doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com The dark side of gun collecting.

Is there any?

They say everything has its good and bad sides. So, what harm gun collecting can have for the gun market? For gunning in general? For the person who engages in it?

What do you all think?

Doesn't get much darker than the collector of whatever that spends on hobbies (guns in this case) and doesn't spend to take care of the actual necessities in life. Health, family, food, clothing, retirement, medical requirements, etc. I've known more than a few people who lived in delapitated homes but had gun collections that were valued in the high 6 figures. I've known collectors who bought extremely expensive guns, and then couldn't buy their insulin or get the weeks groceries. I known some people who buy a must have for their gun collection and then have to wait till next payday to put gas in their car. Very sad.

I would say the only negative is being taken advantage of or being burned by some of the unscrupulous sellers that are out there.

What harm? - It might place a heavy burden on the executor of your will.
Unless you have down-sized prior to your "departure", the how and where of liquidating your firearms AND ASSOCIATED HUNTING AND RELOADING/CASTING EQUIPMENT and LIBRARY will be quite the challenge. Gifting specific firearms/equipment/books should also be considered.
To assist/guide your executor, and REALIZE the best $return$ for your heirs, you should create and leave detailed instructions how/where/when to sell off AND/OR GIFT your worldly goods - and deposit several copies thereof in different locations.
Just my $0.02 - YMMV.

There is no harm unless it becomes an addiction, knowing you shouldn't be doing it in the circumstances but do it, as Le Fusil reminds us. I know a few of those. I have less than 20 firearms, mostly shotguns, a few rifles and one pistol. I'm not a collector although some non-shooters would disagree. I'll have no problems passing them on. I'm giving them away to family and friends while I'm alive as my parents did to their property and possessions to me and my siblings. "Makes no sense to keep them until we're dead," Mom and Dad said, "when you can use or sell them now as you please." Made sense to me. They died owning a little yellow Corolla. Their spirit made me what I am.

It is easy to get hooked on guns. The positive side being if they are bought right and held for a while, except for a few exceptions, they appreciate better then gold.

The exceptions seem to be French guns. I like French guns but sometimes think I'm the only one that does.

All good points, the one draw back for me is worrying about "will they be there when I get home". Even with a monitored alarm system and anchored safes in a fireproof roof with a Air Force Top Secret security room door(salvaged from a teardown I did) it is still on my mind a lot when I go on extended vacation.

Good point, but applies to any material property. Just one of the risks of life. Nothing in life is really secure.

Life is short and risky - - - so eat your dessert first.

DDA

Maybe not the dark side but I have a 1917 SMLE opened out to .410 in the cabinet. A fun thing to take on a walk down the hedgerows on a summer evening.
I've always wondered what it's been responsible for in the past when it was used in anger.

Bought right? You mean free? With very few exceptions "collectable" firearms struggle to keep pace with inflation. And far and away the market is items for not enough money to bother with. Unless you're flipping LOTS of guns and can afford to make pennies with each sale the likelihood of profit is negligible. The gun market is just stupid fickle.

If you want to buy a buncha guns, cool! But nothing is worth more in $ than what the next guy will pay for it. The expenditures that I have made which reside in the gun safe may be substantial, but expecting that to be profitable or even recoverable is just absurd.

Besta luck

JMO of course -

have another day
Dr.WtS