Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Savage Collectors lifespan of a collection

Collectors spend time, effort, and money to amass a bunch of a
collectable (guns in our case). Then we die and there's an
estate sale and the guns scatter all over the place. Then the
guns become avaialable to become part of some other collection.

Enjoy em while you've got em I guess.

Al, Thats pretty much the way i see it, i'm just keeping them nice for someone else later!! i ive still got my first model twelve winchester ,i got when i was 15 ,40 years ago got it off a neighbor whos grandfather bought it new in 1919. Don

One of the problems of not having any progeny is trying to figure out where your stuff should go before you go. Its not something I take lightly enough to let someone else decide.

Ya Must Be Gettin Younger Don!

It's already Divided Up Between the 3 I got,,,,
The Rest Will Go In to the Vault!!!!!
Gotta have Somethin to Do while I'am Laying around!!!!

Well ill be the 1st, to do this for any of you over 50, send them to me to care for! they will get a good home, snake oiled, and taken out into the sunshine now and then, some will be used to hunt with!!!! John and I will not even charge you!

You're all right!!

We're only caretakers.

My collection of everything from ML to Saturday Nights is inventoried and commented on as to utility and value. They and the loading stuff is for my wife's needs if something untoward happens. I have already noted the consignment shop nearby who will handle all the showing, and they are honest about it all, I have bought 4 or 5 guns there from consigners.

There are a couple guns I have I would sure to like to talk to. All I know is one (a '23 Remington 30) has been cut shortened for a (boy?), and then has spacers added, professionally. The other is a 99 from '52, almost cut up by the widow until she thought better of it. In my imagination these were someone elses treasures through lots of good hunts. The two things I would like is: to know where and how it was used, and then have the previous owner know that someone else treasures them, too.

Neither of my daughters has any interest in guns. Hopefully, I can get my (20 month old now) grandson interested so I can leave them to him.

My only son will be 31 this coming sunday. I have gone on and on and on about the spiritual worth of my 99's and how he is supposed to somehow send them with me when I go...If he cannot find a way , he should treat them as if I am watching. My real concern is what will happen to them when HE is gone! There will probably not be an AMERICA to worry about by then....What do you think? I just realized I have spent more time than a sane person should thinking about this!(P.s. I reload for and shoot every 99 I have, which is every caliber made in 99.)

If you take them out and use them instead of just looking at them, I bet you will be "with" them a lot longer.. But you will have to live w/ that scratch or two..

A local auctioneer here has gun auctions fairly often and sells a lot of collections (or 'accumulations')and consignments. I often wonder what his record is, IE: how many times he has sold a particular gun.

The cross section of people who accumulate guns often amazes me. There are some who can't imagine owning a gun unless it gets hunted and others who have a collection of safe queens that rarely see the light of day. The most interesting example I know is a guy I bought a Marlin from a while back. We got on the subject of another Marlin he had and he happened to mention he hadn't seen the gun in about 20 years. He explained that he had several safes that were placed one in front of the other. To get at a gun in one safe, you had to completely unload the safe in front of it, move it, and then you could open the safe behind. When I expressed my surprise - that he couldn't get at many of his guns without a huge hassle, he expressed surprise why I would see it that way. His comment was, "I know what I have in each safe and know what each gun looks like, so why would I need to get at them?" But, my question, is why own them then? Does this collector's attitude make sense to others?

Having too big a collection can be a liability.

I'm not arguing with you Jed, but I am wondering in what ways you are thinking?

I Know!

I just finished dividing my guns into three safes and delivering a safe to each of my children in preparation for my two years in the jungle. Hoping they'll come together again at some point.

I call it an attractive nuisance.
Can't leave the house for extended periods,with a secure feeling.
Fire scares me.Theft scares me.
I've owned some of the nicest Savages ever made,and I couldn't display them around the house to look at.Had to keep them locked-up.WTH good are they,if I can't look at um,show um off.

Bottom line is...they is all just stuff.