How long did it take you other collectors

[crimsondave]

to admit you were buying rifles just to have them? I remember when I started out with a BL 22 and a k98 my dad sporterized for me when I was 8 or 9. At about 12 he bought my an 870 for my birthday. When I was about 15 I bought a SKS through my father, then shortly after that, he gave me his Remington 700 30-06. He had put on a Bell and Carlson and free floated the bar.

Well, I got my first job after HS, and it was off to the races. Even during college when I got a spare dime, I was buying guns. I justified them at first. I got a Model 70 Classic Safari in .375 H&H because everybody needs a big magnum, right. I might need to shoot a griz or something (hey, one might show its face in Alabama!) I bought an old Rem 721 in .300 H&H because I needed a lighter magnum and it matched up so well with my .375. 45-70, everybody needs a big bore. 22 mag, I need a 100 yard gun that doesn't kick. And on and on.

Then I found a 7x57 I wanted. I had multiple guns that would do anything it would do at least as well. I could not justify it in any way other than it's just such a classic old caliber that fathered so many others. This did not keep my from buying it, you understand, it was just the first gun I bought knowing full well it would collect dust in my safe 99% of the time.

At least 95% of the time when I rifle hunt I use my dad's old 06. I got a BAR this year and I used it some, even killed a little buck with it. Next year it will likely sit in the safe. In reality, my dad bought me every gun I ever needed before I was old enough to drive. But they're like crack. You just never get enough.

 

[MTT TL]

The first step to resolving an addiction I believe is admitting you have a problem and that it has taken control of your life.

I don't have a problem.

 

[tulsamal]

I don't have a problem.

Neither do I!

And it isn't just rifles. Although I suffer from that affliction. I use at least one different rifle every year for deer hunting just to try to show there is some utility. Sometimes I will use 2-4 of them on different days over the course of the season! And I might try 3 gun someday. Or F Class. Better get ready.

I don't even like shotguns or bird hunt and I still have too many of the darn things. Started out with my Remington 1100 for my 16th birthday. My Dad's Winchester 1400. A few years ago I saw an Ithaca M37 that somebody had cut down to be a riot gun and I didn't have a pump. And everybody needs to have a double gun with hammers since all those westerns have coach guns. And then I read about the FN SLP and how it was the ultimate semi-auto fighting shotgun so I had to buy one of those as well. And a .410 for when we butcher a turkey.

But my personal weakness has always been handguns. I probably buy 2-3 handguns for every long gun. Like rifles and hunting, there are always reasons you need another one. The CCW gun is just too heavy. I want to try IDPA. Well, that first try was OK but everybody else was using XXXX. Well, that one worked but wouldn't it be fun to have something different for IDPA? And I could get one of these and use it for deer hunting. And Skeeter loved these. Elmer had several of these. This one is one of the all time classic designs and it has real stag grips. Ruger hasn't ever made a .44 Special before. This is the biggest handgun I've ever seen. This is the smallest handgun I've ever seen. This one is marked at 50% of its real value. I read about this one in a Classic Gun test. My wife could use this one for CCW. (Even though she doesn't have one and never will.) This one would be good for my children to learn to shoot a handgun with. (That one is good for multiple rifles and shotguns as well!)

You would think I would run out of "reasons" but it has been over 30 years of buying them now and I've still got an easy dozen "wants" percolating around in my head. Complete with very valid reasons!!

Gregg

 

[Tucker 1371]

Grandpaw started me out with a .22 chipmunk when I was 7. Then he got me a Mossberg 500 youth turkey 20ga when I was 10. A 10/22 @ 14. Then I got an AK last Christmas, now I buy my own.

About 75% of what I made last Summer went to guns... a Mosin, mounts, ammo, targets, new set of allen wrenches because I lost the one that fit my AK sight.

After boot I'm going to have $1500 to play with and every penny of it is going towards a nice 1911, holster, and ammo.

I'm in the early stages of my addiction but it's fairly obvious already, I'm a goner .

 

[JerseyDrez]

Is there any way you could post up a pic of your BAR, Crimson? Id love to check it out!

 

[bigwrench]

One day I bought a Marlin 62 in .30 carbine.Maybe you can tell me what that would be good for But I know I don't have a problem!

 

[crimsondave]

Is there any way you could post up a pic of your BAR, Crimson? Id love to check it out!

Sure, but I did mean a modern hunting BAR, not a REAL BAR.

 

[bigwrench]

Wow dave thats a beuty! Is that reciever nickle or alloy? Either way I gotta have one of those! But, I don't have a problem>

 

[crimsondave]

http://www.browning.com/products/catalog/firearms/detail.asp?value=002B&cat_id=031&type_id=536

Here is the link to it. It's Nickel. Browning calls it an oil finnish. When I bought mine, they were the same price as the regular finnish!

 

[Ignition Override]

Maybe a year and a half, but only made first gun purchase in October '07, at age 52. My only previous gun was the ancient Savage .22 which was seldom used.

After touring the skirmish sites of Bastogne, Belgium last May on a fascinating tour of E/F Companies' ("Band of...") foxholes etc, resolved to buy a Garand later this year.

My only passion is to have and use military rifles, or at least in the same style (LE #4, #5, Yugo Mauser, SKS, Mini 30), in order to zap bricks, floating grapefruits, rotten branches etc, or try to hit an elusive, rarely seen swimming cottonmouth.

Those 'bubbafied'/sporterized military rifles seem like such a sad waste of what had been an exciting "battle rifle". I see them at gun shows and can not understand, nor sympathize with the butchery.
But the nice old .22, built in the 40's, allows lots of cheap fun and the tiny bead sight is better than those of many rifles. Would like a Romanian .22 Trainer one day.

 

[Chaz88]

I don't have a problem ether. But Saturday I was at the crack house... I mean the gun show and bought an old double barreled Damascus shot gun, just because it was inexpensive and I think they look cool. It will probably never be shot more than a few times. But it will look good next to my grandfathers and great-grandfathers old shot guns.

 

[gyvel]

LMAO!!!

It's called "OCD." If one's good, five's better.

 

[Pathfinder45]

12 step program?

I'm kinda new at this, fellas; is it a 12 step program as in 12 steps to rationalizing your next gun purchase or 12 steps to stop buying more guns? I need to know soon 'cuz there's another big gun show this coming weekend at the Portland Expo.....Should I just not go to avoid the temptation? Or should I buck-up and face my weakness with a fresh resolve not to moved by it ....... unless of course I find that pre-war 1894 I've been hankering for? And then there's every possibility I could escape upright like an Oak having withstood temptation and bought nothing but a couple more G.I. ammo cans stuffed with reloading components and antique shotgun shells and accessories..... I think I better go; don't you? He'p me brothers!

 

[Skans]

....to admit you were buying rifles just to have them?

Heck, I've been doing that since the late '80's! I have 3 rifles, several handguns, and several things that are technically rifles sitting in my safe that I've never shot. Who cares - I still like fondling all of them!!!

 

[uncyboo]

The first step to resolving an addiction I believe is admitting you have a problem and that it has taken control of your life.

"Hello my name is Bill and I'm a powderholic"

I think I'm as addicted to the handloading process as much as the firearms themselves. Therefore, the more firearms I have, the more different loads I get to play with.

 

[gyvel]

12 step program?

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I'm kinda new at this, fellas; is it a 12 step program as in 12 steps to rationalizing your next gun purchase or 12 steps to stop buying more guns? I need to know soon 'cuz there's another big gun show this coming weekend at the Portland Expo.....Should I just not go to avoid the temptation? Or should I buck-up and face my weakness with a fresh resolve not to moved by it ....... unless of course I find that pre-war 1894 I've been hankering for? And then there's every possibility I could escape upright like an Oak having withstood temptation and bought nothing but a couple more G.I. ammo cans stuffed with reloading components and antique shotgun shells and accessories..... I think I better go; don't you? He'p me brothers!

The National Dairy Council says you never outgrow your need for guns.

 

[Chaz88]

"Hello my name is Bill and I'm a powderholic"

Hello Bill!

 

[Peptobismol9]

Over the past 5 years, And m59/66 SKS, A mosin nagant 91/30, A few Handi rifles in 243, A 1895 Chilean mauser, an 1895 nagant Revolver, a remington 870 in 20 gauge, and between all that parts, parts, ammo, parts. Oh yeah, And parts. Hehe. Cant get enough 7.62x39 and cool little scope mounts.

 

[sc928porsche]

Yes, they are addictive. I dont know of a cure for it either. I got my first BB gun at age 7, my pellet rifle (.22) at nine, and my 1st deer rifle (30-40 Kraig) at 12. My biggest boon was in 68 when I purchaced 117 assorted mausers at $3 each. They have been the base for almost all my custom rifles. And no, I dont want to part with any of them.

To add to this addiction, I started reloading at age 14. Good thing I came from a large family of firearm nuts.

I have passed this addiction to my family members. Yes, its catching!

 

[mesabi]

GSU, what branch you joining?

My collection started with a 10/22 from my dad. Then a mossberg 500. Then a mosin. Then a semi-sporterized Enfield. Then a Tikka t3 laminated stainless, had I known they would have disontinued that model I wouldn't have sold it .Then a Remington 740. Then a Sporterized Carcano. Then a Winchester 1300. Then a Thompson Center Omega. Then a Dpms Ar-15. Then a CZ 452 American. My favorites are the CZ and the Enfield.