"why Do We Collect?"

[cimmaronkid]

“Why do we collect firearms?” I was asked this over the weekend by someone that had never shot a gun before in her 50+ years of life and couldn’t understand why we spend so much time and money in our sport. I would venture to say that with the combined membership of the forum we have enough firearms and ammunition to support a coup of a small country! So why do we collect?

Good question on her part. So I would like to hear from some of you before I post my answer. And forget all of the 2nd amendment arguments as we are ALL in agreement on that position. So the question remains, “Why do we collect?”

[AK AJ]

It's louder than coins!

[nevada]

no sex, buy a gun. Russian SKS on its way.

[AK AJ]

Ms. AJ , Asked me the same question. I brought up the fact she likes to collect ceramic dolphins, and asked her why she collected those. She made the point that her dolphin collection cost alot less than my gun collection. So, I suggested we combine the two hobbies and take her dolphin collection to the range. For a few days after that, I had a new hobbie, (trying to get a good night sleep on the couch).:1087:

AJ

[nevada]

Why do women collect dolls?

Why is boy scout stuff collected. Art? (most isn.t)

It's a personal experience that brings pleasure. One can enjoy shooting, or the engineering, or the historical connection of firearms. For most of us I think it's all three, but it doesn't have to be. I'm sure there are more reasons, but I'll leave it at this.

[DaCapster]

Well you need a few to start..
1 long range rig
1 shotty maybe 2
1 nice pistola
1 cq rifle
1 Mid range rifle maybe 3 or 4
1 long range battle rifle..ok maybe 2 or 3
1 .22 varmit rig

then the collecting starts...
Hey that belt fed is really cool.....that FN is sexy...... It never ends

[Jagman]

Personally, but Im sure I am not the only one, I have an addictive trait, why else would you collect more than one of the same item?
I got a g3 clone, and liked it so much I got a sar8, then a cetme, then a Fr8, then a Fr 7, then I saw another Fr8 and got that, if I feel it is a good deal I want it.
I have several jungle carbine clones, Enfields no's 3, 4 and 5's,, 1911's, it goes on and on - SKS, Mosins,AR's,AK's ect.
I tell myself i'll keep this one as new and get another to shoot.........
I was the same with my knives - I have over a hundred italian switchblades, more than 500 total.:icon_surprised:
Its only money, invested in steel.
Jagman.

forgot the ammo box's stacked high, some calibers I dont even shoot!

[k98k792]

It is history you can hold in your hands.

These weapons changed the world. They speak to me of great deeds. Of courage, fear,resolution and desperation.

I find a old Enfield and lovingly restore it,piece by piece. Reading the history of the Enfield,which is entertwined with the events of the beginning of the previous century. Untill,finally I take it to the range and it speaks again after 80 years.
For just a bit I feel communion with the Tommy that may of gone over the top with it in the Great War.

What person of poor imagination,could not feel the past in these weapons.

[M1 Tanker]

Because beanie babies are too gay...

[AK AJ]

Well you need a few to start..
1 long range rig
1 shotty maybe 2
1 nice pistola
1 cq rifle
1 Mid range rifle maybe 3 or 4
1 long range battle rifle..ok maybe 2 or 3
1 .22 varmit rig

then the collecting starts...
Hey that belt fed is really cool.....that FN is sexy...... It never ends

:087: that's how mine started, when I was younger I figured I needed a SHTF "collection"

a long range rifle
an assualt rifle
a shotgun
a pistol
and a back up pistol
then I'd be done....

YA right!!
after researching the perfect weapons for this scenario It opened up a WHOLE world of cool weapons, and non were in it's own "perfect"( AK is damn close though), so more and more came about,and before I know it I guess I was collecting.

AJ

[weasel_master]

For me it started with just one milsurp. I read all I could find about it. I have loved war history since I was young. I tried getting into the military and couldn't. I went into engineering in hopes of getting in with a DoD contractor or the DoD itself. I love the story and history behind the rifles. I have a lot of relatives that have been through wars and to hold items that they fought with or against intrigues me. After I bought a few, it became a hobby for stress relief. I can have a shitty day, sit down, look at some rifles, read about them and relax with a group like I've found here.

[AK AJ]

Because beanie babies are too gay...

Good on M1, LMAO!
:lol2:

[hunter_la5]

One can enjoy shooting, or the engineering, or the historical connection of firearms.

all three for me. I've always loved military history, and I love learning how the mechanisms of different firearms work. and I think that shooting is a given for most of us

[okie shooter]

One reason is I am a engineer, semi automatic weapons are little smokeless powder powered machines, pull the trigger, the projectile goes down range, the machine cycles and there you go again.

The biggest thing that makes me want to collect EBR's is because there are folks that say I shouldnt do it, so screw them.

It never crossed my mind, twenty or more years ago, that I would like military, semi automatic rifles, but then one day, some one suggested that they were all evil. I told my self guns cannot be evil, people can, but guns are just machines, abet ones that can kill, but so can misused cars. Thus I got my first one, a chinese sks, then the race was on, these things are neat.

[drine]

It is in our blood plain and simple. My family was in Virginia and fought the British there. They were in both Georgia and Virginia in the War of Northern Aggression. WW1, WW2, Korea, and not since. The way of the gun!
"we are manly men, we do manly things"
I was given my Revelation .22 when I was 6yo although it was put up until pop could go out with me. When asked by my mother-in-law what I wanted for Christmas, I replied any that is camouflaged, has a sharp edge, or goes BOOM!! I'm simple to buy for.
My wife said " why do have so many guns and yet want more?" I said why do you breathe? It just comes natural!!
drine

[wonderwolf]

I'm not really a collector...I'm a shooter that being said.

I'm in this because my father saw it as a worthy skill and taught it to me. My Small bore coach saw it as a worthy skill and taught it to me. My high power coach saw it as a worthy skill and taught it to me, My old guy mentor gunsmith saw it as a worthy skill and taught it to me, Its where responsibility, patience, knowing how your actions affect others and where maturity is learned, I see it all as a worthy skill and will continue to learn and teach the same skills that was entrusted to me

[weasel_master]

It is in our blood plain and simple. My family was in Virginia and fought the British there. They were in both Georgia and Virginia in the War of Northern Aggression. WW1, WW2, Korea, and not since. The way of the gun!


Agreed. My family came over after the War of Southern Submission ;) and have served in every war up and through the war in Iraq. Preservation of history through firearms is a must.

[Planning]

i am a collector of many things. corvettes, coins, and guns happen to be one of the things i have collected.
i started collecting as an investment/business. most everything related to the guns has been very profitable for me. ( i have used the profit $$$"s to support my collecting). for the last 25 years + i have sold,traded, collected several thousand guns. many of them have been junk and some have been very valuable, but they usually had some kind of history. i have been in the maintenance/construction business for almost 40 years ( now retired) and i enjoy mechanical equipment and the marval of how a piece of machinery can work. i look at guns as a fine piece of art/machinery.

[pigpen]

I like the history, the boom, smell of gun powder, the look of blued metal & fine crafted wood. I also like the look on the UPS ladies face when I meet her in the yard as she brings yet another long narrow box to my eagerly awaiting hands or the grimace on her face as she struggles with another case of ammo.

[Norton]

I love the mechanical part of them i.e the steel, wood and long ago workmenship. Plus the history, I got a M 95 carbine tonight and though Corpral Hitler of the Austrian Army could have carried this weapon in 1916.
A 1929 Mosin Leinn's henchmen carried this.. was it used to kill Urkrainans or Germans or both? Did it guard a Gulag? A yugo carried in the Balkan wars of the 1990s. The Ably SKS who carried it a policeman in a super police state? The SMLE made in 1917 was it's owner cut down in the Somme? The 03 was it carried at in both wars ? I could go on with this but you see what I mean you hold something that was there at a particular time.. and now you have it.. you own it. Your fingers and hands hold some other man's weapon.. His right arm. You hold something that killed other men in desperate battles.
I also like looking at all the marks and numbers and wondering what they mean.
But in the end I just like guns and when I see an old rifle or pistol at a good price I think well.. I want one of those before they are gone. Don't you see old ads in out of date 'Shotgun news' and think I wish I had bought one of those back then.. Now they are all gone! I think like that all the time.

[Jacobite]

Because we can!!

Actually I like the way guns look and feel so it is like art to me.

[Perro]

i collect for many reasons

1 - obviously the history behind the guns - history was always my best subject in school - always. We had a class called military history that was an electorate, and i took that for 4 years straight. I loved that class very very very much! The instructor was ALOT like us. He was a gun guy, and would bring stuff into the class room to show us to demonstrate one of his lessons. He would invite veterans from ww2, korea, and vietnam to come talk to us. He would invite fresh members from the armed forces to come talk to us in there uniforms. Could you imagine what would happen to a teacher taking a firearm AND ammo into a school today??

2. i enjoy watching an old girl come to life again - breathing life back into that pile of rusted parts trips my trigger very much. dont know why, but seeing a 1919a4 browning that has obviously seen HARD days, that had been turned into a pile of parts by removing the receiver, brought back to life (even if just in semi auto) just does something for me. Seeing that gun shoot for the first time? Priceless to me.

3. i enjoy the act of shooting. It is my zen. It is the one activity that i can do that does not stress me out. The one activity that makes me happy like i was a little kid again. The one activity i do that takes my mind off of the normal every day problems. I dont even care if im shooting accurately, i truly enjoy the sound, the feel, and the smell of it all.

4. i enjoy studying how the machine works, and learning EVERYTHING about it. I enjoy sitting and looking at something until i completely grasp how they made the firearm. I enjoy sitting and looking at the parts and studying the innovations of each firearm, and what parts/ideas were robbed from others.

5. i like learning how the gun was used, where it was used, who used it, what battles it MAY have fought in, etc etc.

6. I like the investment opportunities of it - its hard to lose money on guns. Its surely doing better than it would tied up in a bank

7. I think the number one reason why i do this TODAY (might change tomorrow) is i see beauty in a firearm. Some people can look at an old english shotgun and see the beauty in it, while others see just a junky old shotgun. I can see the beauty in military firearms. Youll be hard pressed to find something as graceful as the stock on a lee enfield. Youll be hard pressed to find something as elegant as the spade grips on a vickers, Youll be hard pressed to find anything more rugged than a Browning Machine Gun. Youll be hard pressed to find anything more old school than a thompson SMG. Youre not going to find ANYTHING more overengineered than a mg34 Etc Etc Etc. I can see beauty in a gun. On the opposite side of that coin, i can see ugly in a gun too - as a perfect example - No matter what you do to it, you cant make a hi point carbine pretty in my opinion. Guns are art

basically everyone has already said what i just said - this is what appeals to me

[A.D.A.]

I just like guns - simple as that. If someone can't or won't accept that, I don't really care.

[jlpskydive]

With a little less intelgance..... What he said

[XO3319]

I love the history

I really like restoring milsurps and gunsmithing in general

Shooting is a great stress reliever for me

And I don't like people all that much, at least not as much as my M1s:usmc:

[nevada]

There is more, though. There is the challenge of mastering the weapon. A full sized and powered .30 or more rifle will hit back. Can I carry it, hold it steady enough, trigger it and absorb the recoil? Again? Again? Did I hit my target? Am I deadly, do I match the soldiers of the past, the hunters? Do I 'own' this arm or does it laugh at the way I handle it? The boom part is integral with this experience, I don't know why. Maybe it's an expression of the power we are holding, controlling. Same for handguns, in their own way. We challenge ourselves everytime we take a firearm out to shoot. There is an appeal and a balm to the spirit when I shoot. I don't know any other way to say it.

[bullseye]

I like the responsibility of owning/shooting. I enjoy the ballistics and the technical side of shooting almost as much as shooting itself. I enjoy taking someone's kid shooting for his/her first time then telling them all about my hobby and the responsibility of it. As far as why, why not. Why collect anything? It is appealing to you, therefore for whatever reasons you collect it. I used to be real big into comics and loved the art, especially the Hildebrant brothers. I used to collect Franklin half dollars because I liked the design, same with Morgan dollars. I guess the answer would be different for everyone, but you collect whatever you collect because it appeals to you.

[jlpskydive]

I'm not collecting I'm waiting for the pending Zombie invasion:tinfoil:

[arnaiz]

Because my wife dont like guns, and if money stay in our bank account all would go for dressing....her dressing for sure.
And dont forget its a real investment, all collectors item if are well purcahsed double price every few years.
And while we wait for an hipotetic selling we are the happy owner and users of the gun !!

[Player]

for protection from ZE Germans

[turbothis]

i plan to get a rifle from every country. i am getting there.

old rifles are awsome to see the detail and the quality of craftsmanship involved. i see it as the organ donor plan at the dmv = you use the rifle untill you are removed from it and it moves on to be used by the next person. but some just get destroyed. so sad

[SteelCore]

who is slowly becoming a collector...I think after the first Mosin, I knew I was in trouble. (I really am a collector of Swords, spears, axes, and wushu weapons)

1. I do it because shooting is my sport--I tell folks it is my golf: bullets are the balls, the rifles are the clubs, targets are the holes. Like Perro says, there is a 'zen'like quality...I feel it focuses the attention and makes all else evaporate, and the bullet is an extension of your eye and mind. al else falls away. It is fun, and relaxing. It started with a recurve bow at a young age, same discipline, same game of 'willing' the arrow to the target.

2. I like taking stuff apart and cleaning it, tinkering, putting it back togther. I started this because I collect all sortsa bladed implements from all over the world, old and new, and some take a bit of conservation or restoration (like the 125yr old broadsword from the Makonde tribe with acive rust--YIKES!), and so do some old rifles. It really cool that you can get a 70+ yr old rifle, shoots fer crap, then start the real cleaning and get it to shoot like it did way back then.

3. I'm a lifelong student of history, all eras, with a focus on war history. I've started in the medieval period, which saw the advent of guns. I've moved to the more ancient and more modern areas. As a shooter, I was delighted to find that there were ACTUAL MIL RIFLES to be had for a MERE PITTANCE that served in these areas. The histor of war is the history of Mankind.

4. Having been an avid hunter and shooter of rifles and bows, I'd been around the hunting world of firearms a lot. Then I did some research, and it just seemed to me that a weapon of war was built to a different set of standards, (reliability, durability, etc) and I had to compare. I got the CETME first. Then the Yugo SKS...then the Mosins...uh oh...Mag fed is a lot of fun shooting short, medium, and long range...(now if I can avoid the lure of beltfed...)

Well, dat's enuf. I don;t think I've said anything someone else has already said, and I agree with all that has been said. They're all good reasons.

[Grasshopper]

I got into collecting weapons accidentally, Clinton got into office. I promiced myself that I had an excuse to buy that one 45 Colt. Then I went to a gun show and guess what? The Federal Government was down.... What a surprise, the 3rd gunshow in a row, all had the instant background check system for long guns on the fritz! Wow. I drove up to the FFL dealers house/business that Monday and bought my first rifle, my Norinco Hunter, an AK variant. I learned how to use it, I learned how to slice the pie, i learned to make it deadly.
A few years after this, a man get hired at my shop, he is a nice guy. He had a problem with the instant background system also for a charge he got when he was in collage. He was innocent and the officer was disciplined but the arrest was never expunged. Lautenburg ammendment, everything goes into a big storage facility, true of false. He got his C&R lisence. A few years after he got his lisence he had a good collection with some good stuff and some clams. He offered the clams for sale.
1 Turkish Mauser $35 dollars.......................then he gets his FFL for gunsmithing. Now I have a good collection, some crap some nice stuff. Always I keep in mind what these firearms were intended for. I know how to use em and I pray to God I never have to.:062:

[Norton]

for protection from ZE Germans

I am afraid of Russian Paratroopers myself.. If I let my guard down they will take over. I don't want some Russian paratrooper driving my MGB car (if he knows how to start it) and drinking my beer.

[jlpskydive]

I am afraid of Russian Paratroopers myself.. If I let my guard down they will take over. I don't want some Russian paratrooper driving my MGB car (if he knows how to start it) and drinking my beer.


WOLVERINES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :usmc:

[DAA1]

That's like asking the question of why folks drive a certain vehicle or wear certain clothes. Because I can, firearms appeal to me on a basic level, and the number one main reason......

Because it is the one thing that brought me and my brother in law togather, we both found out we liked firearms and became best friends. It gives us something to do togather that we both enjoy.

I collect all kinds of things, a lot of junk, elmo dolls, coffee cups, some coins, but for the most part my firearm collection is the one thing that gives me a sense of pride. Knowing I have things in my collection that the average person will never see or shoot, and knowing that no matter how much I learn there is always more to learn.

[MID]

Nothing in the entire world is a certificate of freedom, except for a gun.
I feel its my responsibility to own them.
My guns are my time machines. I can be wrapped up in them for hrs, and the time just flies by.

When i turned 18 every one was making a big deal about it. "Your an adult now"
Well i didn't feel like an adult. So a bought a cigar and the cheapest rifle i could find.
I bought a yugo sks. Now i felt like an adult, sort of, I had to wait until i was 21 before i could really feel like an adult. After my 21st birthday i bought a pistol and a bottle of jack. Now i was an adult.


I too am like much of the rest. I enjoy learning how things work, its both a curse and a gift.

[k98k792]

I am afraid of Russian Paratroopers myself.. If I let my guard down they will take over. I don't want some Russian paratrooper driving my MGB car (if he knows how to start it) and drinking my beer.

Norton I hope you take this in the spirt it is intended. When my friends and I were young we used to say " Look that guy has a MG! He must like to walk."

[franks71vw]

Simply because I can, Stamps taste awseful and coins are cheap lol:lol3:

[Planning]

Norton I hope you take this in the spirt it is intended. When my friends and I were young we used to say " Look that guy has a MG! He must like to walk."


i my years of collecting cars some of my most loved/hated cars were the mgb and the mgb miget. i have owned 5 mgb's, 1mgb gt and 2 mg migets. i had one mgb i bought new in 1975 and loved it, but it spent a lot of time in the shop, so i sold it in 8 months, all the rest i just spent a lot of time working on them. never to go far from home in them.

[nevada]

At least they are easy to push.

[cimmaronkid]

:twisted: LUCAS, THE PRINCE OF DARKNESS:twisted:

Had :adolph: ever invaded England and driven a British Leyland car, he would have left immediately!

I have had several B's and all were a hate/love relationship. I hated the damn little cars and loved it when I sold them, but then missed it so much I would get another.

My Triumph Stag was a different story!

[SteelCore]

" Look that guy has a MG! He must like to walk."
--<>LMAO! A friend of mine;s dad had one for about a decade....













wait fir it.....











As a garage warmer.












Well, OK...it was more of a placeholder and shelving unit after the first few years.

[Norton]

Man this got off topic..Well mine runs fine for a 30 years old car with no rebuild. I could go into a long post on the details of owning Brish cars and bikes and why people have these opinions and why we stick with them. But it would be a long post. so to keep it short British motorized transport is not for everybody. (plus they are not troubled by an EMP blast so after an Atomic attack we will be on the road with our MGs, Triumphs Nortons , BSAs and Jags) By they way we don't mind the good natured ribbing, we are very used to it.

[Seattlefungus]

The first time you get prone at 500 and slide the sling up on your upper arm, lock and load, get the bone under the rifle snug the cheek down on the comb of a M14 or M1 Garand, line up those Mil peeps and set you breathing to become one with the sights and have the rifle recoil without you consciously pull the trigger, see the target pulled and come up with a white spot 3 o'clock in the black and a white "5" Disk come up. Getting into the "Box" for 10 round slow fire and have time perception change and seem to slow to stop but you don't care, cause it seems "right" and every round comes up where you called it in the data book. I remember coming off the firing line on the 500 at Camp Schwab and being congratulated for setting the years high score on the KD course. It was like waking up from a beautiful dream... Yes a Zen experience.. Then, you are hooked for life. Examining a M1 Garand, or 1903, or K98, who's open sight registers to 2000 meters.. You appreciate the masters touch in design and innovation and true efficient design... They are true works of martial art. I remember being in a retired doctors house once. He had an amputation kit from an 1800 century doctors office, bone saws, drills clamp. At first I thought it strange, then after thinking about it, I realized it wasn't any different than my collecting military weapons. (and it turns out the kit was worth more than and 3 of my rifles)... LOL

[hulygan]

The reason that I tell people when they ask is "I have guns for when the zombies come":machinegun: :zombie: