16ga.com ~ View topic - Gun collecting: more guns or better guns?

Joined: 16 Mar 2013 Posts: 162 Location: York, PA

This isn't about whether a Remington 870 is more effective at dispatching a pheasant than a highly appointed European double gun.

I love hunting and shooting sports, Despite my belief in the "fear the one gun man" principle, I also love reading about, admiring, handling, and owning guns of all types. I appreciate the beauty, technology, craftsmanship of firearms, both old and new.

When I was 12, my dad bought me a .22 rifle. When I was 16, I saved up enough money to buy a 20 gauge Ithaca Model 37 Featherweight. I picked up a Remington 700 .270 Win in my early 20's to deer hunt with. Over time I have acquired couple more guns... maybe not always increasing in quality, but filling some sort of perceived gap in my slowly growing and modest collection. Recently, I've sprung for a nicer gun or two, but still haven't ever paid more for any single gun than I have for the cheapest of my old beater car/trucks when I was young.

I'm fortunate to have been able to afford what I have, but am not independently wealthy and that money tree seed that I planted hasn't sprouted yet. I can either choose to have a smaller number of nicer guns or potentially a few more less nice guns. I will never part with that .22 that my dad bought me, or my Model 37 that I bought with my paper route money, but I'm starting to rethink how much enjoyment there is with having X number of guns left back in the safe when I'm out hunting/shooting, as opposed to having a smaller number of great guns that really trip my trigger.

I'm happy for those of you that can afford both more and better guns, and certainly respect those that do more with less. That being said, I'm curious about whether any of you guys that have a collection of guns have had similar thoughts about less being more? Did you just cull the herd or did you consolidate and upgrade? Do any of you really prefer having a different gun for each occasion, or do you find yourself continuing to use the same gun over and over?

Joined: 13 Dec 2006 Posts: 694 Location: MN

IMO...there are two styles of gun collecting....buying what pleases you or trying to beat the market. I buy what pleases me and let the chips fall as they may.

At three weeks short of 68 years old I no longer look to quantity for happiness. I'm slowly selling off the rifles and guns that I no longer use often enough to justify keeping and have no emotional attachment to. In three days my wife (who also shoots, often better than me) are going to London for a week. We have scheduled a tour of Purdey's Long Room and will visit other gun makers and shooting suppliers while there. I've decided to spend my money on experiences and after the week in London we're going to Wales for five days of driven shooting. Possession can go away but memories last a lifetime.

Yes, we also fly fish.

Life is good.

We have lots of memories.

Joined: 16 Mar 2013 Posts: 162 Location: York, PA

Joined: 26 Apr 2010 Posts: 3177 Location: NCWa

You missed the best category: More Guns, Better Guns.

Joined: 16 Mar 2013 Posts: 162 Location: York, PA

Member Joined: 27 Jun 2012 Posts: 1113

I can't vote for either of those options after thinking hard about my 16 ga SXS collections. My preference for single triggers and POW or open pistol grip stocks severely limits what guns will fit in my collection. I keep buying nice guns that I will use, but can't seem to part with any of the older guns in my safes. So after a lot of waffling back and forth I'd say I'm trying to acquire nicer guns and more of them, but only guns I will use. I've resorted to special ordering guns such as a DeHaan (28 ga with unbelievable wood), a 16 ga Ugartechea model 257 SEL, and a 16 ga Dickinson Estate trigger plate round action. I restocked a Zabala made 16 ga Tristar Brittany with Turkish walnut resulting in a $3000 stock on an $800 gun, but it is a quail killing machine and I always get compliments from the other hunters on how nice it is. I just acquired a pristine Parker Hale Ugartechea boxlock with nice engraving and coin finished receiver that has 26" barrels choked .007" and .010". Ought to be a dandy quail gun. Can y'all see where this is headed? My wife certainly can.

I don't have "collections"; my stuff falls more accurately under "accumulations". That's true of my shotguns, fly rods, banjos, guitars, et al. As someone else here said, I buy what I like, and don't much care about perceived value, status, etc. To paraphrase the old saying, "I don't know much about ____ (insert whatever), but I know what I like."

*Last edited by tramroad28 on Thu Nov 17, 2016 9:50 am; edited 1 time in total*

Neither choice listed.

I much prefer continually increasing the memories of a couple favored scatterguns.
Fewer, I find, is better.

*I should add that, for me, quality is built from memories.

Joined: 01 Oct 2007 Posts: 962 Location: Minnesota

For 35 years I was in the "more" guns category, but switched to higher quality the past few years. I have sold I suppose 10 guns and bought four that are a lot higher quality.

Joined: 08 Mar 2016 Posts: 120 Location: South Dakota

I've been thinking about having x number of guns just sitting in my safe too, especially after this year so far with my gran lightning I can't seem to miss. Should I just use this gun for everything? Maybe but I'd still like a safe full of guns high quality or not.

Guest

Small rotation of quality. Bases covered. Smile when I grab one.

I seem to have a $1200 threshold. I can't bring myself to expose guns that cost more than that to risk of damage. For me, 3 $1200 guns would all get used, but 1 $3600 gun wouldn't. Lucky for me, my brain is stuck on purchase price rather than replacement cost.

Phil

Joined: 12 Mar 2012 Posts: 684 Location: Ontario

I am transitioning after about a dozen years from more to better. Just sold three guns, two of which I really liked, to afford the acquisition of one significantly better quality shotgun. My reasoning on the two I like that I sold is that when the kitty is filled back up again, they are guns relatively easy to replace with a like model. The one I bought is a rare find.

I got up to about 20 SxS. I think I'm moving to about 10 guns of better quality, each of which has purpose, is somewhat unique in the assortment and for whatever reason (beauty, quality of craftsmanship, sentimentality) speaks to me emotionally. I want to love the guns I own.

I can say for sure I have 4 of the 10 already.