How do you collect? In other words, what direction has your cartridge collecting taken, or do you buy randomly? I have spent the last 15 months simply trying to obtain the more common sporting cartridges, but have also bought alot of handgun rounds and military rounds which I am yet to list. I have also started into Rimfire cartridge boxes, and have a preference for the .30/30 centerfire boxes.

Most of you guys have extensive collections spanning decades, and I've noticed some of you prefer a certain caliber or seems mostly on the IAA have an interest in military cartridges. What is your primary branch of collecting and why the interest in that catergory? .DT

A long-time collector told me , many years ago , " the one dollar cartridges will be one dollar cartridges in twenty years time , the ten and twenty dollar cartridges will be a hundred or two hundred dollar cartridges in twenty years time "

And he is completely correct . Pick up those common cartridges when you see them , but buy good quality , scarce/hard to find when you can as well . The rare ones will be your future investment .

Always remember that no matter how big the collection , 80% of the value is in 20% percent of the items.

If i lived in the USA I would have a big collection of black powder sporting , early US military , military experimentals , and as many patent ignition and transitional cartridges as I could afford. I do that from here anyway but the supplychain is pretty patchy , hence my not having added anything interesting for several years now .

And buy as good a library of referance books as you can . You cant have every cartridge but you can have a referance book that shows it and gives its history .

This will sound bad but dont buy a copy of Barnes "Cartridges of the World " It really is a crappy referance work , even as a starting point .... but thats just my humble opinion....

and have fun

Dirty 30
Buy what "floats your boat" (or as I call it "the chub factor").
Collect what makes you happy. If your interest changes down the road than your just like the rest of us.

Me, I'm a general collector, and I fully agree with Muzza about getting the better ones when you can (you can do a decent "common" collection with donations from your local gun ranges). Of course it was probably the same gentleman that coached both of us when we got started.

I started out trying to be a money collector , but I have finally admitted to myself that I suck at that. Now I just buy cartridges that catch my eye at the time. Still dont have much of a "common" collection , but I do have a smattering of rare stuff , a handfull of really rare critturs , and one or two very rare specimens.
And I have met a bunch of nice people , been to some interesting places , and told/heard some very amusing stories. Its been a fun ride , long may it continue...

There are all sorts of collectors...some just collect empty boxes,some only want full boxes,some don't care,some want one particular caliber in every variation under the sun ...22 boxes are hot items,and it gets so wierd that the collectors want the different printing variations of each box ,from the same year ....and 22 boxes can get pricey ...I collect single shells,one of every shell that was produced for the public to purchase,some wildcats,some shotshell,some boxes ...etc BUT most cartridge collectors are Headstamp collectors" looking for the smae cartridge with different headstamps,the most scarce headstamps like "Robin Hood Arms", from Swanton Vt ,bring a premium price....try findinng a 22 JGR...I have one ,and I have a real old 600 nitro that is worth over $100.00,and some civil war rounds,Henry,Maynard,Burnside,Ballard,Sharps,Bullard,Spencer and so on .....it never ends...and I am behind on the newer stuff ,like the Ruger Compacts ,and I don't have one Lazzeroni (sp) as I collect only loaded shells ,so shipping is expensive,and so are the shells I'm seeking ...

If you are curious check out my auctions at auctionarms.com (Bigbird34).....I have sold a lot of shells there .

Enjoy,Bigbird34