Consolidating calibers/guns, valuable or not?

[Crow Hunter]

I have been furloughed the last week and pretty much stuck in the house. My mind has been wandering and I was pondering some things.

I currently have 3 revolvers that have no emotional attachment to me. I have trouble using the sights on them without switching glasses (presbyopia and narrow/shallow rear sights), I don't use them as carry weapons and one of them I find painful to shoot. If I were to sell/trade them, I would no longer have a need to stock any .38/.357.

I also have a .243 rifle that I purchased a couple of years ago to use as a combination varmint/deer rifle. I have EBRs that utilize 5.56 and 7.62X51 and I keep rounds for them on hand. I don't use them for hunting because they are heavier and more cumbersome in the field than a nice bolt (Believe me, I have tried) I could sell the .243 and get a nice bolt in .223 and one in .308 and it would eliminate another caliber but it would add two rifles to the mix.

If I were to do this, I would have a net decrease of 2 guns and would reduce my "caliber footprint" by two as well.

When the Wuhuflu hit I successfully got rid of guns/ammo in .45, .40, .357 Sig and it did make my ammo locker much more organized and kind of prompted my thinking about this.

Have any of you guys contemplated or actually went through with doing similar things?

Opinions?

[MistWolf]

You're over-thinking it. Sell what you wanna sell. Buy what you wanna buy. Deal with the ammo as needed. Rinse and repeat.

Personally, I've regretted firearms I've sold, firearms I never bought and none that I have.

[Stephanie B]

I have been furloughed the last week and pretty much stuck in the house. My mind has been wandering and I was pondering some things.

I currently have 3 revolvers that have no emotional attachment to me. I have trouble using the sights on them without switching glasses (presbyopia and narrow/shallow rear sights), I don't use them as carry weapons and one of them I find painful to shoot. If I were to sell/trade them, I would no longer have a need to stock any .38/.357.

I also have a .243 rifle that I purchased a couple of years ago to use as a combination varmint/deer rifle. I have EBRs that utilize 5.56 and 7.62X51 and I keep rounds for them on hand. I don't use them for hunting because they are heavier and more cumbersome in the field than a nice bolt (Believe me, I have tried) I could sell the .243 and get a nice bolt in .223 and one in .308 and it would eliminate another caliber but it would add two rifles to the mix.

If I were to do this, I would have a net decrease of 2 guns and would reduce my "caliber footprint" by two as well.

When the Wuhuflu hit I successfully got rid of guns/ammo in .45, .40, .357 Sig and it did make my ammo locker much more organized and kind of prompted my thinking about this.

Have any of you guys contemplated or actually went through with doing similar things?

Opinions?

Well, no. When the `09/`12 ammo panics hit, I took note that there were two pistol calibers that almost always were available: .357 Sig and .40 S&W. so when there was a good deal on a Sig P226 in .40, I jumped on it. If I feel the need, I can get a drop-in /357 Sig barrel for it and I'd be GTG.

[Crow Hunter]

Well, no. When the `09/`12 ammo panics hit, I took note that there were two pistol calibers that almost always were available: .357 Sig and .40 S&W. so when there was a good deal on a Sig P226 in .40, I jumped on it. If I feel the need, I can get a drop-in /357 Sig barrel for it and I'd be GTG.

I actually was doing that then.

When I sold my G23 w/.357 Sig barrel it was with some of the .40 and .357Sig I bought then. However, that was also before Wally World decided to go all SJW activist. Now, there is no where locally you can even find either round. I could probably find it at Academy an hour from here but nothing at any of the local gun stores.

Now I do find that .38/.357 always seems to be available online and even in local fun stores usually in reasonable quantities.

Unfortunately S&W revolvers don't seem to be agreeing with me much anymore.

[Cypher]

I suggest you not listen to the PF cool kids and do what you think is best for you.

https://pistol-forum.com/showthread....3-One-Platform

[OlongJohnson]

With my recent downsizing, I no longer own any .40 launcher that isn't a USP, and I no longer own a gun that will fire only .38 Special.

Oh, I did get rid of my only 20 gauge.

Thinking about getting rid of a rifle caliber or two. Maybe three, if I can find a buyer for the third one, but that's unlikely. Probably will do the first two.

And I bought into a new pistle or rifol caliber, depending on how you look at it: .300 BLK.

I probably don't have much to add to this thread, thinking about it.

[Crow Hunter]

You're over-thinking it. Sell what you wanna sell. Buy what you wanna buy. Deal with the ammo as needed. Rinse and repeat.

Personally, I've regretted firearms I've sold, firearms I never bought and none that I have.

I always overthink. According to my SO, that is "my thing". There are really only a couple of guns that I have sold that I have regretted. Browning HP and a Walther P5.

I have gotten rid of quite a few guns a calibers over the last few years and so far I haven't regretted anything yet.

That is my biggest concern about getting rid of the revolvers. Both of the J frames have very, very nice triggers and the other isn't made anymore. But I doubt by eyes will get better as I age and I also doubt my hands will become less affected by recoil.

[Duelist]

I really like most of my revolvers, and enjoy having at least one in every traditional S&W DA size: J, K, and N. I may get an L one day, but don’t feel a lot of burn to do so. I have adjustable sights on two Ks and the N, so if I need to get a more “diminished vision” sighting system on one or more, it could be done.

That said, you do you. If you don’t see keeping them, I’m sure you can find a new home for them.

I would keep the .243. It is a balanced, versatile round with much greater effective range on deer than .223 and more moderate recoil than .308. But I wouldn’t stop me from getting another hunting rifle in either or both of those calibers in the long run if that is what I wanted to do. Even though really, it’s why I bought the .243 in the first place: to be versatile and reduce the number of rifles and calibers I need to worry about. Worked, too. For a while.

I have also hunted with an AR and not been excited to keep doing it. I’d rather pack my .243 or .270 or Marlin 1894. I have a nice 20” AR with a 14x scope on it if I want to sit on the Wyoming prairie and smoke prairie dogs, but for regular big game and larger varmint hunting, I like my bolt actions.

[Clusterfrack]

I did this a while ago, and do not regret purging .45 ACP and .40 from my arsenal. More calibers == more hassle, more components to store, more different reloading recipes to test. I shoot almost exclusively 9mm in pistols. When I add a new caliber, it better do something really special. And guess what, I've added 3 new rifle calibers in the last few years: 6.5 Grendel, 300 BLK, and 300 PRC, and have a reasonable justification for each of those.

If you don't love the .243 rifle, that's a great reason to purge it and the caliber. But, I'm not a huge fan of .223 bolt guns because there are so many better calibers for a short action. And .308 has been surpassed by 6.5 CM and the like.

[TGS]

@Crow Hunter what are you using the .223 and .308 ARs for?

Seem to me like the obvious cut would be the 308 AR and 243 rifle. Buy something in 6.5 to replace them and share commonality, if that's what you're after.