Talk me down, man.....

NIGHTLORD40K

NIGHTLORD40K

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Mar 17, 2015
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Nostramo (in absentia), Segmentum Ultima
After selling off of all my weird European milsurps a few years ago (and their unobtainium cartridges), Im considering another round of consolidation by divesting my arms chambered for domestic cartridges which have become untenably expensive, are STILL hard to find post-Covid, or don't offer significant performance advantages.

On the chopping block are all my .30-06 rifles, including a Garand, M1917 Eddystone, Weatherby Vanguard, several M1903s, my last .243 Savage M99, a pair of .30 M1 Carbines, and all my .45 pistols; several 1911s, SIG P220, S&W M645, etc.

I'm fond of all these, but just can't afford to feed them very often and they dont get shot much as a result. I dont have the space or free time for reloading in any useful quantities either.

That would get me down to just 8 cartridges: .22, .38/.357, .380, 9mm, .223, 7.62X39, .308, and 12GA.

The sale of these older guns would fund a significant quantity of ammunition for the remaining chamberings- hopefully enough to weather shortages Im expecting from the next manufactured crisis.

This would require surrendering the majority of my beautiful vintage centerfires, though of course I still have many fine old .22 rifles and revolvers if I need a Blue Steel and Walnut fix.

My head says this is The Way, but my heart says NO NO NO!

I'm on a ledge, talk me down, man......
 
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I feel your pain. I sold off all my .30 cals a few years ago. Hurt at the time, but it passes. I need to further downsize and consolidate over the next year or so. Tough, but no point in holding on to possessions I don’t need. Contentment is a good thing.
 
@NIGHTLORD40K

NO WAY would I get rid of as much as you're contemplating. It sounds like you already know you don't REALLY want to get rid of all of those.

So don't.

.30-06 and .45 ACP are what comes to mind when I think "mass market American cartridge."

I'd keep the Garand, the M1917, one '03 and one M1 Carbine. I would also keep the SIG P220.

If it's time to pare the collection down...dude, I get that. Let the .380 and 7.62x39 guns go. Those I can find on Bud's Gun Shop, right now today.

What I can't find on Bud's is the stuff you're talking about getting rid of.

In a few years you probably will NOT be able to buy more Garands and '03s. Not at the "old" prices anyway.
 
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Will you get what they are worth, or just be offered a fraction of their value?

I must say that I was amazed at the number of used guns in the cases at the Kittery Trading Post in Maine. I went there a couple of days ago and there had to be at least four full cases of used handguns and racks upon racks of used long guns. The asking prices were not all that high, so I wonder what the store paid for most of them.

I must admit that being from So Cal there is not a lot of variety on the gun store shelves so pricing is artificially high, and I was thrilled to wander around looking at everything. But in places in America where control hasn’t been ceded to the loonies, it made me wonder how much $$ one would get selling a gun in such a saturated market.

I guess if you get enough to make parting with them easy then sell away. :thumbup:

Stay safe.
 
NIGHTLORD40K said:
After selling off of all my weird European milsurps a few years ago (and their unobtainium cartridges), Im considering another round of consolidation by divesting my arms chambered for domestic cartridges which have become untenably expensive, are STILL hard to find post-Covid, or don't offer significant performance advantages.

On the chopping block are all my .30-06 rifles, including a Garand, M1917 Eddystone, Weatherby Vanguard, several M1903s, my last .243 Savage M99, a pair of .30 M1 Carbines, and all my .45 pistols; several 1911s, SIG P220, S&W M645, etc.

I'm fond of all these, but just can't afford to feed them very often and they dont get shot much as a result. I dont have the space or free time for reloading in any useful quantities either.

That would get me down to just 8 cartridges: .22, .38/.357, .380, 9mm, .223, 7.62X39, .308, and 12GA.

The sale of these older guns would fund a significant quantity of ammunition for the remaining chamberings- hopefully enough to weather shortages Im expecting from the next manufactured crisis.

This would require surrendering the majority of my beautiful vintage centerfires, though of course I still have many fine old .22 rifles and revolvers if I need a Blue Steel and Walnut fix.

My head says this is The Way, but my heart says NO NO NO!

I'm on a ledge, talk me down, man......
Click to expand...
Do it! You could probably lose either the 380 or 9mm too.
When you sell the .45 pistols list them here......
 
TomJ said:
I’ve also considered selling a few guns with my gut telling me no. I waited a while and was glad to have kept them. If you don’t need the money I’d hold off.
Click to expand...
Riomouse911 said:
Will you get what they are worth, or just be offered a fraction of their value?

I must say that I was amazed at the number of used guns in the cases at the Kittery Trading Post in Maine. I went there a couple of days ago and there had to be at least four full cases of used handguns and racks upon racks of used long guns. The asking prices were not all that high, so I wonder what the store paid for most of them.

I must admit that being from So Cal there is not a lot of variety on the gun store shelves so pricing is artificially high, and I was thrilled to wander around looking at everything. But in places in America where control hasn’t been ceded to the loonies, it made me wonder how much $$ one would get selling a gun in such a saturated market.

I guess if you get enough to make parting with them easy then sell away. :thumbup:

Stay safe.
Click to expand...
Not hurting for the money, so I could hold out to get what I consider a fair price. Id get a table at the local show which specializes in vintage stuff for whatever I dont sell in the Trading Post.
 
AlexanderA said:
Having the guns is one thing, and shooting them is another. There is a tenuous intersection between these two activities. I have scads of guns, many of which I have never shot. That's perfectly OK.
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Id be ok with keeping some these, even without regular shooting- IF I could stock what I consider a comfortable quantity of ammunition for them. But that probably aint gunna happen again, the days of cheap Greek HXP and LC '45 Carbine in wax paper are over. Its $2/round or reloading from here on out.....won't do the one and can't do the other.
 
kidneyboy said:
Do it! You could probably lose either the 380 or 9mm too.
When you sell the .45 pistols list them here......
Click to expand...
Id kinda LIKE to dump the .380s too, but some of my carry rotation are tiny 380s which still offer concealment options even the smallest 9s dont. .380 price and availability has been markedly improving over the last year or so as well.

9 aint goin' anywhere, lol.
 
NIGHTLORD40K said:
Enabler!
So noted. :)
Click to expand...

Why keep things that one, you don't need or enjoy?

I think alot of people buy guns just to buy guns.
I buy stuff that interests me and I enjoy shooting. I don't even remotely have the collection in terms of sheer numbers as some people on this forum, but I have some VERY nice stuff.

Keep what you enjoy, let the others that collect dust go.
 
NIGHTLORD40K said:
but my heart says NO
Click to expand...
.......you know what they say......."insert relevant quote of choice here"

Im on a par down spree at the moment...and honestly as long as the guns go to a good home, much like puppies, I really don't bother me letting anything go.....and I can always buy something else that interests me later!
 
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As far as "my head says yes, my heart says no". I've been through a similar revolution. I can't say I don't regret it, but I got rid of all my 7.62x39, 7.62x51, .45acp, 10mm and even though silly because I kept my .38spl, I did away with a cpl .357's. I just figured even though the money goes in one hand and out the other, there were just too many cartridges to keep up with and I could consolidate and make 9mm, .223 and a couple few others work and would be easier to stock up and shoot more, etc...

I wish I had kept all those guns but it's not like I miss them because they actually served any practical purpose, I regret selling every gun I ever had except for a Remington 770 but I definitely get the impulse to consolidate and it probably makes practical sense, who really needs 17 different cartridge/calibers?
 
At one time I probably had close to a hundred guns. I’d pull them out a couple times a year, oil them and fondle them, then put them back for another six months. When paying an insurance rider for about $1,000 to cover their value, I came to the realization that I was holding onto them for no rational reason.

Currently I’m down to a couple hunting and varmint rifles, a couple pistols, couple AR’s, and a .22. When I get a twinge of regret for letting go of some of them, I realize that even if I’d have kept them I still wouldn’t be using hardly any of them.

I see the guys on American Pickers that bought something at an auction in 1966.

“You want to sell that?”

“no, I’m gonna fix it up some day”

Really?
 
If I've said it once, I've said it a dozen times. I'm a terrible collector. If I have a gun, I want to shoot it. With one or two exceptions, I don't keep guns I don't shoot, so your plan (@NIGHTLORD40K) seems perfectly reasonable to me. In terms of numbers, I'll never have the collection that some of the folks here on THR have, but I'm pretty happy with the ones I do have.
 
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