Was shooting pistols with my dad and sister yesterday. Collectibles got brought up at some point. Dad said heck with collecting guns and not shooting them. He said shoot your guns and collect $100 bills. What say you?

I don't buy collectibles.
I buy guns to shoot them.
Yes, I have a few interesting and unusual pieces, but nothing of a quality that I'm afraid to shoot them because it may cause them to loose value. To me there's no "value" in that.

i figure I pretty much ruin the collector value of all my knives and firearms that might "qualify". But what the hey, I bought them to enjoy. Here is a thought. I can take my wife, kids and grandkids out for a fancy dinner that lasts a couple hours, or buy expensive libation or tobacco, which also is a consumable, or I can enjoy a firearm for an indeterminate length of time, and if purchased at a value, can usually let it follow someone else home, many times at a profit.

ya!

GWB

I'd agree.

Some guns are truly collectable and carry a big value. Some guns are built to be works of art although they are functional firearms.


For me, guns are made to shoot and hunt with.




A lot of guns that were somewhat collectable and brought good money may not be a worthwhile investment in the near future. I just don't see the younger generations caring about say a pre64 winny or something. It'll be interesting to see what happens with markets such as that. Hard to say what the market will do. I never thought I'd see bricks of primers bring 10x retail but here we are. Lol.

I have a lot of collectable rifles that I've never shot and probably never will shoot. Some were inherited, some were gifts from friends and family, and some were purchased. I like rifles, so if I see one that I want, I usually buy it and whether I ever shoot it or not, it represents an itch that has been scratched.

I say the same

I would consider something like an original unfired engraved Colt revolver as a collectible and wouldn't fire it. Anything else is to be enjoyed.

Depends on what you call collectable. Lots seem to be obsessed with acquiring every variation of pretty plain and common stuff. That’s a “collection” of non-collectables to me. Even some pretty nice ones like the Browning Miroku repros, may have some collector value if sufficiently virgin, but they’re just nice guns to me. If one falls into my hands, it’s getting dirty.

I know a somewhat well-to-do guy who fancies those Winchester 94 commemoratives from the 60’s on. They leave me cold. Different strokes.

I could give two fugks about a Winchester commemorative model 94

It’s good for one’s soul to have a couple special guns, whether or not the owner chooses to shoot them really doesn’t matter.

Mea Culpa,

I probably have a rather plebian definition of what is a "collectable". I do know that should I ever decide to sell off my collection of firearms and edged weapons, it will definitely be of financial assistance in my dotage.

ya!

GWB

Pretty much describes my thots too.

Jerry

Not shooting is like having a trophy wife and not -----

BTDT. Said good riddance 22 years ago.

I don’t have anything I don’t shoot except a 1873 Winchester.

I've got an old Smith and Wesson model 38-2. It's a blued airweight bodyguard in 38 Special. I hope to wear every single bit of blue off of it before I pass it on to my son. He'll get the other guns too, but there will be very little doubt which one I carried/used the most. It may mean more to him or it may not. Collectible means beans to me.

I have a firearm accumulation not a collection - I won’t keep it if I don’t shoot it…..doesn’t matter how unique or rare (if it was that rare or unique I probably wouldn’t buy it). I use a Winchester 1873 made in 1889 for lever action silhouette in .32-20 and an original Marlin 1895 deluxe in .40-65 also. I take care of my guns but they are all or have been shot. No offense to those that do collect as I have lots of friends that do that too…..I just prefer to use them.

PennDog

At one time I had guns too valuable to me to shoot
Well I grew up
If I can't shoot it I don't want it

I walked into a local gun shop last Thursday the owner showed me 3 Colt 1911s I believe from the 60s never fired never racked new on boxes
One was a 9mm

They were beautiful and I complimented the owner
But to me useless
I prefer mine including my Colt 9mm that I have shot quite a bit
Much more fun than polishing and protecting

Hank

I had a master rifle maker tell me that once about one of his beautiful rifles that I said I would be scared to take his rifle out in the woods

Hank

I'm not a curator....

Yup. In addition to being, to my eyes, somewhat tacky-looking, they’re built on the worst of the 94 variants, post 64s with stamped parts, and whatever the Hell cheezy metal the receivers are made from. I’ll take an honest pre-64, one of the revised post-64s, or even one of the current Mirokus, safety and all. Miroku tweaked the action a bit for smoother running. Trigger pulls are heavy, I’ve read. The take-downs look dandy and use the original system, I think.

I inherited an unfired Colt Python which I haven't fired. Everything else is fair game to burn ammo. Someday, someone will just HAVE to HAVE that Python and that will be that.

Only the ignorant or very wealthy would pay top dollar for a rare unfired gun, and then go shoot it.

And, it seems a lot of people confuse a "nice gun with good looking wood," with "collectible."

JMHO

If it’s a true rare specimen I would agree. If there’s only a handful in existence or if it’s just super rare. If it’s say a Pre 64 Mod 70, though technically collectible I guess there are thousands of them I will shoot it.

[ /quote]

If it’s a true rare specimen I would agree. If there’s only a handful in existence or if it’s just super rare. If it’s say a Pre 64 Mod 70, though technically collectible I guess there are thousands of them I will shoot it.
[/quote]

I sure do.

Geedubya, I've seen pictures. I doubt anything you own could be considered "plebian"!

I have an old Colt 1917 that was a gift from my team when I retired. Shooting it brings great joy and is a relief from shooting "Tupperware guns" all the time.

My thoughts exactly. I've gone through the NIB to nice to shoot phase with both rifles and shotguns. I recently bought a 50's vintage S&W M18 that's NIB. It was priced better than some others that were used. I'll shoot it take good care of it and enjoy it. The only guns that might not return a profit are the custom rifles. But thats going to be my estates problem not mine and at the end of the day it's all profit to them anyway.

IMNSHO....the more I pay for something, the more I should shoot it.

Now if only the wind and rain would give me a weekend to shoot LOL

Shoot it. We are here for a very short time. It will be someone else's property soon.

If a gun is too valuable to shoot, it's out of my price range and would never be in my "collection". All the guns in my collection get shot. Otherwise, I have no reason to collect them.

Always wanted a NIB Jap Sweet 16 to beat the crap out of.

How about a Belgium Browning Sweet Sixteen.



I went with my dad to a gun shop in Baytown Texas in 1958 to pick it up. I was seven years old.



Only firearm that he ever bought as far as I know. Grew up shooting that shotgun. When I was 14 I had saved up enough money from mowing yards to have a "Poly-Choke" installed on the barrel, ignorant kid that I was. Can't believe he let me do that.



One of the ones that this "collector" will pass down.



and which I am still shooting.

ya!

GWB

GWB I bought the same gun (no polychoke) in 1968 at the age of 16 used for $150. I had that for 50 years and let it go for $1500. Dumb adult!!

Geedub strikes again! I don't know wether to cuss or admire you. You've got the nicest stuff. Maybe I should re-prioritize and start collecting.

I fixed up my late grandfather's Model 1901 10 gauge - made in early 1902. Have some shells for it and need to get out and shoot it. Hasn't been fired in probably 50-60 years.

Just curious how this would be "ignorant" and define wealthy? Guns are made to shoot, if you can afford it and you own it, let the lead fly if that's why you bought it.

I did that with a Colt .22 Diamondback in 1978. The gun had the 6" barrel and was supposed to be a limited edition. In or about 2001 I decided to shoot it and pass it on to my son. It shot like crap with 6" groups and I had to move the rear sight all the way to the right to get it on paper. I sent it to a "gunsmith" about 5 or 6 years ago and he cleaned out some lead from inside of the barrel and chamfered the muzzle. It did shoot better but not by much.

I had a friend in 1978 who bought a similar Diamondback as mine with the 6" barrel. His serial number was only a few thousand off from mine. He shot his right away and his shot like crap with 6" groups at 25 yards. He sent his back to Colt and they put a new barrel on it and turned his into a bullseye shooter. I should of taken that as a hint. Colt has only recently started making Diamondbacks but they were out of the revolver business for almost 40 years.

I recently found a new 6" barrel on GunBroker and bought it for $250 and I'm having Cylinder and Slide put it on the gun. As per the owner of Cylinder and Slide, he was fixing these revolvers for Colt back in the late 1970's and early 1980's. That is until Colt ran out of barrels. I can only hope that this barrel works and shoots like my 4" .22 Diamondback. I wonder just how many other 6" .22 Diamondbacks are out there with the same issue?

The moral of the story is simple: Shoot the dam thing and make sure it's good to go. To hell with saving them for the future. So far I have put $750 into the gun and the best I can get is a 5" group at 25 yards and I've owned it 43 years.

kwg

I bought a 6 inch Diamondback off GI several years ago. IIRC I paid $900 for it. When I got it I swear to God it was unfired. I just couldn't bring myself to shoot it. It layed in the safe wrapped up in an oily rag and I finally sold it for a lot more than I had in it.

With this logic seems there would be a market for high quality reproductions that don't fire - then the "ignorant" and "wealthy" could have their show pieces to brag on?! Really it's only money and I haven't seen where firing a gun and taking care of it hurts the value that much down the road.....had a Winchester collector buy an 1873 Deluxe from a friend of mine that had been hunted and shot some over the last 100+ years but was still in 95% condition and he payed top dollar at the time. I am convinced there are a whole lot more people out there today that worship mammon a little more than they should.

PennDog

They are made to be shot.
Shoot em.

I don't have the means, but if I did and bought one of those true collectibles, I'd have it to the range on the very first nice day. I might not hunt it (no guarantees), but I'd definitely shoot it.

Well said, sir.

I have no use for a NIB gun. I have no problem using a high condition "collectable" gun either. If it's well taken care of everyday use isn't going to hurt the value. The difference between 95% and 100% can't be measured in dollars vs enjoyment. The enjoyment will win out every time.