The purge

[AlexanderA]

This ("purging") is relevant mainly for someone who focuses his gun acquisitions on use. Not a problem for someone who collects and appreciates the guns as objects on their own.

 

[FROGO207]

Yep, not ready to part with any at this point yet. Some I haven't touched for years other than to clean/maintain. Still They are for a specific use or a backup for a well loved/used one that can't be had for a reasonable price anymore. There will always be a realitive that will enjoy what I have amassed after I no longer have use for them. Like the Glock in the desert advertisement LOL.

 

[Riomouse911]

I have reached critical mass and have run out of room in my gun safes. I was thinking about sending a few rarely fired guns to consignment land so I could make room for more desirable guns. This is because I can see the landing lights approaching on the retirement runway, and I am cutting power to the engines and lowering the flaps as I descend. Once I do go bye bye, my ability to buy “off roster” handguns in Ca. ceases. So, I am looking to get a few more neat guns before the wheels touch down and they’re even more unobtainable.

A friend of mine had to downsize his belongings when he and his fiancée moved into a condo. When he was complaining about no room for his gun safe that was in storage I gave him the idea of a small gun safe from Tractor Supply for his 4-5 guns. He bought one and it fits in his under-stairs closet perfectly.

He showed up to my house with a 30-something sized gun safe and said I could have it. I finagled space in the garage for this one, too.

Plans have changed. I have room in this safe for more guns, so as of this moment none will leave. .

Stay safe.

 

[Will Munny]

I have no intent of letting anything go under any circumstance. It will pass to the right heir when the time comes.

 

[MechAg94]

I wouldn't call what I did a purge, but I sold off some the last two years. Mostly stuff that I no longer wanted or had no personal interest in. Most were also impulse buys that I no longer wanted. I mostly used the proceeds to buy better guns that I wanted.

 

[Ed4032]

It’s odd to call my accumulation an actual collection but it is difficult to pare down.

 

[earlthegoat2]

I’m in the beginning process of purging too. I don’t even have that many though. 16 including 2 MLS that I hope to divest 5-6 and then buy 2 or three that will strategically fill some holes in my hunting and recreational shooting plans.

Selling is hard though. Technically, not emotionally. I want less than fair market value for a local sale but can’t seem to find any takers on the local classifieds.

Of course I want to sell them quickly and if I don’t get takers soon, I will gladly sell them for more than fair market value on an auction site. I’ve never had great luck with local sales even with more than fair pricing.

 

[lightman]

I sold about a dozen guns back during the Obama years when prices got crazy high and again in 2020 when the current pandemic started. The intentions were to sell the stuff that I didn't shoot or no longer cared for and replace them with a few that I might shoot more often. And at a small level I did. I bought a Remington 40X in 223, another AR, another Glock, I built a short barrel bolt gun in 308 and rebarreled another rifle. I have Sons that shoot so I will be keeping the rest of them.

 

[Electricmo]

I sold my whole collection and bought some fishing equipment. I have decided I hate anyone who has guns and a place to shoot them. No one should be able to own guns because I gave mine up.

 

[Weflyfast]

The definition of a fisherman.....a hook and a line on one end and a damn fool on the other!

.....no offense....

 

[HaroldB59]

This thread horrifies me. I did a bit of a purge several years ago due to necessity. As in, I was out of work and needed to eat. I look back on those days with regret...

 

[Jimbo80]

This thread horrifies me. I did a bit of a purge several years ago due to necessity.

You're not alone. Needing the money is the only good reason for a hobbyist to sell. I even have a hard time selling guns I buy with the intention of selling.

 

[Golfanaticshooter]

I've sold things throughout my life. Cars, guns, watches, only a couple did I need to sell for financial needs at the time. Never again! (Knock on wood) I suppose if I wanted it enough to pay for it, I will eventually rekindle the old flame. Ymmv.

 

[SchmidtRubin]

You can stick a lot more long guns in a safe if you remove the bolts, relieve spring pressure, stick the guns in sleeves, and remove the interior of the safe.
You can also sell them to me at a huge discount (wink emoji here)

 

[Old Dog]

Purge? No, sorry. I've sifted through my collection with wifey, one brother, one sister, both daughters and SILs -- there will be no purge, everyone has a piece or two or more identified that they like and will want. I think my stuff, which I've put a great deal of thought, research and funds into, will end up in good hands... And everything owned now is used frequently and much admired.

 

[LoonWulf]

You can stick a lot more long guns in a safe if you remove the bolts,

I do that...... Still if I want to get a new gun I have to get rid of one to make space.

 

[Carl N. Brown]

I have considered purging my accumulation of guns.

Some were gifts, though, and it is difficult to part with a gift. I hate ties, so I get gifts like an H&K USP .40 S&W, Yugo M70AB2 Kalasnikov variant, Raven MP25, 12ga Mossberg semi-auto.

I have loaned money to relatives, holding a gun from them, which I ended up being gifted with. I traded one "pawned and abandoned" 3.5" 12ga turkey gun that would never fit me physically or my shooting styles, and ended up with a Savage 24 .30-30/12ga combo which is a versatile gun, but I only occasionally shoot it with full-choke tube at turkey shoots. With improved-cyl choke tube it prints 12ga slugs with same poi as .30-30 rifle bullets. I really ought to pass it on to someone who could do more with it. But it fits a niche in the hypothetical "if you only had three guns..." question.

My holy grail guns, .22 Marlin 39A Mountie, Marlin 336 .30-30, M1 Carbine, C96 Mauser I bought for myself.

Then there's my late wife's .38 Taurus snub office gun. It gave her confidence when a strange man cased her office (turns out he was arrested later for armed robbery of another business). Can't see selling it.

My late brother won a Savage 94 12ga shotgun on a tip board at work, sold it back to the tipster because he wasn't a gun person, won it again and decided just to give it to me and be done with it. I shot it at a turkey shoot (12ga, 30" full choke, Tennite plastic stick, light as a feather, but 12 ga). My son got a kick out of shooting it at clays with friends at the old home place in the mountain. So it's hard justify purging that from the collection.

You get a lot of personal connection with guns, it is sometimes hard to justify getting rid of them.

 

[gunmechanic]

I have a rather large collection .I have inherited many as well, but the sentimental value and memories will never let me part with any of them.My son who is a sportsman and gun lover will inherit the collection ,and has instructions to not split them up after all they are a family of memories!

 

[Bartojc]

I would not call it a purge, but I have a couple rifles I have not shot in 10 or more years. They have to go. I put my first up for sale this year, prior I had resisted such non-sense. I do not have anything high end or collectable, at least not to me. I may land at fewer firearms of nicer quality, but who knows.

-Jeff

 

[Zaydok Allen]

I haven’t purged, but I have downsized considerably. It’s a liberating feeling.

 

[redneck2]

It’s odd to call my accumulation an actual collection but it is difficult to pare down.

Two ways....

There’s a wildfire coming towards your home. You only have time to grab one gun. Which would it be? Keep doing that until you get down to whatever you consider a live able number...

Or, suppose a gun is worth $500. You lay the gun on one side of the kitchen table, a stack of $500 on the other side. Which would you take?

 

[AlexanderA]

In reading this thread, I find repeated references to "gun safes." It seems that the conventional wisdom, now, is that every gun must be in a safe, and that if there is no more room in the safe(s), then the excess guns must be disposed of. I'm old enough to remember when the opposite attitude prevailed -- that guns should be on open display, in glass-front cases. This has been a sea-change. Now it's as if we're ashamed of our guns, and want to hide them from the world. Since attitudes precede actions, it looks like the antigunners are winning.

 

[SchmidtRubin]

In reading this thread, I find repeated references to "gun safes." It seems that the conventional wisdom, now, is that every gun must be in a safe, and that if there is no more room in the safe(s), then the excess guns must be disposed of. I'm old enough to remember when the opposite attitude prevailed -- that guns should be on open display, in glass-front cases. This has been a sea-change. Now it's as if we're ashamed of our guns, and want to hide them from the world. Since attitudes precede actions, it looks like the antigunners are winning.

It's not shame, it's concern some drug addict will make off with our guns... If I put any guns on display it's going to be non-functioning junk commercial guns that will hopefully keep them from reaching the good ones.

 

[MachIVshooter]

I still buy more of them than I sell. I'll let go of something when it no longer appeals to me, but I'm a collector, so practical use isn't a deciding factor for most of them. I have stuff I haven't taken to the range in over a decade, but I still enjoy looking at and handling them. The majority are C&R or antique. I get all gooey for nice old Marlin levers like the 1889 & 1893, or pump action Remingtons like the model 12, 14 and 25. I like having a Remington model 8, a Winchester 1907 and a Standard Arms model G, representing the earliest semi-auto rifles respectively using recoil, blowback and gas operation. I like my old top breaks or P&R Smiths, and Remington model 51s are some of the neatest vintage auto pistols, so I was thrilled to score an unfired .32 ACP version to go along with the .380 I reconditioned some time ago.

Different strokes. I understand people who only keep what's truly useful and minimize the number of different cartridges they need to stock. There's even a certain romance to the minimalist approach. But it ain't for me. Only time I long for a smaller collection is moving day.

 

[Jimbo80]

It seems Now it's as if we're ashamed of our guns, and want to hide them from the world.

I don't think it's shame or wanting to hide them. It's more to protect them from tiny hands, fire, and petty thieves. A safe, like door locks, does not protect valuables from serious thieves. In many cases they don't even slow them down.