doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com A Hoarder or a Collector

Okay, Don. I'll bite. Guess I'm no. 3, a shooter-collector.

Although I prolly would be happy with a balsa stocked gas pipe if'n I could shoot 100 straights with it in sporting.

SRH

Stan, I think you perfectly explained my status in this discussion...... I am not bothered with a "collector" obsession, yet I appreciate all the factors that go into "collecting"....

Best Gun or plain barrel 870, they are all tools to me.....a means to an end.....i.e. success in the field or Ring....
I have had fleeting periods when I was more conscious of my gun, than my performance with it.....

No longer the case.....I can shoot any gun that might strike my fancy.....but I want to shoot those that preform BEST...
I'm a very harsh critic of my shooting, and keep rather detailed records, so I know what works best for me.....

Age... and extensive experience , have taught me what works.....and that is what I gravitate to.....

And along the way to get to my final selection, I have "Hoarded " a number of guns, until I could get around to giving them a fair trial....

I have fewer now than I have had in years.....

Stan, I quite agree that you know yourself. I find no reason to attach any judgement to said status, or any of the others, for that matter. Collectors buy and keep that which is interesting to them. Shooters buy and keep those guns which suit their shooting purposes and they shoot well.

The only judgement I have is sympathy for those who wander aimlessly from gun to gun without learning anything. If you like anything that goes bang, buy (pun absolutely deliberate) all means "hoard."

DDA

Ted,
That's a good point that you brought up regarding that last remaining gun, something that I've often pondered.
Karl

I'm in Don's shooter/collector group. I like well made guns, but the price of safe-space rent is consistent performance.

Collecting implies taxonomy, historic documentaion and at some point opening the collection to bona fide researchers or even the public. How many "collectors" do that?

Gough Thomas had a name for those that are not true collectors.

I'm more of the shooter/collector type. My 1'st nice gun, English Army&Navy sidelock, top lever ejector. 2'nd a Edward Whistler, London made back action top lever hammer gun. 3'rd Gaspar Araziga very nice Spanish side lock ejector...Hooked! Tend to like them all, hammer guns both back and bar actions, side locks and box locks. What I find most interesting is bolting systems. I do like side levers and under levers. Great for clays and hunting. If shooting a clay pigeon ring the top lever ejectors rule.

That's quite a leap. "Collecting" implies no such thing. Not with guns nor with anything else. And the whats and the whys for collecting are as myriad as those who do the collecting.

A 'True" collector? What a load of horseshit, regardless of what Gough Thomas may have said. More like elitist crap (I'm on the inside, with the special handshake, and you are not.)

+1
Back in the day I was excited by quantity. Nice stuff, and a lot of it
Less is the new more. Single digit cabinet now, purposed, not much overlap.
Quality is King.

I couldn�t agree more, Canvasback. The dictionary defines a collector as �a person who collects things of a specified type, professionally or as a hobby�. Most of us here do it as a hobby. Garwood Thomas was a professional. I know I personally collect as a hobby and it is because it interests me to find quality pieces in original and unbutchered condition, and I admit I usually research the history in a cursory sort of fashion. There are others out there who do the same thing and that�s one reason why there remains some pristine vintage pieces, although they are often times rare. Plus, it�s fun to use your noggin to sort out what has been redone and what hasn�t. There are clever people out there always trying to trick the unsuspecting �collector�. Sometimes it�s easy to tell, other times not so easy, at least for me. On another note, it is amusing how threads of this nature always seem to degenerate into a whatever.......