I posted this in another thread recently and snipped out the parts that were only related to that particular thread. Rather than type it out I'll just quote myself.
Originally Posted by Casual Friday
I posted this in another thread recently and snipped out the parts that were only related to that particular thread. Rather than type it out I'll just quote myself.
We all have our own monkeys to port around. I never seriously caught the knife or motorcycle bug so I got that going for me I suppose...
I'm not sure what to think about people who know exactly how many guns they own and remember all of them.I took a quick spin through the safe Saturday after a last minute invite to a small show nearby. Figured I'd try and move something that wasn't being used. I won't say I found guns I'd forgotten about but there were certainly a couple of conversions that made me scratch my head for a moment. Looking through that safe had me a little embarrassed with just the amount of stuff and how little actually gets used. A lot came from an inheritance a few years ago so there's memories attached but I may start spreading a few of those out between my nephew and the boys.
For a long time I thought I was chasing "better". Turns out what I was really chasing was the dragon.
Nothing so needs reforming as other people's habits - Mark Twain
Tact is the knack of making a point without making an enemy / Where is the wisdom we have lost in knowledge?
Chasing the dragon is what I said to my buddy tonight. My two bcms, and 3 sig 365xls will have me covered for anything I need. I am even considering selling the 320 because I shoot the 365xls better and have limited training time because my family/career. Feels really good to be at this place and not over analyzing anymore
It depends. The frugal part of me needs to have a reason to own a specific gun. The enthusiast in me will argue back that “but it’s cool and you know you want one”. The two sides fight all the time.
In college my collection was pretty minimal. A 1911 for everything, a .22 pistol for plinking, a 7mm for hunting, and a 10/22 for plinking/fun.
Post-college and over the next 35 years I chased iterations of the ideal carry guns, went small for a while, then back up in size, then back down again landing on the 365XL several years ago.
When the competition bug bit in the late 2000’s I started buying guns for specific disciplines and divisions. The competition justification appealed to my frugal nature, but it also led me down the path of needing two of everything (one primary, one backup). USPSA, IDPA, 3-gun, 2-gun, Steel Challenge, and as of late NRL22 and PRS. I just bought an action for a custom rifle build, now sourcing a barrel in 6mm GT… down the rabbit hole I go (this is the enthusiast in me).
I have gone on campaigns to thin out the collection to focus on quality over quantity (the frugal part in me). Specifically guns I bought for a division that I don’t shoot anymore and will probably move them on, but there are some that I doubt I will ever sell (i.e. some of my custom 1911 and 2011 even tho I rarely shoot iron sights anymore).
Mrs. ECK is an enabler. She’ll periodically look over my shoulder to see what I am surfing and asks, you gonna get it? Some of the guns in the collection are hers, but her camera equipment takes up an increasing amount of space in the gun safe, contemplating we may need to get a second safe one of these days. She and I have an informal rule, I don’t ask what she spent on a ______ (camera body, lens, etc.), and she doesn’t ask what I spend on a gun.
As long as the bills are paid, we have food in the fridge, discretionary spending will continue to feed the enthusiasm, tempered by my frugal nature.
For example, the enthusiast in me wants a suppressed .300 BO SBR. The frugal part in me says “WTF for”? The struggle is real.
Another aspect of this is that I still have plenty of stuff but I have started to standardize more. I have decided I really do not need more than one brand of striker pistol, though I might eventually end up with 10-12 M&Ps of various configurations (dot pistols drive up this total...). Same with ARs, I have a handful, but they are configured differently, and imma gonna just stick with them.
In the early 90s, I was living in one state and working in another. Where I lived was mostly rural and the gun stores tended to cater to the hunting trade. When I went to law skool, it was awhile before I shifted my residency and, even when I did, it was a dual issue of time and money. When I moved to NY, I bought mostly rifles because buying handguns was kind of a pain.
But, roughly ten years ago, I lived where there were gunshops close buy and, other than the NICS check, it was cash & carry. Buds had a sale on Aussie Model 10s. And a good friend sold me a Model 696 for below market rate. I fell hard into the K-frame rabbit hole, which was still at or below $300. And I found out about police trade-ins. And that lovely sale five years ago on Model 64s for under $250. And the widow of a friend's brother made me a deal on a few nonworking guns that mostly took time and a few parts to fix.
Now, I've pumped the brakes.
If we have to march off into the next world, let us walk there on the bodies of our enemies.
Yep. I really want a nice PRS rig. The issue is the outdoor range I belong to is maxed out at 200yds and my dedication to driving an hour or more for a longer range is zero.
The black powder bug has bitten me again. But I can’t shoot them at the indoor range nearby and the outdoor range is a non-starter until the temps get back into the 80s. I work in a warehouse environment so on the weekends if it doesn’t involve a/c I’m not interested.
Nothing so needs reforming as other people's habits - Mark Twain
Tact is the knack of making a point without making an enemy / Where is the wisdom we have lost in knowledge?
Sometimes you just have to scratch that itch. I’ve been causally shooting PRS on/off for the last four years. In the last year or so its been mainly been ‘off’. But last fall a friend of mine (an even bigger enabler than my wife) got me into shooting NRL22. Holy crap that is fun and a great trainer for PRS but at a much lower cost than loading 6.5CM which means I shoot more. Much more. In the last 6 months I shot quite a bit more .22LR in practice and matches than my 4 years of PRS centerfire combined. I am now much more comfortable with positional shooting, being more efficient building my shooting positions, calculating and dialing my scope, gauging wind and correcting for wind on the fly, etc. My centerfire rifle is nothing special, a Ruger RPR in 6.5CM w/ a Vortex PST. The gun flat out shoots (found a good load for it) but it never fit me right and has angles where there shouldn’t be on a well fitting rifle. Plus the ability to transform it into a ‘modern’ PRS rifle is low, not without dropping a bunch more $$ into it (here’s the frugal part taking over). So rather than invest $$ into the RPR I’m going to build a custom rifle (enthusiast talking) and then sell the RPR while it still has enough life left on the barrel for some casual shooter who only shoots a hundred rnds a year.
Just got an email that my action is being shipped to my FFL, I’ll have a local gunsmith/competitor spin up a barrel for it in 6mm GT, buy a trigger group, and figure out which chassis/stock to go with. This gun will share the same bipod, bags, and other accoutrements as my rimfire match rifle, so I can stay true to my frugal nature.
Hmmm blackpowder, 30 years ago I built a Remington 1858 model cap/ball revolver from a kit. Dabbled with black powder that winter for a bit, then lost interest. My frugal side says please don’t tempt me down that path….
I sort of for a second started simplifying, did not like it, and now only buy and rarely ever sell. I like having 1 of everything and 2 to 3 of what matters in the safe.
Truth is, if it goes bang, and sends bullets somewhere in the vicinity of where I want, I like it, but I can bitch about something on every gun I own.
Wait...you guys sell your guns?
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