I've long been in on the more is better category, but I am starting to reverse course. Thinking of selling off a large part of the battery and building up a high quality batch of 5-6 rifles and then applying any extra funds to hunts...

What do all you all do?

Whatcha goinna sell?

Don't worry, all you all will be the first to have a swing at them...

I used to have around 20 average factory rifles.
I much prefer one high grade custom that fits me well and that I have absolute pleasure and cofidence in.

I'm the worst person to ask but I build so many for the practice.

If you aren't using them all then maybe having fewer nicer ones and hunting more is the way to go.

quote:

Originally posted by 9.3x62:
I've long been in on the more is better category, but I am starting to reverse course. Thinking of selling off a large part of the battery and building up a high quality batch of 5-6 rifles and then applying any extra funds to hunts...

What do all you all do?

Same here.....I'm slowly reducing the herd. I had over 40 rifles a couple years ago and I'm working my way to ten in total...handguns, shotguns and rifles. Culling isn't as easy as one might think however.

I don't have a lot of funds, so I decided that although More NIcer is best, fewer nice ones is second place. I had/still have more than I need in the medium bore magnum area and am whittling down. Later I can add some practice ones to the safe like Mike does. (although I don't have nearly the discipline or talent he does.)

Red

I'm somewhere in between. On the one hand, I'm sort of a collector. On the other, there's only soo much room in the safe... I'm working toward a happy medium.

Then again, if I ever do finish building everything I'd like to, I may just have to buy another safe...

I'm working my way down as well..I have had over 50 rifles and just see no need any longer. I want the ones I have to fit my frame and my tastes. I have lost interest in anything the accountants can build and market. Sure wish I had all the $$ I spent on rifles over the years. I'd have about 4 rifles and a couple of months on safari! Probably what we all learn is that there is precious little difference in so many of the cartridges and rifles that we will use whatever we like and to heck with the folks who keep reinventing the wheel.

All of these statements are so true... I have been down this road and I am a big supporter of fewer/nicer rifles. My biggest problem is that I am picky and no "average" rifle fits me or isn’t without the right sights, barrel length, finish, stock, rate of twist. I just got sick of it... sold most of them, laid out what I would be happy with and spent the money. Now I see that I have actually saved money, I am happier, and spend more on hunts and other equipment.

I will turn 53 next month. In the last 6 months I probably sold 20 guns I had owned for years. I ordered my first custom (Hein). I may order another at the end of the year. My rifle collection is down to less than a dozen and I see myself as selling even a few more to fund another custom or two. Seems like the older I get the less I am concerned about quanity as I am quality

I hear you guys. Over the I've had well over 200 rifles, though never more than 2ish dozen at any one time. But lately I feel "been there done that" creeping in more and more. I'd like to get down to a half dozen or so, but I am having trouble mounting the where-with-all to pull the trigger and sell a bunch...

It is the natural course of things. I have gotten rid of most of my Remingtons and all of my Rugers (save one) recently. I only use Winchesters as Donor actions now.

Not to worry: reduce the herd, but increase the quality of the remaining stock.

LD

9.3 X 62, More than anything HAVE A DEFINATE PLAN FIRST! Before you sell something that you might regret, stop and think. Have a definate item or list that you are working towards, and pimp out several safe queens to earn you the new love. I think we all go down this road, and I am right there with you. Maxed out at 70 some odd, down to a mere 3 dozen now!
Good luck.

I'm selling off guns I have duplicates of, guns that can always be replaced, Swedish Mausers, SxS project guns, .22 Remington pumps, etc.

Keeping rare finds like the 3 digit 1885 High Wall, 5-1/2# German 16ga., Model 64 Deluxe, guild Mauser with full rib.

Keeping anything I had custom work done to. Eventually whittle it down and end up with interesting guns, ones I won't get tired of examining at home or afield.

9.3 X 62

The saying goes; you get what you pay for. Go for the good stuff.

Roland

I starting traveling the same paths several years ago. I never had quite the quantitiy of long guns some of you did but I began to realise that I would gain much more enjoyment from a few really nice, high quality, dependable rifles than I would get from haveing dozens of budget rifles.

I have nothing against budget rifles. I have owned several and they worked fine and shot goo to great. My true desire though was to have one or more customs. It dawned on me that I could in fact realize my dream if I refrained from buying wants and saved the money I would spend accumulaing in stead of spending it that I could quickly save up the money for a custom.

So I stopped trying to accumulate and started saving. I only had two or three I could or would sell off so I changed thinking early in the game. All my other rifles have sentimental value: firs rifle, first deer rifle, Father's rifle, Grandfather's rifle, etc. Those stay in the safe. The others are expendable.

When I saw the title of this thread, it was deja vu all over again. Precisely my thinking. Other than a couple of sentimental and/or collectible pieces, I am going to buy two rifles: a breakdown .375 H&H (perhaps by Duane Wiebe) and a double gun in .470 NE. I'll probably wait until I have those before selling the existing inventory though!

i like guns... I get one, shoot it, and send it down the road... to let someone else enjoy...

i used to have a collection of "cheap" stuff.. but have improved those, either by making nice sporters out of plain things, selling some nice pieces to people who would keep them as nice pieces (example, sold a never excellent 1903, that some dork had drilled holes in.. i got it that way... but couldn't bring myself to tear it down into a sporter, as i had planned.


my advice... make a list of the guns you REALLY want... but don't buy/build things that you won't take out and hunt.

for example, my 376 steyr is a really nice gun... (i like steyrs) with a reallyreally nice piece of english on it... some guys wouldn't take it out...

mine rides on a 4 wheeler, gets drug through brush, and used like it was a $299 savage in 30-06... because i built it to hunt with!!

jeffe

I pretty much agree with Jeffeosso,with a couple of added comments....

As I age, I have realized that I can't necessarily tell the "really nice rifles" from the cheapos just by price, reputation (hype?) and looks.

I have owned as many as 700 guns at one time...am now down to a fraction of that. I used to collect Mannlicher-Schoenauers, Commercial Mausers, English stalking rifles, double rifles, single shots, some specific "calibers" like .375 NE rimless & .375-x2-1.2" flanged, etc., etc. I guess the longest I stuck with any one collection was when I collected Dan'l Fraser rifles.

Anyway, over the years some funny things happened. Sure, some of those expensive rifles which I mostly no longer have were, in retrospect, "favorite" rifles. My Simson .470 with 100% action engraving coverage was a pet, for instance.

But,so were a couple of Plain Jane Savage M99 250-3000's I bought used. One of the best (as far as fun goes) rigs I ever had was a Savage Model 219, with barrels in .22 Hornet, .30-30 & .410 gauge. It went places with me most of the other ones never got out to see.

I also once collected European military handguns, but as I look back, the one-hander I miss the most was an S&W 1950 Target in .44 Spcl. which I bought over the counter in the late 50's.

So, I really recommend you heed what others have told you above. Have a plan. Decide where you want to get to, and then only sell enough of your current guns to get where you want to be.

Maybe you just have the every 5 years "blahs". If so and you sell a bunch of stuff you really didn't need to, you will almost assuredly live long enough to deeply regret it.

P.S.: It is "Okay" to sell guns for non-gun stuff, if it adds genuine enjoyable experiences to your life. Whether a Mongolian hunting trip for Ibex, or a little cheapo Formula "Vee" racing car, other things are there to be lived.

After years of obsessing, I've concluded that the "perfect" 6-rifle battery is not a constant for me. As I learn new stuff, have new experiences etc, I can't help but tweek the "ideal" battery again and again.

About all I do know at this point is I will start with pre-64 or post 64 CRF 70 actions (already have them all), pac-nor barrels (CM), NECG sights and QR rings/bases for all, and a high quality smith like Mark Penrod. So far I've zeroed in on

260, 280, 338-06, 9.3x62, 9.3x64

but who knows how long that will last...

I've got a beat up old 722 in 257 Roberts (aftermarket barrel) that will stay. Hell of a shooter and been on too many hunts to sell. Plus it isn't worth much in plain old $...

Decisions, decisions...

I have some expensive guns mainly winchester 21's & 4 good wood stocked custom rifles but rarely use them. My main working rifles are just lower mid range rifles remington 700ks's m7 mc or Carolina Precision fiber glass stocked rifles. The shot gun I use the most as a breetta m390 in a plastic stock, I shoot it well & it seems indestructable. I hunt by myself about 45 days a year mainly on a working farm on the savanna river & would rather kill a 120 class deer there than a 220 on a guided hunt up north. Hunting out west is fun once to see what it's like but mostly you are just followling a guide & doing what he says. To kill a good deer on our farm you have to know the land, deer and spend time on task.

I don't see as well as I used to and my hand isn't quite as steady as it was 47 years ago when I got my first gun, but I go for guns for their function rather than their price or looks. Other than a couple of shotguns, I don't have anything in my safe that cost or is worth more than maybe $800 but they all hunt.

9,3x62, I think your plan has a lot of merit, I wish that I were mature enough to follow the same path! My problem is that I just really enjoy guns, almost all guns. I wish I could narrow my interests enough to only want one type.
I have decided that if I want any really nice guns I'm going to build them for myself. I've gotten a lot more pleasure out the the couple nice guns that I've built for myself than the couple nice guns that I've bought.
I'm trying to whittle down a little bit to where I do have a core of "keepers" a few that are trying to earn their way into the "keeper" catagory and maybe a few more that I'll flirt with and then sell.
I may have a few goodies to sell if I can make it to the Wannemacher show in Tulsa.............DJ

I have a lot of firearms... a lot. However I constantly find myself shooting the same ones while the rest gather dust. Been having similar thoughts lately myself. Now that I know I'm not alone it makes even more sense.

dj,

I've read a number of your posts and find myself in agreement on this. I think Mossy Oak has it right. Its not a passion, its and obsession. While reading the posts on this topic I made a quick count. I'm down to 40 centerfire rifles and 13 pistols not counting rimfires and shotguns. My problem is I've sold all I can bear to part with, and I keep finding more I don't want to do without.

So little time, so many rifles

GWB

Quality beats quantity in just about everything, including firearms.

I've decided that I want a couple of great rifles, and less just to fill the safe. I just turned 27 so I guess I might be ahead of the curve a little coming to this conclusion.

After much thought and reflection recently I've decided that as much as I love rifles and shooting, I love hunting more. I'm a pretty simple man of pretty simple means. My fiancee bought me a great long range custom hunting rifle (Ruger #1 in 6.5-284 with awesome stock) and I'm in the process of customizing a CZ 550 in 9.3x62 to cover my larger game hunting needs. If I can add a nice lightish rifle for backpack hunting into the mix in the next couple of years, I think I will be all set. Actually I have a nice 96 mauser (my first centerfire rifle) that I am working on right now that I might get turned into that lightish backpack rifle. Now if God will give me the chance to put them to use across the country and across the globe, I'd say I could die a Really happy man

Brad,

I would say you are definately ahead of the curve and on the path to truely enjoy your few high quality rifles on many fine hunts.

Congrats on your upcomming nuptuals and on a fine catch who not only supports you shooting and hunting but also buys nice rifles for you.

I myself am blessed with a wounderful wife who supports my hobby and bought me a nice custom Mauser 98 a few years ago.

I sold off all of my factory hunting rifles and had four hunting rifles built,two in 7mmstw and two in 300ultramag.I keep a factory 700 in 22-250 for a varmint rifle.I never used some of my rifles enough to justify owning them.