Thinning the herd.

Type of guns of really based on geographical location. When I was in SC and FL I had these different hunting rifles for that type of shot opportunity. Majority set up for shooting animals within a max of like longest shot being 200 yds, don't take a lot. But when I moved to NM I realized very fast I needed rifles capable of way longer ranges so I moved most of them I had and got custom rifles. Now all I have is LR custom rigs and will be moving back home to SC where majority of them are useless lol. U know what u need and u know what u don't use. Move the ones u don't need and get more suited for what u can utilize and don't look back brother! It's just guns, the full custom ones we have now will be outdated in a couple of years. Guns are bad as computers and cell phones lol.
 
I had about 12 rifles a couple years ago, I am down to 5 nice outfits, putting a 25-06 and a 260 up for sell to buy a 6.5 prc - so I will have 4 - 223, 6mmCM, soon to be 6.5 PRC and a 270wsm. Several of those I recently dumped were 300 mags (rum, wby, wm) and a 325wsm. After I saw the 270wsm hammer elk, I decided to dump my big mags.


I am only in my 30's, but don't see the point in having guns that dont get shot unless there is sentimental value. Instead of giving my kids my old guns I have been buying them their own as gifts- something cool that they can be proud of and they have input in. My 12 yr old is so proud of his 6.5 creed with the zombie green boyds at one stock - way more exciting than my old savage 110 270 that i bought when i was 14 that I could have given him instead.
 
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i've got 17 guns and 2 that are in the process of being built. i dont think i have enough to thin them out yet. plus, i've got 2 boys and plan to hand them down to each of them as they get older. but i do have some that never get shot. if the right opportunity knocked, i'd get rid of some of them.
 
I'm overflowing but part of the issue is that I'm the only member of my generation of the family to keep up a long tradition as a hunter and outdoorsman, so 120 years of family firearms have methodically found their way into my safe. My great-grandmother's Remington Model 14 pump 25 Remington just arrived, saved from being turned in in California. The family heirlooms won't leave.

I hunt an extreme variety of habitats, so I also have a need for everything from a 44 Ruger Carbine and 35Rem Marlin 336 to a 338 Edge and a few in between.

I have not overshot the "want", in fact I'm at the spot where when my wife wants a gun tip for a birthday there is only one left on the list. After than I have nothing else I want.

I have sold a few "tool" guns when they have out-lived their usefulness....a budget muzzleloader I later upgraded, a G26 intended for my wife she no longer used, a Mossberg 500 I got as a kid but never really liked. But I don't see any safe clearing in my future.
 
I probably need to thin the heard but figure that'll happen after retirement... might change my mind but for now it's my 401G. Have sold many guns over the years but the only one I regret selling was a western auto purchased... probably birch stocked Marlin 336... nothing special about it except the John Wayne medallion on the stock... keep my eyes peeled for one but haven't come across one in over 30 years of looking. Was my first rifle but I just had to have a browning Safari BAR... sometimes it is surprising what you miss
 
This is for your comic relief. I'm not a collector (of anything), and only use my few rifles for hog and coyote hunting, and an assortment of handguns for self-and-home protection. But the two that I will not part with are 1) my .22 rifle that I saved my pennies for and ordered out of the Sears and Roebuck catalog at age about 6. And I wondered why they had warnings printed around the edge of the page that blared "Firearms Not Sold to Minors!" I felt sorry for those coal miners who they wouldn't allow to have guns. That was about 1950, still have it, and it's still very accurate. It still gets the call for armadillos tearing up the yard. Bolt action J. C. Higgins, if any of you are old enough to remember the Sears branded sports items. Built by Stevens, I think. And 2) is a .22/410 over and under that was the only gun my dad ever owned for having around the farm. A Stevens from some unknown time before I was hatched. A truly plastic stock (none of that modern composite stuff!) It gets the call for snakes and such critters. It has paint splashed on it, and most self respecting shooters wouldn't be seen with it. I wouldn't let it go for anything.
 
Sold a few guns over the years. Havent regretted any of them. I have never sold any guns I got from my dad or grandfather or any guns I actually hunt with regularly. TC contenders and barrels glad to be gone. Glocks and xd's how many 9mm or 40s&w pistols does a guy REALLY need. 45-70, im a big guy but if im getting hit that hard I want some more reach.

Never selling my 30-06, 22-250, first AR15, or 357 mag.

Having fewer guns and especially fewer cartridges to load has made my reloading bench a much nicer place to work as well as more money to feed the rifles I shoot a lot.
 
Ive collected guns for 40 years. I have bought and sold lots but it is to the point I have no more space. I was injured in the military and had to get rid of all the big boomers about 10 years ago. I replaced them with guns I wanted in the latest greatest whiz bang caliber. Truth be told if I had to grab a gun to go hunt anything right now it would be my ultralight 257 WTBY mag. Its killed everything from prairie dogs to elk. Laser accurate and tolerable recoil not to mention light weight. I built (read had built) both my kids a custom rifle when they were 18 (HS Graduation). I am at a place where I am going to do some serious thinning of the herd as well. I will keep the rare valuable rifles dont ask me why and ones my dad and grandfather gave to me. All the whiz bang calibers I had to have well they havent been shot in years and it seems everytime I do go hunting I grab that old 257 WTBY ultralight and take it...
 
I've been doing the same and getting ready to thin out some more. I'll keep a couple AR's for varmint hunting, 308 win, maybe get a 300 WSM or WM, or just keep my 30-06. On the fence for a 260 AI. Once all said and done I'll have a more dedicated mile rifle in the mix.
 
There are a few I have regretted I sold but did It because I needed the money at the time. Moving in 8 days. Not selling anything while here. I took deviders out of my small safe to get in more rifles. I just need a bigger safe period. Glad i don't have to move a big one now though...
 
I also had 20+ guns n 3 boys/men … ask them if they want the guns and that they would get 3 first .. Big game rifle /shotgun /.22 LR .. just one boy want them .. the other 20 I sold … if the other 2 boys want gun later I will pay them the money I received as a gift to start their choice … all that I kept was the same 7mm Mag/Rem semi Shotgun / Rem 597 semi .22LR … no regrets but a weight lifted off shoulders and the down sizing continues, did the same with fishing gear too my boys … my dad did the same
 
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