So what drives your gun purchases

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Hertervillian

Hertervillian

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What is that motivation? Matching the hatch each game animal has a specific gun ?
Or is it more a terrain thing dense woods, open prairie, mountains? Defense personnel, property, livestock, family. Ride for the brand, if Browning makes one I ought to have one. Historically significant, military comes to mind, but maybe it’s a buckskinner.

Confession time, I’m a I should have a gun of the type person. Pump shotgun, DA revolver, SA revolver, 1911, Carry pistol, Service pistol, lever action, AR, Bolt action, SxS shotgun, plinkers rifle and pistol. A pretty gun a beater

If a situation arises I like to find a pretty good solution in my own safe. The problem is I can imagine a lot situations.

Help me find another path to travel 😉
 
Hertervillian said:
What is that motivation? Matching the hatch each game animal has a specific gun ?
Or is it more a terrain thing dense woods, open prairie, mountains? Defense personnel, property, livestock, family. Ride for the brand, if Browning makes one I ought to have one. Historically significant, military comes to mind, but maybe it’s a buckskinner.

Confession time, I’m a I should have a gun of the type person. Pump shotgun, DA revolver, SA revolver, 1911, Carry pistol, Service pistol, lever action, AR, Bolt action, SxS shotgun, plinkers rifle and pistol. A pretty gun a beater

If a situation arises I like to find a pretty good solution in my own safe. The problem is I can imagine a lot situations.

Help me find another path to travel 😉
Click to expand...
A guy named Escalation Jones. ;)
 
I'm not a collector just a little bit of an accumulator. When I decided I wanted to hunt I bought a .30-06, a .22 & a 12 gauge. I thought that would cover anything I'd likely want to do. I have had a weakness for carry pistols. Always looking for a better compromise between cartridge, size & capacity.
Now I pretty much have what I need. & a couple of things that were bought just because I was curious or wanted one. I don't know when I'll buy something again. Right now there are only two things that I'm a little interested in. One is a 10mm pistol, the other a rifle chambered in a cartridge adequate for deer that is bit easier on the shoulder than my old aught six. Most likely I'll just put an aftermarket recoil pad on the old aught six & when I'm ready find myself a 10mm.
 
What drives my gun purchases? It literally depends on the day. I guess "opportunity" (which includes "price" ;^) is always a factor - if it isn't for sale or I can't afford it, it isn't going home with me. The rest is variable, but I've purchased guns just because I already had mags for them, and/or because I had ammo to feed 'em. Also on the list are historical context (for firearm & cartridge), ease of cleaning, and 'fun' factor (both shooting & reloading). Oh, and I look at serial numbers, too (especially for my small collection of 'nobody-cares-about' Cavalry Arms CAV-15 lowers ;^).

And finally, there's also pure random chance: I read an article about an oddball Ruger years ago, checked GunBroker when I finished reading, just for grins - and there was one listed! Put in a bid I could afford, and nobody else bid it up, so it's now my personal version of a 'barbecue gun' (nothing much to look at, but only about one per State out there, versus a gazillion engraved 1911s and SAAs)...
:)
 
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For me it started as a kid with football cards and baseball cards. Every boy in the neighborhoods would be buying packs of cards with gum in them. Nobody was happy until having a full set. Gum sometimes got chewed but mostly thrown away. If you had trouble finding certain cards, you either traded for the missing ones or had a "flipping" contest to try winning it. With age it carried over into guns. I stopped at 21 handguns. Why that number? I rationalized that one day I might be called upon to perform a 21-gun salute for the death of a friend and use each one of them. It actually saved me a lot of money to stop there. ;):cool:
 
My thought process...
First... Is it a caliber I already have? If yes that is good as there will not be an investment in added ammo supplies.
Second... No longer being a hunter, will it have a practical use? Home defense, CCW, or Range toy (dual uses is a bonus).
Third... Is it likely to have a continued spot in the collection? This is an attempt to pre-sort before a purchase to prevent a later move to the trade in or purge category of my collection. Yes, I have one, so this may be a fail point but I attempt.
Fourth... Has it been on "the list" for a long time or maybe it's just pretty? ... Um, this is where the impulse buy also occurs, such as reading recent articles, you-tube, forum threads, or general chatter at the gun club or store. The enablers we all know... Note: This more often involves accessories that now have shifted into the NEED category, but firearms purchases do fall here too. Um, er, ya, okay, my latest order that I just made from Davidson's which is at this moment on the way, falls here... but also passed the prior questions first.
Fifth... Wife approved for the budget or was there money burning a hole in my pocket? usually a 60/40 question. Sometimes it is easier to ask forgiveness rather than permission...
 
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well.... I upgraded my "bear rifle".... I started a micro collection of WW1 era pistols. (okay..I just added one)... and I have replaced a few guns I sold decades ago... true I "misappropriated" a few funds in the process.. but I may run for political office one day, so I'm getting my feet wet in that arena...
plus I asked my FFL how many guns I could buy, and he said he didn't care.. I took that as a mandate.......:rolleyes:
 
Thanks Frank, blame it on me (heck I can take it :eek: ;):D).

I started with my first handgun in 1974 (Ruger Security Six, 6", .357 Mag (low back) - cost me dearly - NIB $97.50) when I was a 2 striper in the USAF. I used it to shoot Bullseye matches in Sault Ste. Marie, MI. Then slowed down for a while but when I did buy a handgun it was a Ruger. Some of the early ones I had bought have been sold (a long time ago) but the were sold to get a newer model. 1989 started the increase. I was shooting PPC and built a PPC gun from a GP100 (more experience shooters told me no one builds a PPC gun from a Ruger. Then I let them shoot it 😳 and changed a lot of minds. Started picking up more Ruger DA's and a few other firearms (I own an ARMALITE AR-15 - 20"bbl, fixed carry handle, tapered round barrel, gas block/front sight with a bayonet lug). When I retired from the USAF in 1997 I started collecting Ruger DA's and have a few now (90+, at least 2 of each model Ruger has ever made, my Six series out numbers the rest of them). I do have my fair share of Ruger long arms also but at the end of the day I'm a Ruger DA guy.
 
Duplicity. I like to have rifle/pistol or rifle/revolver combos in the same caliber. So when I went to post my unfired 1980 Winchester 1892 .357 lever gun on here yesterday, what do I see at the very top of the classifieds? Watchman’s .357 Blackhawk for sale. On a spur-of-the-moment decision, I decided to keep my sweet little rifle and get a revolver in .357. Now I need to go buy some .357 ammo.
 
It’s interesting how many people don’t realize the lust they have for various guns. I am very susceptible to buying guns that I consider a good deal. Here in Alaska we have a Craigslist type of advertisement that includes guns. In reality my major temptation is, a good deal. Very difficult for me to turn down a good deal. But, if you include to that something that’s in excellent condition, I’m more than halfway there. I very seldom find something that meets the requirements. Today was one of those times. The advertisement was for a 2-3/4” stainless security six, less than 50 rounds through it. Who would believe that? Less than 50 rounds through it? It appears 50 rounds was on the high end. I made an offer that was in a range I could certainly live with. The gun is in excellent condition, certainly less than 50 rounds through it, no holster wear, I think I’m in love. Guns like this are few and far between.
It’s a 1982. No box but certainly like new.

I literally had no intention of buying a gun this month. Sometimes they just fall into your lap!
 
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kentucky yeti said:
Duplicity. I like to have rifle/pistol or rifle/revolver combos in the same caliber. So when I went to post my unfired 1980 Winchester 1892 .357 lever gun on here yesterday, what do I see at the very top of the classifieds? Watchman’s .357 Blackhawk for sale. On a spur-of-the-moment decision, I decided to keep my sweet little rifle and get a revolver in .357. Now I need to go buy some .357 ammo.
Click to expand...


Im the opposite

I want as many different calibers as possible
 
Same as music in a way. Needs to make me feel something, feel a way that I want to feel. And has to be utilitarian but look nice and be local, affordable, and justified. Add in a history that shows I can resell without loss, I buy. So what I have is generally nice, niche, and desirable. It's why I don't have as many as others.
 
Strawdog said:
My thought process...
First... Is it a caliber I already have? If yes that is good as there will not be an investment in added ammo supplies.
Second... No longer being a hunter, will it have a practical use? Home defense, CCW, or Range toy (dual uses is a bonus).
Third... Is it likely to have a continued spot in the collection? This is an attempt to pre-sort before a purchase to prevent a later move to the trade in or purge category of my collection. Yes, I have one, so this may be a fail point but I attempt.
Fourth... Has it been on "the list" for a long time or maybe it's just pretty? ... Um, this is where the impulse buy also occurs, such as reading recent articles, you-tube, forum threads, or general chatter at the gun club or store. The enablers we all know... Note: This more often involves accessories that now have shifted into the NEED category, but firearms purchases do fall here too. Um, er, ya, okay, my latest order that I just made from Davidson's which is at this moment on the way, falls here... but also passed the prior questions first.
Fifth... Wife approved for the budget or was there money burning a hole in my pocket? usually a 60/40 question. Sometimes it is easier to ask forgiveness rather than permission...
Click to expand...
The list, oh boy, that’s a strong one on the impulse buy. No active search but if I run across one and it so much as winks at me. My 22/45 is one of those.
 
My way of buying is like a fisherman using different tackle for different fish or a golfer doing the same with different clubs for different situations, I try to fill voids, I’m also partial to Mil arms and sometimes something just catches my fancy. I have a smallish collection compared to many here but slowly accumulating and maybe slowing down some. A nice over under would be nice though……
 
Hertervillian said:
What is that motivation? Matching the hatch each game animal has a specific gun ?
Or is it more a terrain thing dense woods, open prairie, mountains? Defense personnel, property, livestock, family. Ride for the brand, if Browning makes one I ought to have one. Historically significant, military comes to mind, but maybe it’s a buckskinner.

Confession time, I’m a I should have a gun of the type person. Pump shotgun, DA revolver, SA revolver, 1911, Carry pistol, Service pistol, lever action, AR, Bolt action, SxS shotgun, plinkers rifle and pistol. A pretty gun a beater

If a situation arises I like to find a pretty good solution in my own safe. The problem is I can imagine a lot situations.

Help me find another path to travel 😉
Click to expand...
Opportunity at an attractive price with little follow on expenditure and labor.
 
I'm beyond the point where I can justify any gun purchase based upon "need" so it's a combination action of cost, feel, niche, appearance, finances, value, comparison to what i currently have (i.e. is it appreciably better), and timing in no particular order.
 
Just fwiw... I'm the opposite of wanting every caliber. Unless another caliber does something significantly better than a current one, I don't want the hassle of yet another. The only handgun calibers I have are: .22, .327, .380, 9mm, .44 mag, 45 acp, and .460 sw. I also have .223 in a contender; but...

The 30sc intrigues me if only they offered in a pistol in a size between the sw bodyguard 2 and sig 365.
 
Basically, something that interests me. Usually something out of the ordinary. Therefore, I do have an affinity for Kel Tecs and Calico. Also, Milsurp and .22 Trainers. from different countries. The XD, Max0 and the AR cover the basics now for the fringes. Sometimes this desire for the odd gets me into trouble but oh well it's fun. The Soumi was fun and a real conversation starter, The SKS Bull pup was fun but a bit of a pain unless more money poured into it to change it to accept AK makes and not the duck bill things. The hot shells flying past the face was a bit hard to get used to. Anyway, live and learn. The Ismah baby B is going nowhere nor is the Romanian trainer, The K 31 gifted to my son.
 
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