Would you feel guilty shooting a "collectible"?
- Thread starter seeker073180
- Start date
There are collectibles and collectibles, my guns are in the mid-price section. Winchester73 has a few guns that are in the upper bracket.
My Korth is probably my most expensive handgun and also the one that gets shot pretty much the most - simply because I enjoy it - and it depreciates less than my car. Pulling the car out of the dealers lot, it had probably depreciated more than the Korth did cost.
This may be more of a classic collector's gun but I have only shot it right after acquiring it, simply because it is nothing special to shoot. Just another $350 gun.
My Korth is probably my most expensive handgun and also the one that gets shot pretty much the most - simply because I enjoy it - and it depreciates less than my car. Pulling the car out of the dealers lot, it had probably depreciated more than the Korth did cost.
This may be more of a classic collector's gun but I have only shot it right after acquiring it, simply because it is nothing special to shoot. Just another $350 gun.
Magnum Wheel Man
New member
PZG... I have one of those old CZ's... FIL collected those early semi's so I think there are 7-8 different models... I rarely shoot those as well, but if one of the Czech cousins came over & wanted to shoot old Czech guns, I'd be happy to pull them out & indulge 
Geezerbiker
New member
A couple years ago I bought a 3 screw Super Black Hawk in near mint condition. I could hardly wait to take it out and shoot it... I suppose that's as close to a collectable as I'm likely to get. The special run collector editions don't interest me.
Likewise I bought a near mint late model Cold Detective Special and it's my carry gun and will be until I can afford to get something like an LC9. However this Colt will be with me for as long as I draw breath...
Tony
Likewise I bought a near mint late model Cold Detective Special and it's my carry gun and will be until I can afford to get something like an LC9. However this Colt will be with me for as long as I draw breath...
Tony
I don't think anyone is "doing it wrong."
If they are your guns, you should do it how you want to.
I shoot mine because I bought them because I wanted to shoot them. I don't sell or trade mine because I want to keep them so that I can shoot them.
If you buy yours and want to do something else with them, they're yours. I think it is OK to do whatever you want to do with them.
If they are your guns, you should do it how you want to.
I shoot mine because I bought them because I wanted to shoot them. I don't sell or trade mine because I want to keep them so that I can shoot them.
If you buy yours and want to do something else with them, they're yours. I think it is OK to do whatever you want to do with them.
My thoughts on this. When you are dead and gone will it matter that "YOU" passed on having owned non-fired guns (which were test fired at the factory) in the after life???? In the after life will you look back and say, boy wish I would have shot that gun, too late now
In closing shoot em and enjoy them. I see no point in owning them if you can't shoot them. Just my opinion on the question asked.
"collectable" no. I've done it before without guilt & I'll probably do it again.
Actual rare Collectable? Maybe, it would depend on how unique the piece was, its documented history, & why I was firing it.
I differentiate between "collectable" & Collectable because so many mas produced run of the mill items are regarded as "collectable" in some way nowadays. To me to be "Collectable" it needs to be rare, antique or unique in some way & that history needs to be documented. 1 of 10,000,000 but old doesn't cut it for me
Actual rare Collectable? Maybe, it would depend on how unique the piece was, its documented history, & why I was firing it.
I differentiate between "collectable" & Collectable because so many mas produced run of the mill items are regarded as "collectable" in some way nowadays. To me to be "Collectable" it needs to be rare, antique or unique in some way & that history needs to be documented. 1 of 10,000,000 but old doesn't cut it for me
larryh1108
New member
There's NIB, LNIB, flawless, mint, etc.
If it's a collectible gun and has already been shot (even if it was 100 years ago) and is still in good enough condition to be shot, then what harm will it cause to shoot it?
If you pay a premium for a NIB, unfired collectible then it's your choice if you want to lose money by shooting it. If you don't care about the loss, then shoot it long and hard. 1 cylinder or mag is the same as 500 rounds, IMO. Firing 1 cylinder and putting it in the safe for your heirs is silly and deprives you of enjoying it for what it is.
What I find hard to fathom is an unfired, collectible revolver with a light cylinder ring. How can it be proven that it is unfired? I've purchased new guns and put 50 rounds thru it and it still looked brand new after cleaning it. Other than buying a gun from an executive at a gun maker or a big shot who may have gotten it as a gift along the line, who can really say a gun is unfired if it's 50-75 years old and still looks perfect?
If it's a collectible gun and has already been shot (even if it was 100 years ago) and is still in good enough condition to be shot, then what harm will it cause to shoot it?
If you pay a premium for a NIB, unfired collectible then it's your choice if you want to lose money by shooting it. If you don't care about the loss, then shoot it long and hard. 1 cylinder or mag is the same as 500 rounds, IMO. Firing 1 cylinder and putting it in the safe for your heirs is silly and deprives you of enjoying it for what it is.
What I find hard to fathom is an unfired, collectible revolver with a light cylinder ring. How can it be proven that it is unfired? I've purchased new guns and put 50 rounds thru it and it still looked brand new after cleaning it. Other than buying a gun from an executive at a gun maker or a big shot who may have gotten it as a gift along the line, who can really say a gun is unfired if it's 50-75 years old and still looks perfect?
FairWarning
New member
None of us are going to live forever.
Before passing to the big shooting range in the sky, I plan to take many more gun cherries.
Before passing to the big shooting range in the sky, I plan to take many more gun cherries.
Sharpsdressed Man
Moderator
My philosophy is that there are plenty of "collectible" guns out there, even the ones similar to the one that I choose to "devalue" by shooting it. If anything, taking one more off the "perfect condition" tally only makes the OTHER perfect guns of the type MORE valuable to the collectors. Oh, sure, they will have to pay more for them, but that is what they do. And they will cherish that unfired, more expensive piece MORE since they had to pay more for it. Everybody wins!
My favorite collectibles are generally mil-surp anyway. It's not like my 1917 Luger hasn't seen 2 wars and decades of police duty between and after them. Same with my Webley Mk. VI. So I have no guilt in shooting them. My Colt New Service Target (1920) was used when I bought it in 1972, and it has had oodles of use since then.
If I wanted to collect things I couldn't actually use and enjoy, I'd've collected stamps, or coins.
If I wanted to collect things I couldn't actually use and enjoy, I'd've collected stamps, or coins.
An acquaintance of mine bought a very expensive pistol from a local gun store -- the kind of pistol that has a price basically set by the manufacturer and you can only get them by contacting a place that has them. I knew exactly what he'd paid for it and it was jaw-dropping what he wanted me to give him for it. He'd never fired the pistol.
I bought it simply because I knew I could turn the profit I'd make on it's sale in to a handgun I really wanted. I did, and more. Just the profit, mind you, the principle went right back to where it came from.
The pistol had obviously been test fired at the manufacturer, as are all the guns they ship. It had that wear on the breech face -- as if someone took a new gun and fired half a box of ammo through it... and then they shipped it out for sale without cleaning it. If I had run even a dry patch through the bore, it would have come out with powder residue on it.
But it was sold to him "NEW", and that means (in my opinion anyway) that it was sold in what we refer to as "unfired."
My goal was to get good money for it, and I thought my best method was going to be to also offer it as "unfired." Would have been a slam-dunk to send a mag or 3 down range and nobody would have been any wiser, but I'm on a first name basis with gun karma so that was simply not going to happen.
I owned it for more than half a year, sold it, made a lot of money on it, and never shot it. In fact, I never even field stripped it.
I wish I had sold it to a friend...who would have THEN let me send a mag or 3 down range with it. But I didn't, so it's gone. Zero regrets.
I suppose the point of my story is that there is a whole world that exists outside of the energetic little proclamations that are simply varying degrees of "I won't OWN any gun that I don't shoot!" and variations on that theme.
I bought it simply because I knew I could turn the profit I'd make on it's sale in to a handgun I really wanted. I did, and more. Just the profit, mind you, the principle went right back to where it came from.
The pistol had obviously been test fired at the manufacturer, as are all the guns they ship. It had that wear on the breech face -- as if someone took a new gun and fired half a box of ammo through it... and then they shipped it out for sale without cleaning it. If I had run even a dry patch through the bore, it would have come out with powder residue on it.
But it was sold to him "NEW", and that means (in my opinion anyway) that it was sold in what we refer to as "unfired."
My goal was to get good money for it, and I thought my best method was going to be to also offer it as "unfired." Would have been a slam-dunk to send a mag or 3 down range and nobody would have been any wiser, but I'm on a first name basis with gun karma so that was simply not going to happen.
I owned it for more than half a year, sold it, made a lot of money on it, and never shot it. In fact, I never even field stripped it.
I wish I had sold it to a friend...who would have THEN let me send a mag or 3 down range with it.
But I didn't, so it's gone. Zero regrets.I suppose the point of my story is that there is a whole world that exists outside of the energetic little proclamations that are simply varying degrees of "I won't OWN any gun that I don't shoot!" and variations on that theme.
And a different take on the same subject. I was fortunate enough to get a chance at a gun that was built to be a collectible, and I just mentioned it in another active topic in the revolver forum. It's a Smith & Wesson 19-3, Texas Rangers Commemorative, 4" .357 Magnum. Special features not typically available on model 19's of the day and with a classy wooden presentation box -and- an extremely heavy and gaudy hunting knife with the same serial number as the revolver.
The gun was either unfired -- or fired so very little that there was no evidence that it ever had been. However, the cylinder had a drag line so it had been "played with" a good bit. Worse, the left grip panel had some of the outermost lacquer coating dinged off by cases having had been ejected from the cylinder.
Point is, this "collectible" revolver was no longer dead-mint. So in my opinion, it could never possibly carry whatever "value" it might have had as a "collectible."
I got a decent price on it that seems like a STEAL now, but it was 3 years ago that I got it. And man, I -shoot- it and plan to shoot it more and MORE and it may be my favorite Smith & Wesson revolver. I can't see how I'd ever be talked out of this one.
For the right money, I'd be thrilled to sell the box and the gaudy knife, even though I'd be "splitting it up." Again, nothing anywhere close to any regrets.
The gun was either unfired -- or fired so very little that there was no evidence that it ever had been. However, the cylinder had a drag line so it had been "played with" a good bit. Worse, the left grip panel had some of the outermost lacquer coating dinged off by cases having had been ejected from the cylinder.
Point is, this "collectible" revolver was no longer dead-mint. So in my opinion, it could never possibly carry whatever "value" it might have had as a "collectible."
I got a decent price on it that seems like a STEAL now, but it was 3 years ago that I got it. And man, I -shoot- it and plan to shoot it more and MORE and it may be my favorite Smith & Wesson revolver. I can't see how I'd ever be talked out of this one.
For the right money, I'd be thrilled to sell the box and the gaudy knife, even though I'd be "splitting it up." Again, nothing anywhere close to any regrets.
There's no reason for guilt in any case ... if you buy it, the gun is yours. Firing an unfired collector's gun doesn't damage it, it only reduces its monetary value. If that doesn't bother you, it's certainly nothing to feel guilty about. If somebody else wanted to keep it unfired forever, then they should have bought it.