Becoming the "man with one gun"...

I haven't downsized too much, but have turned some very nice 1911's and bolt guns into a few more DA/SA and striker fired guns plus a bolt gun and scope for a little more accurate distance shooting. Still buying ammo consistently and adding mags too. I guess I have simplified to an extent. But I still have a tendency to chase the shiney object.
 
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You get hold of some property that you can shoot on whenever you get a hankering, and you'll forget all about this downsizing non-sense. :p

Seriously though. Sell your trac home, buy a range with a building you can sleep in. It's the only solution.
 
Tim said:
Maybe the topic could/should be framed a bit differently....I guess my real point is that I'm making a concerted effort to focus on a minimum number of guns. To get truly proficient with the ones that serve a purpose. As opposed to "well, I have 5 ARs, let's take all 5 out to play!"

For me, that meant culling the herd of excess; for others that may mean "I'm okay with that one in the back of the safe that hasn't seen a range in 5 years".
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This I agree with and something I've thought about doing more of. For example, my first pistol was an XD and I've grown to like that platform for its simplicity and ruggedness. I literally have never had a problem with an XD. After carrying all kinds of guns, 1911s, revolvers, single stacks, double stacks I settled on an XDs for daily carry. My get home bag has a full sized XD in it and I have a back up gun for both uses. The guns are reasonably priced so I don't kill myself(or get killed by my wife) when I pick up another lightly used one. They are widely supported by the aftermarket and parts are readily available.
I still have guns that are just for fun, a few I will never get rid of but I don't think about buying that obscure chambered item like I once did. I'm thinking more about getting solid training, keeping ammo and reloading supplies well stocked.

I'm like @B00ger though, in the past when I bought a gun it was something I had thought about for a long time so I'm not typically too anxious to part with it.
 
I have my "one" gun and I wouldn't trade it for anything! Obviously I'm still rather diverse, but after shooting this gun, nothing else compares! Only gun I'd take bear hunting when I move to WA in a year or so. I started selling guns to upgrade my tupperware for a couple of 1911s and then started selling more to upgrade accessories for my BHA Model 89 500 S&W. With my Model 89, I truly don't feel the need to ever buy another hunting gun, which is a satisfying and yet scary concept in itself. If I could get my hands on a revolver in .500, I would sell 1/2 my reloading equipment for obsolete calibers and go full-time .500

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degenerateJEFF said:
I have my "one" gun and I wouldn't trade it for anything! Obviously I'm still rather diverse, but after shooting this gun, nothing else compares! Only gun I'd take bear hunting when I move to WA in a year or so. I started selling guns to upgrade my tupperware for a couple of 1911s and then started selling more to upgrade accessories for my BHA Model 89 500 S&W. With my Model 89, I truly don't feel the need to ever buy another hunting gun, which is a satisfying and yet scary concept in itself. If I could get my hands on a revolver in .500, I would sell 1/2 my reloading equipment for obsolete calibers and go full-time .500

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That’s a good looking gun, welcome to the site!
 
I track rounds fired, failures encountered and fixed, what ammo a particular gun likes, etc, with a spreadsheet also. I’m an engineer...

(Hey, at least I jot stuff down in a little notebook at the range, and wait to enter it into Excel until I get back home...)
 
I went through a “thinning” phase, but I didn’t thin the number of firearms. I did thin the number of calibers and firearm types/makes. The only reason I have 32 S&W Long is that an S&W revolver I inherited from my grandmother is chambered in that. And I do like to shoot it.
 
I went through this in the last year. I am finishing up a new degree and my daughter is starting college, so it just made sense to pare down from an economic standpoint. I got rid of guns that I actually didn’t like but thought I had to have, and put some of that money toward more pressing needs. It also afforded me an opportunity to ensure that the firearms I kept had high quality optics/sights/slings etc that increased the functionality of those firearms. It has been freeing to have less stuff to store/secure/worry about.
 
I'm at the point where I have all the necessary 'tool' guns for EDC/SD/HD/SHTF & am now able, every now & again to pick up guns just because I like/want them. That said, my OCD demands commonality across platforms, so it's Glocks, ARs & Mossbergs for social work & single action revolvers & leverguns for fun.
 
I'm still in the downsizing give-away-mode to those really in need. I Gave this one to the 94 year old widow down the road just last week.

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Cocked & Locked said:
I'm still in the downsizing give-away-mode to those really in need. I Gave this one to the 94 year old widow down the road just last week.
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You did what?????? :eek:
 
Cocked & Locked said:
I'm still in the downsizing give-away-mode to those really in need. I Gave this one to the 94 year old widow down the road just last week.

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What dirt does she have on you?!
 
Jeppo said:
Any vacant houses on your street? Asking for a friend. :D
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No streets here...just a few roads. Tell your "friend" I'll ask around for him. He might not like the neighborhood though. :D

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Cocked & Locked said:
No streets here...just a few roads. Tell your "friend" I'll ask around for him. He might not like the neighborhood though. :D
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My friend thinks that’ll be a big step up for him and he’ll love living on the same road as a guy giving away Colts. :cool:

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Cocked & Locked said:
No streets here...just a few roads. Tell your "friend" I'll ask around for him. He might not like the neighborhood though. :D

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That almost looks like the house my mom lived in in Gibsonville, with no bathroom and fed by a creek for water.
 
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Just realized I confused this thread and the "stack deep or buy once" thread. So I will cross post.

I accumulate guns because I like them. I bought a garand because it was a good deal, a pinned and recessed S&W 29 because it's pretty and a 500 magnum because it's cool. I haven't shot any of those in years, but I pull them out and look at them and enjoy them often that way.

I decided that I don't have to sell stuff if I don't want to, and I don't have to shoot everything I have to justify keeping it. Some people enjoy buying and selling, I enjoy accumulating and fondling.

Did you feel like you HAD to sell things if you didn't shooting them? Or was the temptation too much to shoot if it was there?

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Jayne said:
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Maybe you should talk to a professional. Oh, wait.....

Tim said:
Today was my first non-match range trip since adopting this attitude. It was awesome. I spent 4 hours working as RSO at the local club. In that 4 hours, I put 60 rounds through my new bolt gun and ~100 or so through a 300BLK HD/SD gun.

It was great not having so much crap to haul and feeling rushed to move to a different platform.
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Go more often and take less guns per trip.
 
GoWolfpack said:
Just realized I confused this thread and the "stack deep or buy once" thread. So I will cross post.

I accumulate guns because I like them. I bought a garand because it was a good deal, a pinned and recessed S&W 29 because it's pretty and a 500 magnum because it's cool. I haven't shot any of those in years, but I pull them out and look at them and enjoy them often that way.

I decided that I don't have to sell stuff if I don't want to, and I don't have to shoot everything I have to justify keeping it. Some people enjoy buying and selling, I enjoy accumulating and fondling.

Did you feel like you HAD to sell things if you didn't shooting them? Or was the temptation too much to shoot if it was there?

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This Needed reposting. The thinking man's manual for buying Anything. You earned the money, buy what you Want and without Any justification needed. Or Sell it. Do what you want to do and don't worry about other's decisions on how to spend their money. Buy more, thin them out, buy more, sell them all and take up gardening...be happy and give no justification other than I Like to Look at them. That's all you'll ever need from this end. Remember...you're gonna be Dead ALOT Longer than you've been alive. Have a big time while you can!!!!
 
I downsized several years back. I went through the pile and sold the "Walmart" stuff (low value Mossbergs and the like) and bought me one nice O/U. So, you could say that I replaced quantity with quality. The O/U is my go-to dove gun. And I enjoy handloading for rifles. Now when I look at a rifle the first thing that comes to mind is what caliber? Brand, style, or condition have very little meaning. If it's not the caliber I want then it has no value to me. There are a few exceptions. I would love to have a Weatherby Mark V with nice walnut in 30-06. Don't need it but I would like to have one.
 
Downeast said:
I went through the pile and sold the "Walmart" stuff (low value Mossbergs and the like)
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My issue with offloading the low-value stuff is the time and attention it takes to sell the stuff doesn't justify the low payoff. I bought the stuff because it was cheap after all.
 
B00ger said:
The only "need" I really have is for a .22 semi automatic pistol.
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Interested in a Ruger Mk II (KMK 512)? It's going to go on WTS in a short-short.
 
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LiberTarHeel said:
Interested in a Ruger Mk II (KMK 512)? It's going to go on WTS in a short-short.
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Normally, I would be. But some recent events around the Booger household and work has put most flexible spending on hold for a bit.
 
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Anybody else making an effort to simplify?
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Nope.
I had 2 firearms that I did not want anymore, a KSG (traded with cash for a shadow 2) and an XDs (traded with cash for a Sig P365). If my life depended on having to identify a gun I have that I don't absolutely have hungry eyes over I might be able to find 3 or 4 more: I need safe space more than anything else

  • Jennings J25 pop metal SNS with >500 rounds
  • 20 inch AR with A1 upper and superior arms lower
  • Walther G22 bullpup
  • edit
  • 1983 Remington 700 in 284 Win
  • Kel-tec Sub 2000 9mm (S&W mags)
 
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I adopted the consolidated caliber mindset from the get go. Definitely easier that way. As for guns, no. I tend to be a very over prepared person and always worry about "what if this goes bad" or whatever. So I am a fan of spare parts and spare tools.

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I've been toying around with this mindset, especially since my two precision rifles utilize very different optics/set-ups, and thus, are completely different in operation. It does make for a hindrance, but I keep good notes, so at least if I read my notes ahead of time I can get good hits right off the bat. But I'm certainly open to selling one if the opportunity presented itself.
 
I have thought of downsizing.....and that is as far as it has gotten.I haven't bought a gun this year....yet.

At some point that day will come but stuff is too cheap to sell right now.

I have more than everything I need and truly have all I want save for a 357 lever gun.
 
I started down the consolidation path a few years ago with and did a wonderful job culling cheap AR,trade in pistols and cheap deer rifles. However my love of trading and vintage Remington shotguns proved to be my undoing. I have come to accept the fact that I like to trade guns nearly as much as I like to shoot them.
 
nchunt101 said:
I started down the consolidation path a few years ago with and did a wonderful job culling cheap AR,trade in pistols and cheap deer rifles. However my love of trading and vintage Remington shotguns proved to be my undoing. I have come to accept the fact that I like to trade guns nearly as much as I like to shoot them.
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I found recently that the chase is rewarding in itself.
 
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