fire them and they just took up too much space and wouldn’t fit cleanly in my safe. It’s gotten to the point now we’re I only shoot my black powders anymore as that’s all I can afford to shoot. Ammunition is at record highes and doesn’t appear to be going down at all. Glad to clear out some space.

-JCF

 

[J-Bar]

I say you made good choices all around. Well done, Sir.

 

[Bazoo]

Why 3 nylons? Are they all 66s? I can’t tell for sure of any are different.

 

[JCooperfan1911]

Why 3 nylons? Are they all 66s? I can’t tell for sure of any are different.

Because they’re my favorite. One is unfired, one 1st year of production, and the last one is a regular plinker. Greatest .22 field gun ever made.

 

[DustyGmt]

I mistakenly passed up a black nylon 66 for $100 from a friend of mine on the fire department..... it had never been cleaned and he said it was jamming, at the time there wasn't a gun I wouldn't have bought for $100 just to have. I would buy any cheap gun somebody wanted to sell and at the very least use it for trade fodder but when he handed it to me it just felt flimsy and cheap, now I know that it was a mistake.... flame suit on...

 

[Poper]

I've slowly started down that road, myself and feel your pain.
Sold 3 long guns last fall of 17. But acquired 1, too.
I am semi-retired now and the diversity is not as interesting these days plus there are other more pressing demands on my finances that must be addressed. I have about 20k rounds of .22LR so will keep those guns plus 1 shotgun and 2 high powered rifles and 1 centerfire revolver - probably the lightly used S&W M15 Combat Masterpiece.
At least that is the plan.

 

[NIGHTLORD40K]

Im not a fan of the Nylon as a shooter- spent way too juch time clearing jams on them as a kid- but as a quirky cool collectible, you could do worse!

I heartily approve of the other 3 choices.

 

[Bazoo]

I only have three long guns currently. A Winchester 94 30-30, a marlin 60, and an 870 12 gauge.

I’ve always sorta been a minimalist. I got in a tight spell and sold all the extra though.

I think I want to get a 357 lever gun, probably a marlin 1894. And I have had the desire for a marlin 39a for quite a while.

I don’t understand why people like the nylon 66 so much. I had one a while and it was good trade fodder. It jammed also. I have a friend that has one that works great. But.... it just doesn’t do it for me for some reason.

 

[lightman]

Because they’re my favorite. One is unfired, one 1st year of production, and the last one is a regular plinker. Greatest .22 field gun ever made.

I still have the one my Grandfather gave me many years ago. Its still fun to shoot!

 

[tws3b2]

I have 9 long guns. Only 1 has been fired in the past year. 1 has been set aside to pass on to my son. The other 7 have not been fired in ??? years. Plus several handguns that seldom get fired.
I keep telling my self I need to get rid of them. But, I wont let me.
A hard thing to do.

 

[Mark_Mark]

I’ll never get rid of my guns! if my boys don’t want them, I want to be buried with them!

 

[Mosin77]

I’d have kept a Mosin. Otherwise, I cannot fault your logic, sir.

 

[Waveski]

Kind of liberating, isn’t it?

 

[Mullo98]

I'm jealous of your Nylons, saw at flee market for 700 and wished I could of snagged it.

Nothing wrong with downsizings if you don't use the ones you sale

 

[tominboise]

I am starting to work my pile down some, too. For instance, I had three .270's. I just sold one a couple days ago, a Tikka T3. It was a great rifle and I'll miss it, but I don't need it and it sat in the safe too much. I have another rifle listed locally as well. I plan on trimming out 3-6 guns over the next couple of months. My goal is to have fewer guns but shoot the ones I have more.

 

[bannockburn]

JCF

Can't fault you for your choices of long guns to sell to free some space in your safe. I have a number of rifles and shotguns that I don't really use any more, but still I'm reluctant to sell any of them. It would be very difficult and expensive to replace them should I ever change my mind about having them around. And I have adult children who have an interest in guns but little free time to go shooting or hunting. In a way then I'm "saving" some of them for at least two generations to come.

So for the time being my safe remains full and I'm alright with that too.

 

[The Night Rider]

I'm jealous of your Nylons, saw at flee market for 700 and wished I could of snagged it.

Nothing wrong with downsizings if you don't use the ones you sale

I bought a Nylon 66 in a pawn shop in Texas in 1984 for less than $100. Selling that gun was one of the dumbest things I ever did in my life

 

[NorthBorder]

Sometimes I think about downsizing. I have so many that I don't shoot very often, and a few I just don't shoot.
Anyway, I bought another safe instead.

 

[CoalTrain49]

At some point most everyone reverses course and starts selling more guns than they buy. I hit that point about two years ago. More going than coming. I recently sold two pistols and a rifle and may not buy another firearm. This winter was a bad one so I didn't go to the rifle range at all. Just recently the weather has been nice enough to shoot outside.

The component shortages has me wondering If I'll ever get back to the once-a-week range trips. There hardly isn't anything to buy new and the prices for used is stupid. In some cases more than MSRP but if nobody is building new I guess that's going to drive the market.

I'm not overly optimistic that any of this will change in the next several years. I think everything we knew about the firearms and ammo industry can be forgotten going forward.

When I was in HS a friend had a Nylon 66. I thought it was pretty cool as there weren't many semi-auto 22 rifles around in the 70's. I remember a lot of pumps and bolt rifles. I think nostalgia may be the connection to the Nylon 66 and the prices they command these days. I kind of remember them being jam-o-matics.

 

[Reinz]

I remember reading a book in 1968 about surviving the nuclear holocaust. It stated the THE gun to have was the Remington Nylon, indestructible 66. For some reason that was burned into my young impressionable brain.

I didn’t buy one until 45 years later and still haven’t shot that Black and Chrome model. Some day I’ll get around to it.

 

[theotherwaldo]

So far I've snagged and restored a 66 and a 77.
Looking for the others... .

 

[joed]

I have a few to many that I'd like to part with. I just don't shoot as much as I used to.

Can't see the draw to the 66/77 at all. I've had 3 of each and parted with every one of them. Sorry but I don't think they're that great.

 

[JCooperfan1911]

The people complaining about Nylons they handled were most likely firing guns owned by someone ignorant in their maintenance. They are fantastic, reliable guns.

 

[ericuda]

I drug a 66 around trapping 40 years ago. Was easy to carry but accuracy was subpat at best. I never really remember being able to disassemble it to clean but been long time ago. The greatest field gun ever, not even close for many reasons. I for one would not call some of these boys stupid.

As far as downsizing, nice job. It would be hard to get down to only a couple centerfires for me.

 

[3Crows]

I will downsize when I am dead and not any sooner.

3C