Losing interest - is this normal?

[Benjamin]

Hello all!

The short version : In the past 6 months my exposure to and interest in firearms has decreased markedly. I'm no longer lusting after any particular gun(s), nor do I plan my life months in advance around military rifle shoots.

Is this normal, healthy, and does it go away?


Longer version:

I am 19 years, eleven months old. I have been actively shooting for the past nine years, shooting in competitions for the past six.
For many of those years I would shoot four or five times per week - gallery, jr. rifle, trap, more gallery, blacklight, etc.

I am finishing my second year in college, currently in Worcester. Living in Massachusetts severely restricts my ability to shoot....I can't just throw a FAL in the trunk, drive to a range and plink.

But.....it's just not as interesting anymore. I'm not lusting after any guns right now.

Have any of you experienced this? As above - is it normal that interests like this go in phases, wax and wane, only to come back in the fullness of time?

Regards

-Ben

 

[S&W 24]

And this too shall pass. After over 12 years in the shooting sports
Some times I don't feel like shooting for a bit or I look in my gun locker and say to myself "I don't need anymore guns". But sooner or later My interests pick up again(mostly when I run into a shooting buddy I haven't seen for a month or two).

p.s. If I'm honest I can cover most of my shooting needs with a good revolver and a 22 lr rifle.


p.p.s. not lusting over the next best wiz-bang gun may be from showing a bit more maturity (not to say that you were not before)

 

[Zitadel]

Well, I gues that since you have been so actively shooting and competing it is natural that sometimes you have to take a break, like I have been playing guitar for 13 years and used to practise about 6-8 h a day for about two years. Now I hardly like to touch it

But I like to shoot now more than ever, maybe because I just bought a new Valmet .222 semiauto

 

[Greg L]

Yes it sounds normal, not something to brag about there , but normal.

Just don't decide to get rid of all the stuff cluttering up your closet. When the urge comes back (and it most likely will) you will be kicking yourself if you do.

Greg

(however if you want to get rid of that FAL that you aren't thrilled about anymore I'll give you $150 for it and even pay the shipping. Give me a call. )

 

[jwise]

Good, you've already admitted you have a problem; that's the first step.

I think the liberal environment you've been exposed to is bad for your mental health. Perhaps you should move...and quick!

 

[Ewok_Guy]

I wouldn't worry about it. I've gone through the same thing several times. Sometimes I dont feel like shooting for a whole month and I dont.

 

[kindlyoldcoach]

Quote: "Have any of you experienced this? ...is it normal that interests like this go in phases, wax and wane, only to come back in the fullness of time?"

Yes. Been there.

Remain calm. Do not panic. Suffer no guilt.

If you go the next five years without firing a shot, that's OK. There are other things in life than firearms and shooting.

Just don't sell your guns. If you must sell some, keep the best. Trust me on this. Do NOT dispose of your "pet" firearms.

One day, you WILL wake up needing to see if you can still hit a potato at 500 paces in a twenty-knot wind. Just reach into the vault, drag out Ol' Black, and go.

Once a shooter, always a shooter.

'coach

 

[Dave P]

"I'm no longer lusting after any particular gun(s), ..." Maybe you are lusting after the coeds too much - draining all your energy!

 

[ehenz]

This too shall pass


I'm 36 now, but when I was in my early 20's I had gun fever. But one day in 92' I decided to pack the guns away for a while. It took eight years but I got back into it.

For my situation I developed other interests such as building a career, family, etc. Once I got older, had more time and money, I open the box and was infected again by the gun bug.

I'm glad I kept everything in storage cause all the planets lined up and I made a profit on what I had (Chinese SKS's, M-1 Garand, and some cheap revolvers) and was able to buy what I could not afford back then.

Plus, at 19 there are so many other things to do with your money besides start a gun collection.

Good Luck!

 

[glock glockler]

I'm not lusting after any guns right now.

Good for you. Many people suffer from an addiction to guns, you should consider yourself lucky that you are beyond that, but also beyond the desire to shoot.

I think that you've been elevated to a higher state of consciousness, where you have less ties to material things and have a much deeper sense of value. The things you own end up owning you, and I'm happy that you're progressing where so many get trapped.

Ben, I see that you are in Mass, so it wouldn't be much of a problem for me if you wanted to alleviate yourself of the excess hardware you are burdened with and free up pleanty of capital that can now be used in more productive applications.

Let me know

GG

 

[Bulldog44]

From time to time, I seem to lose enthusiasm for acquiring new firearms and for shooting. It seems perfectly natural, I suppose, for most anybody to be susceptible to that. Thankfully, the urge always comes back, sooner or later.

I've known of a few people who sell most or all of their firearms whenever they begin to lose interest in them. Thank God I've not gotten to that point. The ability to defend myself or my family is something I never lose interest in.

 

[Jamie Young]

I always feel like shooting but I sometimes don't go shooting because...

A) I don't feel like cleaning My guns afterwards

B) I will have to reload all of My spent cases

 

[Rickmeister]

Someday they might invent Rogaine or Viagra for gun-bug loss, but if you're anything like me you'll never need it.

On the other hand, there is a moderating element in my life that actively limits my purchases. I've been married to her for twelve years.

 

[Christopher II]

Okay, competitior to competitor here, what you're going through happens to almost everyone.

It seems like the normal progression of competition shooting goes something like this:

1.) Start shooting.
2.) Start getting good.
3.) Obsess with getting better, shoot every day, lose interest in friends, romance, life in general.
4.) Other things start to intrude, family, school, jobs, etc. Cut back on shooting signifigantly.
5.) Find gun, old targets, etc. in attic or somewhere. Start remembering how much fun shooting was.
6.) Repeat from step 1.

Sometimes people go through this sequence once, sometimes a few times. I went through a major slump my freshman and sophmore years of college, during which I probably touched a gun twice. Now, three years later, I'm shooting two different events seriously, another three casually, and going to the range at least twice a week. You'll get over it too.

In the meantime, why not cross-train for a bit? Take up golf or racquettball or bicycling for a while.

- Chris

 

[DMK]

Sometimes when I don't feel like shooting, I think it's really because I don't feel like cleaning my gun afterwards.

So for those days, I bought a pellet rifle. You can sit on your back porch and shoot at a paper target thumbtacked to a tree for a couple of hours and then go inside, put the gun up and your done.

 

[Monkeyleg]

In junior year of high school and into my college years, I lost interest in guns because of the discovery of what makes males and females uniquely different but compatible.

These days, being disinterested is usually the result of spending too much time on gun political issues.

I wouldn't sweat it. It seems like something that just comes and goes.

 

[Tom B]

Yes I was about to say -

At 19 you should have MORE on your mind than guns....If you didn't I would be concerned!

 

[Futo Inu]

Exactamundo

in the immortal words of Fonzie - what others have said. I was pretty gun-nutty from the time I was a young teenager until just a couple years ago - about 99/00. I was still into RKBA, but not shooting. Now, just recently, for some strange reason, my interest has just picked back up out of the blue. In the interim, I was pursuing my hockey and other interests more - still doing that, but the gun bug has gotten me again. Partially it has to do with a little money I got recently, so I was able to purchase a new gun, and that was a catalyst, but only in part - not totally. Weird... Just enjoy all the xtra $ you'll have in the interim.

 

[ronin308]

Benjamin- I'm 20 years old and I've been shooting for 15 years and competing for 2. I went through a time when I was like 16 where I didn't want to shoot at all. I guess all I can say is don't force it. Don't make yourself shoot just because you think you have to. You'll miss it and start getting serious again in no time!

Zitadel- I'm a classically trained guitar player and I feel your pain! I used to practice for about 4-8 hours a day for about 3 years, but I've been playing for 7. Then after I graduated high school, I lost my practicing rhythm...its kind of depressing seeing my Taylor, PRS, Strat, Marshalls, Yamaha handmade, etc. just sitting in my apartment.

 

[444]

My interest in everything comes and goes. Especially if you get really involved and it is taking up all your time and money. There is too much of a good thing. As I get older and have more money to spend, I find that my interest in gun related things change from week to week, but I am pretty much always interested in some aspect of guns and shooting. A couple months ago, I got hot and heavy into IDPA and IPSC. Right now I am having a lot of fun getting into bullet casting. In between I became obsessed with older S&W revolvers. In a few months all my energies will be focused on hunting and dialing in my rifles. I can see myself going back to small bore silhouette. I normally shoot 500-1000 rounds a week. I haven't shot more than once or twice in the last month. But I have been playing with shooting related stuff. I have been really into guns/shooting/hunting for most of my life, but I did go through a period in my early thirties where I didn't shoot for a couple years. I DIDN"T sell anything, thank God.